BBC, ITV or RTE in Madrid?

[fr_cassidy]

Hi All,
Its my first post here and I am a bit new to the whole satellite TV thing.

I am an Irishman who just moved to Madrid and the rugby world cup starts in around 3 or 4 weeks and I really would like to follow it in the comfort of my own home preferably in English. I was hoping someone could help me out with my research. I´ve been doing quite a lot of reading over the last week or so, but I find it difficult to take it all in and I have seen a lot of contradictions in some stuff I have read.

From what I understand ITV and BBC are broadcast on astra 2D which from looking at thier website does not extend as far south in Spain as Madrid (about half way down). It seems that around the pyrenees you need a 120cm dish. However 2A and 2B according to the website are obtainable in MAdrid on a 60 cm dish on the south beam. There is currently a ~60 cm dish on the roof which I was hoping to use. Is there any way to get RTE (preferably), or BBC ITV ( just as good) on this? I could call a technician to point it to the satellite.

To be honest I wouldn´t be prepared to fork out 100´s or 1000´s of euro´s for a bigger dish and I don´t think its so easy to mount one on top of the appartrments as I have been told the neighbours don´t always agree and as Im new here I don´t want to cause a fuss.

I came across this website _http://www.satone.tv/ who claim that you can get the channels. They have a freesat viewing card reasonably priced at 66 euro which has itv and bbc. However no further information is published as regards which country or which signal etc... Surely it can´t be that easy? Does anyone know about this or a similar comapny that would do the job?

If thats not possible does anyone know of a possible setup that I could use to obtain these channels?

I´d be really grateful for any advice.
Many thanks

 

[Robbo]

Hi, your 60cm dish might be OK for the Sky channels,but there's not
much hope for the fta 2D channels. You need a bigger dish.

_http://www.skyinmadrid.com/pages/useful.html

http://www.satellites.co.uk/satellite/jobs-boys/99719-work-available-madrid.html#post628118

If you don't need _Sky then its not worth paying out for a _Sky box and card. A free to air satellite receiver will do the job for the FTA( BBC & ITV + others) channels if your dish was big enough.

 

[fr_cassidy]

Thanks for the reply Robbo. I did some reading around the forum and got plenty of useful info..I probably should have read it more thuroughly before posting as many people had asked similar questions..but anyhow.

Unfortunately sky sports won´t be showing the rugby world cup but it would have been a handy solution for me.

I saw this thread from this time 4 years ago http://www.satellites.co.uk/satellite/sky-digital-uk-platform-astra-28-2e-fringe-reception-tech/6458-rugby-world-cup.html someone else was enquiring about viweing the rugby world cup in poland. Someone came back with a list of channels from LJ site...Can anyone direct me to LJ site and I could have a look at what other channels are showing the tournament and work from there.

I know that Setanta Ireland have coverage. I believe they broadcast on the Eurobird satellite. From looking at the footprints I should be able to pick this up on a ~60cm dish in Madrid? However I see offers on the web to view the setanta spotrs package in Europe but Setanta Ireland is not included in any of them. Does anyone have any ideas on that?

Many thanks for any replies

 

[Analoguesat]

For the Astra 2D channels BBC ITV you will need a 2 or 2.4m dish in Madrid.

Setanta Ireland is only available to Irish addresses, unless you use an international reseller (expensive) that can supply you with an address and send youe the card

 

[dxsat]

1.8m for all 2D in Madrid with not much rain margin on horizontal channels such as BBC2. Sky Sports are receivable on a Sky minidish. The RTE frequency is stronger than most of the horizontal polarities.

 

[Analoguesat]

1.8m for all 2D in Madrid with not much rain margin on horizontal channels such as BBC2. Sky Sports are receivable on a Sky minidish. The RTE frequency is stronger than most of the horizontal polarities.

As I said - 2m plus if you dont want to lose BBC 2 every time it piddles it down

 

[dxsat]

Actually, you don't, the lack of rain margin on BBC 2 only applies after about 10pm. During the day there is enough margin on all polarities provided the dish is installed properly with an Invacom Quad C120.
A problem is there is no 2m offset made, you have to go up to 2.4m offset which is beyond most people's budget. It's all very well recommending huge dishes but most people don't have the space in a city. Gain on a 2m prime focus is not high enough. The same thing applies in many locations: the dish has to be perfectly aligned, using the best possible quality components. Achieving this implies a smaller size.
It also doesn't rain much here.

 

[fr_cassidy]

Hi All,
Thanks for the replies...so it looks like no rugby for me! The expense involved in this type of setup at the moment is a bit much. However if I'm here long term I'll be looking into it at some stage for sure.

We are gonna order the Canal + digital as they claim to be showing the games...its the next best thing.

Anyway, thanks again for the advise.
Talk soon.