Recommended Receiver for Newbie

shroud

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I have just read through the Idiots guides and there seems to be a lot of information and assistance here for the Dreambox. As a complete newbie who is wanting to get English channels in Spain I am looking for advise on what Dreambox system I should purchase. I see DM500, 7000, 7020, not sure what the differences are, Just looking for something that has the least problems and is user friendly.
 

rolfw

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If you want the channels from Astra 28.2E BBC, ITV etc, then you may find that a Sky digibox is the best option, what exactly do you want to watch?

The receivers you list vary little in their abilities, the main differences being card/cam slots, secondary being USB/Memory media slots.
 

shroud

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I would like to get Astra 1c/1e/1f/1g/1h/2c which are all at 19.2e. If I buy a dish and point it at 19.2e, I should be able to get all of the Astra satellites listed above?
I'm an American who is living in Spain so TV in English is important for me. My wife is Spanish so she would like TV in Spanish/Catalan. I think this Astra has both English and Spanish with quite a few FTA channels.
I have found a 5600s for sale here in Barcelona, however I see that the forum has a section for 5620, are they the same receivers? Can I install images/Emus on the 5600 the same as the 5620? I went to the official Dreambox site and saw nothing on the 5600.
Thanks for your reply.
 

rolfw

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There isn't much as far as I'm aware in English on that satellite cluster, if you subscribe to the Spanish package there will be some of the channels with English audio though.

As far as I know there is little or nothing there which can be decrypted with the Dreambox alone.

Don't know too much about the 5000 series, but someone else here may be able to help. :)
 

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Thanks Rolf for your quick reply. I chose the Astra because it has many open (FTA) channels in English and Spanish. I looked up what you suggested on Astra 28.2 E and see that most of the channels are encrypted via Videoguard and it shows Sky Diigital as the provider. So inorder to watch these channels I would have to subscribe to Sky Digital? They would send me an access card and then I would be able to use it with the Dreambox? Just want to make sure I understand everything correctly. Thanks again for your time.
 

rolfw

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I'd be interested to know what there is in English on 19.2E, didn't think there was much at all, particularly FTA.

On Astra 28.2, there are all of the BBC channels FTA, plus a few news channels and other miscellaneous stuff, you can buy a Freesat card off the internet and that would enable the viewing of the ITV, channel 4 and Channel 5 output, you need a Dreambox with a card slot or a Sky digibox, plus a 1m dish or there abouts.
 

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Hi Rolfw,

From this months Teledigital magazine here are the free channels in English on Astra 19.2e.

BBC World
Sky News International
CNBC Europa
MTV Germany (In German but its open)
Travel Channel
CNN International Europa
The God Channel Europa

I would also get about 20 additional Spanish and 2 Catalan channels for my wife. I'm still doing the very basic research so I haven't decided entirely on this satellite.
 

rolfw

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OK, probably not a great selection, but at least something. :)

Look here for FTA UK channels http://www.lyngsat.com/freetv/United-Kingdom.html, a 1 metre dish with a second LNB pointing at 19.2E should cover you for both sats.

Still not sure that the Dreambox is the receiver for you, as the emulator side of it will be pretty much redundant on those two satellites, unless of course you are looking to get a freesat card for the ITV channels or a card for the Spanish channels.
 

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Hi Shroud
Regarding the 5600, I do not recommend as they cannot be updated like the later version, 5620 as they already got a network card. So a 5620 is ok, also a 7000.
As Rolf said, you might want to consider the setup I got: One digibox with a free view card, or you could even get a subscription if you want to get some better channels. Then for all the rest and to really have a play get a dreambox and a motor, that way you can get a whole lot of stuff.
 

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Hi Rolfw and T_G,

Thanks again for your advise. I am still very new into this and I am glad that I did not rush out and buy equipment. I will stay away from the 5600 on your advise T_G.
Offhand do any of you know if any of these birds carry American Channels besides the International News channels? I have been in Spain for only a month and starting to miss Baseball games. Streaming Internet with play by play and Internet Radio really isn't the same experience as watching it on TV.
Thanks again for your advice, I will keep doing more research on this before I make my decision.
 

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if you want american stations then a motorised system is a good idea.try some of the atlantic birds they have feeds from america coming over all the time.
 

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Thanks Twag42, that will give me something else to check on. Thanks to everyone for pointing me in the right direction.
 

jase42001

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rolfw said:
"unless of course you are looking to get a freesat card for the ITV channels or a card for the Spanish channels".

Rolfw, can you tell me if this freesat card id the yellow s*y cards available on ebay etc? Do I need a S*y box to pair the card with?

I am interested in getting the ITV channels, but do not have a S*y box to get the ID ect.

Is there anyway around this.

Thanks
 
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