I have a Comag and it has been quite good, also has the advantage of being compact. What size dish are you taking? When they change satellites it appears that it is going to be increasing difficult to get UK programs in Spain.
Depending on how far south you are going that could be a bit optimisitic. We don't go to Spain that much but from reading posts on other forums you would be lucky to get much south of Barcelona. All this is a bit academic until we know the actual footprint of the new satellite which by most reports will have a much tighter footprint. Trouble is until its in place we can't say with any accuracy. Don't know if Francais has seen this thread but he usually has a bit more info.
David the 2F sat is in place and transmitting with a much reduced footprint. Dish size has now become very important. It is possible that on the coast of France rece[tion may well be unlikely on anything less than a 1 metre dish. Reception reports can be read on Rob's sat webpage
its what I use though I am mindful I may need a bigger dish this year but with your 80cm you may be OK. It seems 1 metre is working in Benidorm on new 2f but its the receiver you are buying it for as its the comag as mentioned, which is 240 and 12 volt
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------------- Mark
Uttoxeter (Race days)
Le Serignan Plage (clothed one) August and Scheveningen on way back
The problem with boxes such as the Comag is that they don't have a Freesat EPG and don't update automatically when channels change transponders. Designated Freesat boxes and Sky boxes update automatically.
Probably the best satellite receiver is the Humax Foxsat HD. These are sensitive and will receive channels when other boxes fail to do so. They also use an HDMI lead so if you have a modern HD TV you can get the HD channels and you don't need a scart lead that can be troublesome.
Yep, used Sky box's and Sky+ box, got a Comag for real problem signal areas, but the best all rounder has been the Humax Foxsat HDR, even when you can't get a satellite signal, you can still watch recorded stuff, quite handy also for when we do over night stops at Premier Classe hotels, just simply connect the Humax into the TV in the room and watch a recorded program, happy days.
As for Dish size in Spain or Southern France (Med etc), Astra2F has really messed things up, you may find you get a signal during the day, then it disappears in the evening when it's time to watch some TV.
And that's using a 1m Dish, we are taking a 80cm Dish down to Frejus in July, back in the day a 50cm was more than adequate to get a picture, so much for progress.
In 1993 at Biot Antibes a 90cm Dish was fine on a heavy shaded campsite Camping du Pylon, not sure that would work in these times.
Just returned from the Algarve and rented a metre+ dish as my 80m was not a goer, the guy that provided the dish was only buying in single dishes as he does not know what reception will be like with the new sat.
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Quote: Originally posted by hymerman2 on 21/3/2013
Just returned from the Algarve and rented a metre+ dish as my 80m was not a goer, the guy that provided the dish was only buying in single dishes as he does not know what reception will be like with the new sat.
we to have just returned from the Algarve and using our 85cm fully automatic dish with autoskew at Turiscampo near Lagos we were able to receive
all channels including BBC1 ITV1 ,2,3,4 Channel 4 but no channel 5 and ALL Sky channels .
Quote: Originally posted by Francais on 17/3/2013 Back in the day a 50cm was more than adequate to get a picture, so much for progress.
In 1993 at Biot Antibes a 90cm Dish was fine on a heavy shaded campsite Camping du Pylon, not sure that would work in these times.
If you are a broadcaster, it is progress. Broadcasters want the satelite signal to be received in specific geography - ie the UK. In the past a Spanish person could buy a UK freesat box, watch BBC without paying licence fee, watch ITV, Sky etc, even though the advertisements are not tagetted at them. I suspect that the Broadcasters are really not that bothered about a bunch of ex-pats and campers
Sorry but I have to disagree, I receive the main French state TV satellite channels here in UK with a 45cm Dish! along with another 100 or so French channels.
I am only not getting a couple of French channels which are soft encrypted, to get the whole service all I would need to do is bring back a Francsat receiver from France, the receivers are around 90€ in the French supermarkets like Le.Eclerc.
So if it's OK for the French, Spanish, Dutch and Germans etc to receive their country's satellite TV on small 60cm Dish's here in the UK and elsewhere in Europe, why should we not be able to do the same for UK satellite TV when we are in Southern Europe etc.
And as for Sky, they were quite happy to get the subscriptions from expat's, living in Spain etc as technically all Sky subscribers are UK based.
And there's me thinking that we are all part of Europe, how wrong I was.
I think mattsurf was having a quite right sarcastic pop at UK broadcasters, they do not really care and for them its probably progress in their Narrow eyes with their matching satellite, they are halting all the freebie non licence payers in Spain and so on. There is many a thing its Ok for the French Germans to do do but not us lot...
Anyway if it helps a friend in Matero just north of Barcelona is receiving channel 5 on a 110 cm dish as 5 is broadcasting in the new 2f as long as they do not mess about anymore 110cm should be OK anywhere North of there.
Perhaps those returning or with friends out there can keep this thread updated with dish sizes receiving what where particularly south and west of Pyrenees and West of Holland.
Don't get me wrong holiday is about holiday, but I like watching my racing and the children ...a dose of CBBC keeps them entertained while breakfast appears..
110 cm dish in a caravan..stowage needed for a large frisbee, still its a bit more shade in Spain
------------- Mark
Uttoxeter (Race days)
Le Serignan Plage (clothed one) August and Scheveningen on way back
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: Satellite boxes
