freesat in france

[vonnie]

is this the right place for asking set up questions- am a first timer to all this! we have moved to france and need to access freesat to get some uk tv as can't get through winter with just french tv!! we have bought a kit from brico depot that includes an 80cm Axil dish and a boston DVB4500 free to air receiver and an LNB that seems to be for receiving astra and hotbird. can we set it up to receive free to air from uk- not sure if have to get this on astra 2A or eurobird. we live near carcassonne in france and want some help as we are total novices at this game(we had cable in the uk so no set up problems!!). any answers will be very helpful- thanks for all we have read so far on a great forum.
vonnie

 

[HB13DISH]

You need to point the dish to Astra 28.2E
_http://www.lyngsat.com/28east.html
The LNB you bought is probably for Astra 19.2E and Hot Bird 13E (6 degrees difference)
The dish size 80cm is probably too small for all weather conditions, but I am sure that someone living in France might give a more precise size.

 

[rolfw]

An 80cm is probably at the lower limit for all weather reception, a 90cm would probably be better. You can use the monobloc LNB, but you will only receive one satellite with it, try and identify which side is the default side and mount that side in the LNB clamp.

Did the kit come with a little satellite meter?

 

[philbury]

Hi

We run an 80cm dish with a single LNB and get perfect UK fta channels onastra 28.2 from Caunes near Carcassonne.

Phil

 

[Cupart]

I'm using a PACE 3100 with a 1 meter triax dish near Bordeaux and have no drop outs and over 60% quality in really bad weather...

It really depends on where in France you are vonnie, but have alook around and see what your expat fellow Brits / Irish are using and you will know what size of dish you need... Smaller dishes are most likely for TPS (for the time being) and Canal+

 

[lindaC]

Did you have any luck receiving uk channels with your 4500 receiver? We also bought one at Bricodepot in Montlucon,Allier, but are having problems receiving uk channels. Can you help?

 

[rolfw]

Are you having problems picking up the satellite, or just the Astra 2D channels like BBC and ITV?

 

[lindaC]

We have hotbird and can receive bbc world news and cnn but no bbc itv etc.

 

[satelliteman]

We have hotbird and can receive bbc world news and cnn but no bbc itv etc.

BBC & ITV are not transmitted on Hotbird/13East.

You need Astra 28East

 

[lindaC]

Thankyou for your help, we will give it a try.

 

[vonnie]

did not have any luck with our satellite from bricodepot so took it back and have decided to try again next year when move to our new house in limoux. by then will know what we need and may get it set up properly so can get sky etc. thanks to all who gave suggestions.
vonnie

 

[lindaC]

Thanks for your help tv working fine on 28.2. Now able to get UK channels.

Linda

 

[hammymac]

I have just tried to instal a Goodmans Freesat connected to my new HD TV - nothing.
The Sky box which I currently use to receive the free channels usually gives me a good reception except during the evening. The signal quality is shown as 100% and the signal strength at 90%.
I have an 80cm dish and a clear view south.
Any tips or advice would be welcome.

 

[Topper]

Without knowing what part of France you are is difficult to help, 80cm seems well borderline even if in a good area, if it is not professionally aligned. Different receivers have different tuners and therefore different levels of sensitivity. Also is the new stb set up correctly?
Can you consistently receive the channels OK using your HD tv and your current sky box?
The fact that you say the signal disappears in the evenings suggests that your setup is marginal at best

 

[hammymac]

Without knowing what part of France you are is difficult to help, 80cm seems well borderline even if in a good area, if it is not professionally aligned. Different receivers have different tuners and therefore different levels of sensitivity. Also is the new stb set up correctly?
Can you consistently receive the channels OK using your HD tv and your current sky box?
The fact that you say the signal disappears in the evenings suggests that your setup is marginal at best

Thanks for the reply. I am close to Toulon and the system was installed by a professional who comes well recommended. The existing sky box works well with the exception of evenings. Once it starts to become dark channels such as ITV 3 and More 4 etc start to pixulate very slightly. The signal strength and quality are consistently 100% and 90% which is much better than my set up 400km further north in Lyon where I use a 60cm mesh dish. The signal strength and quality there show 80% and 60% and I only ever loose the signal in very severe weather.
Is the stb set up correctly? I think so as I simply followed the instructions and when I turn it on - nothing. The HD connection has a choice of Ext 5 or 6 and when selected I continue to get a blank screen.

 

[gouik]

I'm from near Grenoble, and all astra 2d channels, including all BBC, ITV, CH4 and five channels works perfect with a 60 cm dish. Signal quality 60%.

 

[Skiglenshee]

I'm from near Grenoble, and all astra 2d channels, including all BBC, ITV, CH4 and five channels works perfect with a 60 cm dish. Signal quality 60%.

I am a complete newcomer to satellite TV, only having terrestrial digital in the UK. I am trying to find out what I need to receive Freesat in an apartment in Samoens, Haute Savoie. On the Freesat website it says,"freesat uses Astra 2 at 28.2 east and Eurobird at 28.5 east "
Presumably I need the basic UK Freesat decoder, but what sort of dish, and where do I point it?! ie, how do I get the bearing and azimuth from Samoens' lat/long? In the first place, I'll need to check if the satellite is "visible" from the valley.

 

[claireandchris]

we are living in france and have recently bought a satellite dish and receiver so we can watch english tv (bbc, itv, ch4, etc). we are therefore trying to set up our dish to pick up a signal from astra 2d but this is proving to be very frustrating! we are pointing it at 28 east and have adjusted the lnb angle (to -13). we have no problem picking up a signal from astra 1 and hotbird. we have even manually entered the transponder frequencies (from the astra website) into the receiver because astra 2d was not pre-programmed but still nothing. any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[rolfw]

Astra 28.2 East is lower in the Sky than the other two satellite, are you sure that you have a clear line of sight?

PS. Very surprised that there is no Astra 2 in the satellite list.

 

[claireandchris]

There are a lot of trees around us but there is a gap where we are pointing the dish. Astra 2A is pre programmed but not 2D.