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2657
Deleted User
Anyone know if a UK freeview digibox will work in Spain and/or France to pick up local digital TV or are digiboxes specific to one country?
hilldweller
LIFE MEMBER
Yes. For once we have a standard even the frogs adhere to.
We have a sky box in our house in Spain, I purchased a free to view skycard for a one off £20 and got all the free to view chanels. Others out here use a freeview box but what you get depends on the size of your dish!
When we go for 6-8 weeks we take our sky+ box from home with our normal card and can get all the channels, including sports, we would have got at home but only as we have a 2.5mtr dish - a bit big for the camper!!
When we go for 6-8 weeks we take our sky+ box from home with our normal card and can get all the channels, including sports, we would have got at home but only as we have a 2.5mtr dish - a bit big for the camper!!
OP
OP
2657
Deleted User
Thanks for your help but it is the freeview terrestrial digibox that I want to use for picking up the local TV which went digital last winter when we were in Spain.As you say a 2.5 m dish is a little large for the camper.
Heyupluv
Free Member
Brian....a question if you can answer for me .
There is free view
There is free sat
There is free to air
And possibly many more,
Being out of the UK I have lost touch with all these new TV networks,
Are they all using a satellite dish and lnb....
Do they all use the same satellite dish and lnb directed to the same satellite....similar to sky.
What will run in France...what will not...
Which is the best set up receiver thinking of cost,.... for receiving the best quality and most amount of channels...
Is the coverage all over France....
Where is the best place to buy....
With no monthly payment involved
(like sky used to be for the basic package, which I think is now a one payment of £20 for a white viewing card)........
We use ( ) at the moment and very good......but never know what the future holds as far as transmit and receive.
I understand sky, and how it works, sky is what we had in England....but the others I have never had dealings or involvement or even looked at a receiver, as most of them arrived on the scene after we had left the UK.
Are they just another version of Sky, just a different receiver/ decoder?
Mel
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Satandpcguy
Funster
TDT (Spains digital terrestial service) has been available in manya reas for a few years so far, it is only since easter this year that analogue closedown was completed, with a few areas a few months earlier.
Some UK Freeview boxes work in other countries, some do not.
In Spain we also use channel 69 for some channels.
UK does not use channel 69.
So make sure you get a box that can scan frequencies 21 to 69.
Also some Freeview boxes only recognise the audio languages of "English" "Welsh" and Gaelic".
Spain does not have a standard for other languages - they use a variety and it may be that your UK Freeview box does not allow you to uyse these others.
across the channels the non spanish audio tracks are
"Undertermined"
"Dos"
"Qaa"
"Eng" - Disney only uses this so should no be a problem!
"MUL" - multilanguage
"V.O" - version original
Also, the freeview text EPG and "red button" function may not work 100% in other countries.
Bear in mind that a non freeview branded box should work all over europe, where are the freeview box is designed for freeview in the uk only.
But you can get TDT / Generic DTT boxes for as little as 30 euros, USB enable recording for about 50 euros. so maybe getting one of these rather than a UK Freeview box may be better.
re dish sizes. in many areas of Spain you can get ITV1, C4, Five, (free to view sky card versions) and most of the sky package on a 80cm / 1m satellite dish. Its just for the BBC channels and free to air versions of ITV, C4 and Five and some tricky Sky channels that you need monster dishes for.
For example Sky PSort 1,2,3,can be received on a 60 cm dish, Sports 4 and SSNews, may not even be available all day on a 2.4m dish! BBC News and BBC Radios 1,2,3,4 are also on a 60cm dish over most of Spain, but for BBC TV 1,2,3,4,even a 2.4m dish may not have these 24/7. So the generalisation of big dish for spain is needed is not always the case.
Hope this helps
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hilldweller
LIFE MEMBER
freeview is the name of UK terrestrial digital TV even though you need to pay a TV licence to view.
I think they spotted a coverage problem early on so did a satellite deal to transmit via Astra. They added a few more via satellite and of course named it freesat. Again despite needing a TV licence.
I think free to air is what Sky give you for free without any card. Very similar to freesat.
The new digital seems to be a pan Europe standard. Our TV has worked everywhere we have been. Naturally you only get French programs in France.
Freeview receivers are just converters that plug into a TV, new TVs have them built in. They cost little, £20 sort of thing. I don't know what the French is coverage but I presume everywhere.
The other alternative is freesat. Now this will get UK TV in France depending on dish size and no-one will be knocking on your door for a TV licence. Your Sky box receives almost the same channels and you should need no card in at all for the "freeview/freesat" group and others Sky feel are worthless.
We have a Humax freesat box with recording but no DVD drive. Cost about £200. Works well. There are cheaper ones and probably much cheap without the hard drive, which is approximately what a Sky box is.
Satandpcguy
Funster
only a few questions then....!
Freeview is a UK only Digital TV service. It is transmitted from UK land based masts, and received via a TV aerial. UK Freeview is not available in any other country (maybe the very north of france nr calais!) due to the signal power of the transmitters. Freeview is NOT available via satellite (well actually it is as the channels are sent to the Freeview TV transmitters via satellite by Arqiva - but the signals are encrypted and not for public use!)
You cannot use a freeview box for satellite channels, or a freesat box for freeview terrestrial channels - they are two completely transmissoin systems.
France will have its own version of digital terestrial TV - but only expect French channels...not UK channels. Although on most systems the programmes original language soundtrack are also transmiited - most UK and USA imported programnmes here in Spain are available in Spanish or English.
You have:
free to air channels - those that require no viewng card at watch - BBC1,2,3,4 ITV1,2,3,4, C4E4M4,Five
free to view channel - those that require a viewng card to watch but no monthly payment - Fiver, Five USA.
sub - ie sky and Top Up TV (ironically a subscription service on freeview!).
Freeview (UK) TDT (Spain) are terrestrial services via land based transmitters
Freesat and Sky are extraterrestrial TV services - via satellite
A Freesat receiver and a sky box with no card will get exactly the same free to air channels.
A Sky box and a freesatfromsky card will get the free to air AND free to view channels.
Sky and Freesat receiver both use the same satellite and channels and frequencies for their channels. There is no seperate Freesat satellite system to Sky satellite system.
The only difference is that the Freesat EPG data comes from a different satellite to the Sky EPG data.
Both systems use the 4 satellites, Astra 2a, 2b, 2d and EB1.
Freeview is not available outside the UK.
Obviously satellite has more european coverage - the farther south in europe you go the trickier it gets to receive the satellite signals that are concentrated on the UK - hence why areas of Spain have to use a 2.4m satellite dish. So freesat and ksy satellite receiver will work in most of france easily on an 80cm dish, many areas a 60cm dish will work.
Not all channels on Freeview are available for free on satellite - due to satellites pan european reach - channels like Dave, History are subscription on satellite.
Depends if you want to subscribe of not.
Depends what channels you want.
Depends if you want HD or not.
Depends if you want live pause and hard drive recording
You have Freesat, Freesat HD, Freesat HDR (hard drive)
You have Sky (no card), Freesatfromsky (£20 card), Sky Sub, Sky+, Sky HD.
If you just want free to air then you also have non branded boxes which are a bit more flexiable in their use.
freesatfromsky - the free to view channel on satellite - (thats the one off payment £20 one that gets access to 8 ITv1 regfions, irish C4s, Five, Fiver Five USA, Five HD, Sky 3, Liverpool FC TV)
Most external devices (sat receivers etc) are connetc to TVs via SCART or HDMI (HD) and should have no compatiability issues. Its the old analogue channels (that are being closed down and replace by digital systems) that caused issues with the various different standards used over europe, PAL I PAL BG SECAM. Hence why a UK TV used in France (or vice versa) for old analog channels would get pictures in black or white, UK TVs used in Spain would get picture but no sound - the two countries use different sound frequencies!
I think I have covered most things.....
Most of the channels on Freeview were already available on Astra satellites, long before freeview was dreamt up! But many of these channels were on sky encryptrion contracts and these expired and so they moved from subscription to free to air.Freesat was / is a cheaper alternative method of receiveing the free to air channels already available with no card on Sky boxes and generic receivers.
They are not worthless, its just that the channels themselves have decided, for commercial (ITV) or charter (BBC)not to go subscription. By going free to air the BBC allegedy saved somehting like 88million a year! And I am sure channels like Fivre and Five USA, get a small share of subscription money back!
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Heyupluv
Free Member
WOW.
.thank you very much .......sorry to have put you and Brian to so much trouble answering my questions....... but you have both been most helpful:thumb:Mel
Heyupluv
Free Member
Brian.... Thank you for your rapid reply...great...I did not realise the trouble I had put you and The Sat & PC guy thro...I am now going to take on board what has been said:thumb:
Mel
Subscribers do not see these advertisements
Heyupluv
Free Member
I have read both yours and Brians replies and I am getting a little confused
Could you please simply tell me all the type of boxes that work over here in France with English channels in the English language.
I think the only ones are freesat and free to air Sky am I correct??
thank you Mel:thumb:
Satandpcguy
Funster
Satellite boxes for use with a satellite dish pointing to the UK group of satelltes:
Freesat
FreesatHD+
Freesat HDR
Sky
Sky+
SkyHD
"generic" free to air digital satellite receivers boxes - ones you can pick up anywhere (even lidl sometime do them!) that are not Sky or Freesat branded - do not have software for full 7 day programme guide like SKy and Freesat, but only have now and next information.
For freesatboxes go to www.joinfreesat.co.uk and look on the right side of the screen for the best deal and dealers and discounts.
All of the above should be able to receive free to air UK channels with a suitable sized dish (60cm/80cm) in France.
Only the Sky ones will work with a sky card to get the free to view fiveusa and fiver etc.
For terrestrial, (ie TV via an tv aerial) you can try and use a UK freeview box in France, but it will only pick up the French terrestrial FTA channels...there are no UK TV channels on terrestial in other countires...that would be like having TF1 or TVE1 in the UK next to BBC and ITV!
hilldweller
LIFE MEMBER
All part of FUN.
hilldweller
LIFE MEMBER
Just to clarify this one -- this is the cheap little sat receiver you get with the Maplin and Lidl suitcase satellite kits. No frills.
But if you want quality kit:
Link Removed
£199 buys a box that can record one program and view a second at the same time. Can store hundreds of hours of TV. But no DVD player.
£89 buys a box that just views one program.
Satandpcguy
Funster
There are still many FTA HD PVRs available, I did not mean specifically the ones from Maplins - which personally i would avoid (like the lidl silvercrest ones!)
Generic FTA reecivers are not just from maplins. there are many many FTA receivers available, some with HD, some with USB stick recording, which are more flexiable options than freesat receivers.
Downside is that generics do not have access to the 7 day programme guide.
Topfield, Technomate, Comag, Manhatten are just few other names that make receivers.
The problem with freesat boxes is that not all channels are on the Freesat EPG, and you have to swap between Freesat and NoNfreesat mode for some FTA channels.
Thats because some channels, although FTA, dont want to pay the £10k (or whatever) a year for inclusion on the freest EPG. The BBC could save money by not paying for ALL their channels to be on the freesat EPG!!!
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Satandpcguy
Funster
To quote a phrase "Poppycock"
Many Freesat boxes can be used with other satellites, as Freesat boxes are just free to air receivers with special software (ie freesat software) for the UK channels.
They have a secret menu system that allows them to be used with other satellites, and even control disecq switching between multiple fixed satellite dishes.
The Humax HDR I have here currently has Sky News International on Astra 1 showing, and a few FTA HD channels on Astra 1 also!
Perhaps looking at a non freesat or nonsky box is the way to go. you will only miss the 7 days programme guide, and the teletext services! Go to a specialist dealer and not a high street dealer who tend not to know much...
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