Sky reception below Benidorm? (1 Viewer)

[zaskar]

Year before last, ffi & I overwintered in Calpe and even tho' it was a known tuff spot for reception, we managed with a 1.1metre dish.
Since then, I believe that changes to the footprint have been introduced and, coupled with the fact that this winter we'd like to go further south towards Malaga, I'm wondering if we'll have ANY chance with ANY dish?

 

[TheBig1]

from what I have read and seen, little to no chance after September as the satellites are being rearranged again and it will be difficult to get a signal even in the North. The new footprint is being moved up to give better coverage to scotland and less to the near continent.

even a huge dish is going to require extreme fine tuning with clear line of sight. even if you get a signal most channels wont be available

just what I have read over the last few months though, and the experts might have got it wrong

 

[dickieo]

the new satellite that WAS being launched by the russians blew up just after launch costing billions of pounds , new one wont be ready for 6 months or more , so no worries with finding a satellite as they are still using the old one .

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[Satandpcguy]

Year before last, ffi & I overwintered in Calpe and even tho' it was a known tuff spot for reception, we managed with a 1.1metre dish.
Since then, I believe that changes to the footprint have been introduced and, coupled with the fact that this winter we'd like to go further south towards Malaga, I'm wondering if we'll have ANY chance with ANY dish?

Yes, you will be able to receive some UK TV channels with "any dish".

Basically those "cheap channels" on Eutelsats are available in most of Spain still.
And it is likely that you will still get the channels on the new satellites "European" beams, in the same way you can receive channels on the current Astra 2As south beam on most dishes.

Reception of the main UK TV channels has and will again be changing. Your past good reception on a 1m dish is because those channels were moved from their previous satellite (that required 1.8 / 2.4m dishes to receive), to a temporary satellite - whose beam is a bit more generous.

The first new satellite, 2F has been operational since December 2012, and in that area a 1.1m dish may just about receive the channels on that satellite - including BBC1HD Wales, BBC1HD Scotland, ITV1, ITV1HD, C4HD, and the "fives" - assuming they don't change anything. However, in other areas, like around Barcelona, to receive this channel you need a much larger dish - around 1.5/1.8m, and in Portugal and very south Spain at least a 2.4m dish...A 1.25m dish is recommended south of the Torrevieja way, but that is not saying a smaller dish will not get some signals, but the further south you go towards Malaga, the signal drops off, and you may not get the channels on 2F on that sized dish.

Here is a link to a reception report map for various dish sizes for the UK beam on Astra 2F - https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msi...l=45.614037,11.513672&spn=23.549153,39.506836 - which suggests dishes measuring 1.25m x 1.35m are not getting Astra 2F UK beam channels in the Malaga area


The second new satellite was due to carry the remaining BBC ITV C4 channels, from 1N, but its launch in July was delayed due to a Russian rocket failure (sensors installed upside down and made a mess of 200m dollars worth of Russian GPS satellites) on an earlier launch . There is no new launch date for 2Es launch, it is nice and safe in storage, but it is thought that it will be launched late September, and be operational a month or two after.

What the reception of 2Es is like in Spain, and what sized dish you will need will not be known until it is operational. Reception may be like 2Fs, and areas of Spain may still receive it on 1m dishes, or they may need larger dishes...it is unknown until it is transmitting.

So reception in Spain will depend on where you are, what sized dish you have, and what satellite and satellite beam the channel you want to watch is on - which is nothing different to now, or before...

But yes, you will be able to get channels, but maybe not the one you want....

from what I have read and seen, little to no chance after September as the satellites are being rearranged again and it will be difficult to get a signal even in the North. The new footprint is being moved up to give better coverage to scotland and less to the near continent.

But in some areas of Spain reception has improved over what we had previously.
Previously some channels like BBC2, BBC2, BBC4 were not available 24/7 even on 3,1m dishes.
Now I can receive these, and the channels on the first new satellite , on an 80cm dish.
So it is not all doom and gloom, and incorrect to say that reception will be harder...

the new satellite that WAS being launched by the russians blew up just after launch costing billions of pounds , new one wont be ready for 6 months or more , so no worries with finding a satellite as they are still using the old one .

It was not the uK TV satellite that blew up. It was a rocket carrying three Russian GPS satellites. The UK TV satellite was scheduled on the next launch, and is safe in storage.