bobalobs Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 What is the cheapest/most effective way to receive the four main radio BBC channels south of Bordeaux? I am not interested in television and do not want to look for free wifi connections in fast food outlets. I used to pick up the news etc on Worldspace with a satellite dish smaller than a paperback. Is my only course of actionto pay a significant sum of money for a bulky dish that seems to adorn a number of "home on wheels "vans? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterandlinda Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Hi Easy Peasy. Just buy one of those cheap stick on dishes and a freesat box, then you will just look like a trucker instead! (coming from peeps who, almost, live in their van). P&L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliffy Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I agree with Peterr and Linda I was missing listening to radio 2 and then realised my £89 Maplins Dish picks up all sorts of radio stations. The dish comes in a briefcase and is quite easy to set up. It works ok up to the Spanish border I have not tried it any further south. The problem of course is you can't use it on the move which is the time I like the radio most. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barryd999 Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Cliffy - 2011-06-01 10:04 PM I agree with Peterr and Linda I was missing listening to radio 2 and then realised my £89 Maplins Dish picks up all sorts of radio stations. The dish comes in a briefcase and is quite easy to set up. It works ok up to the Spanish border I have not tried it any further south. The problem of course is you can't use it on the move which is the time I like the radio most. Agree about the on the move thing. this may sound a bit daft but last year when we headed off down to the south of France before we went I downloaded a load of podcasts of the BBC sites. Various Radio 4, 2 and 5 broadcasts and burnt them onto a few CD's. Just something to listen to on the long haul drives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retread24800 Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 peterandlinda - 2011-06-01 10:14 PM Hi Easy Peasy. Just buy one of those cheap stick on dishes and a freesat box, then you will just look like a trucker instead! (coming from peeps who, almost, live in their van). P&L With my 35Euro dish from Bricodepot I look like an outside broadcast unit!Loads or radio and as a bonus TV!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobalobs Posted June 2, 2011 Author Share Posted June 2, 2011 But why does the dish have to be so big if you are only interested in radio as I thought it does not need as strong a signal as radio? Perhaps I have been spoilt by thevery small oblong dish of the now defunct Worldspace system . It may be the satellite footprint for BBc radio is aimed specifically at northern Europe but worldspace worked in the UK whilst the satellite was over East Africa? In an ideal world it would be nice to have my World space modiified to pick up the BBC radio signal but you technical people will say that nothing is that simple. I live in hope? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retread24800 Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 I have no knowlege of the 'Worldspace' but would suggest that you try it 'South of Bordeaux' and then come back to the forum if it fails to work.If you are trying to obtain a satellite signal away from its main footprint a largish dish is required, my comment earlier was slightly tongue in cheek but a 60cm dish will guarantee a decent signal throughout France, and can be bought for 35Euro's in the DIY Sheds here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porky Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 The earth is round (oh yes it is) consequently after a while you loose "line of sight" Sooooo any signal to be sent over long distances either has to travel via a series of repeater / masts or it has to go up and be beamed down. *-) Don't know of a way around it. (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliffy Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 People keep saying you need a 'big dish' but I think it is one of those man things "I have a bigger one than your" I used my satelite kit in a brief case as far south as Pau in France, which is only around 50K from the Spanish border and another guy who only had a little one (lol) said he had used his on the French Med Coast. So you know what they say it is not the size of the wand that matters it is the wizard behind it or in this case the satelite finder. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retread24800 Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 I live down here ie round about the Bordeaux level and I can only comment as I find.A little dish will pick up a signal in 'blue sky' conditions perhaps, you may recieve the strongest signals but fail to pull in the weaker ones.But if conditions are less than perfect ie overcast or heaven forbid rain, then sometimes even a big dish will be obscured. If Sky could get away with installing even smaller dishes without a rash of complaints in a strong signal area (the UK) I'm sure they would!Size does matter! To little and the object is liable to disappoint, Too big and you could cause damage.....to the roof mounting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankkia Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 It is the same problem for both video and audio from satellite - you need to be in the area of the signal to get 'em both. Having said that take a look at http://www.lyngsat.com/28east.htm and particularly frequency 11954 H. This transponder is on a southern beam and can be received by a relatively small dish (60cm should be adequate) right down to the south of Spain. Just about any dustbin lid will be ok in most of France but when you get to the edge of the footprint (anywhere past the Pyrenees ) Then you will require a progressively larger dish. The same applies when you travel east - pass Berlin and satellite signals from Astra 2 start to fade. Radio 4 is on long wave and with a good antenna and ground it is possible to pick it up as far away as Portugal. Achieved with a piece of cable attached to the base of the cab radio antenna at one end and a beer can with salt water in at the other end and placed on the ground (for tea totallers - a coke can should be ok). The locals were told that we filled the can with water and when lightening struck it turned to beer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alf Stonehouse Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 How much power is needed?When i looked at a decoader & flat screen(smsll) Both said 4amps at 19v which is a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliffy Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 We have an Avtex 18.5" LED TV which runs off 12 volts at 2.5 Amps. (30 watt) I dont know what the satelite receiver spec is but I would think it is minimal. We watch tv from around 5 pm to 11pm some days and it is fine off the Batteries but we do have 2 X 85AH batteries being topped by a 85watt solar panel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wislon Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Whilst in the Loire valley we wanted to use the van radio and found that if we attached a 60 foot wire, just an ordinary plastic covered single strand wire, to the external aerial and placed it around the van we received adequate reception. Worth giving it a try for little cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobalobs Posted June 6, 2011 Author Share Posted June 6, 2011 Just back from the long weekend retirees have! Some interesting posts involvinglenghts of wire attached to the vans aerial which I haveseen work 20 or more years ago in Austria when a camper catapulted the wire to the top of a tall tree!! Not sure I would get away with that in our Health and Safety world! Not sure that I understand why the can has salidioter in it but I am dense/tired soif it is not a p---s take could it be explained to the technical ignorant. As to Frankkia's helpful link it seems BBC Radio one to four are on Astra 2B south which I see from Roadpro brochure has a footprint covering asfar as southern Spain and nearly to Greece.Most BBC television seems to have a minute footprint in comparison being on Astra 2D. So if Iam only after radio a small dish will work and over a larger area of Europe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobalobs Posted June 6, 2011 Author Share Posted June 6, 2011 Sorry it should have read "salt". I said I am tired. It is these long weekends!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randonneur Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Wislon - 2011-06-06 8:17 PM Whilst in the Loire valley we wanted to use the van radio and found that if we attached a 60 foot wire, just an ordinary plastic covered single strand wire, to the external aerial and placed it around the van we received adequate reception. Worth giving it a try for little cost. These are our experiences: When we moved to France 11 years ago we took with us a 1992 Land Rover Discovery with a Pioneer Radio/CD built-in, after about 3 years we changed the radio/cd player for a Sony one, we had no problems getting Radio 4 on 198 LW occasionally we could get 909 and 693 (Five Live). We also took with us a 1991 Ford Fiesta LHD (French bought) and again had a Sony Radio/cd player in and again had no problem getting the same stations, this car had one of those curly whirly aerials on the roof. We then bought a Rapido Motorhome and put the Sony Radio/cd player in, couldn't get anything only French stations, fitted one of those electronic windscreen jobs and still no luck. 2 years ago we gave the Fiesta to my Son-in-Law and brought to France a secondhand Ford Focus, no joy with the radio in this car either. After all the above we have come to the conclusion that it had definately something to do with the aerials not being good enough. We have recently sold the Discovery but what we should have done is try to swap the aerials over to see if that would work. We are in the South West of France and could get Radio 4 quite easily until we reached Bordeaux and then that was as far as it would receive the signal. Sorry to go on for so long, its a sore subject in our house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankkia Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 As for the salt water - I don't know why it improves the signal but I was told it makes a better ground plane and it certainly worked when we tried it. Antennas are a complicated animal. Much like the tuner on the radio the best reception is achieved when the antenna is also tuned (via length) to the frequency you want to receive. Most antennas are a compromise as they need to receive a wide variety of signals (both AM and FM) to get all of the stations. Also the antenna needs a good ground plane (not just a path back to the negative side of the battery. Modern cars / 'vans being made of plastic type materials are no longer such good ground planes as the older steel ones. Even the newer antennas with their own electronic ground planes are not that good. For a motorhome the best antenna would be sited as close to the middle of the roof as possible and fixed to a metal ground plane and that in turn would be earthed to the chassis using say heavy earthing cable. In the event we compromise and where there is a wing (on a "C" class) it is fixed there - unfortunately if the signal is coming from behind you the body of the 'van can mask the signal. On "A" class 'vans many antennas are stuck to either glass fibre wings or on the windscreen both of these are a compromise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.