Maplins Portable Satellite System

steveclecy

steveclecy

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Does anyone have any experience of a portable satellite system from Maplins Link Removed .

It looks good value. Would love to have a permanently mounted fully motorised system, but funds not really available.

Steve
 
i had a similar one but never used the dish. not really big enough.

i used a domestic dish on a pole.

you do need a good audible/visual satfinder to set them up as they can be fiddly and tempremental.

the receiver looks the same, mine was a 'Porty' brand and worked quite well.

had a more user freindly EPG than my Zender reciever that i use now.
 
I have a similar one I bought from Maplins for about £45 a few years ago. Setting it up is easy, it takes longer connecting the cable up. Once everything is plugged in I can get a signal in about a minute or two. There isn't any need for a satelite finder as you can use the setup on the TV to see the signal strength. I did modify the mounting as the one supplied didn't make it easy to find a signal. I fixed the mounting to a block which will clip onto a tripod head this way I can control the elevation & azimuth individually. Set the elevation so the dish is vertical then just rotate the dish until you pick up a signal. You can then tweak the elevation t increase the signal strength. Used my dish all the way down to the south of Spain but tend to lose a lot of programs when we get south of Biarritz but still get the news programs & all the UK radio stations.
 
Kon tiki said:
I have a similar one I bought from Maplins for about £45 a few years ago. Setting it up is easy, it takes longer connecting the cable up. Once everything is plugged in I can get a signal in about a minute or two. There isn't any need for a satelite finder as you can use the setup on the TV to see the signal strength. I did modify the mounting as the one supplied didn't make it easy to find a signal. I fixed the mounting to a block which will clip onto a tripod head this way I can control the elevation & azimuth individually. Set the elevation so the dish is vertical then just rotate the dish until you pick up a signal. You can then tweak the elevation t increase the signal strength. Used my dish all the way down to the south of Spain but tend to lose a lot of programs when we get south of Biarritz but still get the news programs & all the UK radio stations.
Click to expand...


Experience !

i always had trouble so ditched it and bought a maxview crankup.:thumb:
 
steveclecy said:
Does anyone have any experience of a portable satellite system from Maplins Link Removed .

It looks good value. Would love to have a permanently mounted fully motorised system, but funds not really available.

Steve
Click to expand...

Got one. Not used it much ( rather watch a DVD ) but it does what it says on the tin.

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steveclecy said:
Does anyone have any experience of a portable satellite system from Maplins Link Removed .

It looks good value. Would love to have a permanently mounted fully motorised system, but funds not really available.

Steve
Click to expand...

Got the £99 version, black dish denotes the difference ( wee bit stronger construction I am told ! ) and has worked 100% in the UK.:Eeek:

As has been mentioned : " It does what it says on the tin " !:Rofl1:

Very easy to set up ( I have got a new app on my iphone which I must say, is fantastic and makes setting up childs play ) but is a little flimsy and can be affected by higher strength winds.:Doh:

Considering it comes with the receiver included, which works very well, go for it ... you can't loose.:thumb:

One thing to note, the included scart lead is pants so factor in a decent but inexpensive new lead and your sorted.:thumb:

Good luck .........:Rofl1: :BigGrin:
 
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We have a similar system and it is very good and have used it as far down France as the Dordogne
 
steveclecy said:
Does anyone have any experience of a portable satellite system from Maplins Link Removed .

It looks good value. Would love to have a permanently mounted fully motorised system, but funds not really available.

Steve
Click to expand...

The receiver is very similar to the Maxview which is sold for around £80 .As said earlier you do not need a sat finder as it is built in . The small dish makes it a lot easier to set up in the UK , but gets a bit more difficult once you cross the channel .If you upgrade later on to as P/John recommends , and I would second that then the receiver is a good match for that system .:thumb:
 
Had a similar system for my caravan had it about a year only had a picture from it twice, a couple of things it was fantastic for was

1 causeing arguments between me and the misses

2 Making me look a complete plank spending hours setting it up

Seen loads working fine maybe i am just a plank but i couldnt get on with it.
 
Steve

I would echo everything that has been said about the Maplins system. It is excellent value for money though mine is the black plastic dish version.

I bought mine 4 years ago as I could not justify a roof mounted system and was not sure if I really wanted TV in the van. But, for £70-ish it was within budget and the reviews suggested it was a very good system. No regrets at all, it is a cracking bit of kit and, as stagman has said, the receiver is the same as the Maxview one (as is the rest of the black dish kit).

Setup with the built in signal meter/sound is a doddle once you have found the general location of the satellite using the time honoured method of copying the next door van's dish position or the supplied compass. I have logged on to Sky and BBC News as far south as Annecy.

The receiver is mains/12v operated so mains hookup is not essential. It is the perfect wildcamping system.

I have since fitted a Camos crank-up on the roof but still use the Maplins receiver with excellent results.

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Maplins Satelite Kit

We have used one for about 3 years. Works fine even the suckers stick to the van most of the time. There is a knack to setting it up and you do need a sat finder.
We can receive UK TV down as far as the Loire.
As stated by other owners, very often whilst away we would rather chat to the neighbours or watch a DVD. Unless of course University Chalenge or Mastermind is on, then I am under extreme pressure to get it working.

Steve
 
Bought one of these systems a few years ago, so it's a black dish. Not often used in the van because our Tribute is generally used for touring and it's not usually worth carting the largish carry case around and setting it up every night.
However until recently we used the system regularly as our main domestic system in a French house we were doing up in Lower Normandy. Each time we arrived I clamped the dish to the fence and pointed it at Astra where it received all the free to air channels. Picture quality and signal strength were more than adequate in that area of france and a choice of satellites.
The swivel clamp is a bit cheap and jerky but even so once i learned the technique I found the small dish very easy to line up using an ordinary compass and the built in signal strength picture (of course you need to see the TV clearly to use that).
My technique - Do not be tempted to try and move the dish while watching the signal meter. There is a delay in the meter, but more importantly your touching the dish messes up the signal, so all you get is confusing variable signals. Instead clamp the dish almost tight (so it can only just move) pointing just to one side of where the compass suggests then move it a tiny amount at a time across the sky where the satellite is. After each tiny movement let go, step back away from the dish, wait a second, then check the signal. Once you find a signal keep doing similar small movements to get the strongest point, side to side and up/down, but after every small adjustment step away from the dish to read the strength. If the scan fails aim up (or down) a bit and repeat. That usually found the signal easily within a dozen or so moves, and never took more than a couple of minutes.

Chris
 
Hi
We have had a suitcase dish etc for 2 years and it works a treat
I clamp it onto the rearview mirror bracket or the bike rack

I set up the tv so that i can see the screen though the window
Usually takes about 10mins to set up and get a lock on

Have used it in france and it worked ok there too

Happy Daze
Chrisboyo
 
It seem obvious to me that these suit some people but not others, so should you be one of the others with an unused suitcase sat or even just a 12V sat receiver stuck in a drawer. Do please give me a shout I'd like to try it.

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Wildman said:
It seem obvious to me that these suit some people but not others, so should you be one of the others with an unused suitcase sat or even just a 12V sat receiver stuck in a drawer. Do please give me a shout I'd like to try it.
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:Rofl1:

I was actually planning on the same by pleading with the latter group!

Nice one!

Steve
 
I have the black dish as well it does get a good picture when you get it right but i found it very fiddly so have started using a spare oval sky dish which i mount on a large speaker stand tripod using the bracket from the maplins one and have found i set it up a lot faster with that dish. I also sometimes took my spare sky box and card it depended on when we were away as channel 4 and 5 were a must but now they can be picked up on the maplins receiver

maggie
 
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The Labgear one at Screwfix doesn't say that it's 12 volt & the dish looks like it's meant more for a permanent fixing. Still not bad for the money.
 
whiskers27 said:
Had a similar system for my caravan had it about a year only had a picture from it twice, a couple of things it was fantastic for was

1 causeing arguments between me and the misses

2 Making me look a complete plank spending hours setting it up

Seen loads working fine maybe i am just a plank but i couldnt get on with it.
Click to expand...

Same here matey , peed about for 2 days got millions of foreign channels but no english , gave it up as a bad job and took it back now the wifes not feeling so lonely .
 
dshague said:
there is a system at screwfix for £39.99
Labgear Free-to-Air Satellite Kit - Screwfix.com, Where the Trade Buys
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Well spotted! I hadn't noticed that and it looks excellent value - I might buy one for home. But isn't it a fixed type, 60cm metal dish, domestic 240 volt system? Can't really be sure as Screwfix don't provide a specification!

The Maplin travel system I have is a small lightweight plastic dish, runs off 12 or 240 volt and eveything fits in a tidy storage case. But I see maplin are asking over £120 quid for the kit at the moment and I'm sure I paid a lot less than that!

Chris

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maplins

we have the suitcase 12volt system don t know why we bought it can t get it to work even sent it back to maplins where they tested it and said it is in good working order we cannot get a thing nor can any of our friends who tried for us they have one and theirs works fine have it lying in spare room also we sometimes take a mini sky dish on a pole with us:
 
Darn it, the one I linked to has now been removed - it was £79.99

Steve
 
steveclecy said:
Does anyone have any experience of a portable satellite system from Maplins Link Removed .

It looks good value. Would love to have a permanently mounted fully motorised system, but funds not really available.

Steve
Click to expand...

The receivers are much the same for the price anywhere. It is the dish that will be a let down. If you are in the UK, you will need to use a 45cm to 60 cm for up north and on the continent, it would vary from 60cm to 80cm to pick up Astra 2D up to about the north of Italy.

Setting up is normally a breeze if you remember a few points. Elevatiion of the dish in the UK is about 28deg.in the midlands while in France it would start to go up to 30 and beynond. In the south of Italy where I am now it is 46 deg. So bear in mind the 28 you start from home and as you go south it would get larger, going north it gets smaller.

Once you have that in mind, if you face south and mentally measure and move the dish to about 30deg to your left, you should hit Astra 2D at 28.5 but before that you will also look in on Hotbird at 13 and Astra at 19. Beyond that it is a really nice hobby which I enjoy mostly at home with a larger dish and an 80cm that I now transport on the van either on the roof (face down and clipped on tightly) r clipped and tied on the back of the van behind the ladder.
 

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