French Television

P

Prodigy81

Member
My Satellite Setup
Visiosat Bisat
Astra 19.2 (Central Focus), Astra 28.2 + Hotbird 13 satellites using Hauppauge NOVA HD-S2, Fortec Star Passion & Mvision HD-300 Combo receivers
My Location
UK, West Midlands
Hi, I have some questions with regards to French television I hope someone can help!

Here are the options I have looked at:

Atlantic Bird 3 - Provides some channels for free, but this will probably end soon as analogue gets switched off. No French HD channels.

Hotbird - BIS TV - Requires annual subscription, compatible with any receiver + cam. No French HD channels.

Astra 1 - TNTSAT - One off cost, officially only compatible with certain receivers. French HD channels available.

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Of the three available options Hotbird or Astra 1 are options for me (as I currently receive these and not AB3). Although BIS TV is the most straight forward option, I want to avoid paying an annual subscription.

This leaves me with TNTSAT. Officially it only works in certain receivers, however "apparently" on some websites I researched, some of the newer softcams are capable of emulating an official TNTSAT box.
Is this true and if someone on here has done it, what cam and software update did you use?

If it is possible and I bought the cheapest TNTSAT box I can find, (which wouldn't allow me to watch HD channels of course) insert the card into the cam, then the cam into a HD compatible receiver, would I be able to view all the HD channels too? As far as I am aware, TNTSAT is TNTSAT and it's the receiver which is the limitation to watching HD channels and not the card itself. Is this correct? Thank you!
 
Fransat will be starting this summer as well - all the dtt channels via 5W in scrambled digital (ftv card & box required)

The analogues on 5W will be around for a few years yet.
 
Thanks for the reply. I have heard of Fransat also, but I'm confused how this'll be different to TNTSAT, other than being available from a different satellite. You still require a dedicated box and card.
The French seem to be going the opposite direction to other countries. You can get any FTA receiver and watch English, Spanish, Italian and German channels, but not French. Am I missing something?
 
Thats the French for you - always wanting to be different :D
 
I've noticed that BIS TV also do a monthly subscription card. A one off €40 payment (£34.89), then €4.90 a month for 26 channels (£4.27). Work this out over a year and it comes to £51.24, which I can manage :)

Question is, has anyone done this from the UK? Would I need a French bank account and address? Or does it not matter?

What puts me off TNTSAT is the fact you need to use a rubbish receiver which costs atleast €109 (£95) then to buy a CAM which would emulate the TNT receiver would cost atleast £80 (if it actually works) so I really don't see the point. You then (it seems) have to do this all over again every 4 years or renew costing £60 some places state.

£95 TNT Receiver
£80 CAM (to use in a single decent receiver)
£60 in 4 years or new receiver £95
---------------
£235 or £270

£34.89 BIS TV activation
£30 Viaccess 3.0 CAM
£4.27 x 48 months
-------------------
£269.85

What would you do? :)
 
At least the Analogue offering on 5W includes TF1, which the soon to be defunct FTA Digitals there doesn't.

Analogue Receivers can be obtained v. cheap (Under €30 brand new, or for peanuts secondhand) and a common or garden minidish suffices for AB3 reception.
 
Thanks for the reply, but I am not really interested in AB3 as it's only a matter of time before they switch all the analogue off. Probably sooner than later. Plus I don't want a second dish.

I don't think the Visiosat Bisat (the dish I have) has that wide a range to receive AB3 at 5w. I currently have 19.2 Astra (central focus) with 13 Hotbird and 28.2 Astra either side. Unless someone has done it? :)
 
Oh well, after further consideration I decided to just buy a Viaccess 3 CAM and a 12 month standard BIS TV viewing card. Looking forward to it :) I can pick up the channels from Hotbird.
 
@ Prodigy81, did you need a french address to do this? Where did you buy it from?

Thanks.
 
Search on popular auction sites ;)
 
Prodigy81 said:
Search on popular auction sites ;)
Click to expand...

But be wary of any guarantee for continued reception when standards change, in light of the Arabic TV Viaccess 4 switchover last week.
 
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