How to choose the right auto satellite system

When purchasing an automatic satellite system, it is easy to get bogged down in the tidal wave of systems and advice, both biased and unbiased from several companies.

I will attempt here to focus you on the system that is right for YOUR needs, and not for sales figures.

The main questions to ask yourselves in order of importance are:

1. WHERE do I want to watch TV geographically
2. WHAT do I want to watch (Sky,Freeview,Free to air satellite etc.)
3. HOW long do I intend to spend time watching TV south of Barcelona.

The answer to question 1 and 3 will tell you:
1.WHAT size of dish you will require

The answer to question 2 will tell you whether or not you need a TWIN LNB*, or just a single LNB and which digital receiver you need.

Satellite tv reception on the continent is clearly divided into two types of dish.

Those that will receive Astra 2d (British) programming SOUTH of Barcelona, and those that will not.

Those that will, in order of greatest range (Based on real customer testimony) are:

1. The OYSTER T85 Digital TWIN with autoskew.
2 The MAXVIEW Seeker 85
3. Any other 85cm dish

These systems tend to be in the 2-3 thousand pounds range, and if you are, for example, retired, and spend 6 months of the year in say, Portugal, but really just want to watch Corrie where its warm for the duration of your stay, then the OYSTER T85 is worth the money...to you.

For everyone else...there is a compromise.

DOME type automatic systems, will win any battle with a big dish...except for one, and that is the range to Astra 2d.

They are more reliable (In our 14 years of experience)
They can be watched in high winds
They are cheaper to buy typically between 800 and 2100 pounds
They are prettier, In most cases, (Sorry Glomex, but you look like R2D2 after a piano fell on him!)
They are available as In Motion **Systems

Most of the dome systems will get you to Astra 2d as far south as Barcelona before you lose that signal.

If you are using a Free to Air box, you can then use Astra 1 or Hotbird, both of which between them cover pretty much all of Europe, and you will get Euro news in English, BBC world, CNN, SKY News, the occasional English movie etc, British TV is the best in the world, and we export it everywhere.

For the two weeks most of us may be out of range of Astra 2d...this is sufficient, and the money we save on buying the system, can then be spent on Cheese and wine, and French Breathalyser kits.

*TWIN LNB: An LNB (Low Noise Block, or thingy on the end of the arm that comes out of the dish) that has TWO feeds from the dish.

Why do I need a TWIN LNB?

A twin LNB is required if you wish to use all the facilities of a SKY plus HD Box.

One feed is for the watching of programming, and the other is for the recording, the same is true if you wish to use a FREEVIEW box with PVR (Personal Video Recorder) via HDD (Hard disk drive built in)

Or, a TWIN LNB is required if two seperate receivers are to be fed in the 'van EG. Corrie at the front, Footie at the back.


**In Motion Systems.

A dome system which can be viewed or listened to whilst Travelling.

Why do I need one?

You need an in motion system for entertaining people on long journeys, for example, CBEEBIES can keep kids quiet from Dover to Switzerland.

Some people have had In Motion systems installed, so that they can listen to, for example, BBC Radio 4 when on the continent.

I have stayed with advice on Automatic systems only on this thread, and have avoided comparisons between products, which just confuses matters greatly.

Once the TYPE of system is established, you can then move on to which of those types are available, and I can advise you on those types with the only bias being which is right for your needs, based on our customers experiences, and our own knowledge.

I will post another thread concerning Fitted MANUAL systems, and portable systems in due course.

Cheers.

Nick.