New to Sat TV, what to buy?

[lovegroove]

This is my first post on this site, so would like to start by saying hello to everyone!

I'm shortly going to be moving from England to France (french alps) and am going to miss english tv. I don't want to spend a massive amount on equipment, but would like a system that will allow me to upgrade in the future.

I'm mainly interested in watching films and sport, so a system that will allow me to receive as many film and sport channels as possible would be good.

What do people recommend and where should I buy it from?

Cheers,
Phil ;)

 

[rolfw]

Hi Phil, welcome to the forum.

From the French Alps, you will probably want something like a 1m dish, ideally with a 36v motor, as it can get a tad windy down there. That would enable reception of most of the popular satellites, including of course, Astra 28.2E for some English language TV.

Any patchable receiver should suffice, perhaps with a card slot, but you will need a V-Box to interface between the receiver and the motor.

PS. Have you checked the location for line of sight?

 

[lovegroove]

I think that I should be ok for line of sight, as there are plenty of other dishes on houses around us and our house sits slightly higher than most. I was hoping to be able to get away with an 80cm dish, as I've heard reports that that's the size that most people use round here.
The box that I have been looking at is a technomate 1500CI+, do yo uthink that this is a suitable box for the job or should I look at another model? I have seen them on ebay for about 90 quid, is this a good deal or should I pay a bit more and get one from a more reputabme dealer?

Cheers,
Phil ;)

 

[rolfw]

The box should be fine, an 80cm should be OK for most sats, but won't provide much of a bad weather margin, having said that, it should be OK on a DiseqC motor.

 

[satwino]

Buy a decent sky box, Pace pr Panasonic, get a freeview card from sky. take it all with you to France, and attatch it to a 80 cm dish no problem..
take out a subscription with sky B4 you go to get the movies if you like. all easy. Im here and done it!!
Andy