I bought a briefcase type from Aldi last year about £50. I have tried to make it work several times and because we had a week away recently I was determined to make it work. After some time pfaffing about got a signal. I had about 300 channels and a lot were duplicated. There must be about 20 BBC1's so overall not that impressed.
------------- A barman is just a pharmacist
with a limited inventory
I take my Sky box from home, and use a dish mounted on a camera tripod.
After the first initial set up in which I nearly gave up and threw it in the bin, it now usually takes 10 minutes tops to have it all set up on site.
I do have an application on my mobile though which assists in satellite location and is a simple thing to use.
Once I have the general location a few fine tuning tweeks is all it takes to get the full range of programs I get at home.
I bought my portable satelite set from maplins that works off 12v or mains & use it all the time, just had 2 weeks in Yorkshire it worked a treat. I had a tripod but it kept blowing over so purchase a kit which clamps onto the jockey wheel, it only takes a few minutes to set up, its getting used to it, I have a digi box in the caravan but only works on mains, we go on sites where there is no power so rely on solar! The problem with this is bright weather this has been in short supply, so the panel is only producing about half its capacity so inturn limits your power usage [ration tv] The satelite does duplicate channels 20 BBC etc but it allows you to get a local weather forcast which can be useful plus you get channels that are not on freeview.The draw back with satelite is if you are close to trees or high ground infront of the dish, while in Scotland some places you cannot get even a radio signal.
yes you can.
setting up was three hours first time can now do it in 10 minutes.use compass,point dead south,turn dish east to 140 / 145 degs and you are on line for the satellite.have dish vertical.
Post last edited on 09/07/2012 22:10:09
------------- the only silly question is the one you do not ask.
Quote: Originally posted by andyrbruce on 09/7/2012
....Thinking of getting a Satellite setup for our holiday to the New forest.
I have an Aldi kit, works very well; as suggested, ex-Sky dishes and -box usually work well - but - whichever you use, you need a clear line-of-sight to the satellite - if there are trees, buildings, whatever - it just won't work....
Gram
------------- What's the difference between a chicken?
When going to new forest if the site has trees, look at direction you need to point dish and make sure you have a pitch which will not block the line of signal yo the dish. I also have Aldi system works fine.
This is the reply that I gave to another query a couple of days ago under the topic: portable satellite kit:
I have a portable satellite kit bought from Maplins online, I had a choice of a new one at about £120 or a 'refurbished' one at £49.95. I chose the latter and it was actually brand new, just the outer case was very slightly scratched! I don't think it came with a SCART lead, but they're only about a fiver.
It's actually easy to set up, just follow the instruction booklet. You need to assemble the dish components, connect the lead from the dish to your receiver, connect the receiver to the tv with the SCART lead, connect power to them both and turn 'em on. Aim the dish slightly east of south (a cheap compass will do the trick, or look at other dishes on site to see which way they're pointing) and make sure the dish is vertical, not pointing at the sky. You must sure that there are no tall trees, buildings, etc. blocking the dish's 'view' of the satellite.Press the 'INFO' button on the receiver remote and on the television you'll see two horizontal bars showing signal intensity and signal quality. Don't panic! Now you need to press 1 (I think) and this will give you an audible low tone, but you may need to increase your tv volume to hear it, especially if the dish is some way away from the tv. Back to the dish now, adjust the dish in a horizontal plane only 2-3 mm at a time until you hear the low tone turn to a high tone. When this happens you will have a crystal-clear picture from the satellite! Fix the dish in this position so that it doesn't move and that's it. All you need to do now is to search for channels. On the receiver hand-set there is a button marked 'Search'. It takes a few minutes but you'll get something like 420 channels plus 60-odd radio channels, although a lot are encrypted, such as Sky. The television hand-set is not used apart from volume, colour, etc., everything is done on the receiver hand-set.
If I've made any errors, I apologise, but I'm writing this from memory as my satellite kit is packed away for a while. However, the instruction book is quite comprehensive and if you 'play' at home first you'll find it child's play on site. Enjoy!
I use a £20 dish bought off t'internet bolted to an upside-down portable rotary washing line bought from the my local caravan dealership for £5. Using an old SKY digibox (again, £5 off eBay) with a Freesat card in it I can get all of the usual channels available on Freeview.
It's brilliant, using a compass to set the direction of the dish as mentioned before on the thread, I can have the telly up and running in 5 mins (it takes longer to connect the cables up).
A dish takes away the uncertainty of signal and mystery of direction that fighting with an aerial involves but I'm not absolutely sure of the effect that trees have on the signal. On two recent trips to the Cotswold View site near Chipping Norton, my dish was pointing straight at a ring of tall trees surrounding the central playground and I got a perfect signal and picture both times.
My dish has a quad LNB on it meaning my mate can plug his SKY box into it too so we don't each have to take one with us.
Use this site to see exactly what direction to point your dish on-site.
We bought a kit of E Bay looked great value, dish tripod, box with remote signal finder and all the leads with instructions. First time out it worked great down in Dorset after the initial 2 hr set up, never got it working again despite several attempts at various locations through out the country. Decided to stick with the status aerial on the van and watch what ever we can.
Good Luck
------------- Not here for a long time Just here for a good time
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Satellite TV help
