ALDI portable satellite?

MissRetro

So, I bought one of these from ALDI yesterday on the assurance that if I changed my mind I could return it within 60 days..

http://www.aldiwarranty.co.uk/pdf/276.pdf

I'm going to use it as a permanent satellite for my TV. Has anyone got this product installed at home and is it any good.. what channels etc? I'm particularly interested in the level of reception in the Cork City area. I've been thinking afterwards that being a portable one it may not be as good.

Thanks

watty

Bad idea.

Dish size is for S. England, France, Germany local channels.

You will lose most channels when it rains.

Also it's Generic so re-scanning and deleting and no BBC interactive. Even if you don't have a HDTV, a "Freesat HD" box is a better option. A 65cm to 80cm dish is better. The "portable" dish is too small.

actua11

I'd definitely bow to Watty's greater knowledge and experience and agree that what you've gotten is definitely in the poorer bracket of available dish's. You can get a pretty big step up in quality without a massive increase int he cost, if you really wanted to invest in a system, e.g the aforementioned 65-80cm dish.

However, I can add my own experience. I bought a very similar one from Lidl a couple of years ago and it has worked suprisingly well (in south Dublin) in terms of reception. Astra 1, Hotbird and even the stronger transponders at 5w have been pretty reliable even in poorer weather.

For the English channels at Astra 1N, again the signal held up fine, particularly for the main channels e.g ITV, BBC etc, only the weakest channels dropped off in heavy weather. According to the footprint, reception would be poorer in Cork by you could still be o.k as you are by no means on the exteme limits of reception

http://www.ses.com/4674009/11-06-14-astra-1n-footprint

As always, it can be a little trial and error, if you set it up and can get decent signal then happy days! If you want something more reliable then an upgrade is something that can be considered in the long term.

NewHillel

It's fine if you just want to 'play around' with it. I've used one in the west of Ireland and its been fine for the main channels. However, as Watty says there are better options - both for dish and receiver, for a permanent installation. (However, I didn't lose any of the main stations when it rained.)

watty

There is Astra 2A, 2B and Eutelsat Eurobird 28A channels too.