Satellite TV: do you use it?

[urubu]

If you live in the UK and a lot of Europe, apparently you can point a satellite dish at the Hotbird satellite and pick up a bunch of channels in lots of languages.

For French, Eutelsat 5 West A at 5.0°W might be a better idea, as you can get France 2/3/4/5, Arte + a
few others on this satellite.
The signal is very strong here in Germany, I receive it with a small (60 cm) inconspicuous flat-panel type antenna.

General info:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eutelsat_5_West_A

Available channels:
https://www.lyngsat.com/Eutelsat-5-West-A.html

Required dish size:
https://www.lyngsat-maps.com/footprints ... Super.html

[Ani]

I suppose this question is intended for people who live somewhat geographically close to you. I live too far north for satellite to have anything very interesting.

[DaveBee]

I suppose this question is intended for people who live somewhat geographically close to you. I live too far north for satellite to have anything very interesting.

Wouldn't you be likely to get Russian and Canadian broadcasts, in addition to USA?

[Iversen]

You can get a lot of German channels including Arte (and a few in other languages) by turning your parabola dish towards the Astra satellite complex - my problem is that I haven't got a dish, and I live in a building where nobody else has put one up (and I'm not gonna be the first, in case there is a rule against it). My mother has got a dish, but it ceases to function every year in May when her oversized hornbeam grows leaves.

[rdearman]

You can get a lot of German channels including Arte (and a few in other languages) by turning your parabola dish towards the Astra satellite complex - my problem is that I haven't got a dish, and I live in a building where nobody else has put one up (and I'm not gonna be the first, in case there is a rule against it). My mother has got a dish, but it ceases to function every year in May when her oversized hornbeam grow leaves.

Typically it is the 2nd person to do something who finds out there is a rule against it. Because they don't make the rule until after someone does it!

[reineke]

I've had a dish since the late 1980s : the first one was a single Astra dish and later I installed a second, dual LNB larger dish that could receive Astra and Eutelsat and I pointed the old dish towards the French satellites. There are also small motorized systems.Great stuff. I rarely had any interference. People in Africa can catch these satellites and if you're having issues it's likely due to a botched installation of one of those "incospicuous" mini dishes. Prior to getting a satellite dish I could only watch foreign channels during the summer months. Arte is an old channel and one of my favorites. Live TV beats DVD collections and streaming services.

In the US, the home satellite dish market is dominated by two companies and the service is not free. There is no FTA market. I'm not following what the large dish guys are doing these days but you likely can't get 10% of what you can easily get in Europe.it's also not possible to purchase Canadian channels. If you are interested in international channels, you need to purchase a base service and then pay extra for the international package that includes channels you can watch for free in Europe. I did not enjoy the French and Italian packages.Canceling the satellite contract was an unpleasant business.

[William Camden]

I use Turksat a lot and this has definitely done much for my comprehension of Turkish. Some of my favourite channels were closed down in the somewhat illiberal atmosphere following the failed coup attempt in Turkey in July 2016, however.

[Kraut]

There are different ways. There are French channels on 5 degrees west, on 13 degrees east (Hotbird) and 19 degrees east (Astra). For all of them you need special receivers (mostly with viewing cards). Here is one (I don't know how good it is):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/HUMAX-TN8000HD ... 8NG5Q781V1

It also possible to use the smartcard in certain TVs without the need of a receiver
.
If you want to install a dish for ASTRA, go for a monoblock LNB which will allow reception of both Hotbird and Astra satellites.

I myself receive French channels unencrypted from 5 degrees west (90cm dish at least) with an Octagon SF4008 receiver which can receive the French multistream channels.
France 2
France 4
France Ô
France 3 Sat
M6
W9
Arte Français
France 5
6ter
TF-1
NRJ 12
TMC
NT1
LCP
etc
http://www.flysat.com/e5wa.php

The receiver is an enigma receiver that can send the programmes via LAN to my computer where I can watch and record the programmes with VLC-player, choose the audio (sometimes with audiodescription in French) or take snapshots with subtitles.

[reineke]

Deep Dish

"For a short period in the early 1980s, giant satellite dishes ruled the land. It was a rare moment when big telecom wasn't in control. That quickly changed...

The signal-scrambling was a double-whammy for satellite owners, who had already spent thousands of dollars to avoid fees, only to find out that HBO was gonna force them to spend to spend hundreds more on descrambling equipment, all for the right to pay a subscription... "

"If you're stuck with a giant C-Band dish in your yard for some reason—odds are good for that if you live in West Virginia, where they were so popular that they were jokingly called the official state flower... "

https://www.google.com/amp/tedium.co/20 ... story/amp/

[Jbean]

I watch ARTE and Antena Tres with a VPN all the time. It's so much cheaper than satellite. I watch on my computer, but there is a VPN service, I believe, for smart TVs as well.