Free To Air Satellite any good?

philstar

Ive got one of those free to air (astra 2) satellite systems (fortec star) from Maplins, its up in the attic never got around to using it as i have chorus digital.

But now i'm getting pissed off with chorus and thinking of using freeview...and to hell with paying bills.

So i just wanna know is it worth installing..

1.Is it difficult to set up??

2.Whats the picture quality like??

3.How many descent channels are there??

Regards Phil.

byte

Firstly, Freeview is reference to the UK's DTT service. It has nothing to do with satellite TV.

Anyway...

1. It can be awkward, patience is the key if you've no meter. You'll need dish on a south facing wall with nothing to obstruct the view between dish and the Astra2/Eurobird satellites (trees, buildings etc). If you've no meter, you'll need to cable the box up to the dish, and using the onscreen meter as a guide, adjust your dish. Elevation is very nearly straight.

2. Picture quality is generally very good. There are exceptions, like many cheaply-run and shopping channels, where there can be poor bitrate, but the main channels are generally OK.

3. In my view, about 20-30 decent channels, about 200 others. Lots of radio channels.

watty

Freeview is the UK Terrestrial (via an aerial ) Digital service. Not Satellite.

See the ICDG Wiki

TheDriver

you get BBC 1-4, ITV 1-4, Sky news, bbc news, al jazeera news euronews, good few music channels, men and motors and film 4. to sum up the main ones. You can add in irish from an aerial and your away for road.

Ulsterman 1690

Whats the picture quality like??

if properly set up Very good on all the main BBC/ITV channels

How many descent channels are there??

Depends on what you mean by decent

BBC1/2/3(CBBC)/4(Cbeebies)/News24/Parliament
ITV1/2/3/4(Kids)/Men and Motors
A few free film channels (Film 4 being the best)
About 10 music (including classical) channels and 200 radio channels
about half a dozen news channels
A few oddball channels which might have the odd interesting programme (depending on what youre into)

On the other hand theres
200 shopping channels
About a dozen religious channels -various brands of "evangenical christian" (mostly of US origin) with one RC and a couple of Muslim channels (Most sane people avoid these like the plauge but twisted souls like me enjoy them for their comedy value )
A couple of Dozen ethnic channels -Dont want to come accross as narrow minded but most of the ones on Astra 2 are terrible (If you want to broaden your horizons in this regard the Hotbird satellite is far better) The handful that do English programming seem to have criminally incompetent sound engineers and an annual production budget of about £5 !
Gaming channels -Worse than the God channels (Both are aimed at swindling the guillable but at least the God channels are occasionally funny)

philstar

thanks everyone..for your replies...:)

so what would be the best satellite finder for a novice like me to use....budget €60

and is it possible to get broadband on a satellite??

Rippy

Thanks Ulsterman for a very good description of what can be got FTA on 28E.
Many potential customers ring me up and ask 'what can I get on this free satellite thing you advertise' and thats the best description I have heard.
Mind if I quote it?

watty

You can get poor value 1 way download accerator €30 or 1/2 decent two way satellite €100 internent. Needs different dish to Sky TV.

I think Ulsterman 1690 meant "About 200 other TV and 70+ Radio channels" not 200 radio

Ulsterman 1690

Ummm IIRC theres just over 200 radio channels on Astra 2

On the $ky EPG radio runs from 0101 to (around) 0209 plus there may still be a handful of additional channels not included (Costcutter etc)

Rippy wrote:

Mind if I quote it?

Quote away

watty

Obviously I've blinked and missed a lot of additions. Last I counted there was 70+ FTA. The mind boggles. I've never counted the Sky Muzak channels.

Sorry

stevecrow74

for all current FTA satellite channels .. check here

http://www.lyngsat.com/28east.html

the free channels have a 'F' symbol beside them

tv channels are in bold.. the rest are radio channels

philstar

is there many......ahem....naughty channels??:o

Gonzo

TWC Fight! is another FTA channel which is great if you like wrestling and mma. Theres also a new fta computer game channel on channel 291 I think.

TerrorFirmer

Just out of curiosity, you know the sets Lidl have now - the portable satellite ones? Seeing as the dish can be mounted anywhere, including pictures of it mounted indoors on a worktop, what sort of picture would you expect?

Pal

philstar wrote:

is there many......ahem....naughty channels??:o

only free one is Playb*y One.

You could try pointing your dish at the Hotbird satellite at 13 degrees east

watty

HavoK wrote:

Just out of curiosity, you know the sets Lidl have now - the portable satellite ones? Seeing as the dish can be mounted anywhere, including pictures of it mounted indoors on a worktop, what sort of picture would you expect?

None. Unless there is a large thin glass window pointing south east high in wall or a wall missing.

Glass at an angle or double glazing will block it. Also the signal comes from the sky, so dish is actually "pointing" upwards about 20 degrees.

Those mini dishes are almost too small in Ireland outdoors except in south East.

philstar

just to return to a previous question.....is it possible to get broadband on satellite...or is that impossible??

wil

Yes its possible. Appears that Digiweb might be providing it, tad expensive though and at 512k, broadish.
http://www.digiweb.ie/athome_broadband_satellite_index.asp?i=3&i2=6&i6=31

As for Satellite thru windows (the original non M$ meaning of the word)
a neighbour is getting reasonable reception thru an almost perfectly Astra2 facing single glazed tall window with a standard sky dish. (and net curtain).
So I guess if you just realign your house it might be possible.
Probably need very thin glass too.