10637 Satellite TV

You need to check out what programmes will be available to you.

I found this link
[it can list what channels are available in most languages, by changing the 'language box' at the top of the listing]

[url=http://en.kingofsat.net/freqs.php?&pos=13E&standard=All&ordre=freq&filtre=Clear&cl=eng]Hotbird 6/7A/8 (13°E) - frequencies - KingOfSat[/url]

It lists 77 free to air English speaking channels - but reading the list, I'm not sure how many you would watch!

Hope it is of use.

.
Hope it is of use

Alan, it is helpful, thanks, for it confirms precisely what I've been reading in the booklet but read with increasing disbelief, it's nothing but sex and god and in various languages too. Religion in Tamil, Redlight Germany, Sexy Arab(!), wonder what he took me for? You'll think we're a couple of bores but all want is the BBC and maybe something good in French such as TV5. Think I'll have to put this bloke off. V

I've been thinking about getting satellite television so that I can watch Italian programmes! Not masochism, just so that I can learn more of the language and culture before I eventually move.

I find the Lyngsat web site very informative. For your purposes, this link: [URL="http://www.lyngsat.com/freetv/United-Kingdom.html"]Free TV from United Kingdom - LyngSat[/URL] gives a list of all the free UK channels, with the satellite they are broadcast from. You do need to delve deeper into the site to investigate the "footprint" where it's feasible to receive each signal though. (For example, the entire UK Freesat service on Astra 2D looks tempting, but you need at least a 3m dish to receive it in Italy.)

I'm thinking of getting a motorised dish, which can receive the signal from a number of satellites (the set-top box controls the motor automatically). The cost doesn't seem to be very much more than a fixed dish system.

There are plenty of free to air (unscrambled) British programmes if your dish is aimed at Astra 2D sattelite.

I had mine 'retuned' yasterday as some more channels are available in my area. I got a local tv repair man to do it as I'm not 'techie' enough to do it - though it did seem easy enough.

I can now watch:
BBC 1 - [U]all[/U] regions
BBC 2 - [U]all[/U] regions
BBC NEWS 24
BBC 3
BBC 4
ITV 1 - [U]all[/U] regions
ITV 2 (in the daytime)
ITV 3
ITV 3+1

E4+1
CHANNEL 4
CNN
SKY NEWS (no fee)

Plus all the other things like QVC, Al Jezeera, The God Channel, TV Peace etc. etc. There may be some French ones, but we weren't looking for them - only English...

I have 2 digiboxes - purchased here. One in the kitchen and one in the lounge. One 1.2m dish ariel (upped from 85cm because my house is right up close to a mountain on the South side of my property). I gave up paying for SKY after a very short time. Free to air is much better and costs nowt!

Violetta I believe Carole is right and to get the 'at home' channels you need to be on Astra 2 system which is roughly SSE at 28.2 E degrees.
Carole has a 1.2 metre dish but she is further north than me.
I have a 1.50m dish because everyone I spoke to and everything I read said that was the minimum needed to receive BBC1, etc this far south in Europe.
As Carole has no problems with a 1.20 dish you could maybe go with that size but do ask as you are slightly further south than me.
Another factor in receiving the British channels may be the digibox you use.
Carole says she gave up her Sky subscription but is she still getting these channels because she still uses her Sky card which is still active for free to air?
I know others who have British tv free to air this way, I still subscribe but may give it up as there are so many more programmes free these days.
I think the cost of €300 is very good but it may go up if indeed you do need a bigger dish, pole, etc. I won't tell you how much mine cost to install as I don't want to put you off but I think I was 'done' anyway and agreed as I really wanted it installed.
Hope it all works out well. :smile:

There are quite a few threads on this already, which go into great detail of what you can receive with which system and in which parts of Italy.

Might be worth doing a search?

Carole, these channels are precisely the ones we want so I'll ask our local TV shop man (the guy whom I haven't yet put off) if he can provide us with this, I'm sure he can, he appears a really flexible type. I'm perhaps fortunate in that I have many Italian friends and neighbours and tend to listen to the radio during the day anyway. It would just be nice to switch off occasionally from Italian and enjoy (hopefully) what I remember as being good British TV entertainment. Will also do search as Nielo suggests. Thanks everyone.

I find it ever so slightly sad that we 'English' still crave English TV (because it is so good)...IF YOU ARE LIVING IN ITALY..........................move on, yes it would be nice to see some of the old 'stuff'..............but.......why are 'we' here ????

[quote=Sprostoni;98871]I find it ever so slightly sad that we 'English' still crave English TV (because it is so good)...IF YOU ARE LIVING IN ITALY..........................move on, yes it would be nice to see some of the old 'stuff'..............but.......why are 'we' here ????[/quote]

My reasons to want to live in Italy?

Oh let's see, the food, the climate, the people, the way of life.......
It doesn't mean I won't want to hear and see what is happening in my native country or keep up with my cultural references(such as they are).

The SKY dish is on the top ten of "things we need" after my Gaggia!

I don't need to apologise for wanting to watch some UK TV programmes, I want to watch them for the very same reasons that I want to watch some French TV channels, maybe even CNN. And watch Italian, French, some American, some British, Indian, Iranian even Polish movies: they interest me, they're a form of entertainment. I don't live in an anglophile bubble here in Italy, when my hubby's away I go for weeks at a time without speaking a single word of English. I haven't even lived in Britain for approaching 25 years. Until I open my mouth and you hear my accent, I'm about as detached from Britain as they come. For me it's a foreign country. As my Italian friends often joke, the only thing British about me is my love of tea and my passport. But UK TV can be good, it's something we should be proud of, and even educated Italians would agree it's better on the whole than anything they can produce.

There is no need for the dish to be on the roof, (if you can get a clear line of sight to the south east with the dish at the correct angle - about 30% off vertical). They are much easier to 'mantain' (like push the snow off, or adjust the lnb) if they are mounted on a pole in the garden. I think you'll struggle to get Astra 2D on a 1.2 dish in Tuscany.

[quote=Charles Phillips;98886]............They are much easier to 'maintain' (like push the snow off, or adjust the lnb) if they are mounted on a pole in the garden..............[/quote]

Around my area - the norm seems to be to clamp the dish to the balcony - works well for my neighbours - but it b*ggers up my view

.

[quote=Violetta;98870]Carole, these channels are precisely the ones we want so I'll ask our local TV shop man (the guy whom I haven't yet put off) if he can provide us with this, I'm sure he can, he appears a really flexible type. I'm perhaps fortunate in that I have many Italian friends and neighbours and tend to listen to the radio during the day anyway. It would just be nice to switch off occasionally from Italian and enjoy (hopefully) what I remember as being good British TV entertainment. Will also do search as Nielo suggests. Thanks everyone.[/quote]

[quote]By IRITALIA: "....Carole says she gave up her Sky subscription but is she still getting these channels because she still uses her Sky card which is still active for free to air?"[/quote]

Just to clarify the Sky question... I do NOT use the Sky box or the Sky card. They never bothered to tell me where to send it when I gave up my subscription to Sky Italia.... so it's stored away in the loft.

I purchased two [I]Italian digiboxes[/I] from my little local tv shop. I pay no monthly subscription and there is no card involved with these. These boxes and fittings can be purchased at many large supermarkets. My local one - Iperal - sells them for about €100. But I chose to get the from someone who would fit/set them up for me. I had the ariel mounting and all the wiring put in when the roof was replaced and the house totally rewired. (Thank goodness...).

[quote=Sprostoni;98871]I find it ever so slightly sad that we 'English' still crave English TV (because it is so good)...IF YOU ARE LIVING IN ITALY..........................move on, yes it would be nice to see some of the old 'stuff'..............but.......why are 'we' here ????[/quote]

Mmmm - why am I here? Well because I choose to be I suppose. I am over 21 and am therefor old enough to be able to choose what I want to do with my time. I don't WANT to 'move on' entirely... why should I? I like, and miss British television as I like and miss other British things like certain foods, and I see no valid reason why I shouldn't continue to enjoy it all because I live here!

I didn't come to Italy because I was deluded with my lifestyle in England or with everything that England represents (though that may have been the case if I was moving over NOW!). I moved here because I love life and by being here I could add to and enhance that enjoyment without loosing every bit of my old life.

Forgive me, but I don't think that is a sad choice at all...

[quote=Carole B;98891]Just to clarify the Sky question... I do NOT use the Sky box or the Sky card. They never bothered to tell me where to send it when I gave up my subscription to Sky Italia.... so it's stored away in the loft.

I purchased two [I]Italian digiboxes[/I] from my little local tv shop. I pay no monthly subscription and there is no card involved with these. These boxes and fittings can be purchased at many large supermarkets. My local one - Iperal - sells them for about €100. But I chose to get the from someone who would fit/set them up for me. I had the ariel mounting and all the wiring put in when the roof was replaced and the house totally rewired. (Thank goodness...).[/quote]

I'm quite excited by this as I also had satellite sockets added to various rooms when I had the house rewired. I have to have seperate digiboxes for each room/tv but only have my original one. I really thought one needed a card to receive programmes but now I see you don't so I can buy local boxes and not worry about having to get them and cards from England. :smile:

[quote=IRITALIA;98896]I'm quite excited by this as I also had satellite sockets added to various rooms when I had the house rewired. I have to have seperate digiboxes for each room/tv but only have my original one. I really thought one needed a card to receive programmes but now I see you don't so I can buy local boxes and not worry about having to get them and cards from England. :smile:[/quote]

Not 'quite' the same as mine, but this will give you an idea...

[URL="http://shoponline.euronics.it/prod/video/75/ricevitori%20satellitari/75D/ricevitori%20satellitari%20digitali/1350/tele%20system/3650/ts4_p_3c%20common%20interface/707011146.aspx"][B]> TELE SYSTEM- TS4.3C Common Interface<[/B][/URL]

Thanks Carole,
If this works I'll have one in every colour as they say. :bigergrin:
The local 'English Shop' here in Germany was offering digiboxes with Sky freeview card but were expensive at €199 each.
Looks like tv in the bedroom after all. :winki:

This shows the coverage of the Astra 2d satellite and the dish size recommended for it.
[url=http://www.astra2d.com/]Astra 2D Website for Sky Digital - Sky+ - Freesat - Freeview - UK TV Overseas[/url]

On Lyngsat you can see the footprints of the various satellites.
The Hotbird satellite at 13 degrees is the one most used in Italy. It has loads of Italian channels many French and a dozen or so in English BUT the English channels are mostly rubbish.
Back here in Wales I have two dishes, one pointed at 28 degrees and the other at Hotbird (to help my French and Italian language skills).
It looks like the 2D satellite which has all the main BBC and ITV stuff has a very narrow footprint and to receive it anywhere south of Turin will require an enormous dish and even in Milan may need over 1 metre.
You can set up Hotbird yourself with any dish and receiver.

Sorry, I meant to report back on this, apologies. We live Centro Storico in a village where you almost need permission from Bell'Arte in order to even hang your washing out(!). So a dish of any sorts, unless virtually hidden away, is, so I've discovered, out of the question. Alice TV is something that Italian friends are now suggesting, anyone have any experience of this? We have ADSL with a 7 mw download.

Don't think you could get BBC1,2, etc. on Alice.
Is there no nook or cranny you could put a dish up?
Have a peek at the houses around to see if any have one.

Experience south of rome is that astra 2d is not a goer, even 3m dishes wont work, however free to air kits with dish and receiver at 99 euros work v well with hotbird 13 deg E however most channels are scrambled and the rest are rubbish except Euronews and BBC news and of course Italian RAI can be useful if your local terrestrial reception is poor. However if you like Wogan over breakfast on the terrace then your laptop plus broadband and an FM transmitter(Ihave one by LineX and one by Knopex) will allow you to listen whilst consuming your weetypops, however no really good TV equivalent yet. PS - UK certified FM transmitters are designed for use with ipods in car and generally do not have enough range.

Hi Elliven, as sad as this may sound to some of you, I'm actually listening to the Today programme on Radio 4 as I type! Guess I should try Wogan one morning for a change! Re satellite dishes, with planning permission, and subject to where it's positioned, I'm told it is possible to get approval for one of those small dishes (they're what, about 50cm diameter?) but they have to be brown (no problem) and they have to be what the village planning people view as "out of sight"! All in all, don't think I've got much chance of picking up much on one of those.

Digital satellite TV and digital satellite radio have been around for quite a while now, but it was only recently that we found out that we would be able to find a FTA TV station of our liking, 24/7 ! After this discovery it was only a few weeks before we decided to investigate a little and buy ourselves a Digital receiver and satellite Dish and take you along on our journey of the skies and it's inhabitants.
--------------------------
jacksen
[URL="http://www.drivenwide.com/"][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][B]New Way To Advertise[/B][/SIZE][/FONT][/URL]

Hi violetta and indeed everyone - Breakfast with Wogan or radio four? I think it might even be possible to get Alan Partridge between midnight and 4 am on radio Norwich but then who would want to.
Take your pick but it is rather nice to find something computery that actually works rather well