French sat free to air

[Robin]

I am in the Lot department and I have a French dish and an Axil free to air receiver. Can anyone tell me which is the best satellite to line up with to get whatever (?) french news/weather/current affair channels?

[Martin963]

You don't say if the Axil is analogue or digital.   I'm assuming digital but just for completeness:

If analogue then Atlantic Bird 3 at 5 deg W will provide TF1/F2/F3/M6, Arte/F5 timeshare, and C+ for the brief unencrypted "plages";   all these will only be transmitted until Nov 2011.

If it's digital then the answer - until only a few days ago - would resoundingly have been AB3 again at 5 deg W.   Which would get you F2/F3/F5/F-outre-mer/LCP (Parl).

However,   in the last few days World Cup programming has led F2 and F3 to encrypt some programmes,  the first time ever on this satellite for these channels.    It isn't clear whether the encryption will be abandoned completely when the football is over,   but the fact that it is now available for use is discouraging for the future.

In addition,   Arte has been shunted off the FTA feed to make room for France O,   a retrograde step in my view (but that's just my view).

However,   as you have the kit already you have nothing to lose and for the moment the encryption *is* only on the football.    It's a strong signal just west (and only a smidge) of due south in most areas.    The sat is higher in the sky than Astra 1 or 2 so the dish has to be tipped up more than for these craft,  although it's only a few more degrees.

Astra 1 carries a little FTA French programming in digital but not much,  although it does have Arte FTA.   Hotbird even less.

The way things are going the most reliable way to get the main bouquet of free digital French channels via sat is to invest in a Fransat box or a TNTsat box.      Both come with cards which you buy as part of the package,    but there are no ongoing costs.   The encryption for these is in place not to make money but merely to satisfy those oh-so-precious rights holders who sit fretting in their prams about the signals spilling outside France.

Can you not get TNT via a roof aerial where you are?   If at the moment you can't it's likely that you will soon be able to.   Although if you don't already have a roof aerial I agree the sat route is easier.

[Robin]

Thanks for the info Martin. Only just got round to looking at Forum, been busy putting a 'hole' in the gable end of a barn for porte fenetre!! It is a digi box and a technician had set it up for Hotbird, the dish, but looks as tho' I will have to re postion it.

[Martin963]

It's probably a left-over installation from the bouquet called TPS that was swallowed up by Canalsat about three years ago.    TPS's subscribers were visited and their dishes were re-orientated on Astra 1.

I do think that AB3 is your best bet.