Recieving Sky overseas ??

Big Swinging Mi · 02-09-2002 6:06pm #1

I've just bought a Sky digibox and subscription in Ireland and brought the whole lot down here with me to Southern Europe.
I took out a sky family pack with sports and movies and it all works fine except I cant get RTE 1, 2, T Na G or any of the Irish channels although they appear on the menu screen, likwise I can't seem to get Sky one. I have a 1.2m dish.
Are the Irish ones focused on Ireland only? why cant I get Sky one?
Can anyone suggest anything for me to try? I'm fairly green about satellite so please keep it simple.
Thanks in advance

swoofer · 02-09-2002 7:46pm

U did not say the make of your digibox and if it is very new it will have a less powerful tuner. The channels u mention are probably on a narrow beam and with a less powerful tuner u are in difficulty.

The best tuner is in a pana tsb30.

gbcullen

sayireland · 02-09-2002 9:50pm

I'm in the middle of Spain and I've just got sub box out this weekend.

I had a Panasonic 31 with a 1.35 dish and FTV card and was only getting the Irish radios in the morning.
I also tried with a Panasonic 30 which is supposed to be the best for weak signals but while it was better it was an awful lot better and wasn't picking up a few of the channels on the north beam i.e Channel 4, National Geo etc. Only in the morning would the signal meter read 'OK'. Usually it would say 'not locked', which is fine if you only want the channels on the south beam and Eurobird but not enough for RTE or the others. Both boxes were 2nd hand so I couldn't guarantee their quality.

However the Pace 2500 (which is supposed to be pretty crap for weak signals) which the Irish sub is on is picking up a much stronger signal than the other two. All of the channels except RTE, Hallmark and Eurosport News are there all day. RTE is still there in the morning but is staying longer and is spitting in now and again.

I'm imaging that the problem will get solved with a bigger dish. 1.5 or 1.8.

You say southern Europe??, leave us a private message if you are anyway close and maybe I can help some more.

Big Swinging Mi · 03-09-2002 8:56pm

Hi, its a Panasonic TU-DSB31.
Im in Malta (just below Sicily)
All the other channels seem to work including the movies and sports (and quite clear too) but the first four Irish ones just say 'no satellite signal being received'. Is it that the beam is somehow narrowly focused on Ireland or would a 1.8m make any difference?
What about sky one, how come I cant get that? I really need some Simpsons but not in Italian!
Also I can't even see ITV or Channel 4 listed, are they on sky? is it worth getting the man to come round and 'fine tune it' some way.
Finally, if sky found out I brought the box down with me would they switch off the card or would they be just happy to keep taking the money ? If so how would they find out?
Thanks again and pardon my total ignorance on the subject.

sceptre · 03-09-2002 10:40pm

Originally posted by Big Swinging Mi

Also I can't even see ITV or Channel 4 listed, are they on sky? is it worth getting the man to come round and 'fine tune it' some way.

Not available (at least for the moment) on an Irish Sky sub - "fine tuning" won't do diddly. You could always get your hands on a UK FTV card and play card swapping

DMC · 04-09-2002 6:35am

Originally posted by Big Swinging Mi
All the other channels seem to work including the movies and sports (and quite clear too) but the first four Irish ones just say 'no satellite signal being received'. Is it that the beam is somehow narrowly focused on Ireland or would a 1.8m make any difference?
What about sky one, how come I cant get that? I really need some Simpsons but not in Italian!

Hi there and welcome along.

If you look here at the Astra Website, http://www.astra.lu/corporate/satellites/footprints.shtml it will show you the footprints of each satellite. Now, we know that the Irish channels and ITV are all on the Astra 2D satellite, and if yo look at the footprint chart, it will show estimated dish sizes. As you can see, Astra 2D is focused really on the UK and Ireland, so you may need a bigger dish in Malta, its really as far south as it goes. I have a mate in Barcelona, and at the start he was not getting the Irish channels, a bigger dish, I think a 1.2m dish, got him sorted. But you are more southern than that, it will be difficult.

Sky One, erm, a little bit tricker to understand that one, its on Astra 2A, if you can get the rest of the channels on that satellite, eg CNN (513), Boomerang (603), UK Gold +1 (110), it shouldn't be an issue.

HTH,

Damien.

Big Swinging Mi · 04-09-2002 5:39pm

Thanks Damien, Looking at the chart I'm well within the Astra 2a footprint. I've just checked and I can get those other channels you mentioned so I don't know whats happening. Is there any way to tell which satellite my dish is looking at or does it see more than one?
I've seen the footprint fot the Astra 2d and it is rather small but does it automatically mean that if your outside it you cant get it or does it mean you need to go way up in dish size, I am about as far south as you can get here in Europe so is it worth even trying?
What about the other extra ones like setanta, MUTV and and Disney, if I signed up for them would I be able to then recieve them here?
Is there a list somewhere of which channels are transmitted on which satellite.

swoofer · 04-09-2002 5:46pm

LIST OS CHANNELS

Have a look here

http://www.lyngsat.com/europe.shtml

gb--

DMC · 04-09-2002 6:30pm

Originally posted by Big Swinging Mi
Thanks Damien, Looking at the chart I'm well within the Astra 2a footprint. I've just checked and I can get those other channels you mentioned so I don't know whats happening. Is there any way to tell which satellite my dish is looking at or does it see more than one?

Now, all those, 2A, 2B, 2D and Eurobird are at 28 degrees East, so your dish is most definately point in that direction, where 2D and Eurobird (another satellite there) is concerned, its a bigger dish.

I've seen the footprint fot the Astra 2d and it is rather small but does it automatically mean that if your outside it you cant get it or does it mean you need to go way up in dish size, I am about as far south as you can get here in Europe so is it worth even trying?

****BAD ANALOGY TIME****
Think that you are looking at a dart board. The board is exactly the same distance away from you all around. But if you want to throw at 19, you aim differently than if you were throwing at 20.
Same thing with satellite. It is all the same distance away, (staionary over the equator) but its the way the satellites beam is aimed at you is the key here, like the dart throwers arm. 2D was designed for the UK and Ireland market, so it is no surprise that it is the satellite of choice for RTÉ and ITV. It was planned that the BBC and Channel 4 would move to 2D.

What about the other extra ones like setanta, MUTV and and Disney, if I signed up for them would I be able to then recieve them here?
Is there a list somewhere of which channels are transmitted on which satellite.

Yep, http://www.lyngsat.com/dig/skyuk.shtml gives you the complete list of channels and frequencies.
Now, look along the left column Freq.Tp In there is tp. and a number.

TP 43 - 56 is transponders on Astra 2D, so any channels here are probably troublesome for you. Spot how many you can get.

TP D1S - D12S is Eurobird, a satellite not owned by Astra, but Eutelsat, but could be similarily bad for you, as the frequency range for 2D and this one is low.

TP 1 - 20 is 2A and TP 21 - 40 is 2B, as we have discovered is a wider footprint.

Setanta is on Eurobird, could be dodgy but the Disney channels are all on 2D also, could have problems.
MUTV is on 2B, if you can get CNBC, all is good

I hope all this helps (and makes sense!!)

Damien.

sayireland · 04-09-2002 6:39pm

Results on the ground shown that the footprints on the Astra web site are extremely conservative. According to Astra the signal for ITV shouldn't come anywhere near Spain with anything less than a 1.2 dish.

I see UTV all day in Madrid with a 1.35 and RTE etc from 6 in the morning to about 13.00. (I hope to go bigger soon)

Have a look at these links from another forum
A....
http://forum.digitalspy.co.uk/board/showthread.php?threadid=17305

This gives some general information about the reception of 2D (where RTE is to be found)

B.....
http://forum.digitalspy.co.uk/board/showthread.php?threadid=25143&highlight=switzerland

While this talks about Switzerland there are some very interesting comments about the combination of box and LNB.

C......
http://forum.digitalspy.co.uk/board/showthread.php?threadid=13323

Again you might find something of interest.

Alternatively one suggestion would be to go to/call your local Irish pubs. They nearly all have Sky and they are usually very interested in having sports on the TV as it brings punters in.

See how they are finding the reception of the channels you are interested in. Also remember that 2fm, Lyric and RnaG are available to all Sky customers on 914,915,916 so you could ask them to check for you. The TV channels come from the same frequency so if they get the radios you would as well and also the RTE etc from your sub.

Tony · 04-09-2002 9:39pm

Originally posted by DamoDMC

Hi there and welcome along.

Sky One, erm, a little bit tricker to understand that one, its on Astra 2A, if you can get the rest of the channels on that satellite, eg CNN (513), Boomerang (603), UK Gold +1 (110), it shouldn't be an issue.

HTH,

Damien.

Dont forget there are two versions of Sky one, the Irish version may well be on 2D, perhaps this is the explanation

Tony

DMC · 05-09-2002 6:30am

No Tony, both the Irish and British versions are on the same transponder, 12070 H, although there are 4 versions up there, one on 12304 H and another on 12480 V, but all are on 2A or 2B. Must be for more ad opt-outs like Ireland's.

Richard · 05-09-2002 7:43am

Originally posted by DamoDMC
No Tony, both the Irish and British versions are on the same transponder, 12070 H, although there are 4 versions up there, one on 12304 H and another on 12480 V, but all are on 2A or 2B. Must be for more ad opt-outs like Ireland's.

I think there are Irish and UK for normal viewers and Irish and UK for cable companies. I don't know how much the cable feed differs from the main feed in each case.

I do know that NTL were taking the Irish Cable feed on their cable networks near Birmingham for a while by mistake, however.

Tony · 05-09-2002 10:30am

Originally posted by DamoDMC
No Tony, both the Irish and British versions are on the same transponder, 12070 H, although there are 4 versions up there, one on 12304 H and another on 12480 V, but all are on 2A or 2B. Must be for more ad opt-outs like Ireland's.

I stand corrected. Try getting Sky one using the add channels feature just to prove me compeletely wrong :-)

Tony

Big Swinging Mi · 05-09-2002 8:17pm

Thanks for all your kind efforts and help, I'm still a bit confused.
Is there anyway to tell which satellite I'm picking up on, or can it see (use) more than one.
When I look at one of the settings pages I can see
signal strenght about 3/4
quality about 1/3
Lock OK
and when I go to add channels I see
freq:11.778
Pol: V
Symbol rate: 27.5
FEC:2/3
Can I play about with these settings? If so how do I do it?
Can anyone suggest any tweaks I could try?
Thanks again

sayireland · 05-09-2002 9:15pm

http://www.davesull.dabsol.co.uk/#top

You might find the site above helpful. I certainly did.

Is your dish a normal 1.2 dish or a 1.2 Channel Master? the second option is better

11.778 is the default transponder for checking signal strength. It's on the north beam which as you will have seen is weaker for you.

Nevertheless for it to say locked is not that bad. At least you have some signal to work with for some of the weaker frequencies.

You can check the signal strength of any particular frequency (cross-check with lyngsat for the channels) by going into the installers menu.

Press SERVICES, then 401 and then to MANUAL TUNING,

For RTE etc enter the

Frequency (you'll find those on lyngsat.com) i.e. ----10.744

Polarization --- H

Symbol Rate 22 (22 for all channels on Astra, 27.5 for the rest)

FEC 5/6 ( 5/6 for Astra 2D, 3/4 for the rest)

When you press find channels the signal meter will come up on the screen. Seemingly signal quality is more important than signal strength. Pressing the same button again will tell you which channels come in. (When you come out of that sometimes the box has to search for the whole list of channels again as it does when you unplu and replug in the box so don't worry) See how you get on.

Why not start a tread 'Receiving Sky in Malta' on digitalspy.co.uk and see if there is anyone in Malta who can give you some more
specific feedback??

Big Swinging Mi · 09-09-2002 7:58am

Hi all,
I've tried retuning to some of the other frequencies but it doesnt seem to do anything.
I've also noticed I don't get any of the Disney channels even though it says they are part of the package I subscribe to, any ideas?

sayireland · 09-09-2002 8:14am

The Disney channels are on Astra 2D just like RTE, Hallmark and Eurosportnews.

You'll have the same problem with them as you will with RTE etc. Nevertheless it seems that where I am the signal on the RTE frequency is a touch stronger than the Hallmark and Eurosportnews one(s).

Big Swinging Mi · 09-09-2002 11:30am

I've just been through the channel listings in order
101-106 (RTE-Sky 1): No signal
109-139 All there
145 (Sky travel) No signal
146-181 All there
184 and 190 No signal
193-303 All there
304 (sky movie prem 4) No signal
305-310 All there
315 316 (sky movie cinema 1+2) No signal
323-326 Not subscribed to
327-404 All there
406 (MUTV) no subscription
408-412 All there
413 (Eurosport news) No signal
414-422 All there
441-448 All there
449/450 No signal
451-504 All there
510 (CNBC) No signal
525-559 All there
From there on I have most things except Disneys and the odd ball foreign pay ones.
From this information what do you reckon my problem is?
Will it be possible to get the Irish ones by tweaking something?
Will it be possible if I get a bigger dish?
Why can't I get Sky one (I'd be happy enough with that)?
Thanks for your time and patience.

sayireland · 09-09-2002 10:18pm

Here are the links to a couple of Irish pubs in Malta, they have phone numbers. Give them a ring and see what the can pick up. Remember that even if theyhave a British sub, which, nearly all in Spain do, they could still be able to pick up 2fm, lyric and rnag

http://members.tripod.com/~ocaseys/

Also this one
http://www.ryans.com.mt/

Here's something else I found.

MT 1. Finnegan's Beer Tavern - St. Anthony Street, Bugibba
Finnegan's Beer Tavern is an Irish pub in all but name. It's just up the street from the square in Bugibba, and has great Guinness and Kilkenny as well as a wide selection of various other beers. It's got a non-smoking room (!) and a games room at the back with darts & pool etc. Naturally, there's a big screen and you can see all the football and rugby there. In fact they are starting their own rugby team from the pub. And with live music there every week, it's a great cosy place for a few drinks and a chat.

Big Swinging Mi · 13-09-2002 9:27pm

Have I just wasted €8? I just signed up for MUTV (I like watching them lose!) and theres still nothing after two hours.

Big Swinging Mi · 13-09-2002 10:53pm

I've just looked here
http://www.lyngsat.com/dig/skyuk.shtml
and I can see that MUTV is on the north beam of Astra 2B, when I look at the footprint you can see its got a little tail which reaches down between Malta and Sicily at the bottom then down to Greece.
http://www.ses-astra.com/satellites/footprints.php?sat=13

I'm at the northern end of Malta and can see Sicily on a clear day (50 miles away) surely I should be able to pick up the signal.

Lennoxschips · 14-09-2002 12:14am

Those lobes usually depend on the time of the day. I'd say you're a bit too far south to pick stuff up clearly.

But hey, I'd trade my TV for your weather anyday!

Big Swinging Mi · 14-09-2002 12:37am

Just my luck, I'll probably be only able to receive it early in the morning and it doesnt start until the evening!
I just assumed it would work when I looked at the map.
The Sky man said it could take up to 2 hours to sort out and nothing happened for two hours then I had to go out I'll check it again tomorrow when I get back.
Lennoxchips, the weather is a bonus and so is the beer, 35c a pint if you don't mind the decor, but you cant get a whaite pudding or a batch loaf for love nor money!;)

Big Swinging Mi · 24-09-2002 2:46am

Just to let you know I did waste the €8, I've tried for the MUTV at various times during the day and I can't get it. I'll just have to ring and cancel it again next month.
I'm still no wiser if a bigger dish would get me RTE and Sky 1, none of the satellite people down here know anything about Sky.
Mind you I did get to see the All Ireland hurling and football finals!

Tony · 24-09-2002 9:27am

Originally posted by Big Swinging Mi
Just to let you know I did waste the €8, I've tried for the MUTV at various times during the day and I can't get it. I'll just have to ring and cancel it again next month.
I'm still no wiser if a bigger dish would get me RTE and Sky 1, none of the satellite people down here know anything about Sky.
Mind you I did get to see the All Ireland hurling and football finals!

Hi, I got an email from guys in cyprus who say they have 2d reception on 3m dishes.

Tony

Icehouse · 24-09-2002 10:12am

I'd advise you to try to get your signal quality up higher than it is at the moment. The Signal strength reading can be deceptive as most decent Digiboxes (my Panasonic DSB31 for example) have some pretty strong error correction and thus the signal reading may not be really indicative of the true signal - check out http://www.davesull.dabsol.co.uk/ as it has some helpful information (even if it was written for caravanners!!).

I had asked on here why it was that I had high signal strength and quality but 'no signal' messages for certain channels, but didn't manage to find anyone with the answer - I spent hours sitting perched on my window cil (sp?!) and eventually found that if I turned the LNB anti-clockwise in it's holder the signal quality improved without affecting the strength and I now receive the ITV channels and others that I was missing. the wire is now at about a 45° angle from horizontal - before it was directly under the LNB, pointing straight down as the installation manual had said to put it. Experiment, it may pay off. careful if you're on the roof though!!

Tony · 24-09-2002 12:02pm

Bear in mind that the signal quality meter is set to a specific transponder which is why it can show you a good reading and you will still have problems with certain transponders.

Tony

seano · 24-09-2002 1:11pm

Why do you not get up on your bike and look around the island for someone with a big dish and a moter.Ask them to swing the dish to 28.2 east and set your box up to it.A guy with a big dish and moter is a hobbyist and I am sure would be only to glad to help.

Big Swinging Mi · 25-09-2002 1:22am

I suppose I could try that, or head out into the Gozo channel on the boat and try and pick up on that lobe thats passing by the coast.
3m dish not allowed down here as theyd block the sun if we all got them (Malta is only about 8 miles by 25ish, so space is at a premium).

Another question, any sign of C4 or ITV coming on the Irish card? if so what satellite might they be on? I havent seen Brookside or Corornation street for years, is Len Fairclough still in it?

Big Swinging Mi · 23-10-2002 2:20am

Hello again guys, I met a man at the recent computer fair here who is "the official sky agent for Malta" (don't tell sky though as they don't know about him) and he came round today and brought with him a new quad LNB and after a bit of tweaking and tuning I now have Sky 1 and MUTV and a couple of others I was missing. He looked into the RTEs and said it would be impossible to receive it here no matter how big the dish was.
I showed him a the list of frquencies and he said it was impossible to tune into any frequency that began with '10'.
So I'm happy now I have SKY 1 and MUTV, her indoors is coming to terms with the fact that we wont get RTE, but she'll get over it.
ANy more word on whether UTV and C4 are coming? and if so will I be able to get them??
Thanks for all your help and suggestions.:D

bobpires2002 · 23-10-2002 2:44pm

I'm in Barcelona ...wotcha DMC :-) ...with an Irish sub and I can receive the Irish channels first thing in the morning (7am ish) till around 1pm - then it all goes arseways. Those channels along with Hallmark, Eurosport News and one or two others are the only ones I have any problems with.

I only have the standard dish I got when they installed Sky at my house in Dublin before we took off to Spain. I think that's only a 60cm dish?? Feel free to correct me on that...I've never measured it.

Tony · 23-10-2002 6:13pm

Well firstly there is no official sky agent in Malta so he is mis representing himself and I dont know what the hall he's talking about saying you cant tune anything in with a 10 in it, utter BS.

It is possible just takes an enormous dish

Tony

Originally posted by Big Swinging Mi
Hello again guys, I met a man at the recent computer fair here who is "the official sky agent for Malta" (don't tell sky though as they don't know about him) and he came round today and brought with him a new quad LNB and after a bit of tweaking and tuning I now have Sky 1 and MUTV and a couple of others I was missing. He looked into the RTEs and said it would be impossible to receive it here no matter how big the dish was.
I showed him a the list of frquencies and he said it was impossible to tune into any frequency that began with '10'.
So I'm happy now I have SKY 1 and MUTV, her indoors is coming to terms with the fact that we wont get RTE, but she'll get over it.
ANy more word on whether UTV and C4 are coming? and if so will I be able to get them??
Thanks for all your help and suggestions.:D

watty · 23-10-2002 6:34pm

Tony: Very likely a bigger dish than "Big Swinging Mi" is allowed.

The bigger the dish (for weak signal) the more slight orbital inclination will make signal vanish at certain times of day.

I suppose you could disguse a 3m dish as a shed or garage (plastic sheet for roof)

How you'd get it past Malta customs!

candoken · 05-07-2009 2:14pm

This is a bit late for bobpires2002, but if you are in Barcelona then all you need is to buy a bigger dish (80cm is fine). You can get them locally at any of the major diy shops. Sky signal is good throughout the day.
Ken

watty · 05-07-2009 2:39pm

Zombie thread from 2002!

Welcome to Boards, candoken, but don't post on old threads.

80cm is too small for reliable Astra 2D in Barcelona. 1.2m minimum.

Recieving Sky overseas ??

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