BBC,RTE & ITV South Spain

robert muldoon

There has been a shift of satellites etc and as a result some stations are not possible to recieve in southern Spain,this only happened last week but has been signalled for some time
does anyone have a way around this problem??

hju6

Shift of satellites
Please explain

Peter Rhea

robert muldoon wrote: »

some stations are not possible to recieve in southern Spain,this only happened last week but has been signalled for some time
does anyone have a way around this problem??

You can find fringe reception reports here (among other places). Might help you decide if it's worth trying a bigger dish.

lertsnim

hju6 wrote: »

Shift of satellites
Please explain

Some channels have moved from one satellite to another.

snaps

Depends on where in Spain you exactly are. BBC went on Thursday morning, ITV and CH4 goes or should I say moves Tuesday morning. The new signal or footprint drops off significantly East and South of Toulouse in S France.

Spain and the Canaries has been badly effected as the drop off in signal now is much worse than before on the 2F/1N satellite footprint.

Some places on the East coast of Spain you could get away with a 1.2-1.5m dishes, but now that has changed to 1.5m to a possible 3.2m in Gibraltar.

The Algarve in Portugal has always been a black spot for Freesat reception.

Here in Eastern Europe the signal now drops away mid Germany Eastwards.

My friend in Prague used to get all Freesat on a 1.25m, Now nothing (Apart from ITV, CH5 and Ch4 until they move on Tuesday). Another buddie in Slovakia just south east of me in Poland, has also lost reception on a 1.25m. Finally in Hungary ive heard its marginal on a 3.2m!

I have a 1.1m and was getting around 4-5.5db on my meter (Before the move), no way near enough to lock on a receiver. My receivers seems to need around 6.5db for a successful lock.

So to sum up, depending on where you are, you may need up to a 3.2m dish.

Spare a thought for the British territory of Gibraltar who had all the channels distributed via cable from a 2.8m station, now they have lost their channels.

robert muldoon

snaps wrote: »

Depends on where in Spain you exactly are. BBC went on Thursday morning, ITV and CH4 goes or should I say moves Tuesday morning. The new signal or footprint drops off significantly East and South of Toulouse in S France.

My friend is living just north of Marbella ,Andalucia
I s there a fix around this problem as there always seem to be a 'fix' for everything, I dont think a 3meter dish will solverthe problem

I have suggested internet TV for the moment but I think he has a broadband cap

snaps

robert muldoon wrote: »

snaps wrote: »

Depends on where in Spain you exactly are. BBC went on Thursday morning, ITV and CH4 goes or should I say moves Tuesday morning. The new signal or footprint drops off significantly East and South of Toulouse in S France.

My friend is living just north of Marbella ,Andalucia
I s there a fix around this problem as there always seem to be a 'fix' for everything, I dont think a 3meter dish will solverthe problem

I have suggested internet TV for the moment but I think he has a broadband cap

No the fix is a bigger dish, which now gives problems as its not viable to have anything bigger than say 1.5m on a private property. There is going to be a lot of cowboys out there now cashing in on IPTV solutions.

Filmon is an option for laptops/tablets but again they may soon stop streaming as the US government is trying to shut them down.

Ive noticed with filmon too, that during peak times and popular shows, its unreliable service.

My advice is wait and see, in a week or so we will know exactly what size dish is required for what area as SES are still tweaking and adjusting their transmissions/footprints.

Your friend is as far south as it gets, so a very large dish would be needed. Any knowledge on what size dish he has now which he was receiving the Freesat channels on? Or was he connected to the local cable network there like many ex pats?

dxhound2005

It is due to the arrival of Astra 2E at 28 East and the transfer of channels from Astra 1N. 1N will be going to 19 East shortly and that will mean some changes for viewers with dishes pointing at 19 East as well. It is being discussed on the UK Satellite forum.

http://www.satellites.co.uk/forums/threads/astra-1n-at-19-2e.160676/

snaps

dxhound2005 wrote: »

It is due to the arrival of Astra 2E at 28 East and the transfer of channels from Astra 1N. 1N will be going to 19 East shortly and that will mean some changes for viewers with dishes pointing at 19 East as well. It is being discussed on the UK Satellite forum.

http://www.satellites.co.uk/forums/threads/astra-1n-at-19-2e.160676/

Yes the 19.2 situation may be a problem for SES and the spot beams on 1N. I reckon it will be used for Germany (Many FTA stations), but a lot reckon it will be Spain. I personally cant see it being Spain as there could be a problem with the Canaries, unless thats what 30 West is mainly for?

robert muldoon

snaps wrote: »

robert muldoon wrote: »

Thanks Snaps you might keep me informed of any developments you hear of

No the fix is a bigger dish, which now gives problems as its not viable to have anything bigger than say 1.5m on a private property. There is going to be a lot of cowboys out there now cashing in on IPTV solutions.

Filmon is an option for laptops/tablets but again they may soon stop streaming as the US government is trying to shut them down.

Ive noticed with filmon too, that during peak times and popular shows, its unreliable service.

My advice is wait and see, in a week or so we will know exactly what size dish is required for what area as SES are still tweaking and adjusting their transmissions/footprints.

Your friend is as far south as it gets, so a very large dish would be needed. Any knowledge on what size dish he has now which he was receiving the Freesat channels on? Or was he connected to the local cable network there like many ex pats?

winston_1

robert muldoon wrote: »

There has been a shift of satellites etc and as a result some stations are not possible to recieve in southern Spain,this only happened last week but has been signalled for some time
does anyone have a way around this problem??

Simples. Move back to the UK or Ireland.

snaps

Was chatting to a friend in Malaga. No BBC on a 2.4m now. So it does look like a dish bigger than 3.2m for reliable reception.

So after tonight there will be no BBC, ITV, Ch4 or RTE there on modest size dishes up to 1.8m.

95% pay TV channels (Sky encrypted) including the HD channels (ITV 2,3,4, CH5, More 4, E4, Film 4), the Irish version of Ch4 & 3e, should still be available on a small dish less than 1.2m.

There are still some channels on the North European 2A beam which haven't moved to the Pan European beams yet as well, but when they do they will be receivable.

Northern Spain is still Ok on 1.5m dishes, then past Valencia it starts to get into Nasa size dishes!

jester77

You might be able to get an idea of what dish would be required from the maps here. It's reliant on people being honest with what they enter, not much to go on yet. If you change the map to 2F you will have more info, it would have a similar beam to 2E.

snaps

jester77 wrote: »

You might be able to get an idea of what dish would be required from the maps here. It's reliant on people being honest with what they enter, not much to go on yet. If you change the map to 2F you will have more info, it would have a similar beam to 2E.

I think the drop off in footprint is a lot sharper on 2E compared to 2F? But like you say its a bit too early to say.

The reports on satellites.co.uk are misleading and contradicting, for example a guy in italy cant get the spot beam on a 1.25m, yet some guy in Croatia says he can get it no problem on a 1.25!!

I know from my tests on a 1.1m here in South Poland, the 2E spot is much weaker than the other spot beams.

I think all the channel 5's are on 2F spot beam, which they will stay and they are much stronger over europe than 2E's spot at the moment (BBC)

jester77

snaps wrote: »

I think the drop off in footprint is a lot sharper on 2E compared to 2F? But like you say its a bit too early to say.

The reports on satellites.co.uk are misleading and contradicting, for example a guy in italy cant get the spot beam on a 1.25m, yet some guy in Croatia says he can get it no problem on a 1.25!!

I know from my tests on a 1.1m here in South Poland, the 2E spot is much weaker than the other spot beams.

I think all the channel 5's are on 2F spot beam, which they will stay and they are much stronger over europe than 2E's spot at the moment (BBC)

Just came across this link, good info in it plus a rough idea of dish size required for the beam.

snaps

From the reports i have seen i would say that is not far off at all. Perhaps the 1m/1.5m areas could be a little further out, but not much. Always remember different equiptment, weather conditions all differ from location to location!

IrishHomer

Thing supposed to be taking shape tonight, Itvs and channel 4s switching over tonight, reports I'm seeing on the Costa Blanca is that 1.4m dishes have already lost bbc hds and tonight the other hd itvs and ch 4s going

Retailer

Is this the same for those who bring over their Irish Sky Card while on hols?

Atlantic Dawn

Retailer wrote: »

Is this the same for those who bring over their Irish Sky Card while on hols?

Yes to these areas.

Retailer

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Yes to these areas.

Pity. It was the only reason I was staying with Sky in Ireland. So we would have the channels over in Spain too

jester77

Retailer wrote: »

Pity. It was the only reason I was staying with Sky in Ireland. So we would have the channels over in Spain too

Sky will remain on the pan-European beam, it's the FTA channels on the UK beam that will no longer be easy to pick up. I don't know on which beam the Irish channels transmit. They are not FTA channels so maybe the European beam. Of it is, you will still get them.

The Cush

Post by a516 over in the DS forum, in reply to a question about what channels will be available in Europe after the change over

a516 wrote:

You can go to sites like King of Sat and sort the channels in order of "beam"
http://en.kingofsat.net/freqs.php?&pos=28.2E&standard=All&ordre=beam&filtre=no
Everything but the UK spotbeam channels will continue to be available, providing services don't unexpectedly switch.

http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?p=71291680#post71291680

from a516 own website
Q&A: UK TV satellite changes
What's changed in European reception of UK TV channels via satellite?

snaps

jester77 wrote: »

Sky will remain on the pan-European beam, it's the FTA channels on the UK beam that will no longer be easy to pick up. I don't know on which beam the Irish channels transmit. They are not FTA channels so maybe the European beam. Of it is, you will still get them.

For some unknown reason the rte transponder is on the spot beam.

munchkin_utd

snaps wrote: »

For some unknown reason the rte transponder is on the spot beam.

from the RTE charter

"RTÉ recognises the importance of news and information about Ireland for the
Irish abroad in maintaining contact with Ireland and preserving an Irish dimension
to their identity. "
http://www.rte.ie/documents/about/public-service-broadcasting-charter.pdf

and then they proactively cut the satellite service across europe!

you might hope that it'd be maybe a strategic move ahead of RTEs international tv channel, but I cant see that happening any time soon, although their strategic plan does mention wanting to get it up and running
http://static.rasset.ie/documents/news/rtestrategicplan-shortversion.pdf (page 7)

The Cush

munchkin_utd wrote: »

from the RTE charter

"RTÉ recognises the importance of news and information about Ireland for the
Irish abroad in maintaining contact with Ireland and preserving an Irish dimension
to their identity. "
http://www.rte.ie/documents/about/public-service-broadcasting-charter.pdf

and then they proactively cut the satellite service across europe!

as regards public service broadcasting they say there and elsewhere

Broadcasting law requires RTÉ’s radio and television services to have the character of a public service, to be offered free-to-
air and to be universally available, where practicable, to the whole community on the island of Ireland.

jester77

Just reading over on one of the German satellite forums that 2E is coming in much stronger today. They are speculating that the strong 1N signal was impeding the signal from 2E and now that 1N is empty, the 2E signal could be coming in stronger. I shall see this evening!

snaps

jester77 wrote: »

Just reading over on one of the German satellite forums that 2E is coming in much stronger today. They are speculating that the strong 1N signal was impeding the signal from 2E and now that 1N is empty, the 2E signal could be coming in stronger. I shall see this evening!

Apparently its coming and going. One would assume SES is tweaking the beams?

winston_1

[QUOTE=jester77;88945875They are speculating that the strong 1N signal was impeding the signal from 2E and now that 1N is empty, the 2E signal could be coming in stronger. [/QUOTE]

The 1N signal would not affect 2E in this way.

MBSnr

Peter Rhea wrote: »

You can find fringe reception reports here (among other places). Might help you decide if it's worth trying a bigger dish.

From that site there is a reception reports maps that one of the admins has made.

It's here