help desperately needed

[kevvick]

Hi all, from this message you will see that I am a complete novice when it comes to satellite sysyems! Basically I am working in Cyprus and although i have a sky box and card and am still paying sky subscriptions I cannot receive the signal without paying £1400 for a 4.2 metre dish. Even if I had that kind of money I would not spend it on a dish. I need to find a way of getting some english channels for the kids but haven't got a clue where to start. I have a 1 metre dish and was looking at getting showtime arabia but then i was also looking at getting a dreambox but am slightly confused. With a dreambox do i still need to buy viewing cards or does the box find the channels? Will I have to alter the dish everytime I want to pick up a different satellite signal? I did say that i haven't got a clue! I have always had sky so have never been into all of this before but any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Kev

[Analoguesat]

Hi Kev, welcome to the forum.

Although the dreambox is a very competent box, its not really an ideal introduction to the satellite hobby for a complete beginner. They need many hours of dedicated use to get the most out of them. If you want to plug the box in and watch telly with minimum fuss, then a different sort of receiver is required.

If you want to watch channels off different satellites, then yes the dish will have to be moveable (or use 2 dishes with electronic switching between them)

For Showtime Arabia you will need a dish pointing at 7W Nilesat, and get a subscription card as there is no way to unofficially open the package

[BGonaSTICK]

Hi kevvick :welc1:

Yes, a 4m dish is required for Astra 2D in Cyprus if you want reliable reception. A 3m dish should give you partial viewing, but they're not that much cheaper.

You can get a good idea of what other people are doing here: http://astra2d.com/cyprus.htm

Also, this thread lists transmissions in English. It's based on reception from the UK, but much of it is on Hotbird 13E.

Anything on Hotbird 7A or Hotbird 8 must be a reasonable target for you. The latter should start commercial operations anytime now.

Maybe a subscription to Sky Italia, Nova or TPS would provide more English language TV. A lot of commercial programming is broadcast with an English language option.

Local installers will have a good idea of what's available as there are many ex-pats out there.

Hope this helps.

STICK