Need help with TV sat issue

[ufly]

Well sorry to ask a question that might have been answered already but I need some simple and clear info and I can't find it. We have just moved to france and I am looking for info (and possibly I am not that bright ) on sat tv . I would like ( or at least the wife who spend her time feeding our just born son) watch uk TV (I mean BBC 1 and 2 and ITV) and also be able to receive the french free channels via our parabole. We have just moved in into our house and our vendors have left us a sat dish and a cable but that is it ............... and I really don't know where to go from there. Can anybody have enough patience to point me in the right direction of what to buy to make this work. Furthermore if it is possible I would like to be able to receive finnish and or swedish channels as well , is it possible? I have read some previous posts and people speak of orientation of the dish, how do you do that? We live in Aix en provence , so in the south of France, is there some limitations on sattelite receptions etc.....

Thanks very much for your patience,

Ufly

Knowledge is great, sharing it is even be

[Will]

There is a lot of information in the FAQ section of this forum - look at http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/465511/ShowPost.aspx.

Some of it may be a little outdated, as these things change. Basically, you can get BBC channels plus ITV and lots of other odd English channels, but not channel 4, five on any receiver. If you want 4 and 5 then you need a Sky digibox and card. If you want to get French and other nationality channels too then it gets a bit more complicated, as these are not on the same satellite and you may need more than one dish. The subject has been discussed here fairly recently so a search should turn up some useful information.

 

[sid]

"Knowledge is great, sharing it is even be ...... tter"

Hi Ufly, many of us have gone through this process for BBC1 etc, but probably not for the Swedish stuff... sounds interesting though!!

I used this website http://www.satcure.co.uk/ there's loads of information, much of it free, and you can download 'e-books' for a small charge which cover the more complex issues.

The topic has been covered many times on this forum, so try a search for 'satellite' (use the correct spelling though) or 'SKY TV' etc.

Sid

[Mistral]

There are people here who know a lot more than I do and who helped me when I asked the same sort of questions about a year ago. They will be able to give you the advice you need.

The thing I can help on is the south of france question. I live near salon de provence and I can pick up BBC 1,2,3,4, CBBC, CBeebies, ITV 1,2,3,4 and CITV along as other channels selling me salvation and jewellry. My husband dealt with the satellite so we ended up with a dish  that is probably too small (65cm) as we lose reception when it rains. Since it's only aimed at astra, we only get UK channels not Swedish or french (we get French through the standard arial)

[Ashis]

This caused me serious pain (emotionally and finacially!) last year when I went through it and it totally depends on who you ask. However I got it sorted but may be helped where I live (Alsace near Swiss border). French installers don't know about Sky unless they have experience of dealing with Brits. Evenutally I found some that did. The rest were really clueless. Sky doesn't sell to non-UK residents. You need a big dish (i.e. not a minidish)and it needs to be pointed at the Astra 2D satellite. The co-ordinates are easily obtainable but if you are stuck let me know and I will dig out the info. You need a Sky Box - which if not already in possession then you need to get one somehow from the UK or via one of the French companies (run by Brits) that specialise in it (at greatly inflated cost) and you need a Sky card (same applies). YOu won't get French TV with the Sky dish - angle is wrong so you will need another dish for that. If you remain stuck I can give you the address of the Skybox suppliers - and the co-ordinates for the satellite but you will need to find someone who can mount the dish and point it (can do it yourself - just will take ages).

Cheers