Need Help With Setup For Astra 2D In Zagreb,Croatia.

osioradain

Hi All,

I'm new to this satellite business so any help will be greatly appreciated. I'm setting up a bar in Zagreb Croatia and I want to have the free to air bbc etc. in the bar. I ideally would like to have Sky digital with the sports & ESPN but also RTE(thats on the Sky Ireland package). I basically need a lot of help with the setup and please remember I'm new to this.

I've looked up a lot about it and I think a good 2.4m might do the trick but I dont really understand the whole LNB thing (and lots more), I mean is one best or 4? offset or the other way?

Can you tell me what dish size you think is appropriate, how many LNB's and type of LNB and whatever else you think i would need. And receivers, will anyone do these days or does it have to be that Pace 2600 one? coz I would like to have the Irish Sky box with the Irish channels.
And can you tell me if the equipment is different(dish and LNB) for Sky and free to air stuff? and anything else.

Thanks in advance.

P.S. budget is max €2000

lloydio

I would also like to know what people are using in the region. I have a 1.8m dish in northern Slovenia and cant get any 2d channels. I have heard reports that you need at least a 3m in Slovenia. Also have heard of Successful viewing with a 3m + Pace 2600c in Graz, Austria.

deepbluesky

Take care, i am not that sure that the sizes you're mentioning both are enough for full 24h/7d reception of 2D. I'd recommend in doing research in these 2 local boards:
_http://forum.sibila.si/index.php
_http://www.novisf.com/wbb3/index.php

I demand: Pay-TV subscriptions worldwide available - with any receiver - just like print magazines !
Free access for free citizens now !

osioradain

thanks for the effort deepbluesky but i cant find any help on those pages ,even when i switch the language to english!!

lloydio

the trouble with large dishes is the cost, best price i have seen for a 2.4m is this Italian IRTE:

_http://www.satshop24.de/cgi-bin/satshop24/iboshop.cgi?showd430!0,600065076624355,Irte_2_4m

lloydio

from deepbluesky's croation forum i found the thread your looking for:

_http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.novisf.com%2Fwbb3%2Fdigital na-televizija%2Fnovi-kanali%2Fp68838-astra-2d-u-zagrebu%2F%23post68838&sl=hr&tl=en&history_state0=

osioradain

Thanks for that lloydio, I should've thought of google translate and thank you deepbluesky for the link.
I was trying to join that forum to ask the lads there but it wont accept my email address for some reason. But, I did see one of the lads saying he can confirm that a good offset 1.8m will pick up vertical 2D channels but I cant join the forum to ask for more details.
Can ye lads give me an idea of what would be needed if a good 1.8m will do? what kinda LNB? ect....

lloydio

the best 1.8m that might do the job is a Andrews Channel Master 1.8m offset dish, which may give you a few hours every day:
_http://www.southernsat.co.uk/index.php?l=product_detail&p=219

Although I have doubts that it wont be big enough.

Ideal equipment to use would be.

•Invacom Quad Lnb
•Pace 2600c
•Good quality coax

Please keep us posted on how you get on.

deepbluesky

Just have asked for you here:
_http://www.novisf.com/wbb3/digitalna-televizija/satelitska-oprema/p773288-astra-2d-karta-prijema-za-podru%C4%8Dje-ex-yu/#post773288

I remember Dario Varat from Zagreb having succeeded years ago in receiving some few 2D frequencies on his Gibertini OP150 but this was not permanently the case. He upgraded to 1.80m. Since then unfortunately i have not seen any reports from him. Let's hope that he or anybody else having (at least) such size will answer.

I know for sure that there is a "hotspot" further East so that even on 1.20m in Budapest you can have full reception of all Verticals and 1.80m looks to be sufficient all over Eastern Hungary, Western Romania, Northern Serbia, Northwestern Bulgaria,.. . But the point is how far West does it go ? I have no information about how 2D behaves in Slavonia or further West. In all these regions above mentioned no Horizontals can be received even with far bigger sizes. Zagreb is closer to the beam edge (think i had read long time ago that 1.80m must be sufficient in Trieste) so a 2.40m or 3m might bring also Horizontals but i don't dare to recommend a certain size so it will be on your own risk if you would not even get all the Verticals 24h/7d.

For Slovenia i don't remember even one report. 1.80m might be sufficient especially in western parts of the country. I know for sure that in Klagenfurt this size gives you everything off 2D but just a bit further East and the signal drops a lot. Over Hungary again the Verticals appear so i am quite confused on how the situation looks like in eastern parts of the country.

I demand: Pay-TV subscriptions worldwide available - with any receiver - just like print magazines !
Free access for free citizens now !

lloydio

deepbluesky:

I think your right about there being a cold spot around Slovenia and south east Austria. I did hear that in Ljubljana the British embassy needed a 3m dish to receive BBC, ITV etc.. and the successes I read about in Graz was that they had used a 3m dish also.

osioradain

Thanks a lot for the help lads, I eventually got on to that site Ill let you know what they say.
I still have a few questions if ye dont mind.
Whats the difference between FTA and FTV?
Does the equipment (dish or LNB) differ between Sky Digital and the FTA/FTV?
Will a pace 2600 pick up all the channels available(if the signal is there) or do you need a sky box for sky channels like Irish channels?
thanks again..

Tivù

FTA = Free To Air = Unencrypted and freely available

FTV = Free To View = An expression originally used to describe BSkyB Channels that are Encrypted, but which UK Licence holders are entitled to view without Subscription. ie Card required, at small one-off cost (or an expired Subs Card, although the recent Card change will put the mockers on that avenue for a while)

The FTV Channels are Encrypted because it is the only way of restricting viewing outside the UK (allegedly!) as they are not on the Footprint restricted Astra 2D.

At it's simplest, you need a Sky Box for FTV Channels (there are other solutions with more complex kit, but a Card is still required), but any generic Digital Satellite Receiver can get FTA. Then there is the issue of EPG Data: You can get full Prog Info etc for Channels that are formally part of BSkyB or of Freesat, but only Now and Next Info when using a generic Receiver.

lloydio

the pace 2600 has the most sensitive tuner apparently although some say that the Humax HD Box is even more sensitive but cant say.

Im not sure if its still the case but you may need a freesat card or an old sky card to get some channels like

Channel 4
Five
Sky Three

plenty of old cards on Ebay or ebid.

Tivù

Both Channel Four and Five are also available "off EPG" completely Free To Air.

The only Channels for which a Card is truly essential are Sky Three, Setanta Sports News, Fiver and Five US.

Beware of Ebay Cards as they will almost certainly be Yellow House Cards and will shortly become useless. White Cards are being rolled out and old Cards switched off.

osioradain

Ok so the only difference is the receiver? I need a sky box to pick up the sky channels is that right? the pace 2600 wont get the likes of the sky ireland package? (if i put in an irish sky card)
I'll probably need a 2.4m dish to get that anyway...i still have to see what the local experts say....ill let ye know how i get on..thanks for the replys

markoMarko

osioradain can you give me phone or email to contact you, I have same problem in mostar.

PaulR

Please don't post your phone number or email address openly as we do not encourage that.

If you want to contact each other then you must go into your UserCP and change your profile to enable Vcard. This will allow you to see ech other's email address and you can then contact each other.

PaulR As I get older I find myself thinking about the hereafter - I go into a room and then wonder what I'm here after.

geoffreys

This is a crazy rule of this website, one I have been ticked off for myself recently.
Look, who we tell our email addresses or phone numbers or other contact info is our business and SHOULD be entirely OUR decision, NOT the moderator's.
Geoff

PaulR

Sorry about that Geoff but it is there to stop spamming-of and spamming-by.

And we don't completely stop the finding out of email addresses and other info - it's there in the Vcard if you want to enable it. This is enough to stop the casual spammer.

PaulR As I get older I find myself thinking about the hereafter - I go into a room and then wonder what I'm here after.

osioradain

i actually dont know how to enable the vcard markoMarko!!! can someone tell me? is there not a PM Personal Message that i can send