Fransat/French TNTSAT

keenite

Member
My Satellite Setup
FTA receiver
My Location
Berlin, GErmany
Greetings from Berlin,
I have a few questions about the new Fransat service:
1. are the receivers being offered commercially in France (which usually include a free Viaccess card) prepared such that they can only receive signals from either Atlantic Bird 3, OR from Astra 19? In other words, if I buy one that is designed for Astra, can I also receive Fransat via Atlantic Bird with the same receiver?? Some googling leads me believe that these receivers are configured differently as a function of the specific satellite...
2. do I need to buy a dedicated receiver, or does the card work in other, popular Viaccess-equipped receivers?
Many thanks in advance for your help,
K.
 
From what Ive seen on DS forum you cant get the card without the receiver so you need the rx.
 
Apparently the TNT sat card does work in 'some' other receivers. But people wouldn't be using other receivers to save buying a TNTsat one, it would just be to save clutter or they don't like the official one.

I did google a while back, and I think it was either DS or the AV forums that it was mentioned.
 
Robbo said:
Apparently the TNT sat card does work in 'some' other receivers. But people wouldn't be using other receivers to save buying a TNTsat one, it would just be to save clutter or they don't like the official one.

I did google a while back, and I think it was either DS or the AV forums that it was mentioned.

Exactly, was hoping to be able run all my satellites from a single receiver.
 
I've looked at all systems - TNTSat, BIS TV and Fransat and I believe BIS TV is the easiest way of getting French TV on your own receiver (from Hotbird).

There are also many, many FTA channels on Hotbird compared to Atlantic Bird 3's relatively small list.
 
does that mean I would have to subscribe to some kind of BIS package, in order to receive the Fransat channels?
 
tntsat is commercialy part of canal satelite france ,the card last for 4 years from the date of activation and is normaly married with the oficial boxes (real shayt ones) but using some card servers like newCS in dreambox you can use the card even opening the 4 HD channels ,in the other side Francesat is for france only in shops they ask for a proof of adress to sell those boxes ..but still you can buy one from ebay with no restriction ,the card thru francesat package is viaccess4 and can be used in any viaccess reader but reports saying that the card has antiCS system..regards
 
does that mean I would have to subscribe to some kind of BIS package, in order to receive the Fransat channels?

You just buy the card (for a year), insert it in a viaccess 3 CAM and scan for the channels and that's it.
 
Prodigy81 said:
You just buy the card (for a year), insert it in a viaccess 3 CAM and scan for the channels and that's it.
Thanks, but back to my original question: do you know if there are any technical differences in the cards/receivers used for Atlantic Bird and for Astra? Are they interchangeable?
TIA
K.
 
do you know if there are any technical differences in the cards/receivers used for Atlantic Bird and for Astra? Are they interchangeable?

The answer to that is yes and no. For example I use a Fortec Star receiver, which is a universal receiver capable of viewing any satellite that I can receive. In my case I have a setup to receive three satellites.

As for TNTSAT, the box provided requires a paired card (supplied) and will only work with Astra 1 to pick up French channels and maybe others on the same satellite. The same is with Fransat, the box requires a paired card and will only work with Atlantic Bird 3 to pick up French channels and maybe others on the same satellite.

To honest this is why I went with BIS TV. You can use any digital receiver with a Viaccess CAM and also pick up other satellites I want, so I receive everything all from the same box. It's common knowledge the boxes supplied with TNTSat are rubbish in comparision with high failure rates.
 
Prodigy81 said:
The answer to that is yes and no. For example I use a Fortec Star receiver, which is a universal receiver capable of viewing any satellite that I can receive. In my case I have a setup to receive three satellites.

As for TNTSAT, the box provided requires a paired card (supplied) and will only work with Astra 1 to pick up French channels and maybe others on the same satellite. The same is with Fransat, the box requires a paired card and will only work with Atlantic Bird 3 to pick up French channels and maybe others on the same satellite.

To honest this is why I went with BIS TV. You can use any digital receiver with a Viaccess CAM and also pick up other satellites I want, so I receive everything all from the same box. It's common knowledge the boxes supplied with TNTSat are rubbish in comparision with high failure rates.

Many thanks for your thoughtful response!
 
Does anyone know if a TRANSAT or TNTSAT card would work in a Humax 5400??
Also, does the STRONG SRT 6410 receiver have disecq functionality?
Thanks,
K
 
Having had both Bis and TNTSAT cards I thought I should add my tuppenceworth.

The Bis card offers more flexibility in where you can run it. On the 5W satellite it uses the FTA versions of France 2,3,5 and arte which provide the best quality SD pictures for these channels. On 13E France 2,3,5 and arte are encrypted and frankly the picture quality is soft compared to 5W.

Having finally got my TNTSAT card to work in a Diablo cam I must say that getting the HD versions of TF1, France 2, arte and M6 is a real bonus. You also get all the France 3 regional channels as well but the picture quality of the SD channels on TNTSAT at 19E is soft compared to the 5W versions as well.

The upside of a Bis card is that it is more flexible -the Technomate TM-6800/6900 Super card reader reads the card, as does a T-Rex running Predator, or a Viaccess 3 cam - but doesn't supply HD.

I've now switched over completely to TNTSAT on 19E. The downside is that you need to buy a Strong 6410 box to get the TNTSAT card and you will need a Diablo cam running Underworld 1.79 (the latest Underworld won't decode the card). The Strong is crap, just use it to authorise the card and then put it back into its cardboard box and forget about it until the TNTSAT card expires in four years time.

Don't buy the Strong 6410 from a UK vendor on eBay. You will be charged twice the price that a French vendor will charge. Search for TNTSAT on ebay and find a French vendor that sells the Strong 6410 or 6420 and you should pay the standard price for it. There is no need to buy a HD box, as the TNTSAT card as authorised will decode the HD TNTSAT channels in a Diablo cam in the box of your choice.

The Strong 6410 will only tune into the Astra 1 satellite. It will pick up other FTA channels on Astra 1 such as the German channels or BBC World News but it does not support USALS. It is truly a useless piece of kit. The only reason to buy it is that I believe it is the only receiver that supplies the TNTSAT card.

A note for Dreambox users: I had a Dreambox 7025 up to last year and found that the Bis channels (except TF1) were very pixellated on that box. I found that the picture quality of the Bis channels was markedly better on my homebrew HTPC using an AzureWave satellite card and DVBViewer.
 
Crusty Burke said:
Having had both Bis and TNTSAT cards I thought I should add my tuppenceworth.

Crusty,
Thanks for your informative piece.
Do I have to buy a receiver to get my hands on a card, or is it somehow available separately? Darty is currently offering the STRONG SRT 6410 for TNTSAT for 99 euros. On French Ebay the WISI ORO3S for Atlantic Bird is going for around 150 euros with card - perhaps in time these prices will go down, as the novelty wears off...
Do I understand you correctly to say that there are more HD channels available via Astra than via Atlantic Bird?
Cheers,
J.
 
You have to buy the Strong 6410/6420 box to get your hands on the TNTSAT card.

Atlantic Bird does have the Fransat HD channels (same as TNTSAT) but there are more channels in general on Astra 1 than Atlantic Bird 3.

I don't know how flexible the Fransat card is, whether or not it can be used in anything other than a branded Fransat box.
 
Hi Crusty Burke ,

What settings do you have for your CAM?? I got mine today, installed u/w 1.79 and set a few config variables copied from other posts but I have no channels?? I just get the message "scrambled channel". If I put my TNTSAT card back in my Strong 6420 I get all the SD channels.

Cheers

P
 
With StrongBox can 4 satellites be watched with the diseqc supporting of the receiver?

I'm currently having 4 satellites and i want to watch Virgin17 and W9 and i guess the best way to receive these channels is TNTSat.

I've found on ebayUK the receiver with the price of 179 euro till 2011 november, and i think it's overcharged.
 
I've found on ebayUK the receiver with the price of 179 euro till 2011 november, and i think it's overcharged.[/QUOTE]


Search "TNTSAT" in Ebay France, and you'll find much lower prices. Some of the sellers will ship world-wide.
 
Does anyone knows, if any of these low-end french packages plan to add more music channels to their listing? say M6 music hits or MCM POP ?
 
BombedOne said:
Does anyone knows, if any of these low-end french packages plan to add more music channels to their listing? say M6 music hits or MCM POP ?

If by "low-end" you mean TNTSAT, I shouldn't think so, as the channels you mention are considered to be "premium", nor does the cheapest BISS offer include either of these channels
 
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