which satellite should i select in france/spain? (1 Viewer)

[jaygee]

We have a Snipe sat system and a sky box (also have a 12v maxview box).
We were picking up Uk channels northern France OK but we have come right down and are now in Barcelona. We can't get any channels except for Sky Atlantic on Astra 2.
Was wondering what satellites we should be using this low and whether anyone has sucessfully picked up UK tv this far down on a Snipe?

Luckily I loaded our sky box with lots of recordings and box sets so at least we have something to watch!

 

[DBK]

You'll get BBC World and that's about it. I can't remember what the satellite is, we have a manual system and I just wave the dish about until I get a signal. What you won't get are BBC 1 etc apart perhaps occasionally in freak atmospheric conditions.

 

[Satandpcguy]

UK TV comes from 3 satellites located at 28.2 to 28.5 east.
They are Astra 2e, 2f and 2g.
They are NOT available on any other satellites.
If you can receive Sky Atlantic then you should be able to receive the majority of Sky pay channels, with no problem - as they are on the same "European" beam. And even a few othe SKy channels that are on the same frequency as Sky Atlantic.
At least you know your sky digibox is on the correct satellites, as you are watching recordings, something it cannot do unless it is getting a signal from the correct uk tv satellites.
But you may struggle with channels on the Uk beam, like BBC ITV C4 Five and a few sky pay channels, that are on the UK beam, and require at least a 2.4m dish to receive in the Barcelona area.

BBC World is on the Astra 1 group of satellites (a more european tv group of satellites) at 19 east, which will not work with your Sky digibox, but should with the maxview.

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[jaygee]

Strange that we can only get Sky Atlantic then & no other channels?
We can get our recorded items on planner without being connected to any satellite.

 

[Satandpcguy]

Strange that we can only get Sky Atlantic then & no other channels?

Sky Atlantic (SD and UK) is on the same frequency as British Eurosport 1 and 2, TCM, Fox, Comedy Central, and some Sky Sports channels - so you should be getting those as well.

And if you are getting those, then it would also be good to assume that you should also get channels on the same beam and polarisation - like Fox, Sky 1....

Or if it is Sky Atlantic HD that you say you can receive, then there are three other Sky channels on that same frequency, which you should also be getting...

It would be very very very unusual for a Sky digibox to only receive one channel and one channel only....

We can get our recorded items on planner without being connected to any satellite.

Count your self lucky... very lucky....
as in all cases i know of a sky digibox needs to be connected to the dish before it even loads the planner and programme guide.... and you cannot access the planner to get at your recordings until the programme guide has been downloaded from the satellite....
and requires the signal from the satellite to ensure your card has the correct entitlements for the channel and playback....

But as you are saying you can get one channel (and one channel only which is strange in itself - so you have a very weird sky digibox - one of a kind...!) then your box is getting the required signals.....

 

[jaygee]

thanks for that! Last night connected to Astra 2 and got a lot more channels but as you say no BBC,ITV etc... Our box took absolutely ages from turning on to actually sending a picture to the TV and likewise the snipe spent ages going back & forth albeit only small amounts until it locked onto the satellite so I don't think we were waiting long enough for it to finish setting itself up. As for the planner we must have been getting a signal then as we could definitely view our programmes.
Off to our house in Spain now where we have a 2.5 mtr dish and can get everything - only have to take our sky box from home to get the channels that we pay for!

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[travelling wilbury]

once the planner has loaded, you can access the recorded items.
i have put the dish down (in strong wind) yet continued to be able to watch the same program, and in fact to select another from the planner and watch that....but (obviously) no live tv.

 

[SuperMike]

once the planner has loaded, you can access the recorded items.
i have put the dish down (in strong wind) yet continued to be able to watch the same program, and in fact to select another from the planner and watch that....but (obviously) no live tv.

Indeed. Management watches recorded items as we travel, but after a few hours, it stops working. So, we stop for a cup of tea and I pop the dish up for the system to re register its self and then off we go again for another block of time.