[FreeSat Reception]

You could try swopping boxes between rooms. If the box works in the other location have a look at cable lengths and consider using an amplifier. Also try swopping cables at the dish end to see if that moves the problem.

However if you are South of the Loire I suspect moving to 80 cms is the best bet.

[Phoenix Book Sale Saturday 6 November 2010]

Salle des Fêtes of Campsegret, on the N21 north of Bergerac

 

[Phoenix Book Sale Saturday 6 November 2010]

Same venue as last time.

[Who do you exchange money with ?]

Rather more detail below. Much as I hated paying 1% on the exchange rate plus £12 I could not find a foreign exchange compnay with a decent Balance Sheet last time I looked.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/leisure/8039164/Tourists-left-without-cash-as-currency-company-falters.html

[t.v. reception]

France has not completed the switch to digital terrestrial Tv but will do by November 2011.

http://www.tousaunumerique.fr/

Shows dates by region. The last TVs we purchased in France were PAL I (UK standard) and SECAM as well as digital. In recent years many but not all TVs sold in UK have been both PAL and SECAM. The only way to check this out is in the shop either with TV manual/specefication or watching the TV go through it's set up search.

[Screen flickers and blanks out on BBC1 only]

Sorry brain fade - attenuator was a reply to somebody who was having tropuble after the digital switchoff in their region. Do you have the same problem with all versions of BBC1 - The regional variations are somewhere in the 971 range on a Sky Box. Check the signal strength and quality using the steps outlined below but do not try realigning the disk yet.

Posted: 01 Nov 2008 16:45    Post subject: As regards the above fair enough but my current set up having optimsed for Classic FM only breaks up during massive thunder and lightening. Notes on fine tuning for BBc and ITv as below : Fine tuning the dish alignment. Before you start moving any thing. Mark the elevation on the dish with a paint line or scratch so that you can recover the same position if every thing goes wrong. Walk down the garden at least 10 metres and hammer a stake into the ground so you can find the exact angle if anything goes wrong. Wait for a dry day if possible and take you digibox and a small portable TV outside so that you can see them as you move the dish by minute amounts. Maximise the signal strength then quality on the default transponder: Move the dish up and down and left to right by minute amounts first maximising strength then quality. Lock the position then move the LNB clockwise or anticlockwise and also in and out again concentrating on quality Use the following sequence on the remote control Services (green oval button) 4 System Set Up 0 1 Select ( NB nothing is shown on screen till you press Select) 2 Default transponder The Default Transponder Menu Looks like this Frequency (GHz) 11.778 Polarisation V Symbol Rate (Mbaud) 27.5 FEQ 2/3 Save New Settings For ITV1 you change the setting to Frequency (GHz) 10.758 Polarisation V Symbol Rate (Mbaud) 22.0 FEQ 5/6 Save New Settings For BBC 1 Frequency (GHz) 10.773 Polarisation H Symbol Rate (Mbaud) 22.0 FEQ 5/6 Save New Settings Repeat the steps for maximising shown above. Restore the default settings and check signal strength and quality are still OK (they may be a bit worse but if they are still good it is a step in the right direction). Do not Try a Forced Software Upgrade till you have sorted out the signal quality. Best of luck

[Screen flickers and blanks out on BBC1 only]

try an attenuateur

[Screen flickers and blanks out on BBC1 only]

What box are you using ? Where are you in France and how big is your dish ?

[Satellite reception]

If I had somewhere with a dish already set up I would align the second dish by eye rather than with a satfinder.

Try unplugging the digibox counting to ten and reconnecting they sometimes lock up and fail to display subsequent changes in signal strength/quality. You should be able to get well beyound 75% strength with 100 cms andwhere in mainland France. Bigger dishers are harder to align.

[Where to buy windows?]

For down to a price but reasonable quality I agree with Vial. Just be very careful to check before you leave the yard. They sold me a pair of French doors one of which was mounted up side down. Near pantomime when I took it back but is was clear they knew they had a problem with it and one day they would palm it off in somebody who would built it in before opening the door to find it dropped out.

Bricodeport not beinyoind the pail but harder to check before you pay.

[Which cable PTT ?]

What are you trying to do?

If you install ADSL splitter where the telephone arrives rather than having adapters all round the house you need four core.

If you want to run two computers from the livebox then you need more than two wires from it to the other PC

If it is a new supply and you need a CONSUEL inspection then there are complex and expensive requirements.

This is a complex subject and it is hard enough having electrical equipment unlocked so you can buy it at Bricodepot, advice never seems to be on the agenda.

[L'Argus and Setting Price of a car to sell]

Local Renault dealers are offering second hand cars at Argus minus € 500.

[La Poste]

Try

http://www.les-horaires.fr/

La Poste

and post code if you are lucky it will give the hours and days for your office

[TNT]

The techinical issues are similar in France and the UK. Attached link confirms most of the advice above. I would wait till October.

http://www.paras.org.uk/04-aerial.shtml

 

[gas hob igniter not working]

Possible causes gap too big, gap bridged by grease or water, burner cap in wrong position after cleaning or wire disconnected or broken. Compare malfunctioning burner with the others and check wires.

[£ on the slide again]

1. Reading the press coverage of Vince Cable and watching the TV suggests he is intent on driving the spivs and chancers out of the UK.

2. Uncertainty as Lib Dem Conference suggests weakness / uncertainty for the Coalition Government

[Réparateur d'antenne à 540m d'altitude]

Versus discussing lack of progress on an uncompleted box girder bridge or going up to discuss my roof with my roofer

[Cost of replacing French windows ?]

Lapeyre costs seem pretty high to me. To quote a friend I would prefer to remove my own appendix using a bottle of vodka for both annesthesia and antiseptic than buy from them. Run Vialle Menuseria on Google for another price.    

[Have a loft full of clog dancers]

Our cat is one of the few mamals that make me seem easy going but versus Martens he would loose every time

[Buy Grand Piano - France or UK?]

Number of houses with enough space to house a grand piano falling. Number of people who can and do play regularly vastly reduced since say 1950.

[How do you get a dog from France to the UK without a car?]

Post on another forum with a 'do me a favout section' 

[C of C from Ford France]

If you apply from a UK address and vechile is still on UK plates you are more likely to get it free.

[HD satellite receiver or not?]

Sorry Tesco's price for freesat HD is £ 99.99 as is Argos. I can see every reason why it will not work with either Fransat or TNT HD par Satellite as it will not hve a suitable card slot.

[HD satellite receiver or not?]

Tescos now have a Freesat HD receiver at £ 70 - I cannot see any logical reason why they will not be £ 40 within 2 years.

[Replacing water heater]

Prices as below. Unless the cylinder is a more exopensive steallite type the cost of the element is close to the cost of the entuire cylinder. 

http://www.bricodepot.fr/bordeaux/chauffage-production-deau-chaude/production-deau-chaude