HELP Dome or Dish ?

[potjoe]

Looking to buy Dish or Dome for my motor home BUT which ONE can some one help please?we go to France, parts of Spain and now going to Gremany and how big?.Regards john

[trooper]

HI, I think it is a personal choice. Not being very good with these things I went for a 40 cm dome and 12 volt sky box, switch on, wait a few seconds

and hey presto you have a picture,this works well in all weathers but possibly not southern spain though,

I'm sure others will be along with thier opinions, I hope you enjoy whatever you chose.

[rowley]

I fitted the Camos dome because I did not want any problems with windage, or with forgetting to ensure that it was down before moving off.

However I only travel in the uk.

[Puzzled]

Camos Dome will give BBC & ITV down into Spain and as far as Milan

 

Other Channels available in spain and portugal etc

[Guest JudgeMental]

I like the look of the trackvision dome, as supplied by PHLY.co.uk. and it seems good value at an all in price fitted of approx £1400 including receiver.

 

use the "search" option on forum as there has been talk before on this.

 

In fact there is a long thread in the middle of page 2 - title "TracVision R4 satellite system"

[rowley]

The Camos fitted price is about the same as the tracvision. What advantage has it got over the Camos?

I am very pleased with the Camos, DIY fitting was easy. I use a Lidl receiver, Comag Porty2.

[enodreven]

Hi,

 

When you say BBC and ITV down into Spain can you explain a bit more, do you mean all of the BBC channels as you would get on Sky TV with a pre-paid subscription or the £20 SkyFreeview Card.

 

Also what size Dome/dish do you have

 

Thanks

[terry1956]

Hi, there is always lots of rubbish about satellite cover with people saying they can all the UK channels with a dish smaller then a dinner plate.

How a look at this site, it gives you a lot of info on satellite for motorhomes, and also a useful satellite footprint mate.

 

www.satelliteforcaravans.co.uk

 

terry

[Minstrel]

I was under the impression that although you can receive BBC in Spain because of the narrow band it is transmitted under, the evening programmes will not be able to be received. My son's in-laws who are near Valencia had a very large aerial installed.

[Bill Ord]

If you're going to go for the dome the 40cm will be no good to you in all the regions you travel. Last Autumn I was on the Cote d'Azur near St Tropez and had a van with a dome parked next to me, it was 40cm and he had lost most of his channels after Avignon and decided it had been a mistake to not have the larger version which I believe is 60cm. Myself I use an Oyster 85cm but it not uncommon for me to take it down in windy conditions and by that I mean wind speeds above 20mph. It isn't a matter of the dish loosing the signal when being buffeted but I fear for the security of the dish and more importantly the roof, 85cm dishes make good sails! In the end it's a trade off between usability and reception strength but I'd definitely advise against the 40cm if you travel widely.

 

Bill Ord

[trooper]

Hi Bill I think you will find the sizes for the dome are 30 and 40, being the largest, cheers

[Puzzled]

There is no subscription required for BBC ITV neither do you need a card

[Tomo3090]

There is a "footprint map" on motrhome facts web site about a third of the way down on the left.

 

We used a 65cm wind up dish last year and got freeview channels on Astra 2 all the way down to the Spanish/French border. Then we could only get Astra 1 which has very reduced cover. BBC news and Sky news were pretty much all they had in English. But we could get loads of stuff in Arabic!

 

I have heard the footprint has changed recently so this might be different now, but check the map.

 

BTW we have now upgraded to a 85cm automatic dish. Haven't used it yet because we haven't got the van!

[colin]

Size is important ;-) manufacturers of systems using small dish's often refer to them being able to work as well as much bigger dish's, in most cases the bigger dish's they refer to are poor quality and using old inefficient LNB's, but of cause a dome offers a tidy convient solution for people who don't often stray to far from UK.

[derek500]

Tomo3090 - 2008-04-22 9:04 PMWe used a 65cm wind up dish last year and got freeview channels on Astra 2 all the way down to the Spanish/French border. Then we could only get Astra 1 which has very reduced cover. BBC news and Sky news were pretty much all they had in English. But we could get loads of stuff in Arabic!

 

It looks like you were picking up the Arabic satellite Badr C at 26.2, which is very close to Astra at 28.2.

 

There are loads of English speaking channels available all over Spain on Astra 2 with a 40cm dish. If you have a Sky box with a card you will even get Channel 5, Five US and Five Life.

 

I have heard the footprint has changed recently so this might be different now, but check the map.

 

The footprints haven't changed.

 

[Frankkia]

No the footprints haven't changed but Sky (Astra 2) has several footprints as it is made up of 5 individual satelites each with a set of transponders. some of the transponders are pointed more towards the north of europe and some to the south. As well as that there are "spot" transponders on Astra 2D (the sat which has most of the BBC and ITV channels). The spot transponders are pointed towards the UK and have a very narrow beam (footprint).

 

At the moment Ch5 (and the other 5 stations ) are viewable over most of Europe as they are broadcast from Astra 2C which has a very wide footprint but this may change in the near future if / when they go FTA (free to air). There is some movement of channels taking place at the moment with FTA channels moving over to Astra 2D (the narrow one). It is likely this is happening as the new BBC / ITV service is likely to be live from about 11th May (this is a new sat service which is to deliver, basically whats on terestrial freeview plus some high def, using some new boxes which are just now on the market). The new service will still be from Astra 2 but with a different programme guide to the one used by Sky.

 

So the upshot of all this. - It is likely that "free" channels will go onto the "spot" beams and will be difficult to receive in say southern Spain and east Germany with small dishes so the 40cm dish in the domes may not be a good idea.

 

It should also be noted that the further north you go the lower the dish has to depress (even going below the vertical. A dish mounted within a dome can't depress low enough so you may be without a signal in the far north of Scotland and certainly if you decide to journey to the lands of the midnight sun.

[derek500]

So the upshot of all this. - It is likely that "free" channels will go onto the "spot" beams and will be difficult to receive in say southern Spain and east Germany with small dishes so the 40cm dish in the domes may not be a good idea.

 

I would agree that the encrypted UK terrestrials will go to 2D if they go FTA. In fact C4 has now started broadcasting clear on 2D, along side its encrypted version.

 

However, the rest of the FTA channels have no need for a tight beam and benefit from being available throughout Europe.

 

It's interesting that BBC News (formerly News 24) has now changed to the south beam. Perhaps, they realise how Sky News is so popular on the continent and want to enhance their viewing base.

[RoadProAndy]

As RoadPro is the British distributor of Camos sat-domes and I am a motorcaravanner who's been using one for almost 3 years, I can pass on information which you may find useful.

 

As far as reception coverage is concerned, I have produced footprint maps for the sat-domes based on my own experiences and those of other users. We have done this for all the satellite dishes that we sell and I believe we are the only company that has actually done this. They are all, needless to say, completely genuine.

 

If you want to see our footprint map for the Camos 40cm sat-dome, please click on this link: http://www.roadpro.co.uk/images/pdfs/Camos%2040cm%20sat-dome%20footprint%20map.pdf

 

If you need any more info, please let me know.

 

RoadPro Andy

[rowley]

Bernie wrote, It should also be noted that the further north you go the lower the dish has to depress (even going below the vertical. A dish mounted within a dome can't depress low enough so you may be without a signal in the far north of Scotland and certainly if you decide to journey to the lands of the midnight sun.

 

It seems that the Camos sat dome works in the Shetlands so Scotland should not present a problem.

[AndyPhly]

We have a bit of data from customer feedback which you're welcome to check out:

 

www.phly.co.uk/tracvision/tracvision.php

 

along with all of our documents which I have been told has helped a lot of people.

 

Jamie

[AndyPhly]

sorry

 

http://www.phly.co.uk/tracvision/tracvision.php

[Frankkia]

Hi Andy

 

I have had a look at the map and it is what I would expect from a 40cm dish.

 

We have just returned from Portugal and was able to get BBC / ITV in many (not all ) places with an Oyster 85cm. We have also travelled in Eastern Germany / Poland /Cz and have been able to get the Astra 2D signal after a slight LNB skew change.

 

It all depends on what you want to watch and where. If Corrie and Eastenders is important to you (not to me!) and you travel in Spain /Portugal (or anywhere on the fringes of the Astra 2D footprint) then you need a larger dish than may be fitted in a dome.

[RoadProAndy]

I absolutely agree with Bernie. If you want the best chance of getting BBC & ITV in southern Spain or Portugal then you should get a BIG dish or a GOOD system such as the Kathrein CAP 900. However, even with these, reception is going to be hit and miss in many places and totally unavailable in most.

 

If, on the other hand, you want to be able to keep up with the news, listen to BBC radio and take your chances with hundreds of other TV channels including Channel 5 - and you want to be able to do so no matter how hard the wind blows - then a dome is your best bet. And, by comparing PHLY's very useful map showing reception using the KVH model with our footprint map for the Camos 40cm sat-dome, it looks as though the Camos unit is the one to go for if you want maximum range.

 

Additionally of course, and with a suitable receiver, the Camos sat-dome will enable you to access TV channels from all over Europe, enabling you to watch events such as the F1 Grand Prix, football matches, the Olympics, etc absolutely anywhere in Europe (even if the commentary is in German). Apart from range. this is probably the biggest advantage that the Camos system has over the KVH.

 

RoadPro Andy

[RoadProAndy]

In response to Bill's posting about a 40cm sat-dome in southern France, I can absolutely assure you that a Camos 40cm sat-dome will pick up BBC & ITV all over France and down to Barcelona.

 

The lack of signal was almost certainly due to an incorrectly positioned LNB. A simple adjustment would have fixed it.

 

RoadPro Andy

[booboo]

hi road pro andy, i was just wondering if you could advise me mate what to purchase in the way of dishes or the like if your main concern is just a good picture off normal channels as in bbc1 bbc2 itv channel4 and the like not that bothered about satalite channels andy ,the ariel the dealer supplied with the new motorhome is one of they status ariels i think which in my opinion is a waste of a hole in my roof mate.any advice would be great,i dont mind spending a bit of money to get the right set up but dont no about the cost of those domes as im not bothered about all the satalite channels. cheers keith.