5W and 28E on the same dish.

Richard

Hi, I currently have a sky dish installed which I am using for Freesat (in Northern England).

I want to replace it with a toroidal dish as described here: https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2054975577/2

to continue to receive the Freesat channels and also to get French channels on 5W.

Would this be a good buy?

https://www.pulsat.com/products/Wave-Frontier-90CM-Toroidal-Dish.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1Z3pkKP_3gIVAuJ3Ch2joQ1oEAQYASABEgJaEfD_BwE

Presume I need to buy LNBs as well. Do they have to be a particular type to be compatible?

Thanks!

Thurston?

If it's only those 2 satellite positions you want, I'd just get a 2nd dish for 5W: would be cheaper, easier to install, & probably no more noticeable than the big toroidal. (And 2 dishes are fine as far as planning is concerned in England AFAIA?)

Going by the 5W coverage maps (Superbeam), I'd say no more than a 60cm dish would be needed.

STB.

Richard wrote: »

Hi, I currently have a sky dish installed which I am using for Freesat (in Northern England).

I want to replace it with a toroidal dish as described here: https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2054975577/2

to continue to receive the Freesat channels and also to get French channels on 5W.

Would this be a good buy?

https://www.pulsat.com/products/Wave-Frontier-90CM-Toroidal-Dish.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1Z3pkKP_3gIVAuJ3Ch2joQ1oEAQYASABEgJaEfD_BwE

Presume I need to buy LNBs as well. Do they have to be a particular type to be compatible?

Thanks!

Any LNBs you want if you are not going to attempt to have every satellite position in between. You'll need a diseqc switch as well.


T90 is your only option given the spacing between those two positions. You would only get a 20 degree seperations on a TD88 and a multi lnb bar. Otherwise a motorised dish, which means no instant channel change.

dxhound2005

There's very little in French on 5 West, unless you have receivers which can do Multistream and/or Fransat.

https://www.flysat.com/e5wa.php

https://wiki.openpli.org/Multistream

https://www.fransat.fr/recevoir-fransat/

caterquibble

There are currently three ways to receive the standard French free-to-view channels: Fransat, TNTSAT, and multistream. No matter what option you choose you're going to need to get a new receiver, as a Freesat box will not be able to receive any of these three options. (There's one exception: if your television has a satellite tuner and a CI+ slot, you could receive Fransat directly on the TV.)

Fransat (at 5°W) and TNTSAT (at 19.2°E) are France's two competing free-to-view satellite platforms. You can think of then both as being basically equivalent to Freesat. They are both retail platforms with their own official set-top boxes. Both are encrypted and can be received only with compatible equipment.

The full set of French free-to-view channels can also be received in "multistream" format from 5°W. This is actually the internal feed used to distribute broadcast signals to France's network of ground transmitters. Multistream signals aren't intended for the general public and it requires a somewhat specialised receiver to receive them, so this is really a hobbyist/enthusiast option. If you're not technically proficient (and don't want to become technically proficient), you may be better off sticking with Fransat or TNTSAT.

Fransat is generally the better platform. As well as its official boxes, it also offers CI+ modules that allow Fransat to be received by any third-party box or television with a CI+ slot. However, its long-term availability in these islands is in question. Eutelsat 5 West A is at the end of its operational life. Its replacement satellite (Eutelsat 5 West is due to be launched next year. The new satellite will offer a new transmission footprint tightly focused on France and Italy with a signal that falls off sharply outside those countries. Nobody knows whether Fransat will choose to use this transalpine downlink or stay on the wider Europe downlink. If they choose the transalpine footprint, there's a fair chance it will no longer be feasible to receive it in northern England.

A toroidal T90 dish would have no problem receiving both Fransat at 5°W and Freesat at 28.2°E - mine does. It should also be able to receive multistream signals, but I can't personally confirm this.

There is no indication that TNTSAT is going anywhere, so you may want to consider this option. The boxes are inexpensive and you should be able to receive both 19.2°E and 28.2°E with a standard 80cm dish, or you could simply use two small dishes as Thurston? suggested.

Your easiest option will be to get a Fransat or TNTSAT box and use it alongside your Freesat box. If you want a simple plug-and-play solution that won't require a lot of time or effort this is the way to go. Given the practicalities of receiving dual satellites and the uncertainty over the future availability of Fransat I'd steer you towards buying a TNTSAT box and a new 80cm dish with two LNBs. The only way to get all of these channels on a single box is to use a Linux-based (Enigma2) receiver and these are really geared towards dedicated hobbyists, with a somewhat steep learning curve and an unintuitive user interface. Such boxes are also not compatible with Freesat's interactive ("red button") functionality.

Thurston?

For the OP, here's a pic of a T90 mounted beside a 60cm dish: https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=350172&d=1432754620

Taken from this thread.

STB.

Most E2 boxes do Multistream with PLS (MIS)


However most tuners supplied with E2 boxes do not support Multistream, so you also need an external usb tuner (like a TBS 5925) run off the e2 box.

https://www.tbsdtv.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=9805

As advised above if the 5A sat pattern is EOL and the new one will be a spot sat, then it might not be worth the investment although doesnt 12.5W use MIS too ?

kooga

I have an 80cm dish with both freeesat and TNT Sat.

caterquibble

STB. wrote: »

doesnt 12.5W use MIS too ?

There are Italian multistream services at 12.5°W (as well as 5°W) but the OP is specifically interested in French channels.

Richard

Thanks for all the replies. Just trying to get my head around it all. I should have said I do have an LG TV with a CI slot. I has a “non-Freesat” mode. I’m confused though. According to https://www.lyngsat.com/Eutelsat-5-West-A.html France 2, 3, 4 and 5 are available FTA. Or am I misreading it?

I was hoping to get at least those channels without having to get a CI+ module.

winston_1

Look more carefully. They are multistream services.

STB.

Richard wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies. Just trying to get my head around it all. I should have said I do have an LG TV with a CI slot. I has a “non-Freesat” mode. I’m confused though. According to https://www.lyngsat.com/Eutelsat-5-West-A.html France 2, 3, 4 and 5 are available FTA. Or am I misreading it?

I was hoping to get at least those channels without having to get a CI+ module.

Your LG TV is obviously one with Freesat built in. Freesat is the UK channels off 28.2E in an embedded software system. That means you never have to retune as it does it automatically and you have 7 day epg. Other non Fresat receivers are just FTA tuners that will pull all the channels in, but in a disorganised way that you will have to resort.

Now you may well be able to select a different satellite on your LGTV but it will not pick up the multistream services (these are not meant to be picked up by commercial tuners in TV's - they use it in france to send the feed to the terrestrial transmitters).

I wouldnt even suggest getting the Fransat CI+ Cam as they are too dear for a start. You wont need one anyway if you get a MIS receiver.

The Edision Primo IP S2 does Multistream. Its €60.

https://www.freetv.ie/linux-box/

You could combine the Uk stations and French MIS in one channel list and have 7 day epg for both.

HOWEVER, all this is academic as the satellite pattern on 5W will change in March 2019 and it may not receivable at all in Ireland as they will be using a spot beam - we will know only at the time, but if the pattern below is true it either falls off all together (or you will need a monstrous dish or be in Wexford).

JMcL

caterquibble wrote: »

There is no indication that TNTSAT is going anywhere, so you may want to consider this option. The boxes are inexpensive and you should be able to receive both 19.2°E and 28.2°E with a standard 80cm dish, or you could simply use two small dishes as Thurston? suggested.

Your easiest option will be to get a Fransat or TNTSAT box and use it alongside your Freesat box. If you want a simple plug-and-play solution that won't require a lot of time or effort this is the way to go. Given the practicalities of receiving dual satellites and the uncertainty over the future availability of Fransat I'd steer you towards buying a TNTSAT box and a new 80cm dish with two LNBs. The only way to get all of these channels on a single box is to use a Linux-based (Enigma2) receiver and these are really geared towards dedicated hobbyists, with a somewhat steep learning curve and an unintuitive user interface. Such boxes are also not compatible with Freesat's interactive ("red button") functionality.

Just a couple of points about TNTSat. Firstly, their cards are time limited and need replaced every 4 years. This isn't onerous if you have an address is France (it's €15 for the card), if you don't have a french address, the price will go up as you'll need to get it from some 3rd party so figure on maybe €50-60. Secondly, TNTSat isn't an option with an Enigma2 box. Not going to go into details here as I believe it's agin the rules, but essentially the TNT card will brick if put into any non-official box. This is a PITA as the official boxes are expensive and a bit rubbish.

That aside, it you have the box, getting 19.2/28.2 on the same dish is fairly straightforward.

I was thinking of Fransat longer term but hadn't realised they were locking down the beam. Still, I'm in the SE to might still be good, fingers crossed

caterquibble

JMcL wrote: »

I was thinking of Fransat longer term but hadn't realised they were locking down the beam.

I didn't mean to imply that TNTSAT could be received on an Enigma2 box. When I said that such a box could receive both French and British channels, what I had in mind was the French multistream services.

It has been reported that the TNTSAT website will (probably unintentionally) send replacement cards to non-French addresses. This has been discussed (and reconfirmed very recently) on the Digital Spy website.

It's not yet known whether Fransat will be locking down the beam, but on the new satellite they will have the ability to do so if they choose so it's best not to make any long-term assumptions right now.