French satellite tv

carolireland

Hi,

Any advice gratefully received. I would like to set up to get main French tv channels like TF1, France2 etc.
I do not have a Bis or Tnt card. I had been thinking about using a VU+Duo and Tnt card as a possibility but are Tnt cards only sold with a TNT receiver? and do they have to be activated and stay in a French TNTsat receiver to continue working?
The Tnt looks like the cheaper option if it works as it has to be replaced every 4 years whereas the Bis has to be replaced every year.
Many thanks

polyfusion

I'm not sure, but were you talking about a multi-sat system a while back? If yes, do you have any equipment yet? If you were looking at a multi-sat setup with 19E included and the VU+, last time I read up about it, people were recommending using a TNT box when using a TNT card, as on other receivers, the firmware/software had to be updated frequently to make the card continue to work with them. Maybe that's changed now.

Another option if you don't have 19E:
Some of the channels are FTA at 5W on DVB-T (2, 3sat and 5, and a few others which I think are also FTA on 19E); all of them are FTA at the same position in analogue, but you would need an analogue receiver to get them, and a TV that can display SECAM pictures (and obviously a dish pointed at 5W). You can see whats on DVB-T (light blue) and SECAM (dark blue) here: AB3@5W

I don't know how long the analogue channels are going to last on 5W though, could be months, could be years. It's another option, you might get lucky and know someone off-loading an analogue receiver. But if you already have a VU+ and there are good images available that will work with a TNTSAT card, that would be the best option, as you could multi-sat with 28E, and possibly SaorSat at 9E.

EDIT: Came across this when looking for something else: Link Seems the analogue channels will be gone before the end of the year, so forget that option.

carolireland

Thanks Polyfusion. Yes we are going to set up a multi satellite system.
We are going to try and combine freesat, tntsat and saorview (or possibly saorsat eventually) in a set up similar to what Watty kindly recommended in an earlier post.
We got the dish today and have decided to give tnt a try as the card seems to last 4 years with this system as opposed to renewal every year with a bis card.
We thought the VU+ Duo might do the best job of combining everything in the one box in one room but have not bought it yet.
In the other room we are going to try a Humax Foxsat and a cheap French tnt receiver.
I think a certain amount of it will be trial and error for us as we have little knowledge but are looking forward to the challenge.
Thanks again for your advice.

polyfusion

No problem, you're welcome.

If you were only getting the VU+ Duo, and a TNTSAT card, you may (or may not) have problems with the card working with it; like I said, last time I read up about it, people were having issues with TNTSAT cards working on non-TNT boxes, but in the future, there may be images for the VU+ Duo that work flawlessly.

But since you're also planning on getting a TNTSAT box, it'll give you more scope for the future. Just make sure you get a twin (or quad) LNB for the 19E position, that way, you can use one output for the TNTSAT box, and one output for the VU+. You can then experiment with the TNTSAT card in the VU+, and if it works ok in the future, get another card for the VU+. You've probably already been advised to get quads already anyway, especially since you're looking at getting 3 receivers, and have dual tuners on a VU+.

I think the closest comparison between TNTSAT and Bis is roughly along the lines of the difference between Saorview / SaorSat (when it exists) and the Sky minimum package available in Ireland (or maybe a FTV Sky card and Sky min package in UK). As you already probably know, you'll get maybe 2 to 3 times more channels with the Bis package, but of course you have to pay each year. Also, they say that the TNTSAT card lasts for 4 years, but it may last for many more (a bit like the Sky FTV card which is guaranteed for 2 years, but may last until Sky would have to revamp their whole system of encryption).

Tricky situation at the moment with SaorSat, not knowing when/if it becomes a reality. If you can get RTE right now with a simple aerial in the back of the TV (analogue or DTT through built-in TV tuner), it'll tide you over in the meantime, then add an appropriate LNB for 9E when it is available. That would be my choice anyway, get everything coming in through a dish, and not have to install aerials for terrestrial Irish channels.

carolireland

Many many thanks for your reply.

As we were unsure as to whether the Tntsat card would work in the Vu+Duo on a continual basis, we thought we would hedge our bets and get a cheap Tnt receiver as well. Hopefully this will give us the scope to mess about with it a bit.

It is hard to know which way to jump on the saorview/saorsat. We are going to get a Triax rail any way with capability of adding the special LNB for 9e but the vu+ should be able to handle the situation if we go with saorview.

Thanks for your help and advice. We are looking forward to starting the installation. We intend to take it in small stages and do a bit at a time.
First stage this weekend, to prepare the wall (pebbledashed) and bolt the dish to the wall!
Thanks again.

rlogue

For what it's worth Bis cards will work in a Dreambox or a Vu+ Duo with the Hypercam emulator or better still in a CI slot with an official Viaccess cam. Bis is SD only on Hotbird but is due to go MPEG 4 in a month or so.
Tntsat in enigma boxes currently only works on the SD channels only as Canal+ want to force Tntsat users onto official boxes only and keep messing about with the AES key so it might work one day and not the next.

carolireland

Thank you Riogue for that information. We put up the dish yeserday.
The cheap tntsat receiver has arrived as has the vu+duo so we will be able to experiment. Next step is to set up lnbs, disecq and cable.

rlogue

Certainly you have a good combination there. By all means try the TNTSAT card that comes with the box in the Vu + Duo. You'll need the latest Cccam for it to work but whenever Canal + change the TNTSAT AES key put the TNTSAT card back into the TNTSAT box until Cccam catches up with the key changes.

polyfusion

Just read this post link on digitalspy regarding TNTSAT changing their cards this year, but I see you've already gotten your TNT receiver. You'll probably get most of the year out of the card, but ultimately it'll need to be changed if its not one of the new ones.

carolireland

Hi. i just wanted to say thank you for the help and advice. We have installed the new system and all is working very well. We followed Watty's advice with regard to the placing of the lnbs and are now getting 19e and 28e perfectly. We hope to add Saorsat in due course.
We set up the TNTsat card in the VU+ Duo and it is working perfectly. It looks like this will only be until the end of the year however when the card will have to be replaced with a new one.
Thanks again.

rlogue

Bis have migrated across to DVB-S2 on Hotbird and are now offering at last some HD channels. France 2 HD and arte HD are now available for Bis subscribers.

Here are the frequency details:

Le plan de fréquence de BIS est désormais :

- Fréquences : 11681 - 12692 - 12303 - 12539
- Polarité : Horizontale
- Debit Symbole : 27500
- FEC : 3/4
- Modulation : 8PSK
- Standard : DVBS2

Some Bis channels are currently FTA on a temporary basis - notably AB1, AB3 AB4 and some of the Bis movie channels.