Sky in Spain?

Bella_b

Hi everyone,

I live in Madrid now, and was wondering whether I would be able to get Sky here. I've tried to look on their website but it says that it's only available in England, Ireland and Isles of Man, Channel Islands etc. However I was on holiday in France in my mum's friend's house and we were watching Sky there so surely it's available? Also, I've seen it before elsewhere in France and I know people who receive it in the south of Spain. How is this possible?

Thanks,

Bella b

Pokerlad

Right two seperate questions really.

You, as a spanish resident can not sign up for Sky, it is a service that is available to UK and Eire residents.

You can point a dish at the Astra saterlite though and can pick up the channels it carries in some parts of spain. I believe that not all Spain can receive the signal and those parts that can need a very big dish. I will leave it to someone else to fill you in on the requirements as I don't know more then that for spain.

You would then need a relative/friend in the UK to subscribe and send the card over to you if you wanted any of the Sky channels apart from the FTA or there are companies that will subscribe for you but these are a lot more expensive.

While it is not illigal to set up a dish to receive the FTA channels on Astra, it is a breach of contract to use a Sky card outside the UK/Eire and if Sky became aware they would kill the card sharpish.

Pssst

I have a relative who lives in the Balearics. She has a dish which is at least 1.5m diameter,maybe 2m and its linked to one of the earlier Panasonic receivers which is known to have a good s/n ratio, i.e its a good receiver. You'll need to check with neighbours/locals as to what size dish/receiver they have. you;ll also need to acquire a free to air card or a subscription from a uk resident. Some on line dealers can fix this for you;)

Inactive

You can get Sky in Spain, your location will determine the size of dish required.


Dish sizes vay from around 1.3 metres up to 2,8 metres.

Some channels need a larger dish than others.

The very best receiver to use is a Pace 2600, this can only be purchased second hand, usually via eBay, it has a very sensetive tuner, it is far better than any other Sky Receiver.

will-in-estoril

Inactive is spot on in terms of dish size and receiver to use.

There are also other considerations: whilst it is one thing to put up a small dish on the side of a house, erecting a large dish presents a different set of problems: size, weight, installation location, agreement/permission from neighbours in the case of a flat etc.

I would use a reputable local installer: look and ask around.

Although not comparing like for like I have a Televes 1.4m dish with a Sharp LNB. The total cost (excluding receiver) was €400, so be prepared to pay!

Moneymaker

Pssst wrote: »

you;ll also need to acquire a free to air card

Silly person. There's no such thing! Free To Air programmes don't need a card (they're free).

ariba10

I know someone that watches sky programs in the Portuguese Algarve.

The electronic equipment was bought in this country and the dish put up by a local man.

The subscription is paid through a British bank account.

scotsbob

Moneymaker wrote: »

Silly person. There's no such thing! Free To Air programmes don't need a card (they're free).

I think that was just a slip of the keyboard, I'm sure he meant Free To View

jon_r_2

Bella_b wrote: »

Hi everyone,

I live in Madrid now, and was wondering whether I would be able to get Sky here. I've tried to look on their website but it says that it's only available in England, Ireland and Isles of Man, Channel Islands etc. However I was on holiday in France in my mum's friend's house and we were watching Sky there so surely it's available? Also, I've seen it before elsewhere in France and I know people who receive it in the south of Spain. How is this possible?

Thanks,

Bella b

Please check your messages box, may be able to help!

gjchester

Moneymaker wrote: »

Silly person. There's no such thing! Free To Air programmes don't need a card (they're free).

Not quite. Some FTA Channels channels are encoded, they are free to air but require valid viewing card to watch them. Things like Five are free to anyone in the UK but because they are broadcast from a satellite that can be recieved in most of europe they are encrypted so in theory only a UK resiodent, (as Sky will not sell cards to non UK address's) can buy a card and hence view the channel.

The channel is Free to air but still needs a valid card to be decoded

Pokerlad

gjchester wrote: »

Not quite. Some FTA Channels channels are encoded, they are free to air but require valid viewing card to watch them. Things like Five are free to anyone in the UK but because they are broadcast from a satellite that can be recieved in most of europe they are encrypted so in theory only a UK resiodent, (as Sky will not sell cards to non UK address's) can buy a card and hence view the channel.

The channel is Free to air but still needs a valid card to be decoded

I think the point being made was that these are known as Free To View (FTV) channels rather then Free To Air (FTA).