I bought a small satellite dish about 10 years ago and would like to use it in France this year if possible to get uk tv and radio. I am a complete novice in this area, and wondered if I buy a 2nd hand receiver on eBay if this is possible. Any advice on this including how to set it up and whether it might work would be very welcome....
A 40 cm dish would work in northern France, but further down you would needing about 90 - 100 cps diameter. A short time ago they tightened the beam and this made the ability to receive the signal more critical - perhaps not happy with Freesat.
Bertie.
A 40cm dish should be OK in most of northern France but once you get down as far as the Dordogne you will need something around 60cm.
Right down south near the Med you would need to start thinking in terms of 1metre and even 1.2m in some places.
To give you some idea of what is involved in aiming a sat dish, try Googling an article that I wrote some years ago for fellow caravanners. Some of the info may be a bit dated by now but it may help.
Just Google “The art of aiming a satellite dish”.
BTW, forget Sky, get a Freesat receiver and aim the dish at the Astra 2 group of satellites located at 28.2 degrees East of South.
Francais can also give you a lot of up-to-date advice.
Good luck.
Vin Blanc
Post last edited on 06/09/2018 15:05:31
------------- Now retired from active caravanning. - really miss it!
Fantastic, I will look up your article. We are starting in the Dordogne, but are aiming on spending more time abroad in the future, so may well be worth getting this fixed up for later visits.
I would say go for a 1m dish for use in the Dordogne, probably slight overkill as 80cm may be OK, but what will do more will do less.
As for receiver one of the Humax units would be a good choice, nice user friendly Freesat epg, and the PVR (Freesat+) models are worth going for.
Another good recieve choice is the the Sab Titan Micro, super tiny FTA receiver, not Freesat but you will get all the Freesat channels, and can also be a PVR.
Yep Kelper, KU Band satellite reception is on it's way out, the Birds probably only have around 10 years life left in them.
By that time SpaceX StarLink system should be with us, ultra fast broadband via LEO system, some 4000 Birds.
All you will need at your pitch in Southern Europe is a 20cm flat antenna, and the laptop or phone will do the rest, which will enable you to watch Freeview or whatever kit you have at home, Virgin Media box etc.
Quote: Originally posted by The 2 Tops on 06/9/2018
A 40 cm dish would work in northern France, but further down you would needing about 90 - 100 cps diameter. A short time ago they tightened the beam and this made the ability to receive the signal more critical - perhaps not happy with Freesat.
Bertie.
We have used our Maxview 55cm dish as far down as La Rochelle with no issues. However a 40cm dish will struggle even in northern France unless right by the coast.
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Topic: Can I watch uk tv in france
