Basic TV installallation

[jawjb]

I have read as much as I can on the forum about TV installation in France and would appreciate if anyone could confirm whether my choice is OK or not. There is so much information to be absolutely sure that it can be a tad confusing.

I intend to by a LCD screen such as the Sony KDL-26P2530 which can also be used as a Monitor for my computer.

I think taht if I just buy a Sky digibox and a 80 cm dish and point it towards Astra2 then I will be able to get the BBC channels, ITV and a few others with the option of subscribing to Sky (in the UK obviously) at a later time.

Alternatively I could by a tuner from the local brico shop which will work with my UK bought screen.

As I would be happy with the basic channels plus radio that would suffice for me.

Does that seem a sensible decision?

[Danny]

If you just want the BBC and ITV etc, then you will be fine with a brico box and dish - make sure you get the digital (numerique) box and not an analog one.

Buy the TV in France if you want to be sure of compatibility with PAL and SECAM

Danny

[Tim]

Yes, Danny is quite correct - you will only be missing C4 C4+1, 5, 5Life, 5Life+1, 5US, 5US+1 and Sky3.

Hook them all up with Scart leads and you should be ok.

You will have to manually tune the French bought box however (if you go down this route) - they do not automatically do this as do Sky boxes.

One thing to bear in mind is you may have to buy a VGA type lead to go from your PC to the TV if you don't already have one.

Tim

P.S. I notice that the Sony set you mention should have an inbuilt digital tuner. This means that if you are in an area covered by the French TNT transmitters, and have a reasonable aerial, you should be able to get up to about 20 French channels. You will need some sort of facility like this when the French analogue transmitters are switched off in the next few years.

[Fridgeman]

Hi

If you are happy not having channel 4 & 5 (4 should be fta next year) a DIGITAL receiver will do the job (see below) with a 80cm dish, you could add a dish motor which would get you the French channels as well as lots of other channels of different satellites with a sly box you cannot use a motor a motor to receive French TV.

 

SATELITTE TV SET UP

 

 

Go to most Brico's and what you want (in English) is a digital satellite system and (in French) System satellite Numeric, NOT Analogue. That is the simple bit....

DO NOT go for the system that gets Astra and Hotbird it is designed for Astra 1 and Hotbird, NOT Astra 2 which is what you are after.

Prior to buying anything decide where you are going to site "The Dish" you need a clear sight of the sky in roughly a southerly direction the actual direction is 28.2 degrees EAST of south (so a compass would be helpful) once you have decided the site of your dish, and you do not have to fit it on the roof, you can fit it as low as you like as long as there is no obstacles between the dish and the satellite (Branches of trees, buildings etc) you need to measure the distance from the dish to where the satellite stb (set top box) is going to be positioned add a couple of metres to be sure and get satellite coax cable, NOT TV coax, very important to get the right cable.

Now to setting the system up, first fit the dish bracket making sure it is perfectly up right (use a level if you can) remember the dish will be easier to adjust the dish the lower it is now bolt the dish to the bracket as the instructions now carefully fit the "F" connectors to the ends of the cable, a good idea is to cable tie the coax to the back of the dish or the dish bracket, stops it pulling out of the lnb (Tete) run the cable neatly NO sharp bends to the stb (DO NOT TURN the stb on until ALL connections are made.

Now you have everything set up go you need to set the elevation of the dish (the tilt) around the 30/31 mark on the scale on the bracket at the back of the dish and the azimuth (left to right) 28.2 degrees east of south. NOW turn the stb on and set up the TV and now you need to set up the stb as per instructions that came with the stb and you should have a picture if not a slight adjustment of the dish should sort it.

The above settings are for Poitiers

Any problems let me know

 

 

[jawjb]

Thanks for all the feedback. It seems I can buy everything in France if I don't want Sky.

Very helpful.