Guest Le Thou Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 First trip out with the sat dish on the roof so for those of you interested here are the test results, from initial crank up to watching takes less than 1 minute and you can't do better than that, so why pay for a self seeking system. The only criticsm I have is that the locking mechanism is not that strong and in the conditions of strongish winds it moved off track but was easilly retuned, perhaps this is a good thing , but all in all an excellent system and good value for money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek500 Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 Le Thou - 2007-12-01 10:15 PM The only criticsm I have is that the locking mechanism is not that strong and in the conditions of strongish winds it moved off track Never had that problem with mine. If you're saying it rotates in the wind, I would think you have a problem with the spring mechanism that controls the plastic locking bars. To check, pull the vertical adjuster out and then remove the main dial. When the locking mechanism is working correctly it should push the two side bars firmly to the edge where they engage with the cogs. Sorry I'm not a technical writer!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ned Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 Just a word of encouragement! We deliberated long and hard before buying our Maxview crank up. On our Autotrial we had the electrical one that went in the wardrobe and excellent it was to. On the new van (well second hand really) the wardrobe was right at the back and the dish would have overhung in the parked position. Solution! The crank up but it mean't drilling a large hole in the middle of a £40,000 van. Everything went Ok and just as the other Maxview returned good results so does this. All over Europe. We have not been able to get it work three times. Once when it was blowing a hard gale( coast of Normandy) Once when we were under a tree trying to escape the heat ( 40degs) and once when we were testing it in the garden and we still don't know why it didn't work! Great piece of kit. We are now hoping to go into spain for christmas and although it worked well at Roses last year we are goig abit further south. We may be on the edge of the 'footprint' here but you never know. Best of luck with yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo3090 Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 Ned, we've got the Maxview crank up too and it worked in Spain, but what didn't work was our freeview box on Astra 2! Astra 1 worked fine as did all the others, so your channel selection will be very restricted. But if you are fluent in Arabic then the Al Jazeera' channel is your man!! Apparently if you have Sky at home you can take the box with you and that will work ok in Spain, but as I said not a "freeview" box. BTW, we "lost" Astra 2 just over the border from France. Enjoy your trip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek500 Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 Tomo3090 - 2007-12-02 4:24 PM Ned, we've got the Maxview crank up too and it worked in Spain, but what didn't work was our freeview box on Astra 2! Astra 1 worked fine as did all the others, so your channel selection will be very restricted. But if you are fluent in Arabic then the Al Jazeera' channel is your man!! Apparently if you have Sky at home you can take the box with you and that will work ok in Spain, but as I said not a "freeview" box. BTW, we "lost" Astra 2 just over the border from France. Enjoy your trip! I don't understand what you're saying. Freeview is digital terrestrial. What sort of box do you mean? I've got a Maxview Crankup and I can receive Astra 2D (BBC, ITV etc) with my Lidl suitcase FTA receiver, an old Sky digibox without card, and my Sky+ box, as far south as Barcelona (24/7) and until early evenings in Vinarós, Castellon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenewellhome Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 For the sake of avoiding confusion its worth noting the various types of set top box (STB) available and their usually accepted titles. FREEVIEW is the term for a terrestrial (ie not satellite) digital STB, this needs a decent quality aerial and will NOT work with a satellite dish. FREESAT (also referred to as FTA which stands for Free To Air), this STB will only work with a satellite dish but typically can receive signals from many satellites (not simultaneously). This STB will not receive any channels that are encrypted, SKY channels for instance and Channel four and Channel 5 are currently encrypted. SKY is a receiver specifically set to receive the SKY encrypted channels, it can also receive un-encrypted (FTA or Freesat) channels but only those broadcast via the Astra 2 satellite group. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek500 Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 Don't forget Freesat is used as a brand name by Sky for their 'Freesat from Sky", which is the non-subsciption service. And now to confuse matters, the BBC/ITV joint venture which starts in March 2008 has been branded 'Freesat'. No wonder there's so much confusion around!! Personally, I wouldn't call my Lidl Suitcase receiver 'freesat' but an FTA receiver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo3090 Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Sorry got confused myself with all the names! It is a "freesat" box for receiving satellite signals. But in Spain you can't, (or shouldn't) get the programmes broadcast on Astra 2 without the "Sky box". However, even one without the card will do, as yours does. The "Freeview" channels on the BBC are not officially available as "Freeview" outside the UK as that is the only country they are licenced for. That is why Sky can get them because they are paying to broadcast them and officially, you should pay to receive them! The French Government pay Sky and the BBC to allow the signals to be picked up in France, but the Spanish don't, and that is why there is the "footprint". The joint companies, Sky and BBC are working hard to try to narrow this footprint so that they don't loose revenue. That is why this footprint is getting closer to the Spanish/France border. But to get back to the original point, I think my crank up dish is just as good as any motorised dish for receiving signals from wherever they are coming from! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek500 Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 I am sorry, but what you're saying is not true. No money changes hands between BBC and Sky for broadcasting their channels. The BBC pay the owners of the Astra satellite (SES) as do Sky. The French government do not pay money to BBC or Sky. Why would they do that? The BBC USED to pay Sky to encrypt their programmes as they were on a larger footprint. When the Astra 2D narrow beam started, the BBC went FTA, but they always understood that people with big enough dishes would pick it up in mainland Europe. Since then ITV have as well. Next year when their encryption contracts end with Sky, it's believed C4 and C5 will move to Astra 2D and go FTA so they will be part of the new 'Freesat' service. See other thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo3090 Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Sorry Derek, there was no intention to mislead anyone. I heard that from 2 different people in Spain earlier this year. One was/is a Sky engineer who gave me some help when my dish wouldn't pick up Astra 2. The other one was a dutch guy on a different site who mentioned this in a conversation about satellite receiving. I can just about tune the thing in so I have no specialist knowledge, so I can only apologise again if I have misled anyone. :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Syd Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 I will be changing my Sky ariel fairly early next year, anyone wanting a secondhand one of these can have it for either collection or carriage costs. Just PM me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sooty10 Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 Just as important as the dish is the quality of your sat receiver. When abroad a sat receiver with a good tuner is needed. The recievers like the ones from Lidl are great in the England but when in Spain will not pick up the the same programmes as maybe a Pace 2600c. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Le Thou Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 I gave myself a choice when I fit my dish in relation to the receiver, either buy a sky box fo £40 ish or splash out on the Maxview sat receiver for a shade under £100, I decided on the Maxview box , the spec is good and it;s recommended by Maxview,of course. But if I am going to all the trouble of laying out £350 plus time to buy and fit the dish then I wasn't going to compromise on the box. It was in my opinion well worth the 100 quid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sooty10 Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 Have you tried the maxview box abroad yet, and if so how was the reception Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peedee Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 derek500 - 2007-12-03 12:25 PM I am sorry, but what you're saying is not true. No money changes hands between BBC and Sky for broadcasting their channels. Do they not pay Sky for a listing on the EPG? peedee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek500 Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 peedee - 2007-12-05 8:28 AM derek500 - 2007-12-03 12:25 PM I am sorry, but what you're saying is not true. No money changes hands between BBC and Sky for broadcasting their channels. Do they not pay Sky for a listing on the EPG? peedee Very true. I didn't want to confuse the issue as there is so much mis-information around. They pay for the EPG, but as I said they don't pay to 'broadcast'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peedee Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 sooty10 - 2007-12-04 4:47 PM Just as important as the dish is the quality of your sat receiver. When abroad a sat receiver with a good tuner is needed. Size of dish is what really matters but make sure it is fitted with a good low noise LNB. You know what they say, rubbish in rubbish out and this is also true with receivers and the receiver is the last thing I would worry about. Going back to dishes, my preference is for a dish mounted on a tripod, then you don't have to concern yourself how or where you park and you can tie it down in a good blow. In some respects, maybe not so convenient as roof mounted dishes but that is my choice when on the continent. I don't bother with sat TV in the UK. peedee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sooty10 Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 Yes you are right you must have a good low noise lnb, but also a good reciever. We have lived in the south of Spain for 20 years and when we are there we work of a fixed 1.3m dish. You would be amazed at the results from diferent receivers. I use a pace 2600c but better ones are now on the market. The ones from Lidl are great in England but not very good in Spain. I am waiting to hear reports on the maxview box. Has anyone used one on the edge of the footprint?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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