Where do I start?

tipdrinker

Hi All,

I'm planning in investing in equipment to watch free satellite broadcasts. I currently have sky but now that saorview is up and running I'm no longer interested in the subscription option.

I was wondering if there was anywhere on the web where I could learn everything about how it all works and learn about what channels I can recieve, cards you can get, what size dish you need, where to get the best gear etc. All the sites i've seen so far are for companies trying to sell equipment.

I am wondering if it's possible to get signals from across the atlantic?
Also I was wondering if it's possible to get signals from mongolia (gf is mongolian)
Can you get set top boxes that include web tv where you could sign up to netflix, watch bbc i player, 40d etc?

re mongolia I have found this but don't quite understand it

http://www.lyngsat.com/freetv/Mongolia.html

would really appreciate being pointed in the right direction.

snaps

You wont get any Mongolian stations this side of the world. Unfortunately the satellites the channels are on are way below the horizon for viewing here. Have a good read through the threads on this forum and you may well learn a bit.

Pal

tipdrinker wrote: »

I'm no longer interested in the subscription option.

Good starting point.

tipdrinker wrote: »

I was wondering if there was anywhere on the web where I could learn everything about how it all works and learn about what channels I can recieve, cards you can get, what size dish you need, where to get the best gear etc.

There's no shortcut to learning and satellite is a vast subject matter.
Instead of 'what can I get' think in terms of 'what do I want ?'
If you really know nothing, buy a satellite magazine. What Sat is pretty good.
Then post your questions here.

tipdrinker wrote: »

I am wondering if it's possible to get signals from across the atlantic?

There are some 'solutions' to receive USA TV but strictly speaking about sat signals from across the atlantic, answer is no. We are too far away. Called being outside the footprint ( the shadowy area on a map that a specific satellite signals covers.)

tipdrinker wrote: »

would really appreciate being pointed in the right direction.

The sat box doesn't provide internet. These days it usually connects to it.

marco2068

read as much as you can trough here on the old posts. when i joined i knew very little about sats. I knew i wanted to see nascar and was told i'd need to get the 19.2east sat and the 28.2 for uk freesat. so after a few weeks looking and asking questions i got a t90 dish and set it up.

when you work out what you need, ask, most on here are pretty helpful.

t c

@marco.

I know this has nothing to do with op's question, but what station on 19.2 do you get NASCAR on?

@tipdrinker.

I did not know much either, but I knew I wanted 28.2 Free to Air or Freesat, (went for Freesat) and also, if possible, a few movies and sport.

So also get 19.2, 13. and 26E, most in foreign language but a few good programmes on MBC on 26E in English. (Badr)

If you are doing it yourself wait for good weather as you are up and down ladder a fair bit...............

marco2068

it was on http://www.servustv.com/cs/Satellite/Home-ServusTV.at/001259088496182

last year. hope its on this year. my hopes are up after seeing ice hockey on it sunday.:D

tipdrinker

Thanks for all the responses. really appreciate the help. What I'm thinking at the moment is doing things piece by piece. I'll probably be starting with a decent box (I've already got the sky dish) and then an aerial of some sort for the saorview (if I got a swanky one would I be able to pick up freeview in Dublin 8?). After that I can take my time and research more I guess :-)

What I'm imagining, if I get another dish (no idea what size I'd need or if i should/could get a motorised one) and point it in another direction I can get more of the European signals and could also buy a card to watch sports/movies from the likes of Poland for example?

tipdrinker

Pal wrote: »

There are some 'solutions' to receive USA TV but strictly speaking about sat signals from across the atlantic, answer is no. We are too far away. Called being outside the footprint ( the shadowy area on a map that a specific satellite signals covers.)

could you explain what you mean by solutions?

tipdrinker

t c wrote: »

I did not know much either, but I knew I wanted 28.2 Free to Air or Freesat, (went for Freesat) and also, if possible, a few movies and sport. So also get 19.2, 13. and 26E, most in foreign language but a few good programmes on MBC on 26E in English. (Badr) If you are doing it yourself wait for good weather as you are up and down ladder a fair bit...............

Is it possible to get a hybrid freesat/free to air box or does that make any sense? like one with the epg and ability to record via series link but I can also re-arrange any channels to my liking. Also do any boxes allow you to save a online stream of a tv station as a station (that would be a perfect work around for the mongolian issue). Does anyone have anyone have any good links where I could find reviews of equipment?

Pal

tipdrinker wrote: »

could you explain what you mean by solutions?

Really not my area of expertise but from reading here over the years, some folks have tapped into USA TV with a Slingbox (do a google), some people hunt for feeds (they scan the sky for the signals that broadcasters send to each other) and some people just use the internet which is simple enough.

The fact of the matter is that the USA is too far away for us to 'see' their satellites.
Big place no doubt but its all tucked just over the edge of our planet if you get my drift.
The mainstream USA sat channel provider is called Directv. Their equivalent of Sky to you and me. Google Directv and you might get more info on ways to access or maybe some folks here can add other possibilities.

Pal

tipdrinker wrote: »

Is it possible to get a hybrid freesat/free to air box or does that make any sense?

Freesat is a brand name for a product that BBC/ITV provide. It is a package of free-to-air channels. They are all found on the 28.2 east satellite (called Astra2).

When you buy a Freesat box, you get a few nice extras like the red button, iPlayer, EPG, all cleverly arranged for you.

A free-to-air box (any box actually) gets you all the same channels.

In any event, Freesat is nothing to do with Foreign Satellite and I'm sure you'd get better info on this stuff over on the Satellite board where they all go mad for it

dharn

tipdrinker wrote: »

Is it possible to get a hybrid freesat/free to air box or does that make any sense? like one with the epg and ability to record via series link but I can also re-arrange any channels to my liking. Also do any boxes allow you to save a online stream of a tv station as a station (that would be a perfect work around for the mongolian issue). Does anyone have anyone have any good links where I could find reviews of equipment?

i recon ( havent got one yet ) that a humax foxsat pvr is a good machine, it is primarily for recording freesat, but has a cam slot and can be used in non freesat mode to experiment with other satellites ,it also supports diseq which helps to switch between dishes or different lnbs on the same dish, as for streaming from the net i dont think it can do that

t c

Yeah the Humax Foxsat is mainlly a Freesat box, but I use it to watch non freesat stations on 13, 19 and 26E in non freesat mode.

A bit fiddly but works well.

tipdrinker

t c wrote: »

Yeah the Humax Foxsat is mainlly a Freesat box, but I use it to watch non freesat stations on 13, 19 and 26E in non freesat mode.

A bit fiddly but works well.

Can this box receive saorview and is it linux based?

t c

No and No.

westerlywonder

You have two options in order to get saorview and free sat channels.

You can get a combo set top box that will take an input from both your satellite dish and your current aerial. There are only a few of these that will pick up the saorview, makes include edison, ferguson and triax are ones i know of not sure if any of them are officially endorsed yet? I think the triax one might be. Ferguson one has pause and record to hard drive capability.

Or you can get a large enough dish that will allow you to pick up saorsat (this is the satellite broadcasting irish saorview channels) on satellite 9E, and free sat channels on both 28.2E and 19.2E.
I know a 80cm dish will allow you to pick up both 28.2 and 19.2, you will need 3 separate LNBs obviously if you want to pick up all 3 satellites on the one dish.