Badger Électricité

Satellite TV, part 1: what do those cheap kits do?

Many people want to be able to view UK TV whilst in France, via satellite broadcasts. Alot of people also think that they have to have a Sky system to do so. Although Sky boxes work very well in France not everyone has a viewing card, & may not want to obtain one. However, when faced with the array of satellite kits that confronts them in the average large brico store many folk get even more confused......

What must be remembered is that although all the major UK channels are carried by Sky, they are also available Free-To-Air (FTA) & are thus readily received by any satellite dish & tuner. Most UK FTA & Sky channels are broadcast from the cluster of satellites at 28.2° East.

So, you've seen a kit with a dish, receiver & various bits & bobs, but aren't sure whether it will help you..... Well, it will. A French digital (numerique, not analogique) satellite receiver will receive all the FTA channels that are available on any satellite you point it at. If pointed at the Astra 28.2° East cluster you will therefore get all the BBC options, ITV 1,2 & 3 but NOT Channel 4 or 5 as these are still carried by Sky only & are scrambled. To view them you need a Sky box & a valid Sky card. If you aren't bothered about wall to wall Big Brother, endless police chase programs or comestic surgery you won't miss 4 or 5 (but there is Grand Designs....). The C4 & Five issue is supposed to be being resolved, but I've given up holding my breath.

Anyway, a cheap kit of receiver, LNB & dish from one of the brico sheds will cost up to 100 Euros. You usually need to get the mounting bracket for the dish & some cable as an extra. There are many web sites with info about how to set up a dish - Googling "satellite alignment" is a good start.

If you aren't into fiddling about with all this kind of stuff please note that Badger Électricité will happily sort out a satellite system for you.