im sure this has been asked before but I can't find the answers I want..
How do I begin to view Sky in my caravan I know I need a skybox but what dish is best and how do I get the signal sent to the caravan? I know that Sky need to match all the bits up like handset to box and viewing card to box,so do I need another box and card etc..and how do I get the signal sent to mt dish on the caravan or do I do none or all theses thing ,sorry I'm confused ....please help a oap new to the age of Sky...
We have multi-room or whatever they call it now. Just take the box from the 'extra' room with you when you go away.
As to a dish a standard sky dish costing 20 quid with brackets will do for this country. If you want to go to Northern Europe a slightly bigger dish (say the sky one for Scotland will do) its about 0.79m x 0.6m roughly, but in any event it will work as far south as Bezier no probs.
All you need next is something to mount it on and a way to point the thing at the satellites at 28.2 east of due south and you've won.
For this I'd recommend Dishpointer Pro an app for iPhone or android which using the smartphone camera will let you see whether you have clear line of sight to the satellite for your location. A compass to get your starting point aiming the dish at 28.2 degrees east of due south, and a meter capable of selecting the signal from the satellites you want. For this I'd use something like the Horizon Nanosat.
The meters in the cheapo kits will respond to any of the many satellites up there within a few degrees of space. The Nanosat will only respond to the satellite you have chosen from its menu and it will ignore the rest.
This is the simplest way to do it - others will no doubt disagree but to each their own.
Thank you for all you help ...David a lot of good detail in your reply..The satellite dish is only for use in UK & Northern Europe Francais..I will check the website too I show . So I don't need to contact Sky just use my home Satbox card and handset when I go..if I wanted to take another box can I use my home address card?
Hi bigssy, your Sky Card will only work in the current box that you have, for the Sky Card to work in another Sky Box the card will need to be parred to that Sky Box.
Another way to skin the cat if you intend to use a seperate Sky Box to the one you have at home, is to get a second card of Sky, this is known as MultiRoom.
Of course Sky will charge you an extra £12 per month for having a second card, so unless you can use the second Sky Box elsewhere, like my friend who rents his out to a neighbor for £20 per month!
Well to be fair he does rent 4 Sky Box's out!
You can of course start and stop a MultiRoom card at anytime, although you have to give 30 days notice, that way Sky get at least two months MultiRoom subs of you each year.
Sky coverage over Europe is mostly fine so a 60cm Dish is as big as you will need, however the FTA channels like BBC, iTV, Ch4,Ch5 etc are on the UK Spot Beam, for reception of those channels check out Astra2 Spot Beam.
Bigssy, I did this for the first time this year, much easier than I thought. Took the sky dish and cable from a friends house who had moved from Sky, Bought tripod for £20from eBay, bought a sat finder from local screwfix for £10. Lifted multi room box from spare room, plugged it into dish at site, one cable goes straight from lnb to sky box, other goes from lnb to sat finder then on to sky box, pointed to same direction as other dishes on site, then used sat finder to fine tune. All worked well!
(Note I did try to do without tripod on first outing but using pole in ground and strapping to van, worked ok until it got windy! Tripod much better for £20)
A £20 sky card will give you the free stuff and your local BBC / ITV channels in their usual place, but a card is not strictly necessary.
You can also take the box and card from home if you want all facilities of your home box.
You won't be able to record etc with just a £20 card but it is fine for watching freebie TV
Yep oxter I think the OP may be a Sky Subscriber, like you mention the £20 Card for Freesat from Sky is not really needed these days, since they introduced the latest Spot Beam, all the FTV stuff has gone FTA.
In fact if you are not a Sky subscriber or don't want Sky for camping use, then it is much better to use a Freesat Box, at least then if you want Rewind/Pause/Record etc a Freesat+ Box will give you that functionality for nowt.
Another alternative is the "Sab Titan Micro" satellite receiver that can also Rewind/Pause/Record of course being a FTA unit it does not have the pretty EPG that Freesat gives.
What I like about the "Sab Titan Micro" is that it is only about the size of a fag packet and will run's of 12v.
Also the "Sab Titan Micro" has a Cam slot, which could come in handy with the right Cam Module and viewing card.
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: Sky satellite viewing?
