Hotbird on a budget

[phatsteve]

This is my first post on these forums, which are brilliant! I've already learnt a lot of useful information, so please forgive me if this has been answered elseware (could you direct me to answer if so?). I would like to set up a twin lnb system on my 80cm dish in order to tune in to hotbird as well as astra. I have a spare pace 2600ci digibox could I use this? I'm only interested in sport. I have redundancy hanging over me at the moment so money is an issue. If the pace is not suitable, would a maxview DVB-S SL65/12 be ok? These are quite reasonable on ebay. I live on the Kent coast (with almost sea views)
Many thanks

 

[rolfw]

A monobloc LNB (receives two satellites 6 degrees apart) and a bottom of the range (but patchable) Technomate would probably be a better bet, have a look at out forum advertisers, link in my signature.

Not sure how much "available" sport you will find on Astra and Hotbird.

 

[phatsteve]

thanks for reply rolfw, do I take it my pace is a no no? My current sky setup is on a mini-dish, my 80cm is spare, would I be better of having a 2 dish system? What sat would be best for sport?
Thankyou

 

[UK Sat Online]

an 80cm dish is good for a monoblock astra1 and hot bird
you do know its astra 1 you will get not astra2 (uk sky tv)

your pace box will be no good as its a sky digi box and wont be able to store and channels you need

the maxview looks ok as its a generic satellite reciever but it does need to have diseqc control and a 12volt power supply. its mainly used for camping.

any fta satellite box should work bit it will only give you free channels not encrypted

 

[phatsteve]

You can probably tell, I'm a novice at this, although I'm quite happy to put up a dish and tune it in my expertise ends about there.
I've noticed some fta transmissions include premier games (Lider TV - hotbird 8 and Eutelsat Sesat. 2m National - Eutelsat W6. Sportsmax - Intelsat 770)
But I can't afford to go motorised just yet, so I think Sportsmax is out. Does anyone have any other suggestions for fta footy?

 

[guest]

Lider don't actually carry those games FTA on Satellite - Listings sites like LJs say they do, but in reality that is an oft repeated misunderstanding based upon the fact that the local Terrestrial version of Lider TV does carry them.

Intelsat 770 is, I assume, Intelsat 707 at 53W and the Channel referred to is C Band, not the Ku band you get with easily available DSAT kit.

There is also a problem about 2M as well, but I'm dashed if I can remember what .........

 

[rolfw]

I'm pretty sure that FTA showings of Premiership games will be few and far between, very often the channels either show something else, encrypt for the duration of the game, or go black to avoid copyright problems.

_http://liveonsat.com/today.php shows what is on today, you've probably seen this already though.

Forget the Sky digibox, leave it and its dish on Astra 28.2, you need either a patchable receiver, or one that can take a CAM like the Diablo, then look at different options for satellites, perhaps 16 East.

 

[phatsteve]

Thanks for replies, I'm going to look on forum advertisers for a better receiver, then I'll do some more research on these forums for the best option for me on a budget.
Thanks again

 

[Analoguesat]

There is also a problem about 2M as well, but I'm dashed if I can remember what .........

The sat version doesnt carry the football - so a slight problem there!

 

[Analoguesat]

Theres plenty of sport available in the clear in the skies above Europe, but if you are hoping for Premier league football you will be disappointed. You need a subscription to one of the foreign pay tv providers unless you want to watch some of the Arabic country games - they can be quite entertaining - for better than watching our overpaid primadonnas prancing around!

 

[HB13DISH]

Thanks for replies, I'm going to look on forum advertisers for a better receiver, then I'll do some more research on these forums for the best option for me on a budget.
Thanks again

I don't think that you can get much joy without a subscription card.
But the trouble with official subscriptions is that each foreign package has a different encryption from each other, for example:
Cyfroway Polsat in Nagravision
DigitALB in Conax
Sky Italia in NDS (Videoguard) (need a dedicated receiver)
Nova in Irdeto
etc.
This means that your choice of a receiver should have the capability to accept any possible smartcard that you might use in the future, otherwise you will need another receiver.
I read that DigitAlb is quite reasonable in price, but you might need a bigger dish in order to receive the package.
Redundancy would mean a lot of time on one's hands and a subscription can help to pass the long hours.

Edit: In spite of the above about receivers, you can consider a Cyfrowy Polsat package which comes with a dedicated Samsung receiver and a 12 months smartcard. The receiver can decrypt only Nagravision so you would be stuck with it.
The main sports channels are in Polish, but there are other sports channels.
http://www.sateuropa.co.uk/product_overview.asp?id=1625&catid=10&subcat=8

 

[Robbo]

A fixed dish on 1W, wouldn't be a too bad an option, coupled with either a new Technomate from the forum advertisers, or a cheap secondhand one from ebay.

Looks like Man City V Everton is showing right now.


If you set up the motor yourself the cost would be about £50.

 

[phatsteve]

Thanks for info, while I was looking on ebay I found a shop selling
'Technomate 5200D USB Super Satellite Receiver in Silver' for £50 plus postage. The good thing is the shop only 20 miles away, so I can save postage. Would this be a good start for me?
They also have plenty of reasonable lnbs I could take their advice on.