Complete FTA amateur seeks help finding ENGLISH channels..........

R

RS Tweed

Member
My Satellite Setup
Cheap 60cm dish, Commtel SA-R1 receiver
My Location
east Central Scotland
It's all in the post title but let me explain first.
We have a caravan and find that on some sites we get little or no TV reception, even with a good aeril system and a built-in-digital telly, so we decided to try a satellite system. Friends have a 'suitcase' system and with their wee 45cm dish can get reception in most places but in the north of Scotland their dish is just too wee.
So, we bought a 60cm kit from Focus DIY, cheap at £45, and it runs a Commtel SA-R1 receiver which we've set up to test on the garden shed wall. I'm getting satellites OK but it seems that every one is focussed ('scuse the pun) on 'foreign' language stations.
Can anyone suggest
(1) which satellite I should be looking for to find the best selection of English language programmes,
(2) where to find Eurosprt for free, if possible or,
(3) where to find Moto GP and any Irish bike sport supporting channels, or
(4) where to find Freeview, like our 'home' telly system.

The paper sheet with the system suggests I should be able to reach from Intelstat 9 (58deg. W) to Intelstat 7/10 (68.5deg.E) which looks like a whole load of satellites, but aften an afternoon of trawling through the stations and satellites all I get is non-Enlish language programmes, mild p*rn, GodSpeak and not a lot else, but surely there's some good English speaking stuff out there?
Any help much appreciated.............and repaid in kind with a beer if you see me out in some caravan site at night in my pyjamas trying to set the dish up after it blows over in the breeze..............
 
Hi, and welcome.

For English, you need to align the dish to 28E, the same way Sky dishes are aligned.

That answers Q 1 and 4, although, you won't get Freeview from a dish.
 
Free Eurosport is available in English on 19E, but only in analogue. There is a free digital version but its only in German
 
Trying 28.2 degrees now Robbo. Should I have said Freesat maybe? Friend reckons he gets it on his small dish, but he's just back from the pub and not too 'steady'!
Aye Analoguesat, I see Eurosport on one or two of the satellites, all in Dutch as far as I can tell.

I guess I'll just need to rummage for stations and see what I can find.
BBC would be good, but they'll likely not be available on free to air, barring the World News I found.
 
RS Tweed said:
Any help much appreciated.............and repaid in kind with a beer if you see me out in some caravan site at night in my pyjamas trying to set the dish up after it blows over in the breeze..............
Click to expand...

Get yourself a tripod for the dish and hang a bucket of sand underneath it - not perfect but will stop every gentle breeze knocking it over :D
 
I've scanned 28.2 twice and after the scan all I get are the Astra 1 satellite programmes! I'm spot on for line according to my compass and the google dishpointer view, but I can't seem to get the bloomin' thing to lock into the signal. Grrrrrrrrrrr
 
Or fix a pole somehow to the Caravan if you can, it only has to be a light maybe inch and a quarter to inch and a half diameter job. Got one on the back of my van, for when the need arises.
 
RS Tweed said:
I've scanned 28.2 twice and after the scan all I get are the Astra 1 satellite programmes! I'm spot on for line according to my compass and the google dishpointer view, but I can't seem to get the bloomin' thing to lock into the signal. Grrrrrrrrrrr
Click to expand...

Move the dish eastwards and down a fraction, then scan again. Three or four inches east and down half an inch will put you in the right ballpark area.
 
I think the wee book supplied with the system loses something in the translation, so it's not at all easy to read.
Seems I had the scan done OK after all, but when I select the button to go UP the channels it goes to Astra 1 channels, and DOWN to selct the Astra 2 channels.
All I need to do now is work out how to save the desired channels to the favourite lists to save rummaging through all the ones I don't want. I've found all the BBC and ITV channels, as well as Four and all of their 'families' and have enough to keep me and the wife interested at night if the weathers not too good when we're away.

I'm planning to convert a clothes whirly to take the dish, inverting it and using the three 'legs' (shortened a bit) which normally hold the clothes lines to become the 'feet' and the support pole which usually goes into the ground will become the pole to take the dish. If I cut things down a bit it'll be easily stored in the caravan (though I'm planning a bolt-to-the-chassis storage box under the axle) and should keep the weight down. The bag of sand is a good idea though, especially with the big dish, but maybe water will do the trick as it's easier found on site.
I don't want to drill into the caravan walls to affix a pole, though that would be more stable, as it's still under the warranty which covers water ingress, and any non standard holes will invalidate it.

What a good site lads, very helpful. I've been reading through some other topics, though most are too technical for me, and it looks as if you all know what you're talking about! I need to learn about 'skew' thogh, but I'll take one step at a time!

Can I get analogue on the dish?
 
Yes you can get analogue on the dish although you will need a separate box for it.

Water in the bucket will do fine - its just something reasonably heavy to lower the centre of gravity of the assembly and stop the tripod tipping over so easily - water will be easier to dispose of as well :)

BTW - setting the dish up will become easier in time. Have a look at this site:

-http://www.satelliteforcaravans.co.uk

which has loads of useful info for caravan owners.
 
RS Tweed said:
I don't want to drill into the caravan walls to affix a pole, though that would be more stable, as it's still under the warranty which covers water ingress, and any non standard holes will invalidate it.
Click to expand...

Could you clamp/bolt something to the towing arm (excuse my lack of correct terminology, lol).?
 
Aye, the jockey wheel has a post and handle which sticks up when we're on site and settled, and I used to use this to clamp my old alloy aerial pole of our last caravan to using exhaust clamps and a bracket, securing the foot of the post to a pin driven into the ground and it worked well, even at 9 feet or so in height to clear the caravan roof. But, it's usually the case that the orientation of the caravan on site falls with the jockey wheel in the wrong place and the signal to the dish will not often clear the caravan roof, or that on next doors outfit unless we go high, which will not be good for the wind. Thats the issue with Friends setup, so we have to find a location to set the dish up away from the caravans.
I have a couple of good inch and half timber spikes which I can drive into the grassy patches and which will hold secure, and have an idea for another ground level setup using a three legged brace I could peg down and which should stop the disc rotating or tipping as it'll be almost on the deck. On hard standing though it'll have to bolt somewhere to the caravan though.
I could remove the directional aerial fitted through the caravan roof and fit it through there mind you, though getting it attached to the pole might be difficult and it might be not so good to find a weather seal, as this would allow me to rotate the dish from inside. Hmmmmm......... I'll maybe work on that one.
 
If it helps, a list of English broadcast channels in alphabetical order. SOme satellites you will not get owing to the dish size, your location, and fixed objects obscuring some satellites.

_http://www.lyngsat.com/freetv/United-Kingdom.html]Free TV from United Kingdom - LyngSat
 
Thanks guys, I've got lots of channels, on 28.2 mostly and enough to keep 'her indoors' happy when we're away with the caravan. I've made a tripod from a cut down worklight and adapted my aerial bracket to fit the dish to the caravan jockey wheel.

Analogueat, can you tell me how I can get analogue with my setup? I'd like to see if I can get Eurosport.
 
Sorted, and well done.

You need to point the dish back to 19E again, and get an analogue receiver, and tune into the appropriate freq as listed on lyngsat.

LOL, you may find some useful info here:-

_http://www.analoguesat.co.uk/
 
RS Tweed said:
Thanks guys, I've got lots of channels, on 28.2 mostly and enough to keep 'her indoors' happy when we're away with the caravan. I've made a tripod from a cut down worklight and adapted my aerial bracket to fit the dish to the caravan jockey wheel.

Analogueat, can you tell me how I can get analogue with my setup? I'd like to see if I can get Eurosport.
Click to expand...

You will need an analogue receiver - pennies from boot sales, but make sure its got the remote with it as many receivers need them to access the menu functions. You will need to realigne the duish to 19E.
 
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