freesat in France?

greybeard86

I'm a complete beginner. No experience of satellite dishes.

Is it possible to use Freesat in Poitou-Charentes, in France?

Can anyone advise on how to set up the satellite dish, and how to buy a dish and box in the UK without paying for intallation? All the offers seem to be packages including an installation we don't need.

Any advice would be welcome.

Greybeard86

exegnomad

If you want plain Freesat not "FreeSat-from-Sky" you could buy a box, dish and cables from a Maplins shop, or if you know what you want there are on-line suppliers.
To save the hassle of transporting the equipment, you could also buy satellite equipment when you get to France at Darty or Gitem, or the brico (d.i.y. places)- I've seen them at MR.Brico and Bricomarche with packaging in English. Make sure you get a digital box though, there are still analogue kits on sale in Europe

As for setting up, you need to find the horizontal and vertical angles of the dish, which will not be the same as in Britain. Some people say getting the direction right is easy with the right equipment, others say it is hours of frustration.

Have you tried http://poitoucharentes.angloinfo.com/ for details of local installers.

System

May also be worth mentioning Astra 2d which carries BBC/ITV etc is tightly focused on the UK, You may need a big dish to receive

itsnever2lateisit?

My friends live in SW France, and a couple of years ago we set up satellite, we used a 1m dish, you best bet would be to source that locally. If you must have a 'Freesat' branded box then most supply the box only