French Terrestrial - TNT on Astra

[BaseOverApex]

I'm also interested in getting the tntsat card , any more developments on this yet ? What receivers does it work on , if any ? The channels are ftv and not fta , just to clear that up .

Yeah. I went to a French electronic goods shop "Darty" at Christmas and bought an off-the-shelf receiver. As noted elsewhere, it comes with a built-in viaccess decoder and a free to view card.

As I thought, the card is necessary because even though the channels are free, they still require to be decoded. My guess is that this is to make it difficult to view them outside France without narrowing the footprint of the transponder.

I am getting a 80% signal strength here in Northern Ireland, which is the most westerly point of the UK. The only thing further west than here is Newfoundland.

I now have all the French terrestrial TV channels as (contrary to some beliefs) they are broadcast by satellite along with about 20 other french language channels.

Anyone I've spoken to assures me that it is quite impossible to procure this card without also buying a receiver. Sadly, my Dreambox has packed up, or I would have tried the card in there with a viaccess softCAM.

 

[BaseOverApex]

5W is just about the strongest signal in the skies above the UK.

You are correct. What I meant was that the French terrestrial TV which used to be broadcast on 5W moved to a different satellite (or possibly a different transponder on the same sattelite) and no longer covers the UK.

 

[BaseOverApex]

I'm also interested in getting the tntsat card , any more developments on this yet ?

I'm assured by multiple sources that you just can't buy the card.

What receivers does it work on , if any ?

In France at Christmas, we just went into the local Darty and bought an off-the-shelf Strong branded receiver. As noted elsewhere, it does contain a viaccess CAM as the TNT free to view programs are encrypted with this system. It comes with a free key card which notionally lasts 4 years.

Sadly, my DB 5620 is stuffed, or else I'd try the card in it with a viaccess softCAM. I'm pretty sure the card would work in any viaccess receiver.

I get about a 80% signal here in Northern Ireland, which is about as far West as you can get in the UK. The next thing West of me is Newfoundland.

I'm extremely happy.

The channels are ftv and not fta , just to clear that up .

Indeed. As per my message of 17-11-2008.

 

[Analoguesat]

You are correct. What I meant was that the French terrestrial TV which used to be broadcast on 5W moved to a different satellite (or possibly a different transponder on the same sattelite) and no longer covers the UK.

The half dozen terrestrial analogue channels are still beaming out loud and clear across the whole of western Europe via 5W - just where they have been for many years.

They are an easy catch even on a zone 1 sky minidish

 

[keithhall1950]

I am in Athens Greece with a 120 cm dish , I have been receiving French TNT SAT on a SAGEM decoder + TNT card I bought in France . I receive all french channel , TF1 ,France 2 ,etc ( the card comes with the decoder) . Last night they requested a new down load of software and it won't download. What can I do ?

 

[mariust5]

I'm assured by multiple sources that you just can't buy the card.



In France at Christmas, we just went into the local Darty and bought an off-the-shelf Strong branded receiver. As noted elsewhere, it does contain a viaccess CAM as the TNT free to view programs are encrypted with this system. It comes with a free key card which notionally lasts 4 years.

Sadly, my DB 5620 is stuffed, or else I'd try the card in it with a viaccess softCAM. I'm pretty sure the card would work in any viaccess receiver.

I get about a 80% signal here in Northern Ireland, which is about as far West as you can get in the UK. The next thing West of me is Newfoundland.

I'm extremely happy.



Indeed. As per my message of 17-11-2008.

Well , i have seen the card on ebay.france on it's own , i'm just trying to work out if it's cheaper to get the whole system or just the card , depending on what box it will work with . The point of this is to get TF1 as per my other posts in various topics the analogue way it's not very satisfactory due to picture quality .

 

[BaseOverApex]

The half dozen terrestrial analogue channels are still beaming out loud and clear across the whole of western Europe via 5W - just where they have been for many years.

They are an easy catch even on a zone 1 sky minidish

I set up my system (1m dish) about 9 years ago and about 4 years ago they just stopped one day. I was still firmly trained on the satellite (could still get all the German stuff) but no French terrestrial.

I reckon I'm right on the edge of the footprint and I guess they turned down the power or something. I'm in Northern Ireland, but I know one guy in Liverpool who experienced the same thing.

I'd love to know the answer to this one, 'cos secondhand analog receivers sell for about £1 at the car boot and I know a ton of French people who live here!

 

[easysat]

The analogue transmissions on 5°W should continue for a while, at least until the last terrestrial analogue TV transmitter gets switched off in 2012. If you're on the fringe of the coverage area, there's probably not much that you can do except invest in a bigger or better dish. Can you get the free digital channels on 5°W like France 2 and France 3? With a motorised dish, you might be able to pick up M6 Suisse on 7°E, so then you would just be missing TF1.

If you read this report, h**p://francenumerique2012.fr/pdf/081020_FRANCE_NUMERIQUE_2012.pdf, page 23, you can see that the government wants to encourage an alternative to TNTSAT. It seems to indicate that they are planning for a complete digital service from 5°W starting from later this year. Maybe this will be FTA like the current analogue service and just rely on the fact few people outside of France will point their dish in the right direction rather than bothering with encryption. The French also have a political interest in beaming their culture to the Francophone countries of North Africa, so this is another reason to go FTA.

 

[rolfw]

There is already a service on 5W, http://www.satellites.co.uk/satellite/bis-tv-france/119142-new-5w-bis-tv.html

 

[Analoguesat]

I set up my system (1m dish) about 9 years ago and about 4 years ago they just stopped one day. I was still firmly trained on the satellite (could still get all the German stuff) but no French terrestrial.

I reckon I'm right on the edge of the footprint and I guess they turned down the power or something. I'm in Northern Ireland, but I know one guy in Liverpool who experienced the same thing.

I'd love to know the answer to this one, 'cos secondhand analog receivers sell for about £1 at the car boot and I know a ton of French people who live here!

There was a fault at your end somewhere (lnb failure maybe??) - Atlantic Bird 3 is transmitting as strong a signal as ever. The 5W analogues are an easy catch on even my smallest dish, and Im a long way north of you.

 

[easysat]

There is already a service on 5W

You're right Rolf, but I think the government wants something without a monthly subscription and possibly with a low cost receiver. TNTSAT is still relatively expensive as you're paying the royalties for the encryption system and card. And I guess it would have to be HD as the terrestrial system is moving that way already.

 

[hotbaws]

Yeah. I went to a French electronic goods shop "Darty" at Christmas and bought an off-the-shelf receiver. As noted elsewhere, it comes with a built-in viaccess decoder and a free to view card.

As I thought, the card is necessary because even though the channels are free, they still require to be decoded. My guess is that this is to make it difficult to view them outside France without narrowing the footprint of the transponder.

I am getting a 80% signal strength here in Northern Ireland, which is the most westerly point of the UK. The only thing further west than here is Newfoundland.

I now have all the French terrestrial TV channels as (contrary to some beliefs) they are broadcast by satellite along with about 20 other french language channels.

Anyone I've spoken to assures me that it is quite impossible to procure this card without also buying a receiver. Sadly, my Dreambox has packed up, or I would have tried the card in there with a viaccess softCAM.

How much did the receiver cost you?

I'm looking at getting a TNT Sat box and card for my French Mother-in-law who's moved over to Scotland to look after our young twins. She's going back to France in a couple of weeks to sort out some paperwork so she could pick one up and bring it back with her.

cheers

 

[easysat]

Carrefour have the Sagem IS91HD at around 210€ (online), Darty has it at 230€, Amazon has it at 203€. Darty also has the new SAGEM DTR94160S HD with hard disk at 400€ (ouch!). If you don't want a HD receiver, Darty have the SAGEM ISD74 at 140€ or the Strong SRT6410 at 130€.

A lot of hypermarkets and the FNAC also sell the ISD91 HD and the cheaper Strong receivers so they are always easy to find.

I recommend you read (or your mother-in-law reads) some user reviews. People seem to think that the SAGEM's have a better image quality. Also the ability to tune into and store non-TNTSAT FTA channels on Astra 19°E may be something that differs between receivers. Much like the S*y boxes, it can be difficult to watch something that doesn't have the approval of Canalsat.

You can find the official tntsat site at h**p://www.tntsat.tv.

 

[easysat]

Eutelsat will be launching their Fransat service in summer at 5°W,
see the news item here: http://www.satellites.co.uk/satelli...news/147995-june-launch-fransat-eutelsat.html.