upgrading satalite (1 Viewer)

[RV 20k]

we have a road pro dome, that doesn't pick up anything south of Parc verger, or the middle of France and nothing in Italy, limited in Germany. so thinking of having a dish. what would people recommend. as we are thinking of going to northern Spain in June next year. We have a 30 foot Thor ace rv. and plenty of solar panels and battery power. thanks for any help

 

[Sheddy]

As a result of the Astra Satellite changes earlier this year, the reception area for the majority of UK freesat (BBC, ITV, CH5 CH4 etc ) channels has been greatly reduced. Even if you fit a very large rooftop dish you will not get those channels in the majority of the north of Spain.
This site has more info of reception in Spain
http://www.satandpcguy.com/Site/astra_2e_satellite_reception_footprint_uk_tv_spain.php

You should already be able to receive encrypted SKY channels through a SKY box if you subscribe also a few of the other film channels. I managed to get my sky channels on my Camos+ twin crank up system as far south as Piza in Italy earlier this year.

 

[mikeman]

Hi
I have an 85cm Oyster dish which picks up british tv in Carcasonne, southern France and Albenga in Italy. When I was just south of Barcelona in march the van next to me had the same size dish and got a signal but the trees got in the way for me.
Mike

 

[RV 20k]

Thanks we have looked at an oyster 85 but can not work out the difference between the single and the twin. and what they mean by this. also we have to find someone who will fit in the middle of wales. any ideas will be gratefully received as everyone I have contacted wont come to us. Nationwide is not quite nationwide.

 

[Bailey58]

I imagine there's no great difference between the single and twin apart from the fact that the latter has a twin LNB which will give you the two inputs you need for a Sky, or any other digibox, to allow the recording one and watching another channel at the same time.

Edit: A weekend at Eddievanbitz on their campsite at Taunton is an option.

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[eddie]

Your welcome to come to us We have pitches for the larger RV's, three of us own RV's and you get 10% Funsters discount

 

[nomadic]

Thanks we have looked at an oyster 85 but can not work out the difference between the single and the twin. and what they mean by this. also we have to find someone who will fit in the middle of wales. any ideas will be gratefully received as everyone I have contacted wont come to us. Nationwide is not quite nationwide.

There's a company in Birmingham who will fit on site, www.conradanderson.co.uk and I think Roadpro also have a mobile service.

 

[Chipster]

Pretty sure Conrad Anderson don't do mobile but Jacksons Satellites do.

 

[JeanLuc]

Interesting to see the map produced by Satand PCguy - link above. It seems that even with a 1 metre dish, reception of Astra 2E is patchy in Southwest France and once into Spain, a 2 metre dish is required for reliable reception. Not much point in spending money upgrading the dish on a motorhome methinks. If UK TV is that important it might be better to get a free standing 2 or 2.5 metre dish and plant it outside on a pole.
I'll stick with the trusty Camos 40 (Roadpro predecessor) and carry a stock of DVDs and books.

 

[Manic]

You could try 'www.carafit.co.uk' they are at Crosshands near Carmarthen, we had our dome fitted by them a few years ago.

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[RV 20k]

Thank you everyone for your replies, difficult to decide. we have to replace it with something as it isn't working at all . so we need to decide do we replace with the same a dome or a dish. the fitting is another problem. getting time away to get it done. or have someone come to us. decisions decisions.

 

[eddie]

I honestly don't think that you'll achieve much by changing so long as your existing system is working and it appears that it is.

If you have a Sky subscription, as already mentioned "technically" (all your not meant to take your box from you house) you would receive your subscribed channels much wider afield.

If you draw a curved line from Bordeaux to Lyon, South of that you will struggle to get BBC, ITV, Channel4 and Channel Five (including all derivatives) North you'll have no issues whether a dish or a dome

The only exception is that ITV2,3 & 4 HD are on the European beam as well as Sky

 

[RV 20k]

it has broken, it is not working. it broke down around the third week of our holiday in France this year. we haven't had it repaired but it did work until we were at Cognac, then died. it was then dead it Brittany and is still dead now which is a pain as we live in the van at weekends, to help run the family Pub. So we are deciding to replace with the same or a dish.

 

[JeanLuc]

Well, if you have a Roadpro dome and it was fitted by an approved fitter, they have a 5 year warranty I think. Since the Roadpro domes have been around for less than 5 years, would that not be the first matter to explore?

 

[Gaston aires]

Thanks we have looked at an oyster 85 but can not work out the difference between the single and the twin. and what they mean by this. also we have to find someone who will fit in the middle of wales. any ideas will be gratefully received as everyone I have contacted wont come to us. Nationwide is not quite nationwide.

They refer to single or twin LNB ( the bit that picks up the signal ). Go for twin everytime. Then you can run 2 TVs or record onto the hard drive if you have one ( skyplus or Humax ).
Phil

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[jumar]

Hi, my late summer threads appear to have fallen on deaf ears, so to speak.
In N Spain on a 85cm oyster I get UK Tv. Beeb, ITV and loads more. At home in Totana, Murcia on a 1.35m I get exactly what you folk get in the UK, some areas get nothing, 20 k from here for example. I can speak from experience not from chit chat. If you know how to make minor lnb adjustments, you can receive more than some people tell you.

 

[eddie]

As we sell the equipment we have to tell people where their equipment is guaranteed to work. There will be anomalies for sure, as you say 20Km from you , nothing. Sky is transmitted on the European beam, BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel Five is on the UK spot beam which has been deliberately reduced to provide a better service for the millions that live in the UK and pay for the service.

Many people don't even realise that you should have a TV licence for a mobile home, motorhome or caravan unless you sign a declaration that there will be no one at your address, watching TV simultaneously, which gives a clue to the attitude of the powers that be regarding mobile use!

Great news getting it in Northern Spain

 

[jumar]

I agree with most of what's been written above, but the points I like to make sure are getting across are that, yes, some changes have happened but in some areas we haven't had it so good, in reception terms. For example only last week whilst watching BBC 1 we experienced a heavy downpour at 2000hrs, TV reception was maintained throughout, before the big Switch Off, which never happened the signal would have been lost on the arrival of the first storm cloud. I know I am using a 1.35m static dish sited next to my house, my other point is get to know your equipment and how you can tweek some settings to maintain reception, professional equipment fitters like Eddie, can help you achieve this, the initial posting of RV20k asked about Northern Spain, as already stated my Oyster works there and only beyond Braga in Portugal did I lose my signal. I hope we are all operating on the same Sat. 28° Astra 2. None of the above applies to Astra 1 at 19° which still works well on most dish sizes, however only a few channels in English. Many Spanish Terrestrial channels stream across in English, signals are generally good and are digital.