The big Snipe test (1 Viewer)

[Clive]

Just a normal Snipe, I'm a poor pensioner so can't afford the 2. I'm currently at Donostia San Sebastián heading towards Calais. At every stop I'll try my Snipe and see where I get some real TV. Currently I have 49 channels, the only two almost worth watching are Sky News and CNN. If you're into shopping channels I have a load of those.
This is being completed at great expense to myself, any donations of beer gratefully received.

 

[magicsurfbus]

If you like endless 1980s music videos you might get Heart, NOW, and/or Vintage TV. We did on a Snipe 2 in Biarritz.

My guess is that you'll see the mainstream channels come back somewhere around Bordeaux, if our recent trip was anything to go by - I await the result with interest.

 

[irnbru]

any donations of beer gratefully received.

I don't think you will be needing donations, your probably more likely to give a bottle of 2 away as donations.
I'm sure you will have some helpers to drink it at Millport. I will be bringing some back too

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[Lenny HB]

You are far west to get Astra 2 in the south need to be up around the Dordogne, get further east and we have had Asta 2 on a Snipe in northern Provence. Just fitted a Snipe 2 to the new van but I don't think the range will be any different.
Just to make you feel better if you spent two grand on an Oyster 85 results would not be much better. Had ones of those didn't notice much different to the Snipe on Astra 2 reception.

 

[Clive]

Ok, just north of Bordeaux, absolutely nothing. I'll try again at the next stop, wherever that may be.

 

[Lenny HB]

Ok, just north of Bordeaux, absolutely nothing. I'll try again at the next stop, wherever that may be.

Still too far west for that far south.

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[Clive]

Ok I've only gone just over an hour down the road, wanted to stop before the heavy rain started. I'm now at Roullet St Estephe, lovely free aire. Still nothing, too far south to be that far west. I wonder how Far East I need to be, project for another year

 

[Clive]

Last night I was surrounded by trees so it didn't actually stand a chance.

 

[laneside]

Hey we do not loose Astra 2 until we get as low down west as Biaritz and as low down east until Montpellier, that is with our Snipe.

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[laneside]

Just looked on the map and you are only an hour from our house, you should be getting Astra 2 with no problems at all. trees apart of course.

 

[magicsurfbus]

We were OK for mainstream Freesat channels on a Snipe 2 near Sarlat-le-Caneda, with no trees. That's due east of Bordeaux.

We didn't stop between there and Biarritz.

 

[Clive]

Well I'm now at La Suze Sur Sarthe got everything apart from channel 5. Strange thing is I've got 5 + 1 and all the other 5 channels. Guess the test is over. Now I'll have to find something else to do

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[Anthony OysterTech]

You are far west to get Astra 2 in the south need to be up around the Dordogne, get further east and we have had Asta 2 on a Snipe in northern Provence. Just fitted a Snipe 2 to the new van but I don't think the range will be any different.
Just to make you feel better if you spent two grand on an Oyster 85 results would not be much better. Had ones of those didn't notice much different to the Snipe on Astra 2 reception.

Actually, with an Oyster Vision III Autoskew system it is possible to receive Spot beam transmissions from Astra 2 down to Narbonne which, according to my map of France, is around 420km further south than the Dordogne. It's also possible to receive the UK spot beam channels down the East coast of Spain from around Tarragona down to around Cartagena although this is dependent on quite a few variables so therefore unfortunately cannot be guaranteed.

 

[movan]

You should have visited the lovely @laneside s ... I would love to see them again.

 

[laneside]

You should have visited the lovely @laneside s ... I would love to see them again.

Oi Joy jump in your van and come on down we would love to see you

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[movan]

Oi Joy jump in your van and come on down we would love to see you

 

[laneside]

Bring a friend we have space for two vans

 

[JimJams]

Actually, with an Oyster Vision III Autoskew system it is possible to receive Spot beam transmissions from Astra 2 down to Narbonne which, according to my map of France, is around 420km further south than the Dordogne. It's also possible to receive the UK spot beam channels down the East coast of Spain from around Tarragona down to around Cartagena although this is dependent on quite a few variables so therefore unfortunately cannot be guaranteed.

Actually.. I got literally every channel in Port Grimaud last year without any problem as with the year before with my Oyster 85 and when I ventured over into the Bay of Roses just over the Spanish boarder I got loads of channels.. yes didn't get BBC one (but I cant stand EastEnders anyway!!) but got movies, sports and numerous other channels including Baby T.V which the kids were grateful for. This was when I was using my Sky box by the way..

But to be completely honest I didn't really care anyway cause I was on holiday!

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[Clive]

Likewise once I got the channels I couldn't find anything to watch

 

[Lenny HB]

Actually.. I got literally every channel in Port Grimaud last year without any problem as with the year before with my Oyster 85 and when I ventured over into the Bay of Roses just over the Spanish boarder I got loads of channels.. yes didn't get BBC one (but I cant stand EastEnders anyway!!) but got movies, sports and numerous other channels including Baby T.V which the kids were grateful for. This was when I was using my Sky box by the way..

But to be completely honest I didn't really care anyway cause I was on holiday!

The Oyster I had was Oyster CD without auto skew and no sky box, performance not much different to a Snipe.

 

[JimJams]

The Oyster I had was Oyster CD without auto skew and no sky box, performance not much different to a Snipe.

Whats an oyster CD? did you have the Caro Digital? if so then I wouldn't expect you to get south of France as the latest Cytrac system replacing the Caro in time is only equivalent to a 70cm dish. This is a popular system as incredibly robust and needs a tiny amount of roof space. A snipe portable system is only equivalent to a dome performance tops.

To get the south of France areas when using Free to air decoders and still receive English channels that are not just sky news and CNN and shopping and True movies then you need thee 80/85cm dish systems. Auto skew only takes effect when traveling East or West of Europe so for France Auto skew is a waste of time as a standard skew is all that's needed.

As said before when using a sky box the world is your "Oyster" unless you love EastEnders!

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[Lenny HB]

Whats an oyster CD? did you have the Caro Digital? if so then I wouldn't expect you to get south of France as the latest Cytrac system replacing the Caro in time is only equivalent to a 70cm dish. This is a popular system as incredibly robust and needs a tiny amount of roof space. A snipe portable system is only equivalent to a dome performance tops.

It was a 85cm Oyster a standard fit on the first Hymer we had in 2008 it was either a C or CD I don't think that particular model was sold outside Germany.

 

[Anthony OysterTech]

The Oyster I had was Oyster CD without auto skew and no sky box, performance not much different to a Snipe.

It would most likely have been an Oyster Digital CI system that you had and the fact that it was not Autoskew would have probably been the main reason that the reception area fell short of what we would expect from an Oyster, although the age and the wear of the mechanics could have been a contributing factor also.
With regards to the Skew, it becomes very important the closer to the edge of the reception area you get. In the UK the Skew can be out by 20 odd degrees and you'll still get perfect reception of Astra 2 however in southern France you will lose reception of the Spot beam stations if it's out by more than 5 degrees. Even if it's within 5 degrees but not exact you will still notice signal degradation on some stations. With a manual Skew system it is always recommended that you adjust the LNB angle for the optimum signal strength and quality when you get to around Bordeaux. This will allow the system to function a lot further south on the UK freesat channels. If anyone should require further information on this please feel free to PM me where I can be more specific to the Oyster system you have.

 

[eddie]

The reality is, despite people not liking it (often like me that have other systems lol)

Your best bet in 2017, as things stand now, at the extremities of East and West is a Sky box, with a Sky subscription and a Oyster Autoskew system.

I am talking about legally not the dodgy Icecrypt route which is potentially more hassle than some sellers lead buyers to believe when updates are needed, is breaking UK and EU law and could see Fines and equipment being confiscated! All of which is often not mentioned by some sellers that are prepared to get involved

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[Lenny HB]

It would most likely have been an Oyster Digital CI system that you had and the fact that it was not Autoskew would have probably been the main reason that the reception area fell short of what we would expect from an Oyster, although the age and the wear of the mechanics could have been a contributing factor also.

That's the one a CI, no wear it was a brand new van, I guess it was due to the skew, still surprising how well the little Snipe performs by comparison.

 

[Neil S]

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[Lenny HB]

Snipe 2 working fine on Astra 2, we are 28km NE of La Rochelle.

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