Free-to-Air french channels

[Gyn_Paul]

Things change all the time so before I go off and bore for Dept 23 on

the subject of how you can get French channels on a satellite box I

thought I'd better check with M'learned friends....

My understanding is that the French terrestrial channels are available

clear in SECAM on (what used to be Telecom, now Atlantic Bird) 5W. That

would mean getting an analogue box.

They are also available on HotBird @ 13E, but this is digital and

encoded as part of a TPS package. So that would mean a numerique box

and a subscription.

I can't find anywhere where they are both digital and free-to-air. Is this right?

p

[Punch]

[quote user="Gyn_Paul"]Things change all the time so before I go off and bore for Dept 23 on the subject of how you can get French channels on a satellite box I thought I'd better check with M'learned friends....

My understanding is that the French terrestrial channels are available clear in SECAM on (what used to be Telecom, now Atlantic Bird) 5W. That would mean getting an analogue box.

They are also available on HotBird @ 13E, but this is digital and encoded as part of a TPS package. So that would mean a numerique box and a subscription.

I can't find anywhere where they are both digital and free-to-air. Is this right?


p

[/quote]

 

I think that you are right because I am in the same boat. I have a digital receiver and want the terrrestial channels. They are available on the satellite you mention but two of them are not available for free  (M6 and can't remember which was the other). I do not wish to buy a subscription (minimum currently is with TPS for 11 euros a month, after all the free offers etc.).

Are you in a TNT coverage area? I have decided that the best option for me is to install  a UHF TV aerial which gives you all the French terrestial channels, and then when digital TNT becomes more widely available next year, you have the option to buy a TNT receiver or a TNT equipped TV, and you will get a total of 18 completely free channels including all the main French ones.

[Martin963]

It's TF1 and M6 that are not viewable digitally on Atlantic Bird 3;  (annoyingly they are in fact there but in a form (DVB-S2) for which receivers for the mass market are not currently readily available).   The public service (France Televisions) are readily available digitally on AB3 but if they too opt for DVB-S2 then one would of course lose them.

Not all areas of France (particularly rural ones) are covered by France 5/Arte and M6 on the UHF network.   The transmitters are normally lower powered than for the main three channels,  and a lot of relays are not equipped at all (which is why people use AB3 analogue satellite).

As I said elsewhere,  this massive confusion in the situation is a result of the toothless and spineless CSA and its inability to regulate carriage of channels in a manner convenient for France and the French.

[Fridgeman]

Hi All

As far as I can see the following are available FTA, I  am in the uk and get them all FTA?

HOTBIRD

123 Sat, 3A Telesud, Arte Francais, Demain, Euronews, KTO, La Local, France5 europe, TV8 Mont Blanc, Telif

ATLANTIC BIRD3

France2, France3 Sat, France4, France5, FranceO, M6, TFI, France5 europe.

 

If anyone has any reason to query my post PLEASE do not hesitate to inform me.

Bonne Chance

[Martin963]

@  Fridgeman:  Presumably your'e watching the analogue versions of TF1 and M6 on AB3....?   If you're getting them digitally I'd be EXTREMELY interested to know as I'm waiting for a receiver to go on sale to the public that will get them (as opposed to France Televisions).

But you are of course right,  there are some FTA French on Hotbird.

[Gyn_Paul]

Following the train of thought, Martin, Am I right in thinking that 33

degrees (5W - to - 28E) is too far a spread for 2 lnb's on the same

dish?

paul

[Junlesley]

We came over with a Sony Freeview intergrated TV, and now with an ordinary ariel we can pick up all 18 French TNT Channels, we do have a sattelite system for our UK Stations, but we got the ariel to try to pick up Jersey TV but had no luck but were delighted to find TNT, we watched Beethoven (the dog)   in French, and with French subtitles this afternoon, it helps with learning the language. 

[Fridgeman]

Hi Martin

I stand corrected, my err other little box was helping with TF1 &M6 oops! but all the rest France 2, 3, 4, 5, arte and LCP are available DIGITAL  FTA on Atlantic bird 3, you might need to enter or change the TP ........TPKB4 / 11591 / V / 20000  then scan, as this TP may not be already set up in your box.

If I get any further info I will post.

[Fridgeman]

Hi Punch

are you receiving France 2,3,4,5? if you are can you not do without M6 & TF1?  There is talk (there's always talk) that once they get enough people on TNT they will encrypt some channel's, also there are other french channel's on Hotbird FTA 

[Fridgeman]

Hi Paul

Sorry to but in, too far apart, suggest you motorise, cost about £70 for a good motor, yes you can buy cheaper but its out in all weathers and the cheaper ones do tend to seize up and I would recommend a good squirt of WD40 after about a year of use before the bad weather arrives you don't want to be up a ladder in a gale! and that goes for any motor you fit, not too difficult to do, then you change sat at the touch of a button.

 

 

Bonne Chance

[Gyn_Paul]

Actually it was a friend-of-a-friend thing.  I'm lucky enough to

have a good off-air signal so with my sat dish with its twin block (one

feed to a separate receiver and then to a little FM txer to supply every

radio in the house with Radio 4: an addiction, I know. I own up to it. the other)

going to the sky box I'm quite happy, I even get 3 different FR3

regions, and thus can see 3 separate (and equally inaccurate) weather

forecasts!

Eventually when all the renovations are done I'll install another mast

and put the motorized dish back up princpally for BVN; the Dutch

service.

My good friend, on whose behalf I wrote however, lives in a dip and his

terrestrial service is crummy. Another (english) friend offered to set

him a dish up and was quoting the various Brico publicity mags which

say things like "reception de 2 satellites Astra et HotBird". My

feeling was that - since these aren't aimed at us damned foreigners

-  in all likelihood the Astra in question would be Astra 1 @

19.2E. Being then a much more reasonable spread of 6 degrees (13 - 19

degrees).

I didn't want to rain on his parade without checking with the more clued-up first!

paul

[Fridgeman]

Your dead right its astra 1 NOT 2, if your friend wants french and uk channels he will need a motorised dish he will then be able to get all the other sat's as well, dutch, italian, spanish etc

[Martin963]

Paul

There is one dish called a Visiosat Bisat Generation (see www.surpin.com) which allows a big angular sweep,  but even that (as far as I can see) doesn't bridge the 28 E to 5 W divide.  Laters:  there is (I've just noticed http://surpinsat.com/actualite/vega.htm) another that looks as though it can see every corner of the heavens,  but I don't know how easy it would be to set up.

So motorised or two discretes would probably be the best advice I'm afraid,  as Fridgeman has already said

Even laters:  I've just seen the price on the Vega,  WOW!.  

[YCCMB]

Erm...hello. [8-)]Please be gentle with me as I've carefully read this post and to all intents and purposes you may all as well be writing in Serbo-Croat, but I have a question. We have a French TV and a Sky digibox, with a dish for that plus a normal ariel (to which I'm not sure at the moment the TV is actually connected) on the roof. The French couple from whom we bought the house told us that the TV reception was fairly c..p, and indeed we found this to be the case with the French terrestrial channels. Since getting the digibox up and running, the family is quite happy as they don't speak enough French to be able to watch and understand French TV. However, I'd quite like to be able to watch it - at least to see the news and weather forecasts and possibly the odd French film. Assuming we're already in a zone that gets TNT, does anyone think we'll have more success with French TV via a TNT box? We're in the Charente Maritime, at the top of what passes for a hill around these parts (i.e. a gentle slope in the midst of what otherwise could be Holland or Norfolk). Our next-door neighbours seem to have no trouble receiving French terrestrial TV, and their house is feet, rather than miles, away from us.

The previous owners of the house had TV's in both the salon and kitchen, and told me that they only managed to achieve good reception if the 2 TV's were both plugged into the aeriel socket. Something was inferred about the kitchen link being the crucial one, and now we only have the one TV in the salon. This may be irrelevant, I don't know. I can ask about this again, but have so far avoided doing so as once I start the guy up it's difficult to stop him, and he's in danger of killing me with information overload, kind though he is. [:$]

We've managed for 3 years without French TV, so it's not life and death, but if you can advise me whether you think it's worth shelling out for the TNT gizmo, I'd be really grateful!! French consumer law being what it is, I have grave doubts about getting a refund if it doesn't work!![8-)]

[Gyn_Paul]

If you are in a fairly flat area, and your near neighbour has a decent

signal, then I suspect that your aerial cable is the problem (assuming

you and your neighbour have similar-sized aerials). Can you access the

roof/aerial easily enough to replace it?

This business about the 2 feeds and the 2 sets needing to be both

plugged in is a bit dodgy: I could go on a bit about impedances and

loading but I can see your eyes glazing over from here!

paul

[Martin963]

As gyn-paul says,  sounds like the cable or perhaps the aerial having deteriorated.   Certainly if you don't get cracking analogue pictures you will be wasting your time with a TNT box, as they are much more vulnerable to weak signals;  unlike analogue where you still get a snowy picture with a weak signal,  TNT just stops dead in its tracks if the signal drops below a certain critical threshold.

Get the cabling checked out,  if there is an signal amplifier it may have blown (perhaps in a thunderstorm).   A first step is to draw a map of how the cabling goes from aerial to TV;  generally a splitter is used (perhaps with an amplifier) and cables run form the splitter to individual rooms.   Doesn't sound as though they've done that in your house, so it might be better to start from scratch with new cabling.  But it is important to check the aerial itself is picking up a good signal;  no amount of improved wiring or amplification will improve an underperforming aerial.

[YCCMB]

Thanks messieurs, your explanations are very useful. Now I'm sure my OH will completely and totally understand you, as he's more than technically competent to do so, and loves all that sort of stuff. I was rather hoping you'd just say "yes, buy a box, it'll all be fine" because now I have to persuade him to try your suggestions. As he has no current desire to watch French TV and a list of other jobs which he, at least, considers to be more important, I can't see him shinning up onto the roof like a young gazelle. In any case, if shinning up onto the roof is going to be a requirement I think it's best all round if we wait till the weather improves, as those terracotta tiles can be a mite slippery!! Ah well, I'll just have to rely on BBC News 24 for the weather forecast....................Thanks again, really appreciate you taking the time to reply![:D]

[Gyn_Paul]

Have you tried Meteo France on line?

http://www.meteofrance.com/FR/mameteo/prevPaysIFrame.jsp?LIEUID=FRANCE&ECHEANCEID=200511300000

Then go to the map and drill down through the regions/deppartement/towns until you get to your locality.

This gies you the next 24 hrs or if you click on the map top right you

can get to a longer range forecast for your region and departement.

p

[YCCMB]

Yep, am a regular viewer when near my PC. Sadly, as we don't have 't internet in France, I have to rely on the telly! Maybe I can get Santa to have a look at the aeriel just before he shins down the chimney. If I leave him a pencil and paper next to the mince pie, maybe he can jot down a diagram of where the cable goes whilst he's at it?[;)]

[Gyn_Paul]

[quote user="Croixblanches"]Yep, am a regular viewer when near my PC.

Sadly, as we don't have 't internet in France, I have to rely on the

telly! Maybe I can get Santa to have a look at the aeriel just before

he shins down the chimney. If I leave him a pencil and paper next to

the mince pie, maybe he can jot down a diagram of where the cable goes

whilst he's at it?[;)][/quote]

I wouldn't rely on that I were you... assuming he works from the

North Pole southwards by the time he hits France he will have consumed

so much sherry and so many mince pies that finding the chimney is

miracle enough without expecting him to be able to trace cables in the

dark!

p.

[YCCMB]

Can't fault your logic!!! [:D] Still, with all the santas dangling on ropes off the roof and out of the window all over France, if the real one was stuck on our roof it could be February before anyone actually noticed, and I'd hate to be the cause of disappointment for millions of kids........................[;)]

[Fridgeman]

Hi Croixblanches

May I be bold and throw my two euros in, this may just get your Christmas viewing (must watch the Queen)  this will ONLY apply if you have a clear view of the sky south ie. no trees bushes buildings in the way.......... buy a 80 cm dish a single lnb and some decent cable plus two "F"connectors and a pole........ I will keep this next bit simple........pick a site in your garden close to the house facing south bang the pole into the ground so it does not move and idealy  upright, attach lnb to dish then dish to pole..... best to have already measured distance fom tv to the position you are going to put pole plus and extra 4 mtrs so you know how much cable you will need connect cable to box and dish and turn on box and tv as you normally would ....... get compass find south then 28 degrees east of south point the dish in this direction ......... now the elevation of the dish, I would say almost upright (remember the sat is high in the sky NOT on the horizon) and your lnb is offset its now a case of moving the dish in small movements and waiting at least 5 seconds before moving again and the best of luck......... That a look in the FAQ section re satellite installation which might explain it better.

If you need more info just ask

[YCCMB]

Thanks Fridgeman, but sadly I think your suggestion's a no-go for our house, as the south facing aspect has some rather nice (and very substantial) late 18th century stonework to a height of about 2.5 metres standing between us and a clear view!!

Anyway, I'll ply the OH with drink over the festive period, present him with the useful advice provided by yourself, Gyn_Paul and Martinwatkins, and see what we can do........................(although, of course, I'll dissuade him from doing anything until the plying with drink bit has worn off[;)])

[Fridgeman]

Depending how far away from the house the wall is you still could be in with a shout, remember the sat's are high in the sky, so if its say 10 mtrs should be ok and even if you have to sit it on something or fit it two mtrs up the wall of the house that should be ok, just a few thoughts... you must decide...... but whatever have a Merry Christmas.

[Oldie]

You can get the FTA French channels France3/france4/France5/ARTE/LCP on the following:

Telecom 2B(c)

11590 MHz

20000 KS/s

Vertical

LNB 9750 MHz

Your LNB must be universal or at least able to be changed to 9750 MHz

as the French channels transmit at a higher frequency than British.