BBC News and 'Red Buttons' Moving to UK Beam

[derek500]

I know many of you watch BBC News and live sport on the 'red button' streams when in southern Europe, via a 40-80cm dish, as they're on a pan-european beam on Astra 2b.

 

As from October, all BBC TV services are moving to the UK spot beam on Astra 2d.

 

Sky News is still available on small dishes or alternatively you can watch BBC World on other satellites.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2011/08/red_button_dsat_astra.html

[Guest JudgeMental]

Bloomin typical! *-)

 

We must have the poorest international broadcasting of any country in Europe (talking radio now) You can get Irish, American &Chinese! English speaking broadcasts Europe wide, but try and get a bit of BBC and you are in for a very frustrating experience, plus if your lucky enough to find anything the quality is awful! :-S

 

Rant over :-D

[hallii]

There is a new satellite Astra 1N currently at 28.2.

 

I have no idea what's on it, but it does have a "Pan European" beam.

 

H

[spiderb]

hallii - 2011-08-27 4:16 PM

 

There is a new satellite Astra 1N currently at 28.2.

 

I have no idea what's on it, but it does have a "Pan European" beam.

 

H

at the moment 1N is in test mode at 1.8e

[hallii]

spiderb - 2011-08-27 4:26 PM

 

hallii - 2011-08-27 4:16 PM

 

There is a new satellite Astra 1N currently at 28.2.

 

I have no idea what's on it, but it does have a "Pan European" beam.

 

H

at the moment 1N is in test mode at 1.8e

 

Nope, it's actually at 3.5e but is travelling slowly but surely to 28.2.

 

H

[tonyg3nwl]

Hi, Dont forget that BBC is funded by UK tax payers, so why should foreigners be able to receive it south of the channel . Of course, if they pay their dues to BBC then it would be fair to extend the coverage.

 

Also remember that the licence permits them to broadcast to UK, and by international agreement, not to cause interference to foreign broadcasts outside uk. Your option is to change to World service once you cross the channel

 

Likewise SKY UK licence applies to broadcasting to UK only, thats why you officially can't take your sky box abroad.

 

another option is to carry a huge dish and forget the legalities..... or even leave the tv at home

 

tonyg3nwl

 

 

 

[hallii]

tonyg3nwl - 2011-08-28 8:57 AM

 

Hi, Dont forget that BBC is funded by UK tax payers, so why should foreigners be able to receive it south of the channel . Of course, if they pay their dues to BBC then it would be fair to extend the coverage.

 

Also remember that the licence permits them to broadcast to UK, and by international agreement, not to cause interference to foreign broadcasts outside uk. Your option is to change to World service once you cross the channel

 

Likewise SKY UK licence applies to broadcasting to UK only, thats why you officially can't take your sky box abroad.

 

another option is to carry a huge dish and forget the legalities..... or even leave the tv at home

 

tonyg3nwl

 

 

 

The issue is not that of wanting a special BBC service abroad, more one of at least matching what most other Europeans get when they are abroad. Brits get nothing, but it seems the rest of the EU get a great deal more.

 

I cannot help but ponder the effect of the Sky empire on satellite broadcasting in the UK, there are still the uninformed who believe that you cannot receive any satellite channel without a Sky box, the result of clever advertising.

 

I am not aware of any legislation regarding reception of satellite outside of the UK, it is legal with any size of dish.

As regards Sky contracts, that is a civil contractual matter and as such is, in practical terms, unenforceable abroad. Many ex pats and foriegn nationals have full access to Sky channels using various methods of decryption entirely free.

 

You refer to the BBC World Service, this audio only service is but a pale shadow of it's former self, the satellite transmission is full of repeats and items of interest only to some far distant foreign national.

 

The BBC afre playing at politics, the frozen licence fee has not gone down well and they are making damn sure that we, the customer, know all about it. The amounts paid to staff and performers both in the past and present is still not open to public scrutiny, that is a disgrace for a public funded organisation.

 

Sorry to disagree Tony, but we, the licence payers, get a pretty poor deal. Maybe it's time to privatise the BBC? I think so.

 

GeoffG4LXI

[Frankkia]

Sorry but Astra 1N will be a spot beam which will mirror the Astra 2D footprint. That means that it will be difficult for UK expats and motorhomers travelling to Spain to receive any programmes from it.

 

It is designated 1N as it will eventually join the Astra group of satellites at 19 degrees in a couple of years time. At that time the Astra 2A and B replacements will be flying. All satellites have a limited life span (about 15 years) and the Astra 2 A and B birds are coming to the end of their useful lives.

 

With the skies getting cluttered with transmissions it is inevitable that more and more spot beam satellites will be used which will mean that you will need bigger dishes to get your favourite stations outside their intended audience areas.

[derek500]

Frankkia - 2011-08-29 2:13 AM

 

Sorry but Astra 1N will be a spot beam which will mirror the Astra 2D footprint. That means that it will be difficult for UK expats and motorhomers travelling to Spain to receive any programmes from it.

 

1N has three beams, one UK spot and two pan-European.

 

Of course, the free to air UK channels with rights issues, will use the spot beam.

 

There are many expats who currently receive 2D (albeit with large dishes) who are waiting in anticipation to see whether the new signal will be of similar strength. The official footprint maps show it slightly tighter.