Astra have moved a number of channels onto the new Astra 2-F satellite overnight. The result is we have now LOST these channels. As yet I don't know if there is a solution - Bruixot, can I try some tests on your big dish??

The lost channels are:
Channel 5 - region 1-5 (which is all of them)
5 USA   
5 USA +1   
5 star   
5 star +1   
Channel 5 Region 1 +1
ITV 1 Meridian North
ITV 1 Anglia west
ITV 1 yorkshire east
ITV 1 Granada
ITV 1 Central south west
ITV 1 yorkshire west +1
ITV 1 Central South
ITV 1 Central east
ITV 1 Wales + 1
ITV 1 Tyne Tees + 1
ITV 1 Westcountry west +1
ITV 1 London
Channel 4 London
4Seven

Some recions of ITV1 are still being broadcast from the old satellite so can still be received but you may need to manually tune the transponder.
The details are:
Frequency: 10758
SR: 22000
SEC: 5/6

I don't know how long we will continue to be able to recieve the remaining ITV and BBC channels.. time to learn Spanish???

Nigel wrote on Dec 4^th, 2012 at 8:15am:

I don't know how long we will continue to be able to recieve the remaining ITV and BBC channels.. time to learn Spanish???

Possibly time to stop watching mundane tv and do something useful and rewarding.  ;)

Oh dear. You're welcome to come and experiment here. When did this happen? I was watching 4seven last night. And it's about time we all learned Spanish anyway : )
A friend tells me that they can press a button on their tv control and English language programmes on the Spanish tv can be switched to the original soundtrack.
Bruixot

Sky News now available on Freesat.  Channel 202

Nigel,
I sussed how to display the channel details on the Humax.  If it's still relevant, BBC1 HD is showing as 10847MHz, Vertical, 23000, 2/3

Still getting ITV 1 West without re-tuning.

ITV Granada still with me but the Channel 5 'family' have gone.

The switch over was last night - early hours I guess..

Could this mean more "Expat Babies" in the future amongst  the younger members of our community.  :-/

HI. Lost channel ITV Yorkshire and Channel 5 but still get ITV London.
Terry.

http://www.satandpcguy.com/forum/showthread.php?103268-BBC-ITV-on-a-1m-satellite-dish-how-long-will-it-last-The-Future-of-UK-TV-in-Spain

We seem to have an Astra 19 2 E signal and up until today we thought we had won the lottery as for the last few weeks we had regained Anglia, plus several BBC 1's, also several ITV channels and the elusive channel 5. Imagine my horror when reading the forum then running spilling tea and biscuits to my TV. The march of progress had struck, no channel 5, no Anglia, only 1 BBC1 but a new CBBC and to my horror a euro sport channel. What on earth is happening, give me back my TV programs and CJ I do have other interest beside my TV, my stomach. My only hope is this will not be updated.
Yours a displeased Bulldog.   

FYI Nigel (and others). My brother who lives near Perpignan (South East France) still gets a weak signal for C5 but has lost West East Anglia but still retains East East Anglia.  (Norwich FC supporter.)

Can someone hurry up and find out what's happening. Will I be able to see the final of Strictly in 3 weeks time? It's enough to make me want to go back to UK, have you seen Spanish TV?

Hi all, Sorry for those have TV problems. We are in Mora d Ebre and still have all our channels including 5 , ITV and bbc Anglia,  and bbc1 HD and bbc HD [smiley=vrolijk_26.gif]

. We are in Mora d Ebre and still have all our channels including 5 , ITV and bbc Anglia,  and bbc1 HD and bbc HD
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Opps, forgot to mention we use the humax box, not skye ::)

Watch out, someone will be arranging coach trips to your house, so that they can watch their favourite T.V. programmes, on your T.V.

We have lost ch 5 and some others here in L'ametlla de mar. It will be interesting to know if there is any difference between reception from a Sky box and a Humax box in the same area . Or has anyone found a  " fix " yet ....maybe  through " other channels " with Sky box . Perhaps Nigel might know more information now it has been on the other satellite for a while ?

In  Riumar we have lost channel 5 & to get ITV1 we tune to 973 on our Sky box.

hI some of our tv channels have gone of but some are still there as a NEW SATELLITE (not astra 28 )so at the top were all the satellite channels are flick until you find the NEW SATELLITE receiver and click a heart by all the tv channels you watch then save i dont know what this NEW SATELLITE is but its replacing the channels we lost  :) there's just over 300 channels on the NEW SATELLITE but if it works why not add them to your favorites  :)

What receiver box are you using nen ?

wrote on Dec 6^th, 2012 at 10:32am:

What receiver box are you using nen ?

hi its a spanish box (silvercrest digitaler satelliten reciver SL 65) :)

We have the same one as Nen,as recommended by her son a few years ago.Lidls finest,great piece of kit.You do however need a German to install it

wrote on Dec 6^th, 2012 at 5:22pm:

We have the same one as Nen,as recommended by her son a few years ago.Lidls finest,great piece of kit.You do however need a German to install it

NO  :)noby, you just need to know what you are doing  ;D

Nobby, if your German twiddled with my knobs,would i get Channel 5 back etc.....    :-/

Unfortunately nicht.

Just you wait until I see Mrs. Ebrorob on Sunday.  Must be worth a few drinks !!

Anyone found a fix for sky boxes yet ?

What size is your dish ?

We have a 1.2m dish and have lost all the 5 channels, but nothing else. Is there any easy solution to get them back?

Lost Sky News last night.

Sky News now on Ch 202.

Sky News Now on 501 CNN on 506 EURO News 508.

It looks as though the channel number depends on what type of box you have.  Sky News is on Ch 202 on the Humax.  The only way to pin the channels down is to look at the frequencies etc.

Here's some info on Freesat and the channels carried etc.

http://www.freesat.es/lost-freesat-reception/

It states that moving up to a 3m dish in southern Spain (where reception has normally been worse than up here) may work for a while.  That sounds like a bit of overkill for this latitude.  It would be helpful to know what size dish Cherryfarms is using.  The cost of dishes rises exponentially but a compromise size might be an option especially as it would also improve reception in bad weather for all channels.  Comments welcome.

...still testing. A 1.2M dish in Tortosa - no reception
1.3M in Freginals - nothing
I´ve heard of broken reception on a 1.2 dish in Tres cales but still to confirm
I´ll have more data next week after going to Mora.
If the Mora report is true then it looks like there is a big drop in signal between there and Tortosa.

Dish size to fix it currently unknown.

2 more satellites are due to go up in 2013 and 2014 so we could be on borrowed time....

Hi Bigyin. We are operating on a 1 mtr dish, and our farm is down by the river. Nigel was here a few days ago, and can confirm that we have perfect reception, even in bad weather. Yesterday we lost channel 5, but everything else ok. Can't afford to be complaisant though, Just holding my breath and waiting. So far so good. :-/

That's weird isn't it.  Anyway, it looks like Nigel is on the case.  I have a Catalan friend in Santa Barbara who is a satty freak and has some bigger dishes.  I'll ask him what he's getting.

Looks like we will all have to either get a "Jodrell Bank" size dish or move to Mora in the future.   ::) ::)

Ahh.. so, do you or don't you have C5 now? Also, do you still have 5USA, 5USA+1, 5* and 5*+1? These are some that have moved?

Nigel wrote on Dec 9^th, 2012 at 11:44pm:

Ahh.. so, do you or don't you have C5 now? Also, do you still have 5USA, 5USA+1, 5* and 5*+1? These are some that have moved?

Hi. Just checked, You are right Nigel, we can't get the stations mentioned. Not that we ever watched them anyway

We have also lost all the "5's", (I have a Sky box) heard that Tony in the Tosca valley has totally lost  reception! could be a Dish movement problem though.  :(

I've got back all the lost channels!

I went to Alicante for Christmas and took a 1.2M dish with me to test.

The signal re-appeared in Benicassim (the AP7 Service station where I got some funny looks stood by the van with a satellite dish!)

I brought a 1.9M dish back with me to Tortosa and have just set it up and tested and all channels are back.

So now I know what is needed. Unfortunately its rather big and there is NO WAY it could be mounted on a wall; ground mounted on a pre-cast concrete slab only I'm afraid. This means anyone with a flat is going to lose their UK tv :-( as will anyone who doesn't have a site for the dish. Also EXPENSIVE. Don't expect much change out of 1000 euros when you take into account the dish, the concrete base, support etc. etc.

We have a 'stay of execution' until next summer - and there are no guarantees the new satellite won't be different from the one carrying the C5's etc. Then we will possibly (and the rumour has it that it is very probable as the new satellite should have the same footprint as the one currently transmitting the 5's) loose all the BBC and ITV/Channel 4's etc....

It is very unlikely the 5's will be moved again so the existing migrated channels should continue to be viewable on the larger dishes for the foreseeable future.

I still don't know what reception will be like in L'Ametlla or Mora areas - I'll try and take the dish there and do some tests but it's not easy due to its size and weight.

Below is a picture of a 1.3M dish (that I have been putting up until now, and a 1.9M dish which is the future...

---

Thanks, Nigel for your info, and for taking time to do the testing, during your Christmas break.
Much appreciated.

I agree.  Good job Nigel.  Looks like it might be an idea to live without CH5 until we see the outcome of the changes later next year.

Whilst reading the latest posts on this, thanks everyone.
Checked the 5s which we lost along with everyone else
( we are in Vinaros )
Hadnt checked for a while and hey presto theyre back !! We do have the large dish but they definitely werent there a few weeks ago.
Keeping our fingers x

How big is the dish ?


wrote on Dec 28^th, 2012 at 10:12pm:

Whilst reading the latest posts on this, thanks everyone. Checked the 5s which we lost along with everyone else ( we are in Vinaros ) Hadnt checked for a while and hey presto theyre back !! We do have the large dish but they definitely werent there a few weeks ago. Keeping our fingers x

Vinaros seems to be just about on the limits of reception with a 1.2M dish. On my way to Alicante I tested at the services in Benicarlo and was receiving some - but not all - channels. In Freginals on a 1.5M dish there was nothing.

If you know how to scan a transponder I would be interested to know if you have any channels received on the following 2 transponders:

Frequency	SR	FEC	Polarity
11023	23000	2/3	H
10994	22000	5/6	H

The first should be BBC channels, the second should be some ITV1 regions.

I didn't receive these two in Benicarlo.

well done a quick search on goggle and eBay and 1.9 dishes  are rare at moment, but we can only hope !!!  >:(

I'm still testing..
It looks like a very good quality receiver will be needed. I lost some channels during the day and had some breakup in the early evening. One of the freesat boxes I have will not receive anything during the day - I don't have a SKY box at the moment although from experience they have much poorer receivers.

I'm hoping we won't need a 2.4M dish... :o

Does this mean that the people in the south of Spain will need even bigger dishes?
If so, is it possible there will be a load of second hand 2m dishes for sale in Valencia/Murcia etc. soon?

Not being a technophobe but.......I watch football matches via the internet and with other sporting events and films now available,can we not get normal TV via the internet ?? just asking.

wrote on Dec 30^th, 2012 at 9:56am:

Does this mean that the people in the south of Spain will need even bigger dishes? If so, is it possible there will be a load of second hand 2m dishes for sale in Valencia/Murcia etc. soon?

Sadly it's unlikely. The change seems to have benefitted them. Where they previously needed a 1.9m dish they now only need a 1.2m.

Andalucia seems to have suffered as well. It's still not clear what size they will need but in some areas a 1.9 is sufficient.

wrote on Dec 30^th, 2012 at 10:23am:

Not being a technophobe but.......I watch football matches via the internet and with other sporting events and films now available,can we not get normal TV via the internet ?? just asking.

Yes and no.. The BBC and ITV players can determine your location from your IP address (the address on the internet your computer is connected to) and they will block you if your address is not in the UK.
There are some services you can subscribe to that fake your address.
You would need a fast internet connection otherwise you would suffer from the picture freezing.

I use a VPN address it costs £5.00 a month and I use bbc I player and itv I player  bbc works no problem at all but it seems that the itv channels vary itv 2 3 and 4 are ok but itv 1 lags a bit every now and then.
Of course by using the Internet you can catch up on missed programs.
I have a  one meg connection.
It would take 16 years to add up to the price of a bigger dish.

We use the iPlayer on a VPN from www.my-private-network.co.uk which is very good for a fiver a month. Another advantage of using it it that you appear to be in the UK to other websites too and get around the problem of sites serving you spanish pages automatically - really annoying.
<Rant>
However - the BBC iPlayer is the biggest crock of **** ever produced. It crashes, deletes your recordings, refuses to play stuff and generally behaves like a two-year-old in a tantrum. The Beeb don't care, provide no support and treat you like a moron. It seems that £5bn a year in licence fees doesn't stretch very far. </Rant>

Just a point Planes Pete, but if you are accessing the beeb via a proxy server you aren't paying a licence fee so they wouldn't have any obligation to offer you any support.

Personally I wish that they would allow access from outside of the UK for payment of a fee. 

Nice try, as it happens I am paying a licence fee on our house in the UK. The fact that I can't watch it while I'm here just rubs the salt in.

I'm still testing with a 1.9M dish but it's not good news :-(
I'm getting a lot of breakup and no signal on some channels when it's cloudy/rainy.

Looks like we're going to need a 2.4M or 3M dish.

Reports from Barcelona are that a 2M dish on a clear day receives nothing...

I'm looking at alternative solutions.

Your efforts are much appreciated Nigel.

2MB enough to stop picture freezing?

I'm a just quizzing here Nigel, but you can get hold of 1.2m dishes fairy cheap, what is your humble opinion on extending these out to 2.3m with sheet metal ? I've seen that some of the manufactures have this option !and when your talking 2 grand a dish for us folks not in the trade, but with welding/fab skills ? ;)

..well...
The best quality 1.2M dishes I know of (the ones I installed) are Gibertini dishes. They are 'offset focus' dishes. I personally wouldn't attempt to enlarge one with steel plate. Think of a dish like a concave mirror - if you have imperfections then the signal doesn't arrive at the focal point so you end up with a big dish working like a small dish.

Remember that the manufacturers have presses to press the extensions to the correct curved form.

Over the years I have been asked to align some dishes that have been damaged - dropped, bent by the wind, been badly transported  etc. and it's very difficult to get a decent signal out of them for the reason stated above.

I'm sure there will be a few cheap 1.2 dishes around in the summer - if your welding/metal working skills are up to it then you can always try and see.

PaulH wrote on Jan 25^th, 2013 at 10:25am:

2MB enough to stop picture freezing?

Streaming at 2Mb is just about ok; 1Mb isn't enough. 3Mb or more is much better as the 'player' reads chunks of data at a time and so has a buffer big enough to last a few seconds.

BUT.. and this is the killer..

The WiMax network (Eurona, Iberbanda, NetPorts) is NOT capable of supporting lots of users all streaming at the same time. It is a limitation of the technology. Remember that there is only a guarantee of 10% of the contracted speed (this is normal for any domestic internet service) so your 1Mb only guarantees you 100Kb. This is ok if the speed drop is short duration but if it lasts for a while then expect your stream to stop and your picture to freeze and it always seems to happen at ........

So, if we are all expecting to jump onto iPlayer/FilmOn/whatever in the summer then don't expect too great a result. Also the quality of these streams is designed for PC screens, not for 47" TV screens. It doesn't scale well so you end up watching a big blur..

If you have an ISDN line (in towns and some villages) then you are ok but the majority of us don't.

I still don't know about Satellite internet users but, if they are ok, then they will need to upgrade their service as the current monthly download limits will soon be used up while streaming.
The satellite internet offers are improving - I currently have one that allows unlimited download after 8pm so there is hope, daytime TV is out though.

I am investigating alternative solutions.

We gave up on Sat TV a few years ago due to the reliability of signal. After that we used the iPlayer for a while through 'my-private-network' as a VPN to kid the Beeb that you are in the UK. Sadly the iPlayer is a mess, too many problems to list but an external group have come up with an alternative called 'get_iplayer'. It's clunky and old fashioned looking but does the job really well. The programs downloaded don't expire and sit on your computer as 'proper' MP4 files so you can copy them onto tablets, phones etc to watch on the plane or wherever. You still need the VPN though. We are on Eurona 3Mb WiMax (the little receiver pointing into town).
Have also started using thepiratebay.se which serves almost everything, including missed episodes from the Beeb.

Yeah Pete I did the same scrapped Sky as a extravagance we could do without ,I also download the series I missed on Discovery etc.... don't have a internet on  phone "tight Yorkshireman" so when up at the finca "donkey shed"  all lonesome :-/

We also bought an HTC Desire mobile phone on ebay and a SIM card from simyo.es. The HTC has a 'wireless hotspot' feature that give you full wireless internet just using the phone. The plan we are on with simyo gives 600MB of internet per month with extra very cheap. You just have to use a minimum of €6 per month in calls. We use this whenever we are away from the casa. As 3G mobile coverage is very good in Spain, we can usually get more than 2Mb bandwidth off the mobile.

Just been looking at one of these phones on ebay "for sale in Skipton :D " I'm a bit of a stick in the mud, my old phone which is about 8 years old it was my daughters old  ,old, old phone and it still works OK and work,s great in Spain and cost is around a fiver a month, I use my old iPod touch for internet "hot spots" MacDonald,s ;D but of course no good up at the donkey shed but great for watching films on and of course it,s mega best feature Tom Tom !!!!!

Astra 2E is scheduled for launch on July the 19th, following launch it will need to be stabilised, this will probably take at least a week, Astra 2E will then need to be placed at a non 28.2 degrees east testing position for extensive testing to make sure that everything is in order with the satellite, The Astra 2F satellite was tested at the 43.5 degrees east satellite position before being moved to 28.2 degrees east following it's launch and this testing lasted for about a month, so allowing for a similar scenario regarding Astra 2E's launch, testing, and commencement of service then we are talking about the very end of August/the very beginning of September at the earliest before we see Astra 2E being announced as officially in service, nothing is going to be happening/changing regarding your BBC/ITV e.t.c. reception before then, all this is of course subject to the existing current plan being without delay and problem free.

Update on the planned launch. It is now scheduled for 21st July. The satellite has arrived at the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch site and is being prepared for its launch.

It should be in it's designated orbit and operational by the beginning of September. I would guess that they will then start to announce the dates for migration of the channels.

Thanks for the update Nigel. Do you think Radio reception will be affected, we have this romantic idea that we will return to the age of the wireless!
Paul

If they are coming from Astra 1N then yes. If via the internet/a 'real' radio then no.

Check out the channels that will be moved here:
http://www.lyngsat.com/Astra-1N.html

This is the satellite that will be replaced as it is in the wrong place and is 'on loan'.

Sky news reported this AM that all of the Costa del Sol had lost
Sky News, due to relocation of Satellite, why has this not affected us and our area?
Terry.

I've been trying to find out about this but nothing. If it were so I would have expected to see postings on the sat forums but nothing. I've asked a friend of mine who lives in Benidorm if he still has it.

There weren't any scheduled moves so I don't know any more at the moment.

Latest info on the changes.

It seems likely the migration of channels will start around 6th September and will be completed by 14th September. All channels on Astra 1N will be moved to 2E over this time.

When the first channels move we should then know of the size of dish needed. Before then it is only speculation.

Good news for us (probably) but bad news for SES-Astra..

The latest launch failed after 10 seconds with the launch rocket exploding.
This means a delay so we have a bit more time until the channels move.

Latest news from ILS (international Launch Services) is that Astra 2E is scheduled for launch on 15th September. There will then be a testing period at a different orbit position before its relocation to its final position, 28.8 degrees. It will then be handed over for service.

As a rough guess the handover will be some time at the beginning of October.

Launch tomorrow 15th. Sept.
May get through to November, now, Nigel?
Keep us all posted, please.

Yet again it has been delayed - about a week so they say so on that basis it should be next weekend. At least it gives us a few more days.

Astra 2E has just been launched (23:39) and all looks ok so far. It takes about 9 hours for the mission to complete so by the morning it should be in its testing orbit.

Next phase will be tests (if I recall it's at 43 or 45 degrees) before it is moved to 28.3 degrees and put into operation.. the clock is ticking...

THE END IS NIGH!!!!!!!

One of the biggest changes in satellite TV delivery to the UK and Ireland for many years is under way.
Dishes pointing towards 28.2º east receive UK satellite channels from two operators: SES Astra and Eutelsat.
Up to now, bands of frequencies have been distributed between the two rivals.
SES claimed that Eutelsat's licence to use some of the these expires on 4th. October 2013.
SES went to the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris to try to prove it had a right to use the bands in place of Eutelsat. After a year's legal battle, and following a court ruling in Germany, SES announced it would take over the disputed frequencies of 11459 - 11700 Mhz and 12500 - 12750 Mhz after 4th. October. This claim has been hotly disputed by Eutelsat, which has operated the bands since 1999, though it appears to have now conceded defeat.
Channels broadcast in the contested 500Mhz of spectrum will change frequency over the next ten days, with some 300 channels moving to Astra's satellites.
The switch will be in two phases. Some channels are moving temporarily to Astra 1N's Europe beam by 3rd. October, then moved in phases to Astra 2F's European beam over the following seven days.
Principal channels affected by the change include:
BT Sport 1 & 2, BT Sport 1HD & 2HD, TCM, The History Channel, National Geographic, Fox News, Sky Living It, Comedy Central, Nick Jr, Al Jazeera English, Kiss 100 Radio, Magic 105.4FM Radio, Jazz FM, Absolute Radio, XFM, Capital FM.
Viewers with Sky and Freesat receivers need take no action, these boxes will update automatically.
Free to air receivers have no way to auto update and will need retuning.
Some in fringe areas will see better reception, some in eastern Europe will lose channels completely.
It's probable SES Astra anticipated that they would win the battle some time ago: this may be the reason Astra 2F has been kept largely empty of channels until now.

Astra 2E is now in a testing orbit at 43.5 degrees. There have been some activity (test signals but not channels) and I have been able to detect a signal using a 1.9m dish - the signals are weak (as with Astra 2F) and I've yet to compare them but at least there is a signal.

Update:
The signal strength from 2E seems to be about the same as Astra 2F so the mínimum dish size will be 1.9m

Hi Nigel,  I have a one metre dish that I installed my self.  It works fine for all the channels (except five and related channels).  On the sky signal test it shows signal strength about three quarters and quality about half.  When its windy or heavy rain this varies although rarely affects reception.  The thing is some times, and I don't check that often I get a picture on channel five. Its usually blocky with broken sound and after a while it reverts to the sky no signal screen. Does this mean the after the change over it might be possible to fiddle about with my dish to get a better signal and possibly get the channels I want.
I don't know much about the technology involved in all this, and I have researched on the internet but there seem to be many different views, from we are all doomed to there will be no change.  Does your 1.9 dish point the same way that our dishes point now.
Thanks Bill

It means you'll have a nice new 1 metre paella dish. All the BBC and ITV channels will go the same way as C5, 5*, 5 USA etc. that disappeared last december.

For a list of the channels that will go (at some point later this year most likely) check http://www.lyngsat.com/Astra-1N.html - Astra 1N is due to move and will have its channels moved to Astra 2E

On a 1.9m dish (yes it points the same way as yours) I get C5 etc. no problem.

Occasionally I have managed to get C5 on a 1.2m dish (2/3am) but during the day little more than an occasionally broken signal as you have experienced.

Hi. Isnt this all just speculation at the moment, no one seems to know whats going where, especially as regards the Pan European Beam, that we will get in Spain, what channels are going on there, ive asked all over the internet and no one knows, wait and see, I'm told.
Terry.

Yes and no.
There are 2 beams on Astra 2E. A UK spot beam and a pan-european beam. The UK spot beam is much tighter over the UK than any other existing beam from any of the Astra satellites.  C5, 5USA etc. moved onto the UK spot beam on Astra 2F last december, we then lost them on 1.2M dishes.

Astra 2E is theoretically identical to Astra 2F and will have the same footprints.

The BBC announced in december that they would be moving to Astra 2E:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/blogaboutthebbc/posts/Changes-to-BBC-Satellite-transponders-in-2013

Astra 1N is due to be moved and so it's channels will be moved onto another satellite, almost definitely 2E, this is where all the BBC and ITV channels are.

2E is in orbit, is being tested and, from the signal levels I've seen, is comparable with 2F so hopefully we will get sufficient signal from it but with a larger dish.

So, those are the facts. The rest is speculation but makes sense.

The BBC and ITV have no reason to broadcast to Europe - they get no financial benefit as noone pays a TV licence and advertising is targeted at UK residents so they will move their services to the UK spot beam to attempt to restrict access to their programming from outside the UK.

SKY shouldn't broadcast to Europe but do. SKY receive financial benefit from subscribers so are well aware they would lose millions in revenue if they moved to the UK spot beam so any channels they move will almost certainly move to the pan-european beam.

One other point to clarify - SKY do NOT broadcast the BBC or ITV programmes - they come from a different provider - Freesat.  Just because the BBC etc. channels are on a SKY digibox does not mean you will continue to receive them after the moves. BBC and ITV channels are NOT part of the SKY subscription package.

I finally got round to doing some testing around the area with a 1.9Mdish (it's not that easy as you can't just pop it in the back of the van!).

It's obviously still speculation on what will happen but if, as they say, the footprint is idéntical then the results are valid. If there is no signal from 2E then they are even more important. If it has a strong signal here then they are invalid. But at least this gives a picture of the current situation.

So results:
Mora (near Mora Caravans) - very weak signal
Tivissa (lost in the hills somewhere :-) - very weak signal
So for Mora and Tivissa area you will need a 2.4 or 3M dish.

Burgar Valley (between Rasquera and El Perello) K13 - signal on 2 out of 5 transponders and 1 had an occasional lock.
El Perello outskirts, just off KM1108 (L'Ametlla side) - signal on 3 out of 5 transponders.
L'Ampolla - signal on 4 out of 5 transponders.
Tortosa - signal on all 5 transponders.

So for the Burgar, El Perello and L'Ampolla a 1.9 may be sufficient if you are prepared to lose a few channels (and I have no idea which they might be), if not then a 2.4M

For Tortosa a 1.9M should be fine.

From the results I would guess that L'Ametlla will also need a 2.4 or 3M dish.

So, as I suspected, the further north the less signal however I'm suprised at how quickly it has dropped off.

Your efforts to keep us up to date are much appreciated Nigel.  Dishes of those sizes will be pretty expensive I guess and will need to be ground mounted. ?

Yes and yes.

A 1.9M dish Works out at 850 euros fitted (with a single LNB) and needs a (supplied) Steel cage with mounting bolts casting into a min 1M/1M concrete base - the construction of the base isn't included.

A 2.4M dish Works out at 1500 euros.

A 3M is approx 1900 euros (to be confirmed).

It is not posible to mount any of these on a Wall.

Channel updates:
Some channels that had been moved to the Astra 2F UK beam have now been moved to the European beam meaning they can be received here on a 1.2M dish. You may need to add the transponder and do a transponder scan to get them though.

The channels are:
Al Jazeera English, Movies4Men, Movies4Men+1, More>Movies+1 (and a couple of others.
Frequency: 12633, Polarization: H, FEC: 5/6, SR: 22000

BT Sport1, BT Sport 2, ESPN (and a couple of others).
Frequency: 12515, Polarization: H, FEC: 5/6, SR: 22000

Don't know if I've misunderstood what you're saying Nigel but as I type I'm still getting Al Jazeera English, Movies4Men, & Movies4Men+1 loud and clear on my 1m dish.

As you should be - do you have a SKY box or UK Freesat box or a generic satellite receiver? SKY and Freesat (ones from the UK) boxes auto update but generic satellite receivers don't so you need to rescan or add in the transponders manually.

I have a HUMAX Foxsat PVR so that explains not having to retune but I thought your info implied that those channels were no longer receivable on anything less than 1.2m.  I obviously misunderstood.

They should be receivable on even smaller than 1M as they are on the pan-european beam. Originally they were put on the UK spot beam so couldn't be received here on the dishes the majority of people have but a couple of days later they were moved onto the pan-european beam (presumably BT Sport have European viewers and the thought of loosing revenue forced them to move).

By 1.2M I was really only referring to all the people who have 1.2M (the majority).

Fairy snuff !!

HI, I'm receiving Movies for Men & Movies For Men+1 with Amstrad Skydigibox
on an 80cm Dish in Gandesa.
Terry.

Can only get BBC1 & 2 on a freeview box as of 22.00 tonight.Dont wish to start a panic but are we all doomed

Not yet - it's still testing at 43.5 degrees.
We are almost at 3 weeks since launch so it won't be long before testing is completed and it's moved.

Thanks for keeping us informed Nigel. Can you tell me the exact length, width & depth that I will need for a 1.9 metre dish as I am preparing a site. Also, the steel cage, is this as it sounds & do we need guy wires?
Many thanks
Paul

The Steel cage is 1M x 1M x 0.5M deep. You'll need space behind the mount, min 30cm and 85cm in front. The total width is 1.95M. There shouldn't be a need for Steel guy wires. The height from the floor with base included is just under 2M.

I am compiling a list of people who want a dish - it's not a commitment other than 'I'm on the list so will get one from the first batch'.

The day of the change I will be testing with my dish to determine more exactly what is needed where and anyone on the list will be able to commit or not and pay a deposit - I can only get a certain number at once due to logistics of transport, storage etc. I currently have 14 on the list.

If anyone wants to be added then please let me know.

Hi Nigel,
Can you put me on the list please
Bill H

It appears that the testing on Astra 2E has been completed and that the satellite is now being moved to its operating position, 28.2 degrees.

Sky have said between 0100 and 0300 on 28th Nov there will be a brief outage of between 10-20 seconds for 80 channels, this may however be just coincidental and unrelated although they do have a number of channels on 1N that will need to be moved.

http://www.filmon.com/

Works well ....

I am using filmon.com  on Android,good selection of channels ,but needs a strong signal to keep watching.

Thought this may be a useful link for someone.

https://www.bestvpn.com/blog/8065/watch-bbc-iplayer-4od-itv-player-sky-go-abroad/?fubra=4384375-48922

I did post these two on here a few days ago but my "Edit digit" wiped them off.

https://www.overplay.net/

Tunnelbear the one I use is free for 500mb a month or 4.99 dollars a month for unlimited downloads you can also have two other devices for that price. I have a pc, ipad and Kindle fire all for the one price. I am on Iberbanda and it works fine.

https://www.tunnelbear.com/pricing/

Astra 2E is finally on the move. It will take a week or two for it to arrive at its final position and, from what I have read on various fórums, channels will start to be moved around the middle of february.

Luxembourg, January 31st, 2014 – SES S.A. (NYSE Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) announces that the ASTRA 2E satellite enters into commercial service in the orbital arc of 28.2/28.5 degrees East on February 1, 2014. The satellite was launched on board an ILS Proton launch vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on September 30, 2013. - See more at: http://www.ses.com/4233325/news/2014/16858202#sthash.ZsdrC8rJ.dpuf
-----------
ASTRA 2E has now been deployed at its final destination in the orbital arc of 28.2/28.5 degrees East, where it is co-positioned with ASTRA 2A, ASTRA 2F and ASTRA 1N. Over the coming weeks, BSkyB, Channel4, ITV and BBC programming in this arc will be transitioned to the new satellite with its powerful footprint over the British Isles. - See more at: http://www.ses.com/4233325/news/2014/16858202#sthash.ZsdrC8rJ.dpuf

You say BSkyB - does this mean we will lose all the Sky channels as well?

I would be very suprised if SKY move to a UK spotbeam as they would stand to lose a huge amount of revenue. The operators interested in moving, and with nothing to lose, are the ones on Freesat - the BBC, ITV et al. that are NOT part of a SKY package. The SKY digiboxes provide these channels but SKY do not opérate them.

Back at the end of last year BTSport moved from Eutelsat to Astra 2F UK spotbeam, A few days later it reappeared on the PE beam - you may wonder why. I'm sure there is nothing oficial published anywhere but as it is a pay cannel I expect that the switchboards were clogged with 'UK' residents wanting to cancel their subscription as they were no longer able to receive the cannel - money talks!

None of the Freesat channels are subscription so they will have no pressure from subscribers or be running the risk of losing revenue by losing viewers outside the UK.

My guess (and it's only that) is that SKY will not run the risk of losing paying subscribers irrespective of where they are based so if they move to 2E or 2F they will move to PE beams. If that is the case then you should not worry about losing your tv.

Many UK TV viewers only have the freesat channels however those that have packages tend to have the sports packages. Lets assume the do.
So if there are a possibly conservative 300,000 SKY viewers dotted around Europe what's it worth?

300,000 x subs @ £43.50/month = £13.5 million a month = £156.6 million per year.

Not sure about you but if I was running a business that I wouldn't be too keen on wiping £156.6 million off the bottom line - the shareholders might not be too happy or maybe BSB is so huge they wouldn't really notice. At the end of the day, as I said earlier, money talks.

Just found these......

http://www.lyngsat.com/Astra-1N.html Updated 3 days ago.


http://www.satlaunch.net/2011/08/astra-1n-coverage-footprint-maps.html

Nigel, Years ago when I fitted satellite systems BSB (NOT BskyB as it became after sky bought out BSB)  used flate plate antennas and all LNB's had a screw inside which could be turned to adust the frequency range. Turning it allowed the french channels to be received from the french Telecom satellite and also allowed news feeds to be received which were normally outside the range of received channels. Is this still the case?Flat plate antennas still available. can you tell us which size is needed so we can  use smaller antenna than these huge monster size dishes you say are needed?

John.

It's not the frequency that you need to change - the frequencies are going to stay the same.

The Lyngsat 1N channels (that you found) are the ones that are going to move to 1E - and soon!

The noise figure/quality of an LNB makes no difference if there is no signal, which will most likely be the case when the 1N channels are migrated to 2E.

I have no idea if they still make the flat dishes - they were called 'squarials' if I remember correctly. If they do I very much doubt you would find one big enough for here.

There are no reports yet of any transmissions from Astra 2E. The new satellite cannot be switched on until broadcasts from Astra 1N, on the same frequencies, have stopped.
A new BBC Winter Olympics channel has begun in standard definition on Astra 2F's Europe beam. It's probable that an HD version will be added shortly before the games begin this Friday. The lack so far of an HD Winter Olympics channel, and the 4th. February addition of Channel Five +24, tends to indicate some additions and switch of channels to Astra 2E starting in the early hours of 4th. February. The switch is likely to take a few days, and will be carrried out in the middle of the night.

skyinmadrid.com

There were some changes made last night from Astra 2A to 2E. They were SKY subscription channels NOT the Freesat channels so if you have a SKY subscription and you still receive the channels please let me know - I don't so can't check them although the signal level on all the transponders doesn't seem to have changed very much.

The channels that have switched were on Astra 2A and are listed here:
http://en.kingofsat.net/sat-astra2a.php

If someone with a subscription could confirm that they are ok I would appreciate it.

Hi Nigel

I have Sky entertainment plus and all channels appear there at the mo. Movies for men and euronews appears to be the channels some of the forums check for loss of signal and they are both are showing at 12noon today. I have only a 80cm dish  :'(

Hi,

Just checked our channels re sky sobscription, and all seem to be working fine, although some have changed channel numbers for the past couple of weeks. Dont know about the film channels as we do not subscribe to those.

Just a thought for the techies out there. When all the sky channels go, would it be possible to use our 1.2 mt dish to change to another satellite such as hotbird for example by purchasing a different receiver?

Many thanks
Sue

Sue, you will not need a new recevier. Just line your old dish onto hotbird and retune your existing receiver.

John.

If Sue has a SKY Digibox then yes she will need a new receiver.

Yes you can re-align and re-tune to another satellite, the most common ones are Astra 1 and Hotbird 13.

Not much on either in English though - usually just BBC World and SKY News.

Euronews is on Astra 2F European beam and has been for a while, Movie4Men is also on Astra 2F European beam and has been for a while.
Neither were involved in last nights changes.

Info from skyinmadrid.

ASTRA 2A CHANNELS MOVED TO ASTRA 2E
The migration of channels to the new Astra 2E European beam began last night at 2am. The first to be switched were those on the near-end-of-life 2A satellite. Reports across Europe indicate much improved reception in Spain, The Canaries, Italy and some eastern parts of Europe. The losers appear to be Cyprus, northern Finland and the eastern Mediterranean. An unexpected bonus is that the default transponder 11778, which all Sky boxes measure when a "signal test" is carried out, is much stronger in Spain. This means an end to special measures to enter an alternative transponder, and episodes of "no signal" after a power cut, common in Costa Blanca and Madrid. Expect more changes tonight and over coming nights.
Notable is the fact that Sky paid-for channels, including ITV 2 HD, ITV 3 HD and ITV 4 HD, are stronger in Spain than before, putting to an end the rumour started by IPTV sellers that "Sky will be lost in all of Spain".
You still need a subscription and a Sky box to view ITV 2,3,4 HD, as before. ITV ONE HD will be on the UK spot beam, yet to be activated, as will all other BBC & ITV services.
A provisional list of channels moved last night:
MTV Live HD, Lifetime HD, Sky Sports 2/1/3/4 in Pubs
Sky Movies Box Office, Disney XD UK HD, Animal Planet Europe HD
ITV 2/3/4 HD
Sky Movies Action & Adventure, Sky Movies Comedy, Sky Movies Sci-Fi & Horror, Sky Select UK, Sky Disney, Sky Movies Family, Sky Movies Premiere/Sky Anytime A, Sky Movies Premiere +1/Sky Anytime B,
Sky Movies Crime & Thriller, Sky Movies Drama & Romance, Sky Movies 007, British Eurosport HD
Fox UK HD, Sky Arts 2 HD, British Eurosport 2 HD
Sky Atlantic HD UK +1, Sky Movies Family HD, Sky Movies Premiere HD, Sky Movies Crime & Thriller HD
Sky Movies Select HD, Universal Channel UK, Sky On Demand HD 3
Dave UK HD, Alibi HD, E! UK HD, Sky 3DTV, Sky Arts 1, Sky News HD

;)

Here we go.....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/news/news_item25.html

In February 2012, one of these satellites (Astra 2D) was retired and BBC services moved to a new temporary home on Astra 1N. Astra 1N is shortly to be moved to its permanent position at 19°East, so the affected BBC services will be transferring to a new permanent home on Astra 2E (28.2°East).

This will take place in the early hours of Thursday 6th February 2014. Care has been taken to ensure the minimum of impact to UK viewers both during and after the change, such that no viewer actions should be required.

A small number of channels are unaffected by the change. These are on the multiplex “DSAT 8” which is carried on Astra 2F (also at 28.2°East). These are BBC ONE Scotland HD, BBC ONE Wales HD, BBC FOUR HD, BBC NEWS HD, CBeebies HD.

Generally the new transponder will improve reception in the South East of England, the north eastern coast of East Anglia, the North East of Scotland and the Shetland Isles.

The effect on coverage within Europe: Northern France and Belgium may see an improvement, outside of this area there may be a slight reduction in coverage with the need for a larger receive antenna.

looks like the footprint was taken from here...

http://www.ses.com/4628866/astra-2e

I wouldn't pay too much notice to the footprints - they have been around for ages and are very basic.

Better to take a look at a map with REAL reports of reception as it gives a better picture of the reality and includes anomalies such as side lobes and nulls that the 'official' map doesn't show. This one is for Astra 2F and is what is predicted for 2E

http://tinyurl.com/axdvvqe

Quote from the BBC.

The overspill of the BBC’s services will be reduced so viewers outside the UK will find it even harder to receive them. I know that this causes unhappiness to some of you living outside the UK. However, it is entirely appropriate because the BBC domestic services are for people living in the UK only.

With regards the change over on the 4th Feb. (Skyinmadrid)

Celebrations in the areas to gain from the Europe beam ought to be muted, though. SES Astra (The company that own the sat 2E )Have the capacity to carry out tweaks and adjustments to the new satellite's beams in the light of reception reports. :(

No one has mentioned the radio ! What about Radio 4?  I will be at a loss without John Humphris getting me annoyed every morning !  And what about Thought for the Day - the god spot I particularly rant against. 

Download bbc iplayer. I listen to the radio all day long. Works anywhere

Radio will go the same way as tv on the satellites. Streaming via internet won't be affected.

skyinmadrid.

FEB
5
BBC MOVE IS TONIGHT
The planned BBC channel migration will be around 2am. (The so-called "BBC Switch-Off")
It will, most likely, be as big an event for British expats since the move to Astra 2D.
In 2003, the BBC freed itself from Sky's encryption contract. It began to broadcast free to air, with a much tighter Astra 2D footprint, badly affecting viewers in Spain. The removal of Sky's encryption reportedly saved the BBC £85 million. The BBC, along with other UK broadcasters, has repeatedly stated its intention to restrict the overspill of satellite signals into mainland Europe.

Bye bye BBC
As predicted this morning the BBC channels are gone. So a day of testing to see what will work. More news later.

Nigel wrote on Feb 6^th, 2014 at 5:56am:

Bye bye BBC As predicted this morning the BBC channels are gone. So a day of testing to see what will work. More news later.

Will there be a massive increase in expat babies??? ;D

Lots of people will be upset today to lose some T.V. channels.
Think 'baby boom' is out of the question for most of us, over here now.
Have to find a new hobby.

No BBC radio either. Its still on my air radio app and BBC iplayer app on the ipad. ITV still on SKY. Now wait until dish sizes are worked out to see if its worth upgrading. Still no more Eastenders or Brucie ahhhhhhh life again is good.  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

skymadrid.

FEB
6
BBC & ITV CHANNEL LOSSES BEGIN
Early reports from night owls and insomniacs across Europe indicate big losses of signal in the BBC and ITV Astra 2E narrow beam migration, which appears to have started at 1.30am GMT. One report from just west of Lisbon tells of a number of BBC & ITV channels disappearing. In Madrid and Southern Germany, signals are a fraction of what they were, probably not watchable on their owners' current dishes.
Channel Five+24 was added to Freesat's EPG at 3.00am GMT. Boxes should have automatically re-tuned to receive the new channel.

ITV and C4 have not yet moved en masse - some did but the majority are still on Astra 1N but I doubt they will remain there for long.

The ITV moves were Meridian South East, Central West and STV West.

All BBC Radio channels will have also moved.

Provisional tests are that a 1.9M dish in Tortosa works fine on all migrated channels.

"A small number of channels are unaffected by the change. These are on the multiplex “DSAT 8” which is carried on Astra 2F (also at 28.2°East). These are BBC ONE Scotland HD, BBC ONE Wales HD, BBC FOUR HD, BBC NEWS HD, CBeebies HD."

How do we tune to these ?

i have just watched bbc1 on my computer on www.tvguide.co.uk click on watch and it wll come up on the screen.  :)

Thanks for that . . tvguide.co.uk . . I have just watched BBC ITV and others . . Great

BBC GONE, ITV AND C4 NEXT
ITV and Channel Four are still broadcasting from the old satellite Astra 1N. These remaining free to air services are likely to be migrated to the UK spot beam tonight. If you have already lost the BBC, you will also lose all ITV variants and regions, and the Channel Four group.
The channels which are likely to be switched tonight include: ITV ONE (all regions), CITV, ITV 2, ITV2+1, ITV 3, ITV3+1, ITV 4, Channel Four (all regions), Film Four, Film Four+1, E4, More 4.
The loss of BBC, ITV and C4 will affect Freesat and Sky boxes equally. People often ask if subscribing to Sky will bring them back. Sadly, it won't.   :'(

Ken Barlow is found not guilty.......EEEEEE Chuck   :D :D :D  Plead "Guilty" to nowt.
;)

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You won't get them here as they are on 2F UK spot beam, same as C5 etc. They were recently launched and went straight to 2F so weren't affected by the move from 1N.

Ok, the results are in and pretty much what I expected.

South of Tortosa and north up to Xerta then across to L'Ampolla 1.9M is ok and also restores the channels lost in December 2012 (C5, 5USA etc.) This should also be valid for Bitem, Aldover, Tivenys, The Delta etc.

North of this line (Rasquera/Ginestar/El Perello/L'Ametlla, Tres Cales) 2.4M

Mora still unknown as I couldn't get a single lock on a transponder on a 1.9M dish but probably 2.4M or might need to go to 3.1M

North of Tres Cales (not tested by me) should be ok with 2.4 or 3.1. How much further north than Calafat that applies is currently unknown.

As a guess from the steep drop in signal Flix, Riba Roca, L'Hospitalet, Vandellos etc. nothing.

Hi. All channels here in inland Valencia OK, 1,9mtr + Invacom Quad.
Terry

cactus jack wrote on Feb 5^th, 2014 at 3:25pm:

Download bbc iplayer. I listen to the radio all day long. Works anywhere

I can't load the iplayer(but you don't need it to listen to bbc radio stations on your computer just go to bbc.com)

Any opinions on IPTV boxes? I am trying to weigh up the options. Dont want to fork out for a new dish then the powers that be decide to change the game again and then find i need a bigger dish. IPTV at least gives security on future changes but does incur the cost of extra internet use. The new dish is going to be the fast and overall the cheapest option but who says it wont all change again by the end of the year once they start tweaking. Thoughts please.............

I have just tried to watch bbc on tvguide.co.uk but it won´t let me! Seems I am not in the UK! How did others manage to get bbc1?

Dusty the easiest way is to use www.filmon.com
If you want to view using tvguide.co.uk you need to use a masked ip address that puts your computer in the UK the easiest way to do this is download expats shield and run this as your browser this will put you in the uk and will also let you access iplayer and all catchup channels

I would still use filmon as you can record programs to watch later

wrote on Feb 6^th, 2014 at 8:12pm:

I have just tried to watch bbc on tvguide.co.uk but it won´t let me! Seems I am not in the UK! How did others manage to get bbc1?

dusty we are in spain i just went on tvguide today clicked on watch and to my amazement it came on  :) so yours should work (i think )

yes, tried tvguide today and no, it does not work for me! Filmon works on my laptop but to watch it on the tv makes the picture stick. Hate technology!

Nigel tours the region to report the various dish sizes required for restoration of channels  ::) ::) ::)

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Areas which have seen complete loss of BBC channels are: Costa Del Sol, Andalucia, Southern Portugal, much of Catalunya and the Canaries. Italy is badly affected as well. Many areas have seen reduced signals.
The UK spot beam pattern on Astra 2F has been almost exactly replicated on Astra 2E.
Many viewers with 3 metre dishes in the Canaries have severe BBC problems, though reports indicate that a well-tuned ChannelMaster 2.4 dish can receive the signals.
It seems that Astra 2E's UK beam has been made deliberately weaker than Astra 2F's. Here in the south-east of the UK, signal strength is lower than we expected.
Winners include Madrid (no change) Benidorm, Valencia, Javea, Gandia. No apparent change in Pontevedra, southern Galicia.
Avignon in France can receive BBC on a 78cm dish

Ahhhhh! God bless him.That's our Nigel roaming the ends of the earth for the best TV signal!

http://www.hideipvpn.com/2013/05/smart-dns-manual/

The proof...Tres Cales yesterday

---

http://es.kingofsat.net/sat-astra2e.php

Hi No change here in Casinos Valencia, 100% signal strength 1.9, Invacom Quad, and Pace Sky Digibox.
Terry.

l assume that your not going to leave the dish on the road. Gives a new meaning to outside broadcast  :D

Has anyone got any other ideas of what we can do with the old undersize dishes?
Paella, Wok, Bird bath, or just sell them as scrap metal?

Ritaratbag wrote on Feb 7^th, 2014 at 11:25am:

Has anyone got any other ideas of what we can do with the old undersize dishes? Paella, Wok, Bird bath, or just sell them as scrap metal?

Ideal shallow pools for ducks

Just a thought but looking on the internet it seems that many expats who live in France have lost reception and will need to upgrade to a 1.2 metre dish. Business opportunity for some body. How many 1.2 dishes can you get in a big van.Mlght be worth a trip for some one!

satinmadrid info.

NO MOVE FOR ITV AND CHANNEL FOUR
The expected ITV and Channel Four move to Astra 2E didn't happen last night. It's likely to take place early next week. SES Astra don't normally make changes at weekends.
Positioning data for the current satellite, Astra 1N, indicates it will close and start moving by Wednesday.
Thank you for the literally hundreds of reception reports. It will take some time to digest the information and reply to all. The biggest surprise is the number of people in southern France who have lost BBC services. For more than 15 years, dishes of around 80-90cm have easily received BBC signals. The change came as a shock to many.
Reports from the Algarve region, near Faro, indicate that a dish of 3 metres in size will receive no BBC. There is no hope at all for the majority of expats there with 1.2 and 1.5 metre dishes. About 100km north of Lisbon, a 2.3 metre dish is just about receiving the new 2E broadcasts.
In Spain, the previous hotspot/coldspot areas have been inverted. The Costa Blanca region between Alicante and Valencia is especially favoured: the BBC is received on 1.0 and 1.2 metre dishes. Conversely, Catalunya, The Costa Del Sol and all of Andalucia have seen their BBC signal dramtically weakened, to the point where no signal is received at all, even on huge dishes.   :-/ :-/ :-/ :-/

Nigel will collect your old Sat Dish. :D

---

Old dish use.

---

For those who have now defunct dishes - if you have line of sight access to a wifi hotspot, take the lnb off, replace it with a usb network card and point the dish directly at the wifi hotspot. You should get free access to the internet providing the dish is big enough and you know the password for the wifi serice.

On this note,  All joking aside,
If anyone now has a 'useless' dish, I would like one for this exact purpose! I'll take it away free of charge.

John.

skyinmadrid.
ITV AND CHANNEL FOUR SWITCH LIKELY MONDAY NIGHT
The ITV One and Channel Four group of channels are expected to move to Astra 2E in the early hours of Tuesday morning, 11th. February.


FIRST RECEPTION REPORTS
After sifting through the many hundreds of reception reports, it's clear that not just British people living abroad have been affected by the changes, but that all nationalities in all parts of Europe are genuinely dismayed by the loss of the BBC.
GERMANY
BBC channels have disappeared from the north around Hanover through Munich and to the Austrian border. Previously, 60 to 90cm dishes were enough. Dishes of around 120cm may be needed. This is guesswork, no-one needed dishes this big before.
ITALY
No BBC in the middle and south. 1.5m is OK in Verona, 1.25m in Milan. Between this area and Rome, a minimum of 2.5 metres is needed. Further south, no signal at all.
FRANCE
Large scale losses from the southernmost quarter of the country. Typically dishes have been 80-90cm in the past. In some areas, a re-tune and a better LNB will get the signals back, but with little rain margin. A 120cm. may be needed. Near the border with Catalunya, the signal is worse. There is a report of a well-tuned 90 cm retaining the BBC between Cannes and Nice, but many reports of BBC loss in the region, roughly in a line drawn eastwards and westwards north of Toulouse.
GREECE
Complete loss of BBC in all reports.
NORTH AFRICA
Tunisia and Tangiers, loss of BBC on 2 metre dishes. Perhaps surprisingly, the BBC was easy to receive in N. Africa.
SWEDEN
Losses on 1.2m dishes. 1.5 to 1.8m may be needed in most parts of the country.
NORWAY
Dishes of 90cm used to be OK in the south, but not now. Upgrades to 120cm may be needed.
CANARIES
Dishes of 2.4 to 3.2 now necessary. A good quality, and expensive, 2.4m ChannelMaster type is needed with a top quality LNB. Reports of BBC loss on 3.2m dishes in Tenerife.
PORTUGAL
From the centre of the country southwards, little or no signal is being received on dishes of 3 metres. In Coimbra, a 1.5m will give a just-about adequate signal with no rain margin. In Villa Real, in the north, 1.8m works OK. The Algarve is a BBC disaster zone. Nothing on any size dish, even 3 metres and up.
SPAIN
The lower third of the country has lost all BBC. Dishes of 3 metres are receiving no signal. Most dishes in the south are 1.2m (1.3m vertically) which will get the Europe beam used by Sky's pay channels. However, no BBC, ITV, Channel Four and associated channels will be received from now, even with a Sky subscription. The only ITV channels which can be received are ITV 2,3,4 in HD as part of the Sky HD pack.
The cut off point seems to be around Mojájar. To the north, some dishes are still working. To the south, there are no reports of any dish of any size still receiving the BBC. In Quesada, 1.8m works, as does 1.9 in Alicante. In Benidorm, 1.2m is OK. Mazarrón seems to be OK with 1.8m. A 2.4m in this region gives good rain margin.
In the north, many dishes have stopped working. 1.2m to 1.5m may now be needed. In León, a 1.5 receives nothing, as does an 80cm in Vitoria. In the Balearics, many dishes are still working.
Catalunya is now in a black spot. Most of the province receives no signal at all. Previously, 80-90cm dishes were used. The signal starts to appear south of Tarragona, and north of the French border, but nothing in between.
More reports to follow.
In all cases, well-installed dishes with high quality components have fared better. Many installations are not up to standard, or have been affected by strong winds, rain, or extreme sunlight. In some cases, a re-tune will help, or a better LNB. (more to follow on this subject)

WILL SKY BE LOST TO MAINLAND EUROPE IN THE FUTURE?
There is no guarantee that Sky's pay channels, such as Sports and Movies, will continue on wide beam. Sky may come under political, OFCOM or Hollywood pressure to send everything on narrow beam. BSkyB will be very reluctant to give up a huge source of revenue from mainland Europe. It is estimated that in excess of 5% of Sky's £3,751 million revenue, from its total of 10,536,000 customers, comes from expats living out of the UK. Expect more of the same easy reception for the time being.

improve your wifi connection which will maximise your connection if using iplayer etc. (2mbs plus is recommended)

http://www.wikihow.com/Improve-WiFi-Reception


http://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Low-Cost-WiFi-Antenna

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Wi-Fi-Booster-Using-Only-a-Beer-Can

Lots more info and tips in general here....  :o :o :o :o

http://www.wikihow.com/Main-Page

For anyone that is interested in why we have lost our signal and how it appears over other parts of Spain I was just sent these two pictures.

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Catalunya is now in a dead spot, with no measureable signal. Previously, 80-90cm dishes were used. The signal starts to appear again south of Tarragona, and north of the French border, but nothing in between.I think this is what the above graphs portray.  :-/

http://vibevpn.co.uk/smartbox

I think what a lot of us are looking for is a subscription free iptv set top box for free channels  plug and play type . all local companies seem to be reluctant to supply these and want to only supply these  with a subscription . Perhaps there is a supplier out there ?

The signal starts to appear again south of Tarragona, Anybody know the position in the Rasquers/Ginestar area?

Rasquera/Ginestar you need a 2.4M dish

wrote on Feb 7^th, 2014 at 6:48pm:

For those who have now defunct dishes - if you have line of sight access to a wifi hotspot, take the lnb off, replace it with a usb network card and point the dish directly at the wifi hotspot. You should get free access to the internet providing the dish is big enough and you know the password for the wifi serice. On this note,  All joking aside, If anyone now has a 'useless' dish, I would like one for this exact purpose! I'll take it away free of charge. John.

Ummm  yes but a donation would be nice.  Otherwise it goes to the tip.
Call me   630 25 38 12

wrote on Feb 8^th, 2014 at 8:03pm:

I think what a lot of us are looking for is a subscription free iptv set top box for free channels  plug and play type . all local companies seem to be reluctant to supply these and want to only supply these  with a subscription . Perhaps there is a supplier out there ?

It's not that there is reluctance to supply, it's that as far as I'm aware this doesn't exist. There are streams available from various websites but how well they work or the quality of the signal I couldn't say.

Any IPTV provider SHOULD advise the customer that they need an ADSL internet connection that has at least 2Mb. Sadly some don't care (Tony from Britsat and I are fully aware of the limitations).  This was the response I received from one of them when I suggested they should be careful who they were selling IPTV to:

Please be careful to whom you sell the service.

1) Many internet users are on WiMax systems provided by various providers. IPTV will NOT work on WiMax when the number of users starts to grow as the WiMax technology is not capable of supporting many simultaneous channels of multiple streaming using unicast.

This is not our responsibility/problem, we provide IPTV not an Internet connection. We clearly display a minimum of 1 Mbps for standard channels and 2 Mbps for HD channels. This is the responsibility of the end-user.



WiMax (Iberbanda/Eurona/NetPorts etc) is not suitable even though they have higher speeds than this. The technology can't support it.

To see how the signal is being received throughout Europe (my reports are there too) take a look at this reception map:

http://goo.gl/maps/Ha4xf

So Britsat etc can supply a iptv box that connects through the internet but will only reliably work if the customer pays a subscription for extra channels ?
Sounds like selective marketing to me !
or are you saying that the subscription packages offered by these companies may be unreliable also ?

Nigel wrote on Feb 8^th, 2014 at 9:18pm:

[quote author=2C2E2A252F224B0 link=1354605332/168#168 date=1391886200] WiMax (Iberbanda/Eurona/NetPorts etc) is not suitable even though they have higher speeds than this. The technology can't support it.

I am on iberbanda and I can watch bbc and all sky channels on my iPad no problem. Itv and Channel four break up consistently, but I wouldn't watch either of those even if they didn't break up.

There is a company called guifi.net which offers up to 15mb for €15 per month.unlimited downloads. My neighbour has this and he has had nothing less than 7 mb so far. So streaming not a problem. The only drawback is that you have to Be in a direct line of sight of one of their hotspots. Which I'm not!
I did contact iberbanda and threatened to leave them and they reduced my monthly charge by €24. Now that's a result  :)

No, what I am saying is that both Britsat and myself can supply IPTV services BUT we are both RESPONSIBLE and will only sell it to people who have an internet service that is capable of supporting it, i.e. people on ADSL.

I'm sure customers would be pretty quick to complain if either of us sold a service that didn't work/wasn't reliable - for this reason we won't.

And yes, what I am saying is that WiMax (Iberbanda Eurona et al) is not capable of reliably supplying a stable enough internet service to support IPTV from any company however other companies probably don't give a damn as they are only interested in your money.

There is no free IPTV service that I an aware of.

Nigel, any idea of the price of a 2.4m dish?

1500 euros fitted.

Includes a steel cage to cast into a concrete base to fasten the dish to (1m x 1m x 50cm deep). The construction of the base is not included as I'm not a builder. There are several builders around that will cast the base if you don't fancy doing it yourself.

They are incredibly expensive – almost double the price of 1.9M dishes – I have no idea why – manufacturing costs + transport costs I suppose.
Check out here:
http://www.satellitesuperstore.com/fixed-dishes.htm
https://www.satellitetvshop.co.uk/satellite_dishes/skyware_2400cm_satellite_dish

can somebody suggest which internet supplier is the best value for money I am in ginestar and cant get a signal from the masts at mora or rascura so  nigel informs me ( I don't doubt his word )and I am still buggering around with a dongle and its driving me mad

Hi. Check out his prices  http://www.digitalsatsystems.com/html/completesystems_installed.html

Befor I left Gandesa I asked for a 1.9 Famaval Dish, he quoted me 450+ for me to collect.
Terry.

That's funny Bunter but it would be interesting to know how Nigel is doing his surveys.

Bigyin wrote on Feb 9^th, 2014 at 12:50pm:

That's funny Bunter but it would be interesting to know how Nigel is doing his surveys.

I think he has a van, gennie and dish on a mobile tri pod. Its not an exact science but will give you a good idea of what is going on at the various areas within Nigel's work area. We in Tarragona appear to be in a blind spot. I saw his treasure map on page 12 and have found the buried ten Euro note.  ;D

You can as stated still catch the winter Olympics on channel 978 or BBC RB2 (red button 2) Saw the rugby last night.  8-)

---

wrote on Feb 6^th, 2014 at 9:38pm:

yes, tried tvguide today and no, it does not work for me! Filmon works on my laptop but to watch it on the tv makes the picture stick. Hate technology!

How are you connecting your laptop to the TV.  HDMI cable ?

Bigyin wrote on Feb 9^th, 2014 at 12:50pm:

That's funny Bunter but it would be interesting to know how Nigel is doing his surveys.

Ignore this.  For some reasons I didn't get email notifications of the earlier updates to this thread.  have now seen the pic of his rig at Tres Calles.
What a dedicated bloke.

Hi Robo, that is strange, the people who live just opposite you have good Internet. I see a lot of people using an Ipad with some special monthly payment deal from Vodaphone,

:)

wrote on Feb 8^th, 2014 at 10:09pm:

So Britsat etc can supply a iptv box that connects through the internet but will only reliably work if the customer pays a subscription for extra channels ? Sounds like selective marketing to me ! or are you saying that the subscription packages offered by these companies may be unreliable also ?

The subcription charges are to hide your ip address ive tried several of these over the last month and none of them work either through my computer smart tv or playstation 3 in fact any platform i try
You can buy a box off the net that ip masking is included that gives accesss to over 7000 channels including all UK channels sky sports movies catch up everything. I am trialing one at the moment as its a little complex to set up and arrange your fav channels into one place. €160 NO SUBSCRIPTION EVER. More info once I sorted my box out. Please be aware this solution is down to unlimited internet being on ADSL and not everyones cup of tea. As Nigel.stated Eurona will soon run out of bandwidth if eveyone starts streaming TV. Another option.

hi smidge, they have a local ipad paid monthly with a 1 gig internet card in it, it is limited as all tablets are

So the internet connections  will be overwhelmed with a few hundred brits trying to stream tv programs ? and iptv  subscription free boxes don't exist so can't be supplied by local companies ? I  will leave it to others on this forum to search the details on the internet and put their findings on this forum ! 

wrote on Feb 9^th, 2014 at 7:14pm:

So the internet connections  will be overwhelmed with a few hundred brits trying to stream tv programs ? and iptv  subscription free boxes don't exist so can't be supplied by local companies ? I  will leave it to others on this forum to search the details on the internet and put their findings on this forum !

IPTV box subscription free
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/XBMC-MX2-IPTV-BOX-FREE-MOVIES-SPORT-INTERNATIONAL-LIVE-TV-Inc-ARAB-EPL-EXPAT-/281262935821

This box is up an running and running fine in LAmpolla now. Complex to set up and eats data like mad but all IPTV boxes will.
To watch all your soaps your looking at 30gb a month just for them

Thanks Robo 1GB. has its limitations.
:)

geandi. it seems like a space center sized dish as per Nigel or maybe an ADSL system as per Mcmaster suggestion. Am I understanding the communication so far?

Amazing !
Any other info anyone ?


wrote on Feb 9^th, 2014 at 8:35pm:

wrote on Feb 9th, 2014 at 7:14pm: So the internet connections  will be overwhelmed with a few hundred brits trying to stream tv programs ? and iptv  subscription free boxes don't exist so can't be supplied by local companies ? I  will leave it to others on this forum to search the details on the internet and put their findings on this forum !  IPTV box subscription free http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/XBMC-MX2-IPTV-BOX-FREE-MOVIES-SPORT-INTERNATIONAL-LIVE-TV-Inc-ARAB-EPL-EXPAT-/281262935821 This box is up an running and running fine in LAmpolla now. Complex to set up and eats data like mad but all IPTV boxes will. To watch all your soaps your looking at 30gb a month just for them

This box is up an running and running fine in LAmpolla now. Complex to set up and eats data like mad but all IPTV boxes will.
To watch all your soaps your looking at 30gb a month just for them[/quote]
[/quote]

NECK-XED.     ;D

---

ITV AND CHANNEL FOUR SWITCH LIKELY TONIGHT
All remaining ITV One channels are expected to move to from Astra 1N to Astra 2E in the early hours of Tuesday morning, 11th. February.
SES Astra, normally one of the most secretive of companies, publishes weekly ephemeris data on its website, predicting the exact position in orbit of all its satellites. That is, except Astra 1N. Position data for this satellite is only given till Wednesday, 12th. February, indicating that it will be emptied of channels and will start to its new home to the west shortly after Wednesday. Channel Four's group of channels may also move tonight. At the latest, it looks as though all free public service channels will be moved to the new UK spot beam within the next 72 hours. The switch will add to the misery for thousands of UK expatriates in Spain, France, Italy and Germany, shortly after losing all BBC services.
The sole BBC channel which can be received easily throughout Europe is the Winter Olympics Red Button channel 978.

---

You can watch thousands of tv channels online here .....
http://wwitv.com/

unfortunately non of the BBC or ITV channels anymore since theyy are no longer listed!

::)

ITV1 HD and ITV1 together with channel 4 and channel 4 HD have now gone.  :'(   

The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.

Windy init ?   ::) ::) ::)

---

As widely predicted all ITV and C4, Film 4 etc. have now gone.
This should be the end of any moves predicted to affect us.

What you have left is unlikely to change now.

wrote on Feb 10^th, 2014 at 5:09pm:

You can watch thousands of tv channels online here ..... http://wwitv.com/ unfortunately non of the BBC or ITV channels anymore since theyy are no longer listed! Try here...  ;) http://uktvaccess.com/ or use one of the free VPN services then add this add on into your firefox browser add-on in tools and away you go it acts like freeview. I have not tried it but that was said in the reviews. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/watch-uk-tv/ ::)

Yes as you say ITV & channel 4 are gone today.  I can still get radio LBC & some free movies eg. movies 4men ,true movies ,Sony & the horror ones!

Shiver me timbers Jim lad it's dem der pirates again at an English bar near you.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-26052012

---

Got them  back  now thanks for your advice,  Tell me what I need to link it to my TV?   Can this be done without a cable, got rather too many of them!!   ;D

skyinmadrid.

ASTRA 2E TRANSMITTING AT REDUCED POWER TO EXCLUDE EXPATS?
Browsing through nearly 1,000 of your reception reports, it's clear that the new satellite Astra 2E is transmitting at lower power than its twin, Astra 2F.
Both Eurostar E3000 satellites have identical specifications: launch mass 6 tonnes, wingspan 40m, output power of 13kW. For some reason, the received signals are up to 2.5 dB lower across most of Europe, including SE England (right).
We were led to believe that the new satellites would have a stronger signal in the centre of footprint, but this only happened with Astra 2F, which went into service a year ago.
2.5dB doesn't sound like much, but the dB scale is logarithmic, a drop of 3dB is a reduction of 50%.
On both satellites, HD channels are transmitted at slightly higher power, as the DVB-S2 8PSK HD format is much harder to receive. This is reason why many people can receive SD but not HD.
The suspicion has to be that 2E's power has been reduced to make it harder to receive BBC, ITV and Channel Four in mainland Europe.

---

Arrrghhhhhhhhhhhhhh mateys,me thinks "The powers that be don`t what us to watch good TV" 
Jim Lad & shiver me timbers!    :D :D :D :D

But surely this could be classed as racial discrimination against other European countries !!

Its a funny thing for me, more than 50 years ago I grew up in a marginal TV reception area. Over these years TV became as normal as the nose on your face now all these years later its return to go, do things really change?

Surely a human rights issue!!!

There was a European court case a while ago about this.
From what I remember the ruling stated something like:

'Any European citizen has the right to receive tv from their own country subject to them having the necessary equipment capable of receiving the channels'

So, with the right equipment, you can have tv and at least in the majority of this area it is possible with a big dish.

Don't want to go off at too much of a tangent here BUT....  BBC is a PUBLIC utility (even though it charges a licence fee).  I've always paid my taxes (and still do, and in fact I currently have the lowest tax code I've ever had).  Furthermore, I would be more than happy to pay the licence fee for the privilege of receivng BBC here.  Are there not those among us who have pads in the UK where they spend part of the year and pay the fee anyway even though they only use the facility for part of the year.  I would have thought that the ITV channels are missing a trick by not transmitting their advertising to all the ex-pats in Europe.  Something that Sky may have already twigged. ?
Does anybody know what the Beeb's (if it's their decision) rational is for the restrictions ?

Nigel wrote on Feb 13^th, 2014 at 1:32pm:

There was a European court case a while ago about this. From what I remember the ruling stated something like: 'Any European citizen has the right to receive tv from their own country subject to them having the necessary equipment capable of receiving the channels' So, with the right equipment, you can have tv and at least in the majority of this area it is possible with a big dish.

Maybe we should try to trace a copy of the ruling then point this out to the BBC, ITV, etc and instigate a court case to make them provide us with the dishes we need? I wouldn't hold my breath though.


could start here....

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:KO8MFDXLq-cJ:www.deadline.com/2011/10/european-court-ruling-could-wreck-indie-filmtv-finance-warns-shine-movie-boss/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=es
or better still, here at the official website of all European directives ( this relates closely)....

http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/audiovisual_and_media/l24101_en.htm


This was published just a few weeks ago .....
http://www.assembly.coe.int/ASP/Doc/XrefViewPDF.asp?FileID=20335&Language=EN


Just a thought.

John.

::)  :P  ;)

Part of it will come down to copyright and distribution rights. BBC and ITV only have rights for the UK. If the UK broadcasters started offering their programming in Europe the European broadcasters would then be unhappy! Likewise the reverse.

Imagine if a 'war' broke out to secure the rights of distribution for some small football event. What would happen if Canal+ Italy won and didn't provide services to UK viewers or UK viewers had to subscribe with yet another satellite dish, decoder etc...
How many subscriptions do you want to pay, you already (UK based) subscribe to BBC and ITV through force - licence fees and advertising fees, how many more? Canal+ Spain, Italy, France etc... see where this could lead?

And languages? Live events broadcast to you exclusively in Czech?  Humm..

Laws overide contractual rights each and every time. You cannot contract yourself out of a legal obligation!

John.

Lost Channel 4 in Spain and have a Sky card - try this...

found this on www.satandpcguy.com

If you have lost the normal version  Channel 4 on 104 on your Sky box, then it may be possible to still receive  Channel 4 ( and E4 and More 4), as long as you have a Sky card.
Although the free version of Channel Four may not be available, it may be possible for you to receive the Irish versions of Cannel Four.
These are encrypted and require a sky card to access.
Channel 4 Ireland is available with a non subscription viewing card.
E4 Ireland and More4 Ireland are available with a Sky subscription card.
How to add the Irish Channel Four to your Sky box.
Press services
Go to Add Channels
Input the frequency           12480    V     27.5       2/3
Find Channels
A list of some channel will appear, if your dish is big enough to receive them.
Included in this list are the Irish versions of Channel 4, E4 and More4
Navigate to the channels, and press the yellow button placing a tick next to the channel.
When done, press select to save the channel.
Rather than access channel 4 via Sky Channel 104, simply press Services, go to Other Channels, and select Channel 4
And you should not have Channel 4 back.

You can also receive the HD versions of CH5, and ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4 with the Sky card.
;D ;D

i was wondering if anyone as now got a bigger satellite dish  conected yet and if its working ok and also what was the cost .

So Sue 100, Its the luck of the Irish,as to whether or not we receive our UK Tele or not? To be sure to be sure!!!!!!!!!!   :( :( :( :( :( :(

ASTRA 2E NUDGED WEST
Astra 2E is been moved slightly further west. A few days ago, it was at 28.44º east, a small distance (seen from earth) from the other satellites broadcasting to the UK, which are at 28.2º east. According to positioning data published by SES (The company that owns 2EI It will be slightly further west by tomorrow, at 28.34º, closer to the main group.
The small movement may account for an improvement in signals in mainland Europe. Wait a day or two before attempting to adjust your dish. Smaller dishes can't see the difference in position, but larger ones can.

skyinmadrid.

FIVE THINGS YOUR SATELLITE INSTALLER MAY NOT HAVE TOLD YOU  :(

Your dish may be smaller than you think
In Spain and Portugal, most suppliers measure dishes by the long dimension. In other countries, they are measured by their width, the international standard. If you were told that you’ve had a 1.35 metre put up, you have a 1.2. It will be 1.2 metres wide by 1.35 metres high. Likewise owners of "1.9 metre" offset dishes are unaware that they really have a 1.8 metre. Famaval or Portugese “1.9” circular dishes are really 1.8 metres. They have a wide non-receiving rim.
Some unscrupulous installers simply lie about the size of dish installed, confident that no-one will go up on a roof with a tape measure. Even professionals find it hard to judge size from street level.
Not all dishes are the same
Circular, or “prime focus”, dishes are less efficient than oval, or “offset” dishes. A 1.8 metre circular dish will not work as well as a 1.8 metre oval dish, which at 1.8 metres x 1.9 metres, has a greater surface area.
The signal may disappear in rain, at some times of day, and at certain times of year
Most installers warn you that your dish may be only just big enough for dry weather. You may be told you have no "rain margin". You may be somewhat surprised that the BBC picture breaks up in the evenings every day. If your dish is undersized, you will lose picture at regular times of day. Very few installers warn you that reception is worse in the summer and best around Christmas, and that every six weeks or so it will change for the worse or better.
No one at all will warn you that twice a year at the equinoxes, BBC and ITV signals in many areas of Europe including Spain disappear entirely for 10 minutes every morning, for five days either side of the 6th. March and 8th. October.
Your installer will have to come back in five years
Low Noise Blocks (LNBs) become slowly cooked in hot, sunny countries. Few make it past five years, and if they do, they lose efficiency. Cables laid without protection over a hot flat roof may suffer the same fate. After 10 years, there might be no insulation left and the signal may disappear every time it rains.
Your dish may have been installed undersized
Dishes installed between 2nd February 2012 and 6th February 2014 may have worked well with Astra 1N, which was easily receivable on 70 cm dishes in most of continental Europe. This has left many unable to receive BBC and ITV after the recent switch. It was clear from late 2012 that things were going to get much more difficult with Astra 2E. A few installers chose to ignore the warnings and carried on regardless.

Can anyone explain why BBC 1 Northern Island is more stable in the evenings than my regional BBC 1 East/East?  Why is Channel 5 at this moment rock solid while most/all BBC 1 regions are corrupting?   Why does BBC 2 fade at 22.00 local but it's OK earlier on.   And even Radio 4 went ballistic last night.

On another tack.  BBC DG  Tony Hall was on the Media Show last week saying that currently 2% of tv is currently watched, legally, on non-license paying devices and this figure will grow over time.  Auntie will be forced to look at alternative revenue streams and the most obvious is subscription on a global basis.  It follows that some time in the future we will all have whatever we want provided we pay for it.  Time will tell.

I find everything written very interesting, certainly watching TV live in the evening now is impossible through the internet/phone service.
We have received an email from Pymes ONO a company offering 60MB per month for 21.90 euros.  Does anyone know about this service?

PYMES stands for 'Pequenya y mediana empresas' - small and medium businesses in English.

ONO is a telecoms provider that provide fixed line and fibre optic internet connections. www.ono.es

I have no idea if ONO have service in Riumar though.

It would be truly amazing if they were in Riumar as there is no landline here!

I've found a site that lists all the lost channels as being transmitted from Intelsat at 27 deg West. Encrypted in BISS or something. Anybody know more on this? Nigel can you test it and tell us the encryption type?

Hope to hear good news.

Apparantly they are provided as feed backup to Astra and are not for the general public.

I've also heard that a TV shop in Mora are selling decoders at 130 Euros. Can anyone confirm this?

John.  :-?

Yes, correct. There is a selection of channels available, BBC's, ITV1 and Channel 4 (no 5's or any of the others).

See http://www.lyngsat.com/Intelsat-907.html

This is a backup system for the UK terrestrial system and is encrypted. The keys can change at any time and the encryption system could also change.  It is an option for those who are prepared to take a risk.

The keys have historically changed every 3 months or so. Usually the new keys are available in a day or so (after someone cracks the code).

Depending on the receiver you may be able to manually re-program the codes or download new codes from the internet.

I have installed one and it is working well.

If anyone is interested then for a decoder and a dish realign (mínimum dish size is 1 metre) I charge 200 euros but cannot guarantee how long it may last.

Would this work on a Humax Foxsat Nigel ?

No I don't think so - it has no capability for decoding BISS encrypted channels. Many receivers are also unable to handle the high bit rate either so even if they could they probably wouldn't work.

My tv has the satellite receiver built into it. It is a 12 volt tv with a power supply which plugs into the mains for running off the mains as an option. How would a decoder fit ito this kind of setup - before the receiver orwould I need a seperate receiver and decoder which plugs into the normal arial socket?

Addvice would be appreciated. Also, Nigel, how much just for the decoder? I can align the dish easily myself since I used to install satellite systems myself around 20 odd years ago before everything got complicated and the market expanded so much.

Thanks in advance,
John.

You would need to use an external box and plug it into satellite and the AV or HDMI socket on the tv.

Yes I can supply box only for 130 euros BUT it is an absolute pig of a satellite to lock onto as it has a weak signal and is colocated between 2 satellites that are much stronger.