Working In Baghdad, Iraq

[Stumpy]

Hi all,

I am a squaddie working on detachment in Baghdad and wondered if someone could direct me to the right way to get some English TV.

At the moment I have a receiver without a card which gives me BBC News 24 through Hotbird, that is it!

What should I be looking for in terms of receiver and would a series of codes (patches?) be able to unlock the receiver for free viewing? As you can imagine over here there are no rules and everyone is trying to rip us off.

Any assistance to an absolute beginner would be very welcome . . .

 

[pascoa30]

wich receiver u have it?

 

[Topper]

Welcome to the forum Stumpy

Well to be truthful whilst there are things available you either require unofficial support for the stb you have or a CAM (conditional access module) such as the dragon which with a cas3 programmer can be programmed with up to date software and then you can input the latest keys and away you go. The problem is that it is you that is going to have to read all about it as this is a self help forum. People will obviously give you help if you get stuck but it is really down to the equipment you have got and I doubt any of what I have mentioned is to hand. For the type of operation you are requesting I would suggest a patchable technomate which has lots of unofficial support available or a dreambox, however the DB is a linux based stb and requires some knowledge of computers to achieve the end result but it is not impossible. Time is what this hobby takes and some money would be useful
Knowing what you currently have will help tremendously

 

[Robbo]

Hi,
When you say "English TV" do you mean English TV, or TV with English audio.?
Most of English TV is on 28E, for which you would need a very big dish over in Iraq.
Other than that on Hotbird, TPS and Polsat can be received with a patched receiver, there is sometimes English audio on there.
Also on 26E, which will be easy to get in your location, there are the MBC channels, which are totally free to air, with English audio (American mainly)
Robbo

 

[HB13DISH]

Hi all,

I am a squaddie working on detachment in Baghdad and wondered if someone could direct me to the right way to get some English TV.

At the moment I have a receiver without a card which gives me BBC News 24 through Hotbird, that is it!

What should I be looking for in terms of receiver and would a series of codes (patches?) be able to unlock the receiver for free viewing? As you can imagine over here there are no rules and everyone is trying to rip us off.

Any assistance to an absolute beginner would be very welcome . . .

Hot Bird 13E has BBC Prime (Viaccess encrypted) and BBC World FTA.
If you can't receive these channels, then the present dish is probably too small.
What is the size of the dish that is giving you BBC News 24?

 

[HB13DISH]

Just had a look in Lyngsat and there is no mention of BBC News 24 there on Hot Bird.
Only on Astra 2D which I find it hard to believe since you need a large dish in your location.
Please check again if this is indeed BBC News 24 or perhaps BBC World?

 

[Robbo]

With a suitably patched TM5200D for example, you would be able to receive the TPS package at the moment, which includes BBC Prime, and some of the other channels sometimes show English programmes, the Canal+ channels for example.

According to the footprint, the dish size needed is only 1m or so.

 

[Stumpy]

Firstly thank you all very much for your considered and educated responses. I am overwhelmed and confused, but I will try and work through all that now.

Secondly I apologise for my delay in responding but connection to the internet is sporadic at best over here as you can imagine.

I currently have a STRONG SRT 4642 receiver which was already in location here when I arrived. As to getting different models I will have to check with our interpreter what is available as you can appreciate I simply cant just walk into the local TV shop!

The dish is a 1m dish with about 5 leads coming from it via splitters etc. Points in a SWW direction (I may be able to get a better direction when I can get onto the roof if that is important, but can only get on it at night because of snipers!)

It is BBC World (Middle East) that I get, my apologies. I also get Dubai One which is in English too. I am hoping to get more of the English language stations which I know are available over here.

I will be in UK soon so will enquire as to some of the equipment mentioned. Is there any particular chain you would recommend to buy this stuff from (coupled with good advice from the staff)?

Once again thank you all for this advice and if there is anything else you can offer now armed with my receiver details it will be most welcome.

 

[HB13DISH]

Regarding the dish's 5 leads:
Is there only one LNB or several?
This is important if you are going to watch channels from different satellites, in addition to Hot Bird 13E.
Please attach a photo if you can of the dish and LNB/LNBs.

Interesting satellites in your location:
Amos 4W with a lot of western films and series in the original languages, but there is a lot of irritating advertising time (Ch1, Ch2, Ch10). I am not sure if 1m will be large enough.

Nilesat 7W: You can try to get a Showtime subscription from your local TV shop. This can include a dedicated receiver (Irdeto encryption) or use a receiver with CAM slot supporting Irdeto.
http://www.satellites.co.uk/satellite/showtime-middle-east/106176-showtime-package.html
There are also a lot of FTA channels there, mostly in Arabic.
These two satellites can be received with the same dish using a monoblock LNB with 3 degrees difference (7W-4W=3), but you will need an additional dish since Hot Bird 13E is too far to be on it as well.
Setting up the LNBs and another dish might be risky since it will take time, and cetainly not worth dying for.
Another possibility is a motorized dish which will bring a lot more channels from other satellites.
good Luck.

 

[colinp]

Aside from the setup stumpy KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.Best wishes:-worship

 

[rolfw]

Firstly thank you all very much for your considered and educated responses. I am overwhelmed and confused, but I will try and work through all that now.

Secondly I apologise for my delay in responding but connection to the internet is sporadic at best over here as you can imagine.

I currently have a STRONG SRT 4642 receiver which was already in location here when I arrived. As to getting different models I will have to check with our interpreter what is available as you can appreciate I simply cant just walk into the local TV shop!

The dish is a 1m dish with about 5 leads coming from it via splitters etc. Points in a SWW direction (I may be able to get a better direction when I can get onto the roof if that is important, but can only get on it at night because of snipers!)

It is BBC World (Middle East) that I get, my apologies. I also get Dubai One which is in English too. I am hoping to get more of the English language stations which I know are available over here.

I will be in UK soon so will enquire as to some of the equipment mentioned. Is there any particular chain you would recommend to buy this stuff from (coupled with good advice from the staff)?

Once again thank you all for this advice and if there is anything else you can offer now armed with my receiver details it will be most welcome.

Hi Stumpy, we appreciate that replies may be delayed, so you don't need to apologise.

If you are receiving Dubai 1, then you are most likely receiving either 26 East or 7 West, if it is 7 West, then subscribing to Showtime would give you loads of Premiership football games, I guess that your interpreter should be able to get a card and box locally.

There are Satellite shops in the UK, but many are internet based, which is where the majority of hobbyists purchase their goods from, have a look at our advertisers (link in my signature). It will depend on where your UK base is, as to whether there is one nearby.