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Is a 90 cm dish enough for Malaga?


terryW

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Mine is a 1 metre dish and generally it is ok for Astra 2 i.e. BBC/ITV etc in that area of Spain.

 

If the weather is bad and sometimes late evening I can lose some of the stations. Generally you should be ok, I presume that you have an alignment meter to ensure accurate positioning for max signal strength.

 

Generally I just make sure that "she who must be obeyed" has her soaps, then my occasional visit to the bar goes largely unnoticed.

 

Just enjoy

 

Mike

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Yes mike got a meter and an old Sky box and I'm thinking of purchasing the info from that chap on e-bay on reprogramming etc. Worth £5 not to spend hours searching the web.

 

We will be down Kiko Park (Oliva) in June so I can set it all up their and test it out with a better signal. Then the plan is next winter down South for the first time.

 

Not great telly watchers but need something.

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terryW - 2011-02-12 8:07 PM

We will be down Kiko Park (Oliva) in June so I can set it all up their and test it out with a better signal. Then the plan is next winter down South for the first time.

 

You won't get 2d in Oliva on less than 2m dish.

 

But you'll be able to get ITV/C4/C5 on 2a and 2b with a Sky viewing card.

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Hi,

 

I am in Conil de la frontera at the moment. about 100 miles west of malaga, near cadiz. I have a 1.1m X 1.3m diah and a humax freesat box. I am getting all channels inc all the plus channels with no breakup at all. But the next pitch has a 90cm X 1m dish and digibox and although they get all the basic channels they do not get all channels and the picture breaks up early evening or if it rains.

 

With my roof 85cm dish I could only get sky news channel 5 and radio channels plus a few old movie channels

 

Richard

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You won't get much at Oliva on a 90cms dish as the area from before Benicassim to beyond Alicante is a notorious black spot for receiving Astra 2. Reception improves as you go further south so around Malaga you should be OK for some channels but not all and the picture will break up in the evening.

 

However, there is a way of receiving ITV everywhere in Spain on a 60cm dish with a Sky card which you can receive on south beam via "Other Channels" on your Sky box.

 

There are threads on here and MHF explaining how to do this - see above post from Syd.

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Mike88 - 2011-02-13 12:13 PM

 

You won't get much at Oliva on a 90cms dish as the area from before Benicassim to beyond Alicante is a notorious black spot for receiving Astra 2. Reception improves as you go further south so around Malaga you should be OK for some channels but not all and the picture will break up in the evening.

 

However, there is a way of receiving ITV everywhere in Spain on a 60cm dish with a Sky card which you can receive on south beam via "Other Channels" on your Sky box.

 

 

You mean Astra 2d, which is a separate satellite aimed at the UK and has the free to air versions of BBC/ITV/C4/C5.

 

The Sky card versions of ITV/C4/C5 and BBC News are on two other satellites, Astra 2a and Astra 2b.

 

As of the last few days C4 HD is available free to air on a Freesat HD box, all over Europe. That's on Eurobird, which is in the same position as the three Astra 2 satellites.

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derek500 - 2011-02-13 11:27 AM

 

Mike88 - 2011-02-13 12:13 PM

 

You won't get much at Oliva on a 90cms dish as the area from before Benicassim to beyond Alicante is a notorious black spot for receiving Astra 2. Reception improves as you go further south so around Malaga you should be OK for some channels but not all and the picture will break up in the evening.

 

However, there is a way of receiving ITV everywhere in Spain on a 60cm dish with a Sky card which you can receive on south beam via "Other Channels" on your Sky box.

 

 

You mean Astra 2d, which is a separate satellite aimed at the UK and has the free to air versions of BBC/ITV/C4/C5.

 

The Sky card versions of ITV/C4/C5 and BBC News are on two other satellites, Astra 2a and Astra 2b.

 

As of the last few days C4 HD is available free to air on a Freesat HD box, all over Europe. That's on Eurobird, which is in the same position as the three Astra 2 satellites.

 

Derek

 

Does it really matter? As you know there are at present three separate beams transmitting down to us from the Astra2 satellite at orbital position (28.2 degrees East), each one containing their own set of channel packages.

 

By referring to Astra 2 I was trying not to complicate things as all three beams eminate from 28.2 East and all most people (including me) are concerned about is where to point the dish and the channels they receive.

 

On this subject my mantra has always been to keep it simple because as a layman I have found the various references to satellites and beams to be confusing. In reality all the layperson needs to know is that if you want British TV you point your your dish towards Astra 2 at 28.2E and that as you go south in Spain you might have to retune your Sky Box or exceptionally fiddle around with the lnb.

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Mike88 - 2011-02-13 1:18 PM

 

Does it really matter? As you know there are at present three separate beams transmitting down to us from the Astra2 satellite at orbital position (28.2 degrees East), each one containing their own set of channel packages.

 

By referring to Astra 2 I was trying not to complicate things as all three beams eminate from 28.2 East and all most people (including me) are concerned about is where to point the dish and the channels they receive.

 

I like keeping it accurate!!

 

There are three Astra 2 satellites at 28.2, the spot beam Astra 2d and Astra 2a and 2b which each have north and south beams.

 

So that's five beams and then there's Eurobird too.

 

Where you are in Europe, what size dish and whether can pick up the spot, north or south beams determines which channels you can receive.

 

 

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  • 2 months later...

It's essential that the LNB is set correctly down in Spain - whatever the size of the dish. Correct skew angle can mean all channels all the time. Wrong skew angle can mean no channels at all.

 

A 90cm dish with correct skew will definitely give you most of the channels in most places around Malaga, most of the time.

 

Andy at RoadPro

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RoadProAndy - 2011-05-01 6:53 PMIt's essential that the LNB is set correctly down in Spain - whatever the size of the dish. Correct skew angle can mean all channels all the time. Wrong skew angle can mean no channels at all.A 90cm dish with correct skew will definitely give you most of the channels in most places around Malaga, most of the time.Andy at RoadPro

 

Thanks Andy, as always most helpful.  I have already copied a lot of the information you've published and will be taking it with me when I go.

 

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  • 1 month later...
we have a camos 40cm unit and cant get anything past pyranees and we have tried for 3 and a half years via dealer and we when asked say we would not recommend camos but others say they love it . tv in spain anywhere would be good, any suggestions.???
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we have a camos 40cm unit and cant get anything past pyranees and we have tried for 3 and a half years via dealer and we when asked say we would not recommend camos but others say they love it . tv in spain anywhere would be good, any suggestions.???
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To answer terryws question - Sky boxes can be used to receive some other satellites but it is a bit of a pain. It is far easier (especially if you don't subscribe to Sky) to get an FTA box (that is "Free To Air" NOT Freesat). With an FTA box you will still be able to get all the UK free channels and be able to move on to other satellites where Sky at 28.2 degrees is difficult. I have also found that many FTA boxes are more sensitive and have better signal amplifiers than the Sky offerings which means that they don't loose the signal quite so readily when on the edge of the footprint.

 

Are there any worthwhile satellites receivable on the Spanish south coast - depends on what you want to watch. If you only want the news then both BBC World and Sky News broadcast from Astra 1 - BBc News is on 11597V 22/0 5/6 and Sky News on 12604 H 22/0 5/6. Other than that there are many free channels on Astra 1 but do you speak and understand German.

 

The best alternative satellite is the Arabsat group at 26 degrees (not easily receivable in the UK) otherwise known as BADR 4, 5 and 6. This group has many English language stations and it is well worth dumping Sky for them. Note it is just possible (in parts of Spain) to balance a big dish to get both Astra 2 and Arabsat at the same time as they are so close together. I would recommend the following channels depending on your viewing habits:- MBC 2 (films in English all day). 4, Action, Max all on 11919 H 27/5 3/4. Euronews 12703H 27/5 3/4. Dubai 1 12130 V 27/5 3/4. Bahrain 55 12226 H 27/5

3/4. Press TV (News Channel) 12054 27/5 3/4. Fox Movies and Fox Channel both on 11843 H 27/5 3/4.

 

 

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Having lived near Malaga for 20 years I can tell you that most people down there have a 1.3 mtr dish to receive all the uk programmes. A few can be veiwed even with a 60cm dish, like BBC news SKY news, 5 and 5 US plus a few more. Also a lot depends on the receiver you are using. When I was last there I was using a Panasonic box (not sure of the number) and could get all the chanels but when I tried the Grundig box (again not sure of number) I got no signal.

So what I am saying is that as well as having the correct dish you also need a good reciever to get all the UK programmes.

Hope this helps.

 

Keith

 

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Guest pelmetman
Been playing with my Aldi special today and managed 46% signal quality surrounded by trees :D .................................................haven't a clue what I'm doing but its more fun than watching the telly (lol) (lol) (lol) (lol) (lol)
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