Superbeam Alicante

[tlj999]

Hi All,

I have a friend who lives near Alicante and had subscribed to a company called Superbeam to recieve basic channels ( BBC, ITV, 4 etc. ).
He no longer pays them but it seams they haven't switched off his card.
Problem is, his dish has moved in the wind and he loses a lot of picture, especially when it's windy.
His dish is only approx 30cm and appears to be pointing roughly North. Would this be right?
Can anybody tell me if he bought a bigger dish would this help his picture quality and can anybody tell me which sat his dish will be pointing at.

Many thanks,
Tom.

 

[sonnetpete]

His dish is only approx 30cm and appears to be pointing roughly North. Would this be right?

Errr no!!! All satellites in the Northern Hemisphere are placed so that dishes must be directed East or West of due south. I don't think 30cm is enough for the UK, let alone Alicante. You'd probably need to add a metre or so to the size of the dish. I've no doubt someone from the area will advise you.

 

[woborny]

Superbeam is a rebroadcast system, taking the free channels from the UK (and other) satellites, bundling them onto one or two frequencies, encrypting then and retransmitting them on "local" frequencies, and charging for access to them. I know that sometimes cards do not cancel correctly, and I also know that some rebroadcasters have some channels that are not encrypted...

So the dish being used for this system will actually be pointing towards the rebroadcasters transmission masts..which can be on a near by hill, or if like other rebroadcasters I know of, just someones house in an urbanisation (I know that some people lost their signal as the house being used was repossessed and the mast taken down!!! ) ...so it is not actually receiving the signal directly from the satellite...but a "third party" mast instead.

I fyou want to realign yourself, and dont know the direction, it will be a question of trial and error, or see if any other english peeps are in the area and using the same system, and see where their dish is pointing - or move the dish a bit, check for a signal, no signal move the dish a bit more!

 

[Barometer]

From what I understand, this is a MDS Microwave Distribution Service in the locality.
Signals are transmitted from a ground-based location having been received from satellite. The frequencies used by the company are such that usually need small dishes.

It is said that....
These systems are slowly being raided by the police as they are (allegedly) infringing copyright, re-transmission laws and are often said to be using illegal frequencies.
These points are not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as there is a lot of mystery as to how they work. Local newspapers periodically run stories of The Guardia Civil raiding re-transmission centres. The same papers often run adverts for what are claimed to be 'totally legal' "UK TV" systems.

Who knows the truth?
Suffice it to say, the small dish referred to will have nothing to do with satellite reception.