ElCotto Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 Setting off this week to Bilbao and propose following the coast (as best we can) Westward and down through Portugal and then back along the Spanish coast to France and Montpelier. We are new to all this. We do have a sat dish but wonder which satelites are best for reception. Any help appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gocro Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Once you are hallway down France you will lose all UK satellite transmission with a standard dish. I believe you can pick up sky news or some news service from Astra A but that's about it. However using digital TV you may find that some films and USA programming is broadcast in dual languages, check your remote to see if it has the facility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankkia Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Depending on the size of dish you have you may be able to receive UK "FTA" stations as far as Biarritz (85 cm dish) after the Pyrenees there is little chance at all of receiving BBC, ITV etc. on any dish that could be carried in a 'van. Having said that there is a bit of an anomaly around the Valencia area where the Astra 2 "UK Beam" is just possible. Portugal particularly the Algarve and also the south of Spain is totally dead. On the Algarve many ex pats with 3 meter dishes are still getting nothing. If you have a Sky box with a full subscription it is still possible to get a lot of other UK programming (NOT the BBC, ITV, Ch4 / 5 etc). If you have an HD subscription and an HD Sky box you can still get ITV 2, 3 and 4 HD only versions as they are still not on the UK spot beam. I suspect that once Astra 2G is launched they will go too. Astra 2G has been delayed and the latest estimate is for a launch in December - possibly going live in early 2015. Alternatives: If all you want is the news then you will be able to get that from Sky News on Astra 2 (28 degrees) or Astra 1 (19 degrees) BBC World and Euronews are also available on Astra 1. If you want more programming in English and don't have a Sky subscription / box then Arabsat (known as BADR 4, 5 and 6) located at 26 degrees is receivable in Spain and Portugal and carries a lot of channels where at least the programming is in English (but not the adverts) - Channels to look out for on that satellite are MBC 2, 4 and Action as well as Press TV for the news, Also Bahrain 55 and Sport and some of the KTV channels. To get these you need a "FTA" receiver (some satellite set ups have their own receiver built in and can be tuned to receive these channels. For frequencies see www.lyngsat.com . It is possible to use a Sky box to receive other satellites but it is a complete PITA to do it. If you plan to use camp sites there are many offering UK TV via a bollard on the pitch with an antenna attachment. Not so many in Portugal though as many of those which previously had UK TV via big dishes can no longer get the signals. The only other alternative is to get a local unlimited broadband SIM for a dongle / smart 'phone etc and use "Filmon" as an app or via their web site - note unlimited SIMs can be quite expensive, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElCotto Posted October 27, 2014 Author Share Posted October 27, 2014 Thats really helpful Guys, thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witzend Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 On our way to Portugal in April we lost UK TV after Toulouse got it again on home trip at Cape Finisterre North Spain and kept it for rest of journey home. Using 58 cm Maxview dish and receiver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.