Moving to Switzerland and taking my Sky HD with me!

Steffano2002

Good evening,

Does anybody know if the standard dish we get in Ireland with Sky will work in Switzerland? I know mini-dishes don't work that far south but I was hoping the dishes we get here would work decently.

Any satellite guru out there would know by any chance?

montgolfiere

I think at least a 90cm would be required for the 2D Channels. and don't forget things may well change over the next weeks with 1n and the changes epected in 2012 and 2013 with the replacment Satellites.
Switz is not just south but also East, away from the Astra Footprint.

Booms

Have a read of this:
http://www.satelliteforcaravans.co.uk/dishsizes.htm

not forgetting Montgolfiere's comments below.

(Rest of site is quite good too)

watty

Not a chance with 90cm for Astra 2D in Most of Switzerland for decent rain margin
It depends if North West (best, maybe 90cm in good weather) or South East (worst with more than 1.2m needed)

For astra 2N bigger still in Switzerland.

Take this is a minimum ... http://www.astra2d.com/maps.html for good weather.

OTH Eurobird is a lot better than here!

montgolfiere

the map posted above suggests 90cm for most of Switzerland, and taking reception here in the Pyrenees where actually a Zone2 Minidish works i still think a 90 would do in most of Switzerland.
The Skyman

watty

The map is
a) optimistic
b) no margin for bad weather.

montgolfiere

http://www.astra2d.com/france2d.html

I am sorry to have to disagree with the above poster:
I have found that the estimates on this series of maps is accurate for me here in The Pyrenees, so would imagine that the same would apply for Switzerland. I reitterate that a Sky Zone 2 or 'Local' 80 cm. is more than adequate in all weathers for this region (even where they are suggesting a 100cm.!!). so i am convinced that a 90cm would be suitable in Switzerland.
Reading the entries from Swiss residents in the link further up the post would also bear this out i believe.

Cheers
The Skyman

Booms

In 2006, I helped a friend set up his dish to pick up Astra2.

He lives in outskirts of Zurich. His 80cm dish is pointing at Astra1, and he's been using it since with an offset LNB for Astra2. Never heard him complain about any loss of reception.

And they do get some serious weather there!

Rowley Birkin QC

Not sure about Switzerland but the pub I used to work in in Amsterdam had an Irish Sky subscription running perfectly and a mate that recently moved to Luxembourg took his with him too.

montgolfiere

Booms wrote: »

In 2006, I helped a friend set up his dish to pick up Astra2.

He lives in outskirts of Zurich. His 80cm dish is pointing at Astra1, and he's been using it since with an offset LNB for Astra2. Never heard him complain about any loss of reception.

And they do get some serious weather there!

Thats quite impressive!! An offset on an 80cm. without problems.

Booms

I'm embarrassed now, should have checked with him. I'll email him, just to make sure.

watty

Rowley Birkin QC wrote: »

Not sure about Switzerland but the pub I used to work in in Amsterdam had an Irish Sky subscription running perfectly and a mate that recently moved to Luxembourg took his with him too.

Amsterdam is easier than Galway.

Luxemburg isn't hard.

Steffano2002

Wow! Thanks fior all the replies! Forgot to check up on this thread since posting!

FYI: I'll be moving to Biel/Bienne (North/West Switzerland). As a result I will be in the same "zone" as The Skyman/montgolfiere who seems to be located in The Pyrenees.

Some further questions for you now:

What size is the Sky dish we all get in Oreland when we order Sky? Is that a 90cm?

What if I have to get a bigger dish in Switzerland (100cm+), will it also have two cables running to my bax for Sky+ to work?

The Skyman/montgolfiere: What do you mean by "and don't forget things may well change over the next weeks with 1n and the changes epected in 2012 and 2013 with the replacement Satellites"? Could it mean we will no longer be able to receive Sky in Europe in the very near future?

JDxtra

By the way, the UPC owned cable company in Switzerland (Cablecom) carry all the main UK channels.

Steffano2002

JDxtra wrote: »

By the way, the UPC owned cable company in Switzerland (Cablecom) carry all the main UK channels.

Cheers JDxtra! That's good to know! Will look into this now!

watty

Steffano2002 wrote: »

What size is the Sky dish we all get in Oreland when we order Sky? Is that a 90cm?

What if I have to get a bigger dish in Switzerland (100cm+), will it also have two cables running to my bax for Sky+ to work?

The Skyman/montgolfiere: What do you mean by "and don't forget things may well change over the next weeks with 1n and the changes epected in 2012 and 2013 with the replacement Satellites"? Could it mean we will no longer be able to receive Sky in Europe in the very near future?

1N is much narrower beam. it's Replacing wider beams

The Irish Sky disk is perforated, so poor quality compared to solid and only 65cm on longer dimension. Useless in Switzerland for Sky. The SE England Sky Dish is only 45cm in longer dimension.

Never buy the "minimum" size dish as with age the satellite signals may be less powerful and the LNBF may be more noisy, especially on hot days. You get better reception in heavy rain or snow.

So 90cm to 1.2m dish depending on location.

The number of cables is nothing to do with Dish size. You need one cable per tuner. Proper PVRs (and sky HD of course) need two cables each.

The LNBF sky supply is only for a Sky dish. Regular dishes (especially good ones) need a different LNBF. But it's not expensive.

Bannasidhe

Steffano2002 wrote: »

Good evening,

Does anybody know if the standard dish we get in Ireland with Sky will work in Switzerland? I know mini-dishes don't work that far south but I was hoping the dishes we get here would work decently.

Any satellite guru out there would know by any chance?

My brother brought his Sky HD dish to Switzerland (Valais- district of Sion) several years ago and it is working perfectly -( even though Sky think it is still in Cork ). Now I don't know the technical details and it was fiddly to align it but he managed this himself and this is a man who has problems changing a plug.

So - short answer. Yes you can. But tweaking will be required.

Steffano2002

watty wrote: »

1N is much narrower beam. it's Replacing wider beams

The Irish Sky disk is perforated, so poor quality compared to solid and only 65cm on longer dimension. Useless in Switzerland for Sky. The SE England Sky Dish is only 45cm in longer dimension.

Never buy the "minimum" size dish as with age the satellite signals may be less powerful and the LNBF may be more noisy, especially on hot days. You get better reception in heavy rain or snow.

So 90cm to 1.2m dish depending on location.

The number of cables is nothing to do with Dish size. You need one cable per tuner. Proper PVRs (and sky HD of course) need two cables each.

The LNBF sky supply is only for a Sky dish. Regular dishes (especially good ones) need a different LNBF. But it's not expensive.

Thank you for this additional information Watty!

So let's assume I leave the Sky dish here and simply take the Sky HD PVR with me to Switzerland: will it be easy enough for me to find a non-perforated 90cm dish with a dual-cable LNBF compatible for Sky HD?

Where does one find such a thing? And more importantly, how much will it cost!?

Thanks again for helping a n00b out!

Steffano2002

Bannasidhe wrote: »

My brother brought his Sky HD dish to Switzerland (Valais- district of Sion) several years ago and it is working perfectly -( even though Sky think it is still in Cork ). Now I don't know the technical details and it was fiddly to align it but he managed this himself and this is a man who has problems changing a plug.

So - short answer. Yes you can. But tweaking will be required.

I'm OK with mechanical and electrical stuff but satellite signals is something different altogether! Glad to hear your brother got it working in Valais! I'll be North-West of that position so hopefully I'll have no issues!

montgolfiere

Steffano2002 wrote: »

Thank you for this additional information Watty!

So let's assume I leave the Sky dish here and simply take the Sky HD PVR with me to Switzerland: will it be easy enough for me to find a non-perforated 90cm dish with a dual-cable LNBF compatible for Sky HD?

Where does one find such a thing? And more importantly, how much will it cost!?

Thanks again for helping a n00b out!

This is the sort of deal available.
http://cgi.ebay.fr/INVERTO-90cm-Satelliten-SAT-Spiegel-Schussel-Antenne-HD-/160676259496?pt=Sat_Anlagen&hash=item25690d26a8
I buy a lot of stuff from them and if you also buy the wall bracket and 2x (or 4x) LNB they will only charge 1 lot of Postage.

watty

Steffano2002 wrote: »

So let's assume I leave the Sky dish here and simply take the Sky HD PVR with me to Switzerland: will it be easy enough for me to find a non-perforated 90cm dish with a dual-cable LNBF compatible for Sky HD?

Where does one find such a thing? And more importantly, how much will it cost!?

Thanks again for helping a n00b out!

Yes.

I don't know about Switzerland, which is expensive and also it's not in EU, so some EU suppliers will not post to Switzerland.

But even the French and German Supermarkets have suitable dishes and quad LNBFs about as cheap as online, (cheaper as there is no postage).

Maybe you will be near an Austrian, German, French or Italian border and be able to get LNBF and Dish cheaper than in Switzerland... Shop around. Likely under €60 for a 110cm Dish and under €15 for Quad LNB.

It's pointless taking more than the Sky Box & Card.

Steffano2002

Well guys, I'm in Switzerland!

And I chose an apartment that has a balcony facing South. Is that the correct direction to be facing to get Sky? I hope it is!

Once my Sky box arrives from Ireland I'll get a dish and hope I find the signal easily (I doubt it though...).

ROS123

Would it work in northern sweeden

Steffano2002

ROS123 wrote: »

Would it work in northern sweeden

Based on this map, no.

http://www.astra2d.com/maps.html

montgolfiere

Steffano2002 wrote: »

Well guys, I'm in Switzerland!

And I chose an apartment that has a balcony facing South. Is that the correct direction to be facing to get Sky? I hope it is!

Once my Sky box arrives from Ireland I'll get a dish and hope I find the signal easily (I doubt it though...).

A South facing wall should be Ok, the the dish needing to point to 28,2 East of South. The elevation should be higher than in Ireland, probably around 33 degrees. A cheap option for 'finding' the satellite would be a sat beeper (+/- £5 delivered on ebay )used in combination of the inbuilt sat meter on the digibox.
use the sat beeeper to 'find a satellite' then use the inbuilt meter to verify it is the correct satellite ( network id 0002 , transport stream 07d4) and then use the signal quality and strength scales to fine tune the dish.
Don't forget to adjust the Skew.
Good Luck!!

Steffano2002

montgolfiere wrote: »

A South facing wall should be Ok, the the dish needing to point to 28,2 East of South. The elevation should be higher than in Ireland, probably around 33 degrees. A cheap option for 'finding' the satellite would be a sat beeper (+/- £5 delivered on ebay )used in combination of the inbuilt sat meter on the digibox.
use the sat beeeper to 'find a satellite' then use the inbuilt meter to verify it is the correct satellite ( network id 0002 , transport stream 07d4) and then use the signal quality and strength scales to fine tune the dish.
Don't forget to adjust the Skew.
Good Luck!!

Hi Montgolfière!

I actually understood all that and I'm hoping to find the correct satellite by using this site: http://www.dishpointer.com (thanks to poster who sent me a PM wih this handy link!).

Based on the above website I should have a clear Line of Sight from my balcony so I'm first going to try without a sat beeper and hope for the best! But thanks a million for the info on the elevation! I was assuming it was the same as in Ireland so you potentially saved me hours of frustration there!

However, what is the "Skew"?

FYI: went to Media Markt today to have a look at their satellite stuff and they have everything I'll need for around €200 EUR so that's not too bad!

Steffano2002

Actually Montgolfière,

How's this for a Satelite Beeper:

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Satfinder-Satellite-Finder-Beeper-Meter-Acoustic-Lead-/310292176062?pt=UK_ConEle_SatCableFreeview_RL&hash=item483edadcbe#shId

If you think it'll do I'll take it!

montgolfiere

The device you have found would be fine but these type of devices can be got cheaper. eg.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Satbeeper-METER-Satellite-Finder-Freesat-Astra-Hotbird-/190605285778?pt=UK_ConEle_SatCableFreeview_RL&hash=item2c60f5d992

Regarding equipment: i use the following supplier for a lot of my gear:

http://stores.ebay.fr/eurosatshop24?_rdc=1 This guy is reliable, fast and only adds 1 postal charge.

I hope i have been helpful.
SKew is the way the LNB sits in its holder. In principle instad of the cable coming out straight down at '6.00' the LNB needs twisting slightly 'clockwise' so the cable exits at around '7.00'. The actual 'Skew' needs optimising using the meter readings. IT IS HOWEVER CRUCIAL TO A GOOD RECEPTION!!!

The Skyman

BTW.....any snow there yet???

Steffano2002

montgolfiere wrote: »

The device you have found would be fine but these type of devices can be got cheaper. eg.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Satbeeper-METER-Satellite-Finder-Freesat-Astra-Hotbird-/190605285778?pt=UK_ConEle_SatCableFreeview_RL&hash=item2c60f5d992

Wow! Much cheaper indeed!

montgolfiere wrote: »

Regarding equipment: i use the following supplier for a lot of my gear:

http://stores.ebay.fr/eurosatshop24?_rdc=1 This guy is reliable, fast and only adds 1 postal charge.

Thanks for that Montgolfière! I think I'll have a look as prices here are a bit on the extreme side... Thing is, I don't yet fully understand the import tax system here so a little reluctant to buy anything on eBay just yet. But I'll figure it out!

montgolfiere wrote: »

I hope i have been helpful.
SKew is the way the LNB sits in its holder. In principle instad of the cable coming out straight down at '6.00' the LNB needs twisting slightly 'clockwise' so the cable exits at around '7.00'. The actual 'Skew' needs optimising using the meter readings. IT IS HOWEVER CRUCIAL TO A GOOD RECEPTION!!!

The Skyman

BTW.....any snow there yet???

You have indeed been very helpful so thanks a million!!!

I think I should have no problem doing all this myself now, even without the beeper! I was advised to visit http://www.satellite-calculations.com/Satellite/lookangles.htm and http://satlex.de/en/azel_calc-params.html?satlo=28.2&user_satlo=&user_satlo_dir=E&location=&la=49.6325&lo=6.2624&country_code=ch&diam_w=75&diam_h=80.

Thanks to these sites, I have a fairly good idea where to point the dish and what angles to use so I'm confident I'll manage! If not, I'll come crying here sure! lol

disney_locator

If you have any problem finding a signal satellite I am sending you a recommendation for this site locator satellite
http://www.sat-locator.com

Steffano2002

Well guys,

I finally got all the equipment together and managed to line-up the dish correctly to receive a strong signal but, horror, it seems Sky have deactivated my subscription (or froze it or something)!

I suspect the news tenants at my old Irish address got a Sky Subscription of their own and told Sky we left so they decided to freeze our account or something (they didn't freeze the Direct Debit though!).

So my question is, what could I do? I'm afraid to ring Sky from Switzerland to try and convince them I still live in Ireland but if my story is weak I may blow it for good...

Does anybody know somebody who works for Sky (down in Cork) who could check into my account to see why it was blocked in the first place?

If anybody can come up with a way to get my Sky working please let me know! I spent a small fortune on all the satellite equipment yesterday and right now I'm gutted I can't get it working because of a stupid "admin" issue!

zg3409

Can you still get all the free channels such as BBC1, Sky news?

Steffano2002

zg3409 wrote: »

Can you still get all the free channels such as BBC1, Sky news?

Hi zg3409,

Funnily enough, the Sky Intro channels work perfectly and I can see that both the signal strength and signal quality are nearly to the max. But as soon as I switch over to a "normal" channel, I first get an error message saying that there is a problem with the Viewing Card and then the error message changes to "No satellite signal is being received".

So I go back to the Setup menu to check the signal strength/quality and indeed, it's down to zero! So I unplug the Sky box, reboot it and it works again (Sky Intro) until I switch channel...

That's why I thought it was an Admin issue with my account!

Steffano2002

jabarrett35 wrote: »

[...] if they ask why you are ringing from abroad just say your wife, mother, aunt rang you tell you that the Sky wasn't working, and as you are the account holder you have to contact them.

Thanks for this jabarrett35! I never would have thought of that! I'm no longer stressing about calling them up anymore now!

TheDriver

pull out the card and reboot, you should be able to see bbc1 etc if your sat is set up ok

Steffano2002

TheDriver wrote: »

pull out the card and reboot, you should be able to see bbc1 etc if your sat is set up ok

Will try this as soon as I get home! What channel will BBC1 be on? Is it 141? Forgot already...

Steffano2002

Oh and guys, I checked the status of my Sky Account online and everything looks good!

jabarrett35

The Sky HD boxes default back to the Irish EPG if rebooted without card. Can you watch Sky News on 501 and is it HD or SD? I would take out the card and turn off the box then turn it on then reinsert.

jabarrett35

Because there are several different sats up there you could be locked on the right one but when you change channel it needs to see a different sat which has less strenght and beam direction or a narrower beam.

wallcharlo

If your card has been out of the box for some time (ca 6 weeks) or if the box as been powered off and not looking at the correct satellites for this time, then your card's entitlements will have expired.

Leave your box turned on an FTA channel such as Sky news, BBC, etc for up to 48 hours, and the card will udpate again.

Rgds ... Wally

ps : 80cm dish is fine for even Western Austria on Astra 2D 95% of the time

jabarrett35

wallcharlo wrote: »

If your card has been out of the box for some time (ca 6 weeks) or if the box as been powered off and not looking at the correct satellites for this time, then your card's entitlements will have expired.

Leave your box turned on an FTA channel such as Sky news, BBC, etc for up to 48 hours, and the card will udpate again.

Rgds ... Wally

ps : 80cm dish is fine for even Western Austria on Astra 2D 95% of the time

Yes I forgot about that! It can be as short as week if the box and the card hasn't updated. You can ring Sky and say you were on holiday and the electric was turned off, they can send a signal to the box if you don't want to wait 24 hours. How long as the box been back on if it is more that 24 hours it's not card entitlement issue. The sat signal not being received shouldn't show up in that case it should be wrong card or to subscribe ring xyz number. Just re read your first post you only did this yesterday so when you get home the box may have updated.

Steffano2002

Hi guys,

OK, we're moving in the right direction!

As my Sky Box had been switched off since early December '11, I decided to ring Sky to get things going again and now some channels are working.

Channels working between 101 & 150: 110 Gold, 114 Syfy HD, 121, Sky Living +1, 124 FX HD, 126 MTV, 127 ComedyCtrl +1, 132 alibi, 132 S4C, 135 Channel 4, 136 Channel 4 +1, 137 E4, 138 E4 +1, 139 More4, 146 CBS Reality

Channels not working between 101 & 150: 101 RTE One, 102 RTE TWO, 103 TV3, 104 TG4, 105 3e, 106 Sky1 HD, 107 Sky Living HD, 108 Sky Atlantic HD, 109 Watch HD, 111 Dave HD, 112 ComedyCentral, 113 Universal, 122 Sky Livingit, 123 Sky Livingit +1, 125 Challenge, 128 ComedyCtralX, 129 Sky2, 130 SkyLivingLoves, 133 GOLD +1, 141 BBC One HD, 141 BBC 2 NI, 143 BBC HD, 144 DMAX, 145 DMAX +1, 147 CBS Reality +1, 148 CBS Action, 149 CBS Drama, 150 Universal +1

Based on the above, I believe I have an issue with the Quad-LNB I bought yesterday. Firstly - and I knew this yesterday but didn't want to mix up my "Admin issue" with my "Technical issue" - of the 4 outputs, only one seems to be working. And it is the only marked with a "V" (the other 3 outputs are marked with a "H").

I'll go take a picture of it and come back, will be easier for everybody!

jabarrett35

I could be wrong but it sounds like one output is horizontal and rest are vertical which would be a problem because Sky needs both H and V depending on the transpoder. If you have the make and model give it a google and see what it says. If I'm right you will need to get a quad thats switches between H/V. I'm sure someone on the forum can advise.

Steffano2002

Right so this Picture is to show you what the LNB is. It's a Universal Quad-LNB made by Triax.

martin12

Steffano2002 wrote: »

Right so this Picture is to show you what the LNB is. It's a Universal Quad-LNB made by Triax.

Thats a Quattro LNB you need a Quad Lnb

Steffano2002

And here's the picture that shows that only one output is "V" ("Vertical" I assume).

Steffano2002

martin12 wrote: »

Thats a Quattro LNB you need a Quad Lnb

A subtle, yet crucial difference I suspect!?

The woman (.......) in the shop told me they were all the same. :rolleyes:

Steffano2002

So if I'm not mnistaking, I need to get a Dual-LNB (I only have 1 Sky Box) that has 2 ouputs that both do V and H right?

jabarrett35

It has fixed polarisation you need a quad that switches. You normal get a Quad they cost very little. Triax make them you should be able swap the one you have.

Steffano2002

I'm off to the shop lads! A friend is picking me up to bring me!

Hope they sell what I need!

jabarrett35

Look up Triax and check there codes for Universal lnb's so you know what you are getting.Try Triax TQD40U1.