# Portuguese TV Via Satellite - RTP1, RTP2, TVI etc



## sangerm

Hi,

I'm a bit confused as to the cost of obtaining Portuguese "free" national channels in Portugal. Both NOS and MEO seem to have basic satellite packages which contain this subset of channels but charge a monthly fee. I read on the government TDT site (TDT - Televisão Digital Terrestre) that you can get complementary access to these channels by going into a shop and procuring the relevant box and card I am assuming with no monthly charge?

Does anyone have any experience of this?


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## advolex

*Portuguese TV reception*



sangerm said:


> Hi,
> 
> I'm a bit confused as to the cost of obtaining Portuguese "free" national channels in Portugal. Both NOS and MEO seem to have basic satellite packages which contain this subset of channels but charge a monthly fee. I read on the government TDT site (TDT - Televisão Digital Terrestre) that you can get complementary access to these channels by going into a shop and procuring the relevant box and card I am assuming with no monthly charge?
> 
> Does anyone have any experience of this?


Only a little experience here:

Complimentary is often a synonym for free, as in free beer. But the reception of said channels for free doesn't necessarily mean it's available everywhere. And TDT would mean Digital terrestrial TV, which is not Satellite reception. Your TV set might have receivers for several of the TV standards, else you would need external receivers for whatever standard you need to receive.

The standards:

DVB-T = Terrestrial distribution (indoor aerial might suffice)
DVB-C = Cable distribution (needs cable to provider, like NOS (cabo.pt))
DVB-S = Satellite distribution (needs Sat Dish with unobscured view to the southern horizon, where most satellites for TV reception are fixed, Astra is 19.2 deg. East)

The card you speak of is only required if you want to receive TV programs which are distributed in an encrypted way, like most HD programming. The Public Service channels you mention don't require a decryption card as they are broadcast unencrypted in Standard Definition (SD). Certainly via Digital Terrestrial links, available in Portugal's two major cities and probably elsewhere.

My TV set - a South Korean not very expensive set - has modules built-in for all three different DVB digital TV standards. And it can receive the Portuguese channels with all three of them.

I only have one decryption card, which was included with my (cable, as the infrastructure was available when I moved in) Internet, Phone and TV package contract. The Portuguese channels are there and don't cost anything extra, not even in HD. So, if I want to watch the Portuguese channels in HD, I'll have to use the cable TV setup, with the card in the box. But they are available (for free) in SD with Terrestrial also. I don't know with Satellite, as I never bothered to find them among the 1 500 or so free channels available on the two satellites my setup has access to. They're probably there though, but maybe they are broadcast over other satellites. The other satellite I have, the Hotbird is said to have many latin speaking channels.

Those are my experiences. I hope I could be of some assistance. Not much of a TV viewer however.


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## RichardHenshall

sangerm said:


> ... Does anyone have any experience of this?


I don't, in the Portuguese context but you appear to be looking for the traditional terrestrial channels which would normally be received using an aerial connected to a suitable TV (or to a set-top box if it's an old analogue TV) - the equivalent of the UK Freeview system. Have you tried using an aerial, or the coverage checker on the site you linked to, to see if you're in coverage?

If you are outside the coverage of terrestrial broadcasting the same channels can be received from a satellite (similar to the UK Freesat system) but you need a dish, decoder and a viewing card. This is available free to air or as part of a subscription package (like Sky in the UK). In certain circumstances a subsidised kit is available.

The Portuguese range of free channels is much more limited than the UK one.

The Anacom website has a good overview, in English.


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## sangerm

*I can receive the terrestrial channels*

I can receive the 5-6 terrestrial channels with an aerial no problem (the equivalent of terrestrial Freeview) but for reasons that I don't want to go into here I want to set up using satellite (the equivalent as you say of UK Freesat). 

As you say and I mentioned in my original post, these channels are available as part of a subscription package from both NOS and MEO. This again is the equivalent in the UK as Freesat being available as part of the Sky subscription package. The minimum monthly subscription being Eur 11.99 per month.

In the UK though, you can get something from Sky which is called "Freesat from Sky". This allows you to receive Freesat from the Sky box for no monthly cost (albeit you have to pay for the card up front). It's something like this that I am after - ie a satellite delivered Portuguese "Freesat" with no monthly cost.

It's not clear to me whether this is achievable in Portugal. If I put my location into the coverage checker it says that complementary satellite is available (despite the fact that I can use an aerial) and hence my question...


The other thing to mention from a technical perspective is that the portuguese "Freesat" channels are "free to view" but not "free to air" (ie unencrypted), they are transmitted using Nagravision encryption - so they would definitely need a NOS or MEO card to decrypt.


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## advolex

sangerm said:


> "Freesat from Sky". This allows you to receive Freesat from the Sky box for no monthly cost (albeit you have to pay for the card up front). It's something like this that I am after - ie a satellite delivered Portuguese "Freesat" with no monthly cost.
> 
> It's not clear to me whether this is achievable in Portugal. If I put my location into the coverage checker it says that complementary satellite is available (despite the fact that I can use an aerial) and hence my question...
> 
> 
> The other thing to mention from a technical perspective is that the portuguese "Freesat" channels are "free to view" but not "free to air" (ie unencrypted), they are transmitted using Nagravision encryption - so they would definitely need a NOS or MEO card to decrypt.


I just checked the sat receiver, and you're right: The RTPi channel is encrypted in HD on HotBird and this was introduced in 2015. SD reception is still unencrypted though (and the quality is rather poor). The distributor is "Arqiva Ltd" and the details are 11335/27500/H (This is the international mix, RTPi).


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## sangerm

advolex said:


> I just checked the sat receiver, and you're right: The RTPi channel is encrypted in HD on HotBird and this was introduced in 2015. SD reception is still unencrypted though (and the quality is rather poor). The distributor is "Arqiva Ltd" and the details are 11335/27500/H (This is the international mix, RTPi).


Thanks for that - RTP1 and 2 are nortmally transmitted in Hispasat 30W. Don't suppose you have a motorised dish that could check those out??


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## advolex

sangerm said:


> Thanks for that - RTP1 and 2 are nortmally transmitted in Hispasat 30W. Don't suppose you have a motorised dish that could check those out??


Sorry, I don't. It's a twin head, one directed at the Astra and the other at the Hot Bird.

What I was thinking is, would it be possible to move the NOS card from the cable box to the sat box and check if it works with the RTPi HD scrambled signal? When the cable guy installed the box he said it couldn't be done, but I read your previous lines so that it should. I'll try it out later.


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## sangerm

advolex said:


> Sorry, I don't. It's a twin head, one directed at the Astra and the other at the Hot Bird.
> 
> What I was thinking is, would it be possible to move the NOS card from the cable box to the sat box and check if it works with the RTPi HD scrambled signal? When the cable guy installed the box he said it couldn't be done, but I read your previous lines so that it should. I'll try it out later.


Please don't go to all that trouble on my account - unless you are interested of course. 

I was also wondering what might happen if you pay for a NOS or MEO subscription for say a year and then cancel it - would you continue to receive the free to view channels. This is what happens with Sky and would be a good option if the cost of installation and a year's subscription are not too high.


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## RichardHenshall

This makes interesting (& challenging!) reading.

It would seem that it's possible to buy the complete kit but the necessary viewing card is paired to the box. That may make it less appealing than sticking with terrestrial.


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## sangerm

*That's interesting*



RichardHenshall said:


> This makes interesting (& challenging!) reading.
> 
> It would seem that it's possible to buy the complete kit but the necessary viewing card is paired to the box. That may make it less appealing than sticking with terrestrial.


So it would seem that it is possible to pay for the equipment and card as a one off even if you are in an area which can receive terrestrial - but looks like the set up was a nightmare (although he does say that he went to an non official MEO shop). As one of the replies says though, this set up should be the same as the standard MEO setup if you are using a MEO box with a MEO card. So hopefully his experiences are not representative.

Will go and have a chat in the MEO store to see what they say - but would still be interested to know if anyone on the forum has actually done it!

Thanks for all your help.


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## RichardHenshall

Perversely we qualify for the subsidised satellite box as we are not in the TDT coverage area but would much prefer to just use an aerial. Can we swap?


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## advolex

sangerm said:


> Please don't go to all that trouble on my account - unless you are interested of course.
> 
> I was also wondering what might happen if you pay for a NOS or MEO subscription for say a year and then cancel it - would you continue to receive the free to view channels. This is what happens with Sky and would be a good option if the cost of installation and a year's subscription are not too high.


Of course the cable Nagravision card - marked TVcabo 3play - wouldn't decrypt the Hot Bird RTPi HD channel. You would have to have customer services enter the card's number in that particular channel's setup for that to work. And of course they have only activated the cable channels on their side that I'm expressly entitled to receive or view.

And I was a bit optimistic as to the availability of Portuguese channels on Hot Bird. A quick check only gave the RTPi SD/HD channels.


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## Deithrian

sangerm said:


> Hi,
> 
> I'm a bit confused as to the cost of obtaining Portuguese "free" national channels in Portugal. Both NOS and MEO seem to have basic satellite packages which contain this subset of channels but charge a monthly fee. I read on the government TDT site (TDT - Televisão Digital Terrestre) that you can get complementary access to these channels by going into a shop and procuring the relevant box and card I am assuming with no monthly charge?
> 
> Does anyone have any experience of this?


Not sure if this will help you, but you can watch the channels online for free. 
Emissões em Direto Tv e Rádio - RTP Play - RTP
Direto TVI | TVI Player


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