Tim

Thanks to you both - I'll have a look in our local garden centre to see what they have. Tim

We have been given a rather nice large pot and would like to put a long lasting shrub in it. An azalea seems to fit the bill for us, but I know they exist in both hardy and non-hardy. Not being the greatest, or keenest gardener in the world I am looking for low maintenance. Any advice please? And what word do the French use for 'hardy'. Thanks - Tim

By the way, although some of the 'blurb' that was put out some time ago did refer to Freesat on Eurobird 1, I don't think the channels that are currently on Astra 2D - BBC/ITV etc will be moving - the footprint of Astra 2D is tthe main reason that the BBC followed by ITV were able to go free to air. In fact, there is speculation that some encrypted channels currently on 2D will move to leave transponders free for more Freesat services - we'll see. Tim

The latest info I have is that the box manufacturers are still in discussion with the guys that set the technical specification. I understand that actual boxes are being built, so it's likely to be a software issue that's holding things up. In some places I've read that Spring 2008 is still the deadline, but apparentely that could take us up to June. Tim

[quote user="Btuckey"][quote user="Timco"] Yes, I read that, and other 'techie' sites and am well aware of possible varying start dates. As far as I know, it was always intended that the service should start sometime in the Spring - and, from what I've read it still is - we'll see. Regards - Tim [/quote] Techie?  That's not techie....  Here's techie : http://www.techwatch.co.uk/forums/cams-cards-and-programmers.html  [:D] [/quote]   Yes, yes, I also know about that one - been there - done it!![geek]

Yes, I read that, and other 'techie' sites and am well aware of possible varying start dates. As far as I know, it was always intended that the service should start sometime in the Spring - and, from what I've read it still is - we'll see. Regards - Tim

For 'twin LNBs'  read a twin LNB - these are quite easily available here in France - simply put, it's an LNB with two outputs to feed two boxes. What equipment you decide to use to watch/record is up to you. It's what I have here and gives me exactly the function you say you want to have - i.e. watch one channel whilst recording another. Incidentally, I have mentioned on here before, a system called Freesat should be launched in the coming months and it's likely that more digi boxes will be coming on to the market, so the choice should be greater. At the end of it all though, you will need at least a twin LNB. Regards - Tim  P.S.I should mention that at the moment, if you go 'the non sky box route' you will not get Channel 4 and 5 and their offspring. With the launch of Freesat this may change.

User error - please ignore.  

I'm sure I've written about this before but -  even in England, the networks will cut off a mobile if it's not used - I think the time scale varies between networks, but I think six months, or more, is the norm. The phone netwroks in the UK did used to cut of mobiles after a month or so in the early days - it only changed, I believe, after the UK went through several very inconvenient (for some) number changes. This released many new ranges of numbers that could be used and relieved the pressure to re-use numbers. Tim

Yes, Martin, you make a good point about the dual conversion sets. I must admit it's quite a while since I've thought about that sort of thing. I just remembered playing with one belonging to a friend and being quite impressed with it's selectivity and sensitivity, but didn't try it on long wave - didn't really need to here in Normandie! I've got a 25 year old Panasonic that I use - what they called 'High Sensitivity' -  can't remember the model and it's obviously been out of production for about 24 years, but I've managed to keep it going by replacing broken antennas etc. Have been thinking, when finances allow, of treating my self to one of these Eton sets that sad anoraks like me seem to raive about. I just need to persuade the more sensible half that's it's a desperately needed piece of equipment.[:)] Tim

Well, at the moment I'm on SFR (thinking about changing to the Léclerc sim for obvious reasons) but I do not have to pay to receive a call from a foreign country. If I take the phone with me to England, then, of course, I would have to pay to receive a call as I would be roaming on a foreign network. The caller, in another country, would have to pay to make the call and that would be more expensive as they would be calling a foreign mobile. I worked for a mobile phone company for several years and I'm not aware of any European network that charges to receive calls when the phone is used on it's own network.

It's sometime since I was last down in your area - but I do remember being able to receive Radio 4 on my car radio quite well, albeit not reliably. Signals at that frequency are severely affected by over head cables and buildings. The matter is made worse because of the low signal levels at that distance from the transmitter. If you can, I would see if a car radio receives Radio 4 first, before spending any money, and then perhaps having a word in your local electrical store and see if they will let you try a model.  I think it's likely to be a question of 'you will get what you pay for' as the cheaper brands are less likely to have a decent tuner. I do remember my car radio was a Sony and some friends of mine who travel around europe alot have a Sony portable that they swear by. Both were not cheap. You will have to bear in mind that you are well out of the service area and even here in Normandie, Radio 4 on 198 kHz suffers from a little fading at night time. Good luck - Tim

[quote user="clarksinfrance"]   All the others you pay to receive the call. [/quote]   Forgive me, but I assume you are referring to using a UK mobile here whilst roaming, because, of course, you don't have to pay to receive a call on a French mobile while you're in France.

Ah, I'm glad I wasn't the only one. I've a quick search on the web and easily found this  http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039   Perhaps, when you get time, it may be worth reading this through thoroughly to ensure that it applies to your computer and, if it does, giving it a go. I'm always very cautious about recommending things that involve delving into computers in this way from afar because I would not like to feel responsible for any ensuing problems, but this Norton problem seems to be very widespread and researched, so hopefully if you try it, it should work. Tim

I don't think it's an AVG issue. I have been using AVG on my own computers for ten years or so. I have also installed it on many friends and famliy's computers and have not experienced this problem on any of them. I'm wondering whether it's something that's been 'left over' after removing Norton. Although I've never used Norton myself, I do know it can be particularly difficult to completely remove from a computer. In fact, a special 'Norton Removal Tool' has had to be developed just to clear the computer of Norton's remains. Perhaps someone else on here has better information about this? Tim

[quote user="microwave mike"][quote user="Timco"]  So, even though the BBC HD channel is FTA (free to air) you have to pay Sky to watch it.     [/quote] Not  true. You can watch BBC HD via one of many free-to-air HD satellite receivers on the market and you do not have to pay Sky at all or even purchase any equipment from Sky. It's a great shame that you have to mention 'free-to-air' and 'Sky' in the same sentence . [/quote]   Yes, I did, in fact, refer to that in one of my previous posts, although I did suggest, from the reviews I've read, it is probably best to wait two or three months to see what comes on the market with the launch of Freesat. And also YES, it is a shame on the situation with Sky and FTA - but, over the years I've helped many people get started with satellite TV and one thing has become very obvious, and that's that generally people just want a box they can plug in and go, they are not concerned with the issue of having to re-tune when a channel moves, or changes it's parameters in some other way. I expect Freesat boxes will be as easy to use as a Sky box for the general public. Regards - Tim

Yes Osie - you've understood correctly - if you go to channel 143 on your Sky box, you will see the dedicated BBC HD channel, but only an HD box will be able to 'make sense' of that channel. I will also be waiting to see what the future holds as far as new boxes is concerned. Hope this clarifies things a little for you. Regards - Tim

 Miss Babs, it's not that no-one wants to help, it's probably due to the fact that you have put in so many possibilites in your question that when I first read it I didn't know where to start. Unless someone knows better, I think the way I set my system up worked well for me, so here's what I did. A few months before I was due to move to France I picked an Internet Service Provider (ISP) that I knew operated in France. I didn't have the advantage of knowing about these forums then, so I went for the only one I knew - Wanadoo. I went to the Wanadoo (now Orange) website in England and applied for an e-mail address. Withing a few days a package arrived at my house in England with all the details of my dial-up, pay as you go account. I activated my e-mail address straight away. This meant that when I moved over a few months later I had all the details ready to get on line in France. Changing a few settings on my Outlook from the UK ones to the French ones and it was working fine. This type of account is paid for through the telephone bill and is what I had in England. This may the best way to get started. There was no broadband (ADSL) in our village at that time so this was not an option. All I had to do was to go to the local electrical store and buy a connecting lead to go from my computer to the phone socket and I was 'on line' within a few hours of arriving - it would have been sooner but my wife kept finding me things to do on our moving in day - like constructing the beds etc[:)] Hope this help - a little. Regards - Tim

I'll try to keep it simple, for my sake as well as yours.[:)] Currently, most people in the UK who want to be able to watch HD channels go the Sky route. That means you have to take up a Sky subscription - or if you already have one, increase it for the HD channels and then you get a new box. So, even though the BBC HD channel is FTA (free to air) you have to pay Sky to watch it. There are a few non-Sky boxes on the market, but not many, and the reviews have been mixed. BUT, if you are interested in getting HD TV I should wait - this is because for some time now, the BBC have been trying to get a satellite system running that gives a similar choice of channels as terrestrial Freeview does in the UK. They went FTA three or four years ago - sometime later ITV joined in and it is hoped that Channel 4 will do so too, later this year. 5 remains a mystery! With this in mind, it is expected that a 'Freesat' system will be launched in the next few months and it is hoped that a new range of digital boxes will also appear, some with an HD facility. When this happens it should be possible to buy a box without going through Sky. I, and a lot of others, also expect there to be PVRs (personal video recorders) launched as well, because, at the moment, the Sky+ box is only available to those with a Sky subscription. If you didn't know, a Sky+ box has an inbuilt hard drive for recording programmes - so it's a PVR. So, hold on for a bit - the choice should be bigger over the next few months. By the way, don't get 'Freeview' confused with 'Freesat' - Freeview is the system in the UK for receiving digital TV through your TV aerial, Freesat is via satellite. Hope I haven't 'muddied the waters' too much. Regards - Tim

Yes, most UK bought 'Freeview' boxes will work well on the French version - TNT. I think only a few very old spec machines will have problems. I have two UK bought Sony TVs with built in Freeview tuners and they both work well on TNT. Regards - Tim P.S. - Pal/Secam only refer to the older analogue transmissions. A UK set will not generally be able to receive those.

Glad you got it going ok. The good thing about all this is at no time do you have to worry about whether to use the Orange software on your new machine - just not needed. I have never used a disc sent to me for any service provider - when asked to help out problems with friends and neighbour's computers I've always found the supplied software to be very 'over the top' and bloated. The fun starts now with file sharing - good luck - you'll be there for hours[:)] Tim

The Leclerc mobile offer is available via their website - try http://www.leclercmobile.fr/carte/formule-complete/ I should say that I have no connection with Leclerc. Tim

I got an Acer Aspire last year and so far, I've been very pleased with it. I've also grown to like Windows Mail, although I do have the full blown Outlook on the main machine still. As far as your Wi Fi connection is concerned, well it's nearly a year ago since I did mine, and I'm not sure of your set up, but I don't think you have to enter the Orange info FTI/ etc. The way my system works is that the main pc is connected via a network (Ethernet) cable. It's that machine I used to set up the ADSL modem, in my case a Netgear. When I got the laptop, I made sure the modem was switched on, (it lives in the sous sol) and then told the new laptop to look for any wireless networks. It did it's search and found my network. All I had to do was tell it to try to connect to that network - it asks you for a password which you should have previously setup with the modem. If all is well, away you go. It really was that simple when I did it.  The pasword it requires is one that you would have set up when you installed the modem on your main machine - at no time do you have to enter your details from Orange, or your network provider. I've assumed Jonzjob that you do have another machine before the laptop, as I've seen your entries on here many times. I hope I've been some help. Regards - Tim

[quote user="Bilbo"]If you are using an email program, such as Outlook or Outlook Express, you can have both email addresses set up. You can only use the one to which you are connected to send emails though. If this is too complicated just got to www.mail2web.com  Make sure you have your email address and the relevant password with you. [/quote] I have four e-mail addresses set up on Outlook  & Windows Mail & I can send and receive e-mails on any one of the addresses I choose. Tim

No, you won't see it - the transmission standard for HD requires a box designed to receive it. An HD box, though, should be able to receive the current system ok. Tim