Lost ITV and Channel 5 in Malaga Southern Spain

[Jonty83]

Timo,

Thanks for that. But I only have had ITV1 HD on Freesat. To be honest regional variation channels don´t bother me, as long as I can get at least one version of the main BBC, ITV etc etc channels I don´t mind. It is incredible that now I have got used to watching some good series on Channel 5 etc etc I am missing it already!!! HD is a bonus on any channel (the same as the +1 hour variations) so if I had to settle for SD then I would of course!!! Something is better than nothing!!!

Thanks once again..I just hope that I will not be left without any solution.....

Jonty

 

[Jonty83]

Hughes,

Thanks for your comments. Yes, I had thought of that. For the last 2 years I have had absolutely no problem with any channels, even in the evenings, except with a bit of rain and wind. That would be something worth trying, although I would prefer having a permanent solution rather than changing postcodes all the time, even if it means spending 1000+ euros...(or more!!).

Just thinking that to be honest my reception of the Channel 5 group of channels was probably the worst of all the channels I had (although still acceptable). Would there be a reason for that?

Thanks

Jon

 

[andrewcrawford]

Hughes,

Thanks for your comments. Yes, I had thought of that. For the last 2 years I have had absolutely no problem with any channels, even in the evenings, except with a bit of rain and wind. That would be something worth trying, although I would prefer having a permanent solution rather than changing postcodes all the time, even if it means spending 1000+ euros...(or more!!).

Just thinking that to be honest my reception of the Channel 5 group of channels was probably the worst of all the channels I had (although still acceptable). Would there be a reason for that?

Thanks

Jon

once th switch over is finished expect to lose them all, but i think teh full switch to spot beam wont be completel until 2015 due to new birds launching and exculisity deals with sky still runing

 

[Hughes]

Another solution, specific to Spain is a phone company called europa-network.com. They are based on the Costa Blanca, and contacted me recently. Their offer of phone calls, ADSL Broadband, includes the UK freeview channels delivered to your computer. But for 129euros they sell a dedicated set-top box which plugs into your telly. I can't vouch for them because I haven't taken them up (yet!). See if you can find them on Google etc

 

[Jonty83]

Andrew,

You mean lose all channels with my current set up, don´t you? The solution will be to get a bigger dish, I am told...?????

Hughes,

Thanks for that. I will check that out. But whether they provide the service in Aragon is another matter...good to have as a pLan B or C though!!

Thanks evrybody,

Jonty

 

[andrewcrawford]

Andrew,

You mean lose all channels with my current set up, don´t you? The solution will be to get a bigger dish, I am told...?????

Hughes,

Thanks for that. I will check that out. But whether they provide the service in Aragon is another matter...good to have as a pLan B or C though!!

Thanks evrybody,

Jonty

yes all PBS chanels will eventally switch over so you will lose them a bigger dish might work the problem is the beam has steep drop off from it edge so fringe areas will require much larger this is example but its not a garantee nor worked otu size

lets say you live in madrid and that is the edge of the beam and you need about 1.2M dish

then you move 50miles west

ive nota clue of spain so cant say what town or city that might be, now the drop off from amdrid is steep due to the beam, so where you might think before 1.5-2m you are probally talking about 2.4M high quailty dish or 3M average dish

then you move another 200 miles west, because of the drop off you are probally talking about 3.5m-4m high quailty dish and maybe about 5m average dish

with the baove examples oyu might find you can receive it on smaller dish but the quailty will be poor bad picture quailty or cuts out often wha ti using in my example would be for good quailty picture signal no matter when

please bear in mind i have not worked out the beam and required dish size yet that i only example of how much the beam drops off so please dnt go out buying a new dish yet and secondly to say what size i need to know your location after working out the bea to give recommendedation

 

[Juan69]

Another solution, specific to Spain is a phone company called europa-network.com. They are based on the Costa Blanca, and contacted me recently. Their offer of phone calls, ADSL Broadband, includes the UK freeview channels delivered to your computer. But for 129euros they sell a dedicated set-top box which plugs into your telly. I can't vouch for them because I haven't taken them up (yet!). See if you can find them on Google etc

Service through broadband in Spain is not so straight forward. In rural areas like mine the most you can expect is 1MB which restricts streaming to downloading.

 

[Analoguesat]

Andrew,

You mean lose all channels with my current set up, don´t you? The solution will be to get a bigger dish, I am told...?????

Hughes,

Thanks for that. I will check that out. But whether they provide the service in Aragon is another matter...good to have as a pLan B or C though!!

Thanks evrybody,

Jonty

Zaragoza / Aragon seems to be in the Barcelona black hole as regards to 2F reception, although we dont have enough reports from the area yet to predict dish sizes.

The south western signal strength drop off is incredible

Madrid - decent reception on approx 1m dishes
Costa del Sol - looking like 3m might work.
Algarve - no reception on a 4m!

The cut off line atm seems to be Almeira in the SE of Spain to Coimbra on the Portuguese coast

 

[timo_w2s]

It's looking like a side lobe over central Spain with nulls to the north east and south west.

 

[Jonty83]

Dear all,

Thanks for all the info. Here´s hoping. I will avidly await your calculations regarding dish sizes etc etc. I am "happy" to get the best quality because this is an investment that will last years and her indoors will not be too happy with a 5m dish in our garden, as we only have a small garden and it is used quite a lot for football practice (a problem for me). Unfortuntaely our roof is sloping and at the moment we have the dish on a concrete "ledge" over the attic windows but anything more than a 1,8m will not fit for sure. Are there fittings available for sloped roofs?

Will I stand a better chance if I get the very best LNB and cable available? Will it make that much of a difference? I suppose it depends on what my friend finds out about the signal.....I understand I would need to get a quality dish of course (the most expensive part no doubt!!). And what about signal amplifiers? Are they a good idea?

I suppose Channel 5 will have to wait for the moment then!!! I imagine that in my area of Spain (Aragon) there are not many ex-pats with Freesat systems...I would be delighted to get to know any if they are about!!!

Thanks once again, you are really really helpful......

Jonty

 

[Jonty83]

Timo,

Regarding the lobe you are not suggesting that the shaded areas will not be able to get reception, just that one will need to get better and bigger equipment?

Thanks very much,

Jonty

 

[joddle]

It's looking like a side lobe over central Spain with nulls to the north east and south west.

Its looking a bit scary to me - if 2e and 2g are only slightly different in the wrong directtion will I get anything at all in Valencia?
I think we are in for another year or so of speculation, predictions and panic!!!

 

[timo_w2s]

Timo,

Regarding the lobe you are not suggesting that the shaded areas will not be able to get reception, just that one will need to get better and bigger equipment?

Thanks very much,

Jonty

Well, there might be a line (the actual null) in that shaded area where reception is very difficult but I'm just highlighting where the reports seems to suggest it could run. But I'm no expert in this and I could be talking rubbish. ;)

Its looking a bit scary to me - if 2e and 2g are only slightly different in the wrong directtion will I get anything at all in Valencia?
I think we are in for another year or so of speculation, predictions and panic!!!

There are bound to be slight differences between the satellites in fringe areas, even individual transponders on the same satellite can vary greatly. Can't really say much more than that though.

 

[Jonty83]

Thanks guys....

 

[Analoguesat]

Timo,

Regarding the lobe you are not suggesting that the shaded areas will not be able to get reception, just that one will need to get better and bigger equipment?

Thanks very much,

Jonty

Nothing is impossible with a big enough dish - we just havent had any successful reports from the shaded areas yet. sooner or later a successful report will come through from an enthusiast with an appropriately sized dish and that will give us a new baseline.

 

[timo_w2s]

Using the Footprint Simulator at _www.satellite-calculations.com/Satellite/footprintplotterV1.php you can see where the theoretical nulls and side lobes could be for a unshaped spot beam (I centred in on the middle of the UK).

Either side of the red line null is where the side lobes could be. The shaded area is the main lobe where the signal should be strong. Looks quite similar to Analoguesat's map. Remember though that reality can be different from the theory. It's hard to calculate where nulls and side lobes will be in reality so if you are under the red line it does not necessarily mean you won't get a signal but you might need a bigger dish than those clearly within the side lobes.

Anyone with more knowledge than me care to comment on this?

Edit: Forgot to attach image...

 

[donbrown]

I still use my Sky box for certain channels but to be honest Im moving more and more to the laptop options.
The internet speed here on the costa seems fast enough now to play TV channels without buffering.
You do need something called a VPN connection though for BBC ITV C4 C5 etc to play. usually
about a fiver a month. worth checking out if you are having satelite probs, allthough nothing beats
proper TV. I got a VPN off -vpn-guide.com few months back.

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