Satellite TV Update

[Deanscroft]

Reception of the Channel 5s is proving to be very patchy. Very much dependant on your location and equipment. I have friends in Crestatx who are having no problem. I am in Gommar and have no signal whatsoever. My Father in Pinaret is getting a signal but very prone to breaking up. It could be a case of - If you are getting something then upgrading your eqipment (even just replacing the cable with new good quality stuff can double the signal strength at the decoder) could solve the problem. If you are getting nothing at all then the answer is more drastic - live without it, move house, or buy an enormous dish.

[alcanadakid]

Had the Sky engineer at home in UK yesterday and discussed the impending problems in Mallorca with satellite signal and he recommended the Slingbox solution.

Have one on order (£99) and will try it on the visit next month. According to the spec it will work on a download speed of 0.8Mps.

[jamesfshaw]

We have a 1.4 metre satellite Dish mounted on the roof terrace.
If we bring out one of our UK Multi Room digiboxes wil it work in Puerto Pollenca?

[James]

Originally Posted by jamesfshaw

We have a 1.4 metre satellite Dish mounted on the roof terrace.
If we bring out one of our UK Multi Room digiboxes wil it work in Puerto Pollenca?

Yes - so long as the dish is aligned to the correct satellites for BSkyB although, as discussed above, you may not receive Channel 5 or its spin-offs (I no longer do) and you/we can expect to lose more channels over the coming months as many channels switch to a new satellite with a smaller/weaker footprint & a new Arab satellite comes online which is expected to interfere.

[jamesfshaw]

Thank you for that. So what do we do next? Have an even bigger dish?

[James]

Originally Posted by jamesfshaw

Thank you for that. So what do we do next? Have an even bigger dish?

Apparently so although the advice is that most walls cannot carry the weight of a 1.8 metre dish or above and that these need to be free-standing.

Alternative options appear to be IP (Internet) TV alternatives - one of which is slingbox (which is basically linking your skybox in the UK through a WiFi "Slingbox" which sends the signal over the Internet for you to unscramble over WiFi in Mallorca). You can control your skybox remotely over the Internet throught the "Slingbox".

The main drawback of "Slingbox" is, if your UK WiFi router needs to be reset in your absence there's nothing you can do unless you can get somebody in the UK to do this for you!

Other IP TV options exist as well but may not provide all the channels from your BSkyB subscription package.

[Mark]

Originally Posted by James

The main drawback of "Slingbox" is, if your UK WiFi router needs to be reset in your absence there's nothing you can do unless you can get somebody in the UK to do this for you!

To get around that plug the router power supply into a time switch such as this:
Simple 24 Hour Plug In Timer with Manual Overide: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

Set the time switch 'segments' so that it is powered up all of the time except for one 'segment' set to the off position in the middle of the night at say 4 AM, then every night the router will power down and then power up again at 4 AM approximately to get a nice new connection every night.

Some routers have a built in timer that can be set to reboot at any time you set it to. ( I have a Draytek vigor 2850n router)

A bit of a faff just to watch English TV

[howard]

Hi to all, i live in the old town of Alcudia can anyone recommend a satellite engineer,i have already got 2 numbers a Mike Edwards and David Panther,can anyone recommend either of them please or anyone else.
Many thanks
Howard

[alcanadakid]

Originally Posted by howard

Hi to all, i live in the old town of Alcudia can anyone recommend a satellite engineer,i have already got 2 numbers a Mike Edwards and David Panther,can anyone recommend either of them please or anyone else.
Many thanks
Howard

There is a shop just along from Mercadona towards the traffic lights on the same side, about 3 doors away from Llongar . They have an engineer who we have used many times. He is honest and fairly cheap. I would highly recommend him. The shop used to be called Nadal Electronics, but it changed it's name last year.

[alcanadakid]

The shop is now called "Tien 2"

[howard]

Originally Posted by alcanadakid

The shop is now called "Tien 2"

I booked Mike Edwards,he's coming friday morn,i will let you know how it
goes.

Many thanks
Howard

[alcanadakid]

Originally Posted by howard

I booked Mike Edwards,he's coming friday morn,i will let you know how it
goes.

Many thanks
Howard

Previously it was a Spanish chap who came out.

[howard]

Update

Mike Edwards turned up on Friday morn as promised, it was a very simple fault
just a bad connection,he normally charges 30€ call out ,but he did it quite a bit cheaper than that as it was a simple fault, i had a long chat with him, he seemed very knowledgable man and was very honest.

Howard

[alcanadakid]

Originally Posted by howard

Update

Mike Edwards turned up on Friday morn as promised, it was a very simple fault
just a bad connection,he normally charges 30€ call out ,but he did it quite a bit cheaper than that as it was a simple fault, i had a long chat with him, he seemed very knowledgable man and was very honest.

Howard

Glad you are all sorted out. Was Mike from Tien 2?

[howard]

He moved over from Wales with his wife and family about 3 years ago i think he said,and he works for himself.

Howard