Help needed buying a satellite system.

babyblooz

I want to buy a satellite system that:

• will give me the same choice of films and sport that are on SKY

If we can get other channels as well that will be a bonus

Is there any point buying a dish and a complete set up with the wires and connections etc.

We currently buy a package for extra channels via virgin/cable but its not sport.

Hubby would like the sports channels, especially as he understands that there are lots of sports available that sky don't transmit.

We used to have the old SKY dish outside the back of the house, so could rig a new one up there but someone told him he should get a bigger dish maybe 85cm. Are there any issues with planning if we wanted to put one on the flat roof extension at the back of the house.

Any information from satellite people about what would be a good fair price would be appreciated too! We don't want to spend on a system and then find its out of date. Is it worth all the hassle?

PaulK_3

You would need to check on your local government site but our local borough council allows up to 1m dishes without planning permission. If you go to a specialist satelite equipment dealership they can sell you a dish that can pick up multiple sat signals but you would still need to subscribe to them if you want to get the channels legally.

cledor

AFAIK You can only (techincally & legally) receive the Sky package on a Sky Digibox fitted with a viewing card.

If you wish to receive free to air signals from other satellite broadcasters you may still be able to do so with the Sky arrangement, possibly by rotating the dish to the appropriate sat positions of the other broadcasters. Your old system was probably analogue and won't be compatible with digital broadcasts.

babyblooz

thanks for the info, we dont want to do anything illegal, we just wanted to know if the choice was there, it doesnt matter to him whether its football on sky, or football on some other channel, as long as its football, or formula one, or tennis etc. etc. He just likes sport!

We dont have the dish anymore, just the space where it used to be.

We just dont know if it is going to be worth the outlay, for what we get back on the telly screen.

But thanks for the info, it just seems confusing to someone who doesnt know much about it.

tweeter

I'd like to know how you do that if you would oblige.Cheers

richt71

You can get premuim which is a German. They have nearly all PL football games next season but it'll cost a bit to set up! About £250 plus a subscription of about £200. Everything else will be in german though like films etc! Digital Alb maybe a goer. That Albania version of sky. They have english football and latest films in english. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=143 this forum has all the latest info. It's not illegal unless you're a licensed venue but the foriegn broadcaster may switch off an official card if you don't reside in the country it's meant for like sky are meant to do with people getting sky abroad!

opportunity_cost

- I want to buy a satellite system that will give me the same choice of films and sport that are on Sky

You need:

* A motorised satellite system * Best current deal £231 (inc. VAT + delivery)

This will get you hundreds of free satellite channels: UK channels (all the Freesat from Sky channels plus more) and many foreign ones that show:

- Sports (plenty of European footie, Champions League matches, some England internationals, tennis, F1, cycling, NBA, you name it)
- Movies (some of them in English or with English subtitles)
- Entertainment
- Music
- News

* An official DigitALB viewing card * (If you want 2007/08 Premier League, FA Cup and Carling Cup football - with English commentary - and/or dedicated English movie channels)

Sports: SuperSport Package (6 Channels) £170 for 12 months subscription (£14/month)
Movies: Standard Package (27 Channels) £160 for 12 months subscription (£13/month)
Sports + Movies: Gold Package (All 33 Channels) £200 for 12 months subscription (£16/month)

- Will I need planning permission?

Unless your house is a listed building, you won't need planning permission to put the dish in a place where the dish will be less visible or not visible from the street.
a) If your house is up to 15 metres high, you're allowed two antennas (dishes + aerials), with sizes of up to 1m for one and 60cm for the other one.
b) If your house is 15m or more in height, you're allowed four antennas of up to 1.3m each in height.
For further info see: Planning Portal

- How big a dish do I need?

An 80cm dish will provide a robust signal from the satellites you're likely to pick up, so that's a good size.

- Is it worth all the hassle?

Most definitely.

BexTech

Sky Only have Sky News and Sky Three free, though there are around 100 other non-Sky channels free from the same satellite as Sky use.

Motorised set-up is much more fun, makes satellite feel like the good old analogue days when hunting for feeds and trying the various satellites watching channels many others didn't get to see.

opportunity_cost

richt71 wrote: »

You can get premuim which is a German. They have nearly all PL football games next season but it'll cost a bit to set up! About £250 plus a subscription of about £200. Everything else will be in german though like films etc! Digital Alb maybe a goer. That Albania version of sky. They have english football and latest films in english.

Premiere. The cheapest official Premiere Sport card, AFAIK, is £380. £200 for all the 380 EPL games :footie: would be a steal! The satellite junkies on Digital Spy would be raving about it. Premiere is a bit too much money, IMMO (still cheaper than Sky Sports though). Yeah, DigitALB is a definite goer. £200 for 12 months worth of English football (4-5 EPL matches a week + FA Cup + Carling Cup) + movies in English is really good value compared to the £500/year you have to pay to Sky for the privilege of having Sky Sports + Movies.

richt71 wrote: »

It's not illegal unless you're a licensed venue but the foriegn broadcaster may switch off an official card if you don't reside in the country it's meant for like sky are meant to do with people getting sky abroad!

That's not really an issue if you buy your official card from a reputable satellite dealer (there are quite a few of them). They just replace your card with a new one if the card is switched off. It doesn't happen that often, really, and the only people who loose money that way are the people who buy cards from eBay or from dodgy dealers you won't see anyone recommending.