Tim

Yes, welcome back Fridgeman - glad you've got all your kit working ok. I've not been doing to much with satellite recently - I'm more consumed in keeping my TNT going. There would appear to be a fair amount of work going on with the addition of terrestrial HD.   Regards - Tim

I do apologise Martin - stepped away from the computer for a minute.  Thanks to all who remembered the one I mentioned. You have done better than some of the friends and relatives I've helped by putting on this little programme. The number of times I've 'update then run'!! As I said previously, I would advise, Martin, to untick the 'Privacy Sweep' box though. It removes all your logins which can be a bit of a nuisance, depending on your preferences of course. Tim

No I can't Martin - I had a suspicion at the time that it wouldn't last as I vaguely recall it was it was a much higher frequency - close to their usual one. It was probably another test, or perhaps a problem with the encription system. I think that, as you say, that this transmission being on 10773 Astra 2D is a positive sign and just what freesat need - strangely, there seem to be a lot of people around who reluctant to go the 'freesat route' until Five joins. Interesting about the Mux sharing up in the Borders - don't count me completely out of that - I did receive the BBC Mux from Hannington last summer on the back of my antenna. I was quite pleased - but then things like that amuse me. Regards - Tim

They did something something like this a couple of months ago on a different transponder - just for a few days. It will be interesting to see if this time it lasts a little longer. There is talk that their contract with Sky comes up for renewal sometime this month so perhaps it will. Regards - Tim

No, your equipment, if set up correctly, should be able to receive all the 'free to air' channels - the same as your Sky box in the UK if you take out the viewing card. Your problem lies either with the tuning of your receiver, or possibly, the alignment of your dish. Unlike your UK Sky box, your receiver needs to be told what channels to tune into for you to be able to watch them. With the information you've given, it sounds to me as if you need to find the tuning menu on your receiver and then look at this website http://www.lyngsat.com/28east.html - this gives the frequencies and parameters of all the free to air channels available at 28 east. If you need more info - please feel free to come back and ask. Regards - Tim

Some may say you're jumping the gun slightly - Five, Five US, Five US+1 Fiver, Fiver +1 and Sky 3 are not available on freesat because they are not yet free to air. But gernerally, unless you're a massive sports fan or such like, I agree with you. Five should be on freesat later this year, but almost certainly not the others. The Humax HD PVR is the machine I'm waiting for - and alot of others, it would appear. Regards - Tim

Unless it has been changed, for most modems you enter 'admin' & 'admin' or 'admin' & 'password'. Regards - Tim

John, for what it's worth, I have replied to your message. Regards - Tim

Hi Anton - is that what is known in these circles as a 'bump'? Tim

NO!! - do not do a forced software download with a dodgy signal - it has been known to mess up the box. Your login doesn't say where you are in France so we're not sure what size dish you should have. If you're getting some channels and not others then it's either an alignment problem, or an issue with the LNB. There are several satellites up there and it's always a compromise to set the dish up for all of them, but it can be done. It sounds as if your dish needs a small 'tweak' - or the skew of the LNB needs adjustment. It should be twisted to approx. the 'twenty to' postion when looking at the dish from the front. Regards - Tim P.S. sorry-have just noticed that you have another set on your dish - try swapping the boxes over and see what happens - again, it's a process of elimination.

I agree Pierre - I'm not against more memory, but I too would be looking at other things first, unless, as you say, it's one programme or a recent problem. Regards - Tim

Well Miss Babs, it's the same most things - you pay your money and take your choice - I agree, the sets you mentioned are expensive, but I'm sure at some stage other models will come to the market. I like keeping things separate anyway (much to my wife's annoyance) because if the TV set packs up, you can go and get another and the same goes with the satellite receiver. If you buy a box with it all built in and it goes wrong, you lose everything. But that's just my preference. Regards - Tim

Yes, that is what I was trying to say - you can buy a digital satellite receiver from most bricos here in France, but for simplicity one of Ernie's pre-owned Sky boxes may be the better bet. A freesat box would also do the job, but all this choice can make things rather confusing. As far as freesat is concerned (freesat as a trade mark has a small 'f') it is still in the early stages, but so far you will get all the main UK terrestrial channels apart from Five - at the moment. You may have seen on other threads that Five intend to join freesat soon, probably before the end of the year, but it's 'sister' channels such as Five US and Fiver will not mainly, I think, because of lack of satellite capacity at the moment. A Sky box and Freesat from Sky card - current one off payment cost around £20.00 - will get these channels. There are lots of other channels joining freesat and it depends on your taste as to whether you actually want to watch them. A Sky box and a free to air box from a French brico will also get these channels. The important point is 'free to air' which means there is no encription on the signals. There are pros and cons, as you would expect, on both sides. With a Sky box and freesat box you will get an eight day programme guide and access to the 'red button' facilities which you probably don't know too much about. With a cheapy fom a brico you will only get 'now and next' information. So, I'm not sure whether all this has helped, but as you can see, there are plenty of people on here who are willing to offer advice and answer any further questions you may have . Good luck - Tim

One good thing though - like you, I detest adds - especially when it interrupts the GPs. You've only got to put up with them for one more race as Formula one is returning to the BBC from next year. You can get the BBC and the other main UK channels without a subscription and without having to go back to UK - all the equipment is available here in France. That's of course, if you don't want to go the subscription path that Ernie describes very well. Regards - Tim

Well, going backwards - it should be possible to save your bookmarks and move to a new PC. I've done it many times between Windows XP and Vista and even to Firefox. If you're using Internet Explorer, even on Win 98, I should have you can still do it. You may be able to check by going to the file menu on Internet Explorer and go down to import/export - I then copy the bookmarks to a memory stick and load them the same way on to the other machine. If your using Outlook Express, then there should be a way to transfer all your e-mail addresses and messages as well. I keep saying 'should be' because I never used Win 98, I jumped from 95 via the disaster called ME, then to XP & Vista and I have managed to bring all the bits and pieces with me along the way. As far as your current machine is concerned, well, if it was me, I think I would say 'goodbye old friend'. It is, of course, possible to upgrade it, but in my opinion, you would have to just about rip everything out and start again. If you're good at playing with computers it may be a nice little project - selecting a decent motherboard, a good processor, a sizeable amount of memory - a nice big hard drive or two, plus all the other bits like CD/DVD burners etc etc. but from what you say, this doesn't sound like something you'd take on. Your issue will be what sort and how much shall I spend on a new machine. Then, perhaps getting one or two of your old programmes running on the new box. But the advantages will be a much faster machine and importantly if you're on broadband, a more secure machine if set up correctly. That's just my thoughts - others on here will have different ideas but in the end, it will be up to you and your pocket. Regards - Tim

Sorry, I must have mis-read your original post Steve - I thought you already had two modem/routers and like Ernie thought you were making life too difficult. Now it seems you don't. Have I got the wrong end of the stick? It would always seem to me to have a router/modem at each property is going to be the best bet. The wi-fi enabled laptops should remember where they are each time and log on without difficulty once you have got them registered on each network - well, that's what mine does when I get back to the UK. I don't even have to go into the menu. Regards - Tim

Yes, that's correct - any Sky remote control should operate your Sky box - the only issue could be that the remote's are programmable to work with your TV set. If you buy a brand new one it will come pre-loaded with code 0000 which happens to operate Sony TVs. If your set is a different make you will have to enter the code for your set to enable it to operate the TV - e.g. the volume control which saves you from keeping swapping remotes. Other than that - no problem. Regards - Tim

It's not a 'cure all' but I would give Advanced Windows Care - free edition - a go. It's dead simple to use once downloaded, although I would uncheck the 'Privacy Sweep' box as it removes all your logins which can be a bit of a nuisance. It gives the machine a quick 'once over' including the registry and clears a load of rubbish and junk from the machine, although I would hope you haven't got too much of that with a new hard drive. It's a little more gentle than CC Cleaner. It also gives you a list of all the programmes that kick in on start up and lets you decide which ones you want and the ones you're not bothered about. As with all these things, it's important to update it before you use it, but I've installed it on many machines and it's made improvements on all of them mainly with XP, although I do have it installed on this Vista laptop. I have no connection with this programme other than use it every week.   Regards - Tim

Ah, you made the same mistake - you have not picked up Freeview via your satellite dish - it's either Freesat from Sky if your using a Skybox and yellow house card, or just the free to air channels if your using an ordinary digi box - or finally freesat (small 'f') if you have one of the fairly new receivers available in the UK. Simple, isn't it?[blink] As far as your TV is concerned - well, can I ask - how old is it? I say this because, some of the very early 'first generation' Freeview sets and boxes will not work in France - the technical spec. changed after a year or so. But if it's more recent than that, I would probably have to say that your TV aerial maybe pointing in the wrong direction for your digital TV transmitter - or perhaps your area is not yet covered by TNT. The house I am in had two UHF antennas on the roof - neither of them got TNT although I was able to get analogue Secam signals reasonably well. When I looked at the TNT website ( I gave the link in an earlier post) I found that neither of my aerials were pointing at the nearest digitally equipped transmitter - so I had to do some aerial rigging to get it working. This is what you may have to do - look at the website for coverage. Regards - Tim

Memory can make a big difference - but can I ask - have you noticed the machine to be slower over a period of time, or is it something that has suddenly happened?  Your answer may help in determining whether it has developed as fault, or just needs a clean up. Regards - Tim

No problem. OK, remember Freeview is Digital TV through the TV aerial for the UK. If you buy a Freeview equipped set in the UK and bring it to France, it should work on the French version of Freeview called TNT. I say should because the digital TV standard used by France and the UK is broadly the same - my UK bought Sony Freeview TV works ok. So, to sum up Freeview. If you are in an area covered by the French digital transmitters (TNT) you will need a TV aerial with a feed system to send the signal to all the TV sets. This will be the system for French TV. UK TV will have to be satellite - so at the moment you may have one feed from your dish to your Sky box - you will need to increase the number of outputs from your dish to enable you to send a satellite signal to each of the TVs on your property. Now, you will either need a satellite digi box for each extra set, or there are some sets available in the UK that have a built in satellite receiver, but they are not cheap at the moment as they are fairly recent to the market. You should not need a bigger dish to feed the signal to more sets. The only issue may be that the heavier LNB makes the arm drop slightly, so you may need to make a small adjustment if that happens. I'm not sure of the best dish size for area but I would have thought an 80cm would be adequate - I'm sure someone on this forum who lives in your area will either confirm that or suggest the right size. There is another type of receiver you can get from the UK for freesat - but I'm trying to keep things simple, but if you want to know more, please let me know. Again, I hope this is of some help - regards - Tim

Wow Miss Babs - so many questions! Ok, where to start - firstly Freeview is the name of the system used in the UK for digital TV from your TV aerial. The French equilavent is TNT. So, a Freeview equipped set bought in the UK should be able to receive French TNT, providing you have TNT coverage in your area. Try this website http://www.tnt-gratuite.fr/ If you do have good TNT coverage you will then not need a second satellite dish - just a decent TV aerial and distribution system to feed the signal to all your sets. I think you have confused Freeview with freesat. To get UK TV, as you already know with your Skybox, you need satellite. Currently, if you have a dish for UK TV then it's likely that you have a single LNB on your dish. The LNB is the unit that is mounted on the arm of the dish with the cable coming out of it. If you want to supply UK TV to more places, you will need to replace the LNB for either a twin, quad or more unit. A cable will have to be fed into each room and a digi box will also be required to supply each set. So, I've made a start in answering your questions - I hope I've been of some help and, perhaps, made things a little clearer. If not, please come back with more questions and I'll try to do better. Regards - Tim

Yes, that's a good way to do it - if you have a stereo system that has an 'aux' input - sadly lots of systems now days don't have that. I'm still a believer in having separates with plenty of sockets.   Tim

If you already have satellite (or will when you move) then all the BBC radio stations are available on the same satellite. Your DAB radio will not work for two reasons - primarily because the French aren't using DAB and secondly because the signal would not normally travel that far. The distance is also the reason you will not UK radio stations on your FM radio in the Languedoc. The 'listen again' system does work ok - at least it did for me a couple of weeks ago when I last used it.   Hope this is of some help - if not, come back and ask again.   Regards - Tim

I agree Martin, DAB has it's problems and critics but as you say, most of this is because of the appalling bit rate. Still, living in France, that problem doesn't concern me too much. These HD ready DTT TV sets are already about - a friend of mine bought one six months ago over here. Tim