Well with the recent changes in the Astra2 Satellite line up, which is putting a Spot Beam onto UK so a larger Dish is now required for down in the South of France say 1m and Spain is almost a no no for the Freesat channels.
I am thinking of returning to have just Radio like in the good old days of Short Wave.
But of course the BBC Europe SW transmissions were turned of, when the WorldSpace Service was started up.
WorldSpace was a great idea, portable radios were available that had a Antenna the size of a beer mat and BBC/Commercial radio was available throughout Europe and Africa.
The Satellite being used was Sirius, and another called Afristar, and Radios were available from Hitachi and Panosonic to name but two.
But this system appears to be no more having gone bankrupt, a quick google brings up scant information as to what the situation is for WorldSpace satellite radio owners.
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I know the system you are talking about Francais, think the internet must have been the nail in the coffin.
You still get the odd radio pop up on Ebay now and then, more so the Hitachi model.
According to wiki the satellites where boosted out of the way with what remaining fuel they had back in 2010.
Think it is still up and running in the States.
------------- TomnGill
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Hi Tom.n.Gill
Yep it is a pity WorldSpace failed a format that made Radio truly portable.
Just in the same way that satellite makes TV truly portably, it seems OK for other European countries to be able to watch there local TV anywhere in Europe with a small Dish.
But once again us Brits get shafted again .
Internet is fine and using a SlingBox for out of UK viewing is probably the best option, but only. If you have a good internet connection.
Using a mobile 4G connection could work best for campers but at what cost, I am sure it would be prohibitive.
Wi-Fi on most campsites often only works well close to the Bar, for obvious reasons.
I just see it as though we have gone backwards, as the technology has leaped forward.
I have a Roberts radio with short wave, in France I have received Australian weather forecasts and American evangelists, sadly I have never found BBC World Service on SW once out of range of LW.
Sadly the old English language communist stations are no more, there extreme political bias was always good for a laugh; and you could enter the names of your enemies in the competitions to get them onto propaganda mailing lists. Questions were of the "Why is the Western capitalist system doomed to collapse while the magnificent communist world state will go on forever?" type.
We used satellite to listen to Radio 2 and 5 last year, near Tours. They have focused the beam more on the UK since then so when we go back will just have to wait and see what we can get. Got an 80cm dish might have to go for a bigger one.
Bramston they still broadcast the world service on SW in to France, but shortwave can be a bit hit and miss, and as for the commies converting us, would think the internet and the thought of Lada cars was the other nail in the coffin!!!!
------------- TomnGill
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For us these satellite changes will not be much of an issue, all I need is to catch up on the News and to have a laugh at the July weather reports from back home.
So as luck would have it Sky News TV which is transmitted in the clear, is on the Astra 2F WideBeam so can be received almost anywhere in Europe with just a 60cm Dish.
So no problem for me getting that with my 1m Dish, we are not bothered by not being able to get the Freesat channels that are on the Astra2 Spot Beam, but if we do it will be a bonus.
Also from what I can tell, BBC Radio 4 along with Radio 1 and 2 and maybe the commercial Radio stations are also on the Wide Beam, which is another bonus for me as I often like to listen to the wireless!, more so than watching TV.
I will be keeping an eye on the satellite reception reports, maybe when we go back to the Ardeche in June 2015 we may get all the Freesat channels with the 1m Dish, being almost 200 miles North of Frejus were we are going this year, may make all the difference, who knows.
Just to let you know that we are using a 1.4m dish in Spain at La Manga which when used with a decent LNB will pick up all the usual BBC and ITV channels.
So things are not as bad as what some folk would have us think, is your reception report based on this last week, and current as of today.
Having said that, carting around a 1.4m Dish, maybe a Dish to far for most folk.
This is the current situation and I watched the rugby on BBC this afternoon, watching the Voice now.
There's a good chance that a 1m dish will work in the South of France and I will be trying my own 1m dish when we travel that way home in May.
Mike
O
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Hi Mike.
That is great news, from what I can tell, all the satellite changes have now been completed, so with a bit of luck things will stay as they are now for upto the next 15 years or so for the Freesat channels at least.
So maybe my 1m Gibertini Dish with Invacom LNB will bring in all the Freesat channels whilst I am down in Frejus during July this year.
Having said that, back in 2012 we could not get line of sight due to trees whilst down in the Southern Ardeche, so could only get BBC World News TV from HotBird at 13 East which was slightly higher up on the horizon than Astra2 at 28.2 East, so that was a jip.
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Topic: Satellite Radio but no Dish
