how do I get foreign tv channels

Moonflowers

Can anyone tell me what I need to do / buy to be able to watch the foreign television satellites. I'd like to get the french speaking ones (France & Belgium) and the Spanish & Italian channels.

I have a satellite dish, but this is not connected up (it's from the last people in my house).

I think I need to buy some sort of decoder but am unsure what exactly.

Any advise would be much appreciated.

scotsbob

You need a dish of 60cm to 100cm (depending where in the UK you are based) you need a motor to turn the dish between the satellites, which for France/Belgium/Spain will be from 30.0 west to 13.0 east and you will need a receiver. A package containing all that plus cable will cost approx £150. If you want HD you can double that. However such a system wil also get you all the free satellite channels available in the UK and also Germany
You will need to mount your dish where it gets an unobstructed view of the southern sky from 13.0 east of south to 30.0 west of south.

Moonflowers

Thanks Scotsbob, I'll look into all those things

davemurgatroyd

You do NOT need a motorised dish (with an installation cost of around £120 to £150 on top of the equipment prices of upwards of £120 or so). To get quite a selection of French, German, Spanish and Italian channels subscription free all you need is a fixed 80cm dish with what is called a monobloc lnb (the thing on the arm of the dish which with a monobloc will give reception from two different satellites without moving the dish) aligned on 13 East and 19.2 East satellite positions (cost around £60 plus around £60 to £80). For some of the channels in French and Italian a viewing card with a one off payment is required to receive a lot of their national channels (Google Tivu, TNTSAT). On top of the dish and installation prices above you would also need a receiver starting at anything around £25 for a single tuner non recording receiver upwards.

It really depends on what you want to watch there are quite a lot of FTA (free to air - subscription free) and FTV (subscription free but may require a one off purchase of viewing card and receiver but if you are looking for modern hollywood films (dubbed into foreign languages) or premier sports then that is virtually all subscription with charges being similar to Sky and Virgin and often a premium on top of that for dealers selling them in the grey market in the UK - broadcasters must only sell subscriptions in the region they have purchased the rights to show the programming (movies, sports and drama series).

scotsbob

davemurgatroyd wrote: »

You do NOT need a motorised dish (with an installation cost of around £120 to £150 on top of the equipment prices of upwards of £120 or so). To get quite a selection of French, German, Spanish and Italian channels subscription free all you need is a fixed 80cm dish with what is called a monobloc lnb (the thing on the arm of the dish which with a monobloc will give reception from two different satellites without moving the dish) aligned on 13 East and 19.2

With respect, the OP specifically mentioned Spanish and Belgium channels. All the major Spanish channels are on Hispasat at 30.0W. All the major Netherlands channels are on Astra 3 at 23.5E.

None of the major Spanish or Dutch/Flemish channels are available on 13.0 east or 19.2 east.

There is no monobloc system, that I am aware of, that will cover the span from 23.5 east to 30.0 west. Which is exactly why a motor would be required. Furthermore, the system you suggest would not allow the OP to view any of the Free To Air or Free To view channels form the UK on the Astra 28.2 satellite. Another reason why a motor would be ideal.

Incidentally, Rijnmond, Noord-Holland, Fryslan, Drenthe, Oost, Gelderland, Brabant and Zeeland are all Free To View, even when showing films or sport, no subscription is required.

There is also a wide selection of Free To View Spanish channels, including TV Canaria, on 30.0West

smitj017

What about that technisat dish that had 4 LNB's and was small and compacr
t?