Satellite setup

greg11378

Hi,
I'm a total newcomer to the concept of satellite TV.
I want to get setup with a dish, primarily so I can get Eurosport.
Can anyone tell me what I need, how much they cost to buy / service cost and what the best options are.
Many thanks,
Greg

watty

Read this thread....?
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=148038

P. Breathnach

That's a good reference: my thread!

But even I know a simpler answer. I have a dish pointed at Astra, and an analogue tuner. It gives me Eurosport, CNN, and about 30 German-language channels. I suspect that you could pick up many of the bits secondhand for small money.

Simple, cheap, and limited (unless you understand German).

watty

Have they switched off the English commentary sub channel on Eurosport Analog? I do know last year it was not on every event. The default sound 7.02 / 7.20 is German, but I think the 7.38 / 7.56 ish pair was Englich.

The only always there FTA Digital Eurosport is German only on 19E Digital

P. Breathnach

English commentary is there as I write.

Once in a while it's missing, but not often. Typically for events which might be interesting only to very few people.

Being fairly new to this area, I have not yet found out what sort of future there is for analogue services.

sergeant121

Originally posted by P. Breathnach
Being fairly new to this area, I have not yet found out what sort of future there is for analogue services.

I think the fact that one transponder can carry 6, 7, 8 (or more at lower bit rates) digital TV channels, but only one analogue TV channel answers that!

watty

A few satellite transponders only work for Analog. Most work for Digital or Analog.

The reason so many German channels still on Analog 19E is former East Germany Poverty.

The only other sigificant Analog left is about 12 channels on Hotbird 13E

The last PAL channel closed a few days ago on Scandanavian Birds, D2MAC is hybrid analog / digital and nearly all, if not all gone by time you read this.

All the Analog or nearly all on 10E, 16E, 7E, 30W gone.


I expect a half dozen on Hotbird 13E and 20/30 or so on Astra 19E to continue for next year or two, or on few old Astra transponders /bird that can do analog only (but near end of service life).


There is no future to Analog Satellite at all.

But the Dish is fine for digital, and newer "Universal" LNBs work for Digital Receivers.

The analog satellite receivers can be used as receivers for Video Senders if an frequency shifter (2.4GHz --> 1.7GHz) is used (an old ADX+ for Sky Ch5 can be used), or as Amatuer TV receivers (1.3Ghz LNA needed).

maisflocke

Originally posted by LurkingIcon

The reason so many German channels still on Analog 19E is former East Germany Poverty.

Sorry Watty, I'm going to have to correct you there!

East Germans are in General well off due to the fact that In communist times they had nothing to spend their Reichmarks on. When the East was finally reunited with the West, the govenment did a 1 to 1 Reichmark to Deutschmark swap-over, even though the RM was only worth a mere tenth of the DM. To make a long story short, their huge savings increased 10 fold in value overnight. (bastards !)

The real reason to German Analogue is the simple fact that the technology has zero promotion. The digital switchover timetable has been set to 2010, but not many people are aware of that.
Another thing is the fact that many people automatically associate Digital telly with over expensive Pay-TV, and hence are not interested.

watty

Ah.. I was mis-informed... It's West German poverty paying for the East German Brothers return.

I suspect a major consideration is number of transponders on older Astra 19E bird not suitable for Digital.

I did hear that Terrestrial Analog is turned of in Berlin. Is this true or more misleading German Info I'm getting fed?

maisflocke

Well, some of your information is right Watty - but it goes more like East German wealth caused West German poverty

DVB-T certainly does exist in Berlin, the switch-over from Analogue to Digital was done in a similar style and speed to the euro-changeover.

Since its introduction, it has been very sucessful - so sucessful that it actually poses a major threat to the not yet started DVB-C on cable. Currently DVB-T in Berlin offers about 24 channels freeview style.... Berlin cable offers about 32 analogue channels for around about €17.00 pm
Now, most people are copping on to the fact that 24 of 32 channels can now be received with an arial as short as 6 inches in digital quality and no monthly cable fee.
A few less channels, a lot less euro.

Other Built-up regions in Germany will -one after the other- follow Berlins example, the next sechudled Regions will be the Rhine Ruhr region, followed by Hamburg & Hanover, Frankfurt, Nürnberg & Munich.

The only way cable really has a chance when DVB-C eventually does get started is to offer good value broadband internet. But I really do not see that ever happening....... Good value & German cable companies just don't go hand in hand.

watty

I think cable TV is doomed.

It can't compete with DVB-t (DTT) freeview nor with Pay Satellite.

On Broadband & Phone the costs of conversion is high and a shared coax can't do anything like the over all per user bandwidth of ADSL on copper final loop to exchange. Now for telephone line the hard-to-belive VHS-DSL at 10 times speed of ADSL or SDSL with option for ISDN on same wire is available from NEC and others.

As more people sign up for Cable TV based broadband the contention ratio means they end up with simply always on, but only good analog dialup speed.

Of course many people (most in reality!) don't need more than 50K, it is phone charge and line rental that is killer.

But Broadband here at home would cost me 3 times what my internet related phone bill is. Also the trigger level for Patrickswell is 362. Only one person has "registered". 361 to go and it is a small Village. I doubt half that many would go for broad band even if haved the price from 45 Euro (for "micky mouse" slow ADSL with monthly cap).

watty

Originally posted by watty
I think cable TV is doomed.

It can't compete with DVB-t (DTT) freeview nor with Pay Satellite.

Nor can it compete with 800 FTA TV / 700 FTA radio / 30 Satellites, typical cost for system under EUR 350 once off. With Digital Pay TV (Cable or Satellite) their goal is to have subscribers pay more than this in a year.

When there was no satellite and only 3 or 4 local TV channels, 12 or 16 analog TV on a cheaply engineered cable TV in dense housing areas was reasonable money spinner, but by no means high profitable, just about commercially interesting. Often nothing was paid (esp. here in Ireland) to the broadcasters carried on cable.

Many channels on Digital now means many payments to the broadcasters.
The equipment is much more expensive (Head end and customer)
The customer need a box for each TV, not just feed all the TVs direct.

I can't see how it can be competitive with DTT and Satellite and make money.

Even DTT in UK (for various debated reasons) could not compete with Sky. I can't imagine that Cable in UK has much growth. Even in Ireland with NO DTT, cable is stagnent compared with Sky growth to about 400,000 households. Then there are xxx people using FTA SAtellite here, esp. since BBC went FTA.

If ITV goes FTA in September (as they might) it will be close to a final nail in Choruses Coffin (650m in red and in Examinership). NTL Ireland is none to healty either I guess esp. outside of its Dublin "heartland".