How easy is it to set up and use an 85cm crank up satellite dish?

[Rds559]

As anyone got a 85cm crank up satellite dish are they easy to use to set up does it take a long time to find a satellite. Thank you.

 

[LithiumConvert]

I used to use a spare Sky dish many years ago. (on the floor out side of the 'van)

It took a while to learn where to point it, but in the end I got quite good at it.

You will need a compass.

And because your dish is mounted on the roof, you will need to take into account whether the van is level or not in order to judge the elevation.

 

[varaizian]

I watched a friend doing this and he started searching well to the east and moved slowly west. Astra 2 is the first satellite you come across like this. Most phones have a good compass incorporated to give a good idea of where 28.2 degrees east is. You can also get a signal locator meter to locate the best signal rather than watch the television screen.

 

[Swifter]

There is an app called Satellite finder . Easy to use on a phone.

 

[stewartwebr]

Used to have a wind up one many years ago. I used to attach a sat finder which whistled when you were close. It was very helpful and would recommend, between that and an app showing you the direction it should be a 5-minute job.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[jumar]

I was a Satellite fan for many years... caravanning, then motorhoming, spent many a happy time trying to connect, moving pitches, then loosing the signal when it rained..my Hymer has an Oyster automatic system...cannot remember the last time it was used....
I now favour my IPTV for any TV I watch...of course, I understand the attraction of Satellite, Afterall I once was a fan...

 

[Rds559]

I think the dish is favourite as I can’t find any unlimited data and pay as you internet

 

[starquake]

I think the dish is favourite as I can’t find any unlimited data and pay as you internet

It's quite easy, depends on touring locations obviously.

UK wise £5-6 a mo is unlimited roughly on a prepaid Three deal, around £9/mo gets you EE. Both you have to prepay about a year in advance to get that price as it's around £7.50 if you pay actually monthly on Three, and about £15 on EE for similar deals.

Ref; roaming it's not easy, but we've always in all our travels gloablly just purchased locally in the market in which we travelling. To do this you do need to setup a VPN on the firestick so you not reliant on a UK IP address which is why many use a UK roaming sim, but there are downsides, I've never seen a UK roaming sim perform as well as the local network ever on their own data sims. There is a technical reason why you see, it's called the bandwidth delay product, and the further you are away from where the UK IP address is issued the worse it gets, to point where you can't materially get over 50Mbit from southern europe with a UK sim from my experience at least. (some providers DO issue local IP addresses to fix this, but then you need the above VPN).

I can't see sky continuing with satellite service myself in 10 years, IPTV is very pervasive, and it's telling that all the new Sky services are internet based.

 

[StillGoing]

I think the dish is favourite as I can’t find any unlimited data and pay as you internet

If you have it on the roof you are restricting where you can park. Would a tripod and dish give more flexibility?

 

[Rds559]

Thank you, We travel to southern Europe we have a firestick and VPN but data does last long.
All the internet shops don’t give much data for Europe.
If I can get 10 years out of satellite service that's 190 pounds a year.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[starquake]

Thank you, We travel to southern Europe we have a firestick and VPN but data does last long.
All the internet shops don’t give much data for Europe.
If I can get 10 years out of satellite service that's 190 pounds a year.

Oh agree, I'm also someone who doesn't believe Starlink is an answer, as at £85 a month, thats an expensive fix to it.

You are also right in you can't buy on internet that well, but you can in shops -> Free in France is what 12 euro roughly for 200Gb. I don't find that too unreasaonable. You do need to moinitor usage, and do things like have a lower-quality profile on netflix (we have one that limits data use to 1G/hour). NowTV is our "data hog" as it seems to burn 5-6Gb an hour. But you are 100% right you can't use a UK sim in France or Spain as you'll get 30-35Gb tops on most plans. Unlimited roaming is now not a thing indeed, but it's arguable that it ever really has been as speed restrictions kicked in on networks like Three from 12Gb on for many years. Free sims from FR also work in Spain but limited to 10G or so. (same as UK ones), so you need to get one for Spain/Portugal as you cross borders.

But remember you can also get antenna for your motohome roof allowing reception of outside wifi and repeat inside as well as 4/5g.

 

[Manic]

I use an app, dish align and that gives compass

 

[Rds559]

I have tried the internet thing, I’ve dish before and to just press a button and know the dish will go and you will have tv anywhere easily

 

[Brains]

Oh agree, I'm also someone who doesn't believe Starlink is an answer, as at £85 a month, thats an expensive fix to it.

You are also right in you can't buy on internet that well, but you can in shops -> Free in France is what 12 euro roughly for 200Gb. I don't find that too unreasaonable. You do need to moinitor usage, and do things like have a lower-quality profile on netflix (we have one that limits data use to 1G/hour). NowTV is our "data hog" as it seems to burn 5-6Gb an hour. But you are 100% right you can't use a UK sim in France or Spain as you'll get 30-35Gb tops on most plans. Unlimited roaming is now not a thing indeed, but it's arguable that it ever really has been as speed restrictions kicked in on networks like Three from 12Gb on for many years. Free sims from FR also work in Spain but limited to 10G or so. (same as UK ones), so you need to get one for Spain/Portugal as you cross borders.

But remember you can also get antenna for your motohome roof allowing reception of outside wifi and repeat inside as well as 4/5g.

I was under the impression as a UK resident you can no longer buy SIM's in France without proof of a French address.
(Think they were trying to clamp down on burner phones being used for drug deals)

 

[scotjimland]

I had a Maxview crank up on my RV and was relatively easy to use and find the satellite ..bit of a learning curve but not difficult.. Maxview satellite location compass used for align .. that was before the phone apps you can use today.

I now have a small Multimo dish and tripod.. German manufacture but as far as I know, not made now..

Saw one on ebay at £65 including tripod and satellite receiver.. there are several others

Did a review here

I store under a bench seat in my PVC

This is great little dish, compact and easy to set up and align.. either using a tripod or the magnetic base

reception area map

https://www.roadpro.co.uk/userfiles/PDFs/product%20information/Satellite%20footprint%20maps%20and%20general%20sat%20info/2017%20Multimo%20footprint%20map.pdf

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Manic]

I’ve got a tans alone dish we use on the site in Suffolk ( trees in the way of dome) and that only takes minutes to set up

 

[dalspa]

I was under the impression as a UK resident you can no longer buy SIM's in France without proof of a French address.
(Think they were trying to clamp down on burner phones being used for drug deals)

In September we bought a Reglo sim in EleClerc store in Saumur. We had ready the address of a campsite that we were heading to ( but had read that any campsite would do but they weren’t interested in an address BUT would not let us have one without showing a passport. The sim, put into a mifi, worked brilliantly. Would definitely do same next time.

 

[starquake]

I was under the impression as a UK resident you can no longer buy SIM's in France without proof of a French address.
(Think they were trying to clamp down on burner phones being used for drug deals)

My friend John lives in France, so any trip we will take will be via his anyhow, so we do have a French address we can use on paperwork. But I was lead to believe you can just do it anywhere here https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/free-mobile-data-in-france.257593/

ref; the drug deal burner phones they have other ways of tracing those now (in most places) but thats a whole other thread on detection mechanisms I know a little about from the defence side. It's not an issue in EU/UK/US at least and if you interested in the how, it's worth watching some of the BBC documentarys about the encrypted phone cracks (which used both payg sims and encyrpted comms).

 

[starquake]

In September we bought a Reglo sim in EleClerc store in Saumur. We had ready the address of a campsite that we were heading to ( but had read that any campsite would do but they weren’t interested in an address BUT would not let us have one without showing a passport. The sim, put into a mifi, worked brilliantly. Would definitely do same next time.

Yeah, everything I've read says they need to scan a passport in every case. That is common everywhere in world now. Even Thailand needed that for a tourist sim!

 

[LithiumConvert]

An 85cm dish is well worth keeping.

Ours worked well enough to get ITV Grranada in Northern Italy.

Not so sure the smaller dish on our new van will do that, but since getting the new 'van we've not been that far south yet.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[scotjimland]

I have tried the internet thing, I’ve dish before and to just press a button and know the dish will go and you will have tv anywhere easily

Exactly , and that is my view .. with a sat dish, of whatever kind, portable, wind up or auto

No data sim card required
No wifi signal required
No phone signal needed
No ongoing costs ..

there are plenty of areas in the UK where there is no phone signal.. camp sites free wifi are unreliable .. and many now charge

I've used my Multimo all over UK and France .. no problems.

Some say satellite dishes are "old tech" and streaming is the new kid on the block.. that may be true in home with fibre-optic internet .. but for mobile use.. sat dish is reliable, works almost anywhere .. and no ongoing cost

 

[LithiumConvert]

Some say satellite dishes are "old tech" and streaming is the new kid on the block.. that may be true in home with fibre-optic internet .. but for mobile use.. sat dish is reliable, works almost anywhere .. and no ongoing cost

Works very well at home and in the motorhome.

Ongoing cost? Just a new motorhome every now and then.

 

[LithiumConvert]

I can't see sky continuing with satellite service myself in 10 years, IPTV is very pervasive, and it's telling that all the new Sky services are internet based.

That is because, like everyone else, Sky want to collect all the data about their customers usage. They can't do that with broadcast TV.

 

[wuzzlewood]

As anyone got a 85cm crank up satellite dish are they easy to use to set up does it take a long time to find a satellite. Thank you.

Hi, I hope this helps. Everyone on here is often imo like a tory MP and doesn’t answers the question just give their views.

I used to use a manual crank up dish all over Europe and I reckoned I could find a satellite quicker than my mate’s automatic one as that used to find it twice for some reason.

Buy one of these, tell it what satellite you want and it ignores all others just giving a response when it finds the one you want. It has a compass built in.

The best £35 I spent and that haven’t gone up much since!

Spend less than £40 and you will get full use of the dish, obviously if there are trees or mountains in the way you will struggle but a bit of planning where to park usually sorts that out!

 

[starquake]

That is because, like everyone else, Sky want to collect all the data about their customers usage. They can't do that with broadcast TV.

Not that, its individual targetting of adverts that offers the USP.

The data is invaluable yes, but the individual targetting of ads to your family is quite scarey.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[varaizian]

Thank you, We travel to southern Europe we have a firestick and VPN but data does last long.
All the internet shops don’t give much data for Europe.
If I can get 10 years out of satellite service that's 190 pounds a year.

Travelling to southern Europe with a satellite dish is problematic. We live an hour and a half north of Bordeaux where we pick up UK television with an 85cm dish and a Freesat box. The signal is fine unless we have heavy rain. Since the Astra 2 satellite footprint was restricted a few years back if we travel half an hour south of Bordeaux to Parantis en Borne the signal is marginal and after that non-existant.
Our present MoHo was bought used and came with a French-based system that picks up its signal from Astra 1 and is available right down into Spain & Portugal but French television is mostly awful! We've gone back to reading.
A neighbour here subscribed to Nord VPN last year but received a message saying "You appear to be using a VPN" and blocked him so no I Player for us; we just have to record things that we never watch!