# large dish + sky box for free tv catalonia



## andyviola (Aug 11, 2018)

Hi anyone tried hooking up a bloomin large satellite dish to their sky box in Catalonia for the uk freebie channels?

Thought I might ask before investing


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## The Skipper (Nov 26, 2014)

andyviola said:


> Hi anyone tried hooking up a bloomin large satellite dish to their sky box in Catalonia for the uk freebie channels?
> 
> Thought I might ask before investing


I have a 2.4m dish and a freesat box and get perfect British TV reception, but I live in inland Costa Blanca. Before buying the freesat box (because I wanted to be able to record as well as view) I had a Sky box and, again, this gave perfect reception. Presumably if there is a good signal in Alicante province it should be even stronger in Catalonia but I think I remember reading that it is not that simple. The Sat Guy, a regular contributor to this forum, would give you the definitive answer but in the meantime you might find his web page informative: https://www.satandpcguy.com/


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## andyviola (Aug 11, 2018)

Brill i will ask him soon. Yes darn it bit on eastern extremity of footprint. Thanks for help!
Take it no neighbours complained of dish size?


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## The Skipper (Nov 26, 2014)

andyviola said:


> Brill i will ask him soon. Yes darn it bit on eastern extremity of footprint. Thanks for help!
> Take it no neighbours complained of dish size?


Nearest neighbours are 200m away and they have a big dish as well!


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## sat (Jul 20, 2008)

Current signals for the UK beam in Costa Blanca area are a lot better than in Catalonia.

(The UK beam carries channels from the likes of BBC, ITV, C4, Five, CBS, Discovery SD, Quest SD, BT Sports, and UKTV Group)

UK beam channels in the CB can be received on a relatively small dish these days, with a 110x120cm dish being required for a decent stable signal.

Prior to this current crop of UK TV satellites, the CB needed the 1.8 and 2.4m dishes for the UK beam.

But with this current crop of UK TV satellites, the CBs "null / low signal area" for the UK beam has "shifted" northwards, towards Catalonia. 

Meaning at least a 2.4m dish is required for that area for the UK beam channels. (I have no actual data so cannot say exactly what sized dish is required, but one report i saw said Tortosa just about got a uk beam signal on a 1.8mm dish...

Have a look at Astra 2E Satellite Reception Reports for Spain ... where you can see reports for people around Europe and if they are getting reception or not on their dishes...

Channels on the European beam (ie most of the sky pay channels), you can easily receive on a 80cm dish.
So , if you want via satellite, one way would be to use a small dish for the sky pay channels on your sky box (with sky subscription), and use a Smart DNS on your Sky box to gain access to iPlayer etc from those channels on the harder to receive uk beam...


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## andyviola (Aug 11, 2018)

Wondeful info thx..mostly dont watch the pay sky channels. After the beeb ch4 and itv. "Sky go" internet app another thing i can try as my brother in uk can use once a.month to pretend im UK resident. This has worked for.my daugher in France..shall try for starters then think about 2.4m dish if dont work...
Filmon no good for me as fussy about HD...


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## andyviola (Aug 11, 2018)

andyviola said:


> Brill i will ask him soon. Yes darn it bit on eastern extremity of footprint. Thanks for help!
> Take it no neighbours complained of dish size?





The Skipper said:


> andyviola said:
> 
> 
> > Brill i will ask him soon. Yes darn it bit on eastern extremity of footprint. Thanks for help!
> ...


Hahaha awesome


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## andyviola (Aug 11, 2018)

All reception reports in Barcelona region negative though nobody tried bigger than 1.2m


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## sat (Jul 20, 2008)

andyviola said:


> All reception reports in Barcelona region negative though nobody tried bigger than 1.2m


Thats the issue.
On the old uk tv satellite that area was fine with 1.2m dishes.
But the new satellites need larger dishes, and people were not prepared to go for them (cost size)... so go alternate internet based routes instead 

Same applied to the Costa del Sol, old satellite worked fine with a 1,2m dish, new satellite they nee dlike a 3 or 4m dish for the signals now, which most do not want so they turn to the Internet based options instead.


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## andyviola (Aug 11, 2018)

sat said:


> Thats the issue.
> On the old uk tv satellite that area was fine with 1.2m dishes.
> But the new satellites need larger dishes, and people were not prepared to go for them (cost size)... so go alternate internet based routes instead
> 
> Same applied to the Costa del Sol, old satellite worked fine with a 1,2m dish, new satellite they nee dlike a 3 or 4m dish for the signals now, which most do not want so they turn to the Internet based options instead.


yup will abandon dish idea and see if internet app "sky go" works - if not there is always itv hub+ for just 4 quid a month, and ITV is a lot better these days for drama.


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## sat (Jul 20, 2008)

andyviola said:


> yup will abandon dish idea and see if internet app "sky go" works - if not there is always itv hub+ for just 4 quid a month, and ITV is a lot better these days for drama.


YOu can currently (Brexit will change this, as these rules, like phone roaming are not currently part of any deal, and it will be up to the providers to determine of they wish to continue offering such services), under EU rule, use Sky Go in another EU country for 30ish days without the use of a VPN / Smart DNS.

After that time limit, the device needs to be reconnected to a UK IP address for a new 30ish days to start.

This is at DEVICE level, not ACCOUNT level.

YOu will still need a VPN / Smart DNS for iPlayer though...


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## andyviola (Aug 11, 2018)

Can you confirm that I can get the channels shown in below link for Astra 2F Europe and Astra 2G Europe sats with just an 80cm dish?  and are all channels free-to-air?

https://ukfree.tv/extras/satellite_footprints


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## andyviola (Aug 11, 2018)

sat said:


> YOu can currently (Brexit will change this, as these rules, like phone roaming are not currently part of any deal, and it will be up to the providers to determine of they wish to continue offering such services), under EU rule, use Sky Go in another EU country for 30ish days without the use of a VPN / Smart DNS.
> 
> After that time limit, the device needs to be reconnected to a UK IP address for a new 30ish days to start.
> 
> ...


ah thats weird, daughter has been using my uk sky go account in france ON HER UK PHONE for 3 months, maybe they cant block phones so well?


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## sat (Jul 20, 2008)

andyviola said:


> Can you confirm that I can get the channels shown in below link for Astra 2F Europe and Astra 2G Europe sats with just an 80cm dish?  and are all channels free-to-air?
> 
> https://ukfree.tv/extras/satellite_footprints


Looks fairly up to date
Yes, an 80cm dish should easily get all those channels mentioned that are on the European beam.
And from what i can see, all the channel on that page are free to air.


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## sat (Jul 20, 2008)

andyviola said:


> ah thats weird, daughter has been using my uk sky go account in france ON HER UK PHONE for 3 months, maybe they cant block phones so well?


https://www.sky.com/help/articles/streaming-sky-content-in-the-eu

It is 37 days...

And applies for all mobile devices for all Sky TV apps

Unless she is using it via a vpn / smart dns on her phone or router she is connected to...if not, then she has been very lucky.


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## andyviola (Aug 11, 2018)

Yes i suspect its cos phone is uk one


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## andyviola (Aug 11, 2018)

Maybe they can reset the 37 days for me if i threaten to cancel the sky subscription.....


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## Monkey104 (Aug 24, 2014)

We live in Valencia and have a 1.6m dish hooked up to a Freesat box and linked to the WiFi router in order to use catch up tv. 
We have no issues whatsoever.


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## andyviola (Aug 11, 2018)

Monkey104 said:


> We live in Valencia and have a 1.6m dish hooked up to a Freesat box and linked to the WiFi router in order to use catch up tv.
> We have no issues whatsoever.


thanks with astra uk satellite footprint, i am pleasantly surprised !


who was your supplier?


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## Monkey104 (Aug 24, 2014)

andyviola said:


> thanks with astra uk satellite footprint, i am pleasantly surprised !
> 
> 
> who was your supplier?


The dish came with the property but was not wired in and we brought our Freesat box with us.

I paid a local satellite guy to tune it in and wire it up.


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## sat (Jul 20, 2008)

andyviola said:


> thanks with astra uk satellite footprint, i am pleasantly surprised !
> who was your supplier?


Why surprised?
The signal is great in the Valencia area, and has been with this current batch of satellites. (it was a different story with the previous batch, where other areas of Spain, like the CDS and Cat had great reception, and Val had a much poorer reception))
It is so good that I can get BBC ITV C4 Fives etc (but not HD), on an 80x85 cm dish. 
OK there is little margin for wind wobble or rain / cloud fade, which is why for the area we recommend at least a 110x120cm dish min for decent stable reception. (this size is about the minimum for the really really really weakest channels like ITVHD, and Quest / Discovery SD channels.
So a "1.6m" dish (although I have never seen a 1.6m dish..."1.4" or 1.8 yes, but not a 1.6!") would be fine, when aligned correctly.


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## andyviola (Aug 11, 2018)

sat said:


> Why surprised?
> The signal is great in the Valencia area, and has been with this current batch of satellites. (it was a different story with the previous batch, where other areas of Spain, like the CDS and Cat had great reception, and Val had a much poorer reception))
> It is so good that I can get BBC ITV C4 Fives etc (but not HD), on an 80x85 cm dish.
> OK there is little margin for wind wobble or rain / cloud fade, which is why for the area we recommend at least a 110x120cm dish min for decent stable reception. (this size is about the minimum for the really really really weakest channels like ITVHD, and Quest / Discovery SD channels.
> So a "1.6m" dish (although I have never seen a 1.6m dish..."1.4" or 1.8 yes, but not a 1.6!") would be fine, when aligned correctly.


wow. I have never tried as never lived in spain but following website gave me cause for concern as no reports of any success

we will be on a hill in seaside town Calafell, 50km south of Barelona. Would you hold out more hope than me then for that location and elevation?

"people gave up and use internet": https://www.freesatinspain.com/freesat-in-spain/freesat-barcelona-catalonia/

spain fresat reception reports: https://www.freesatinspain.com/freesat-in-spain/freesat-spain-reception-reports/


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## sat (Jul 20, 2008)

andyviola said:


> wow. I have never tried as never lived in spain but following website gave me cause for concern as no reports of any success
> 
> we will be on a hill in seaside town Calafell, 50km south of Barelona. Would you hold out more hope than me then for that location and elevation?
> 
> ...


Like I have said before, reception in the Valencia area is a lot different to the Barcelona (and CdS) are on this new batch of UK TV satellites. 

Reception is not uniform across Spain, which is why i can just about get most of the UK beam channels on an 80cm dish, but areas like Bara dont.

In Barcelona, you will be able to get the channels on the Euro beam nice and easily on an 80cm dish, 
But for the channels on the UK beam (the likes of BBC ITV C4 Five) , you will be needing a very large dish, 1.8 or even 2.4m or larger - which is why people use alternate methods for their UK channels like the internet.

Which is what I say on the website you have linked to (which is also mine!)


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## andyviola (Aug 11, 2018)

Thanks Mr Sat, its so annoying "a bit north and east" (just few hundred miles) makes such a big negative difference 

itv hub plus and filmon for me probably unless I can get my sky tv subscription to continue to work with a VPN pointing to uk?


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