Hello from Leipzig, looking for tips on English-language Sat TV in Germany

[MichelLeipzig]

Hello,

I am a Canadian living in Leipzig, Germany, and looking to get equipped to receive English-language Sat television. I'd like to minimize the monthly hit by GermanSky however.

Does anyone know of a digibox that can both get Sky and can control a motorized dish? I have a feeling that I may be getting sports from other satellite channels, as well as tuning into Japanese signals for my wife, who is from the Far East.

Can anyone discuss English-language alternatives to Sky? Is there much out there?

Cheers,

Michel

[BGonaSTICK]

Hi Michel - welcome to the forum :welc1:

To keep things crystal clear (but hopefully not patronising) let's use the word 'Sky' to mean Sky pay-TV on 28.2E, but not all the Free To Air or Free To View English language TV at that orbital location.

I say that, because 28.2E carries far and away the most English language content when compared to any other satellite(s) and a large number of them are free.

You should look to do this as your first option, whether you retain a basic Sky subscription or not

Alternatives to the Sky digibox? Only really the Dreambox, but it's expensive and a bit techno-geeky. That's fine if your a techno-geeky kind of person, but only you know where you rate on this scale

Most people settle for keeping the Sky box, and adding a second box and dish to experiment with other locations and channels. This is often motorised to give the maximum flexibility and range of viewing.

Try this thread for the FTA English channels not on 28.2E. Our Pure FTA and New Channels sections may also interest you. Check www.ftasat.co.uk for the freebies on 28.2E itself.

There are also other (cheaper) subscriptions (than Sky) which have some English language offerings, like ART and DigitAlb.

Finally, there is illegal decrypting of other pay-TV packages. This can give you top movie and sports channels for nothing more than the effort required of you to keep the receiver updated regularly. Many of these channels carry the original (often English) soundtrack as an audio option.

Hope this is enough to get you thinking.

Regards,

STICK

[MichelLeipzig]

Hello Stick,

thanks for the quick response. So the free-to-air channels are available to all boxes, including the Sky hardware (for some reason, I was under the impression that the latter was restricted to pay channels preset on the card being used), then.

How much do the Dreamboxes go for? My understanding is that they are Linux based. I program in Linux, so the adaptation should be doable, although I'm not looking to program low-level drivers.

I want to get my digibox running relatively quickly, at least on some functional level. If there are future possibilities for tweaking and improvement in the medium to long term, so much the better.

Btw, can you suggest good decrypting links, in the event that eschew the Skybox? Where should I start? I suppose that there is decryption available for just about everything but that used on Sky pay service. Am I correct, or are there others that have not yet been hacked? Is it possible to refine these things without a computer at home: I only have a laptop at home, therefore no special Sat TV hardware...

Cheers,

Michel

[BGonaSTICK]

That's right. The unencrypted channels (and there are hundreds at 28.2E if you include radio) are available on pretty much any set top box. Check ftasat.co.uk for a list.

The term 'digibox' tends to mean the Sky receiver specifically.

Dreamboxes start at around the £150 mark for a new but basic '500' model. A new '7020' with no disk will go for maybe £320 and maybe another £80 for a reasonable HDD. This is the most common box that hobbyists buy because of it's expansion capabilities and the excellent level of support available.

You don't need any specific programming skills, and I'm sure your Linux knowledge will be more than adequate. FTP is the most commonly used tool to ship files around via the Ethernet interface, so your laptop would be perfect.

The Dreambox will work fine right out of the box, so no worries there.

Most encryption methods are still secure, but there's usually enough 'open' to keep it interesting.

All the info and expertise you need to get into this is available right here on the forum. Check out our Dreambox section, and ask as many questions as you like.

Living in Germany, you might be interested/pleased to know that Premiere is open at the moment, and has been for quite some time.

STICK

[MichelLeipzig]

Hi again,

sorry to be a pest, but posting here is easier for me than deciding which of the other forums is appropriate. About the Dreambox, what does it have that the Technomate, which also appears to be endorsed on these forums, does not have? Is the former significantly more programmable than the latter? Is it an issue that decryption hacks are easier to load on the Dreambox than other set-tops?

While we're on the subject, looking at eBay.de, it seems to me that the different flavours of Dreambox vary considerably in price. Is it the size of the hard-drive that determines this, or is there more to it?

Is there a thread for me to ramp up my technical vocabulary in this field? I have not found it yet, amongst your newbie threads. I find myself needing translation for even what passes for newbies around here, even though I am technically inclined in other fields.

Cheers,

Michel

[BGonaSTICK]

Basically, the Dreambox is a user-configurable network-attached computer which utilises an industry standard open source OS and long established modules, interface standards etc. etc. - you name it. Most everything else in receiver-firmware-world is proprietary and can only be tinkered with by the savvy few.

Folks enjoy the community-based advantage that open source brings, as they're not held to ransom by the few (paid, professional) firmware-modders out there. It all gets a bit commercial and selfish at times - a situation avoided by the Linux scenario.

There is also a lot more functionality available on the Dreambox. The biggest one is the ability to card-share, even across platforms.

Prices depend on a variety of differences in hardware configuration, not just HDD options. USB and CF ports are treasured, as is the extra memory on mid-range boxes and multiple tuners on the 7025s for example.

Compare the specs yourself at http://www.dream-multimedia-tv.de/index_eng.php

There's no one shoot-out review of Dreambox Vs The World, but there is enough info in our Dreambox section to give you idea of its capabilities.

Feel free to post any further Dreambox-related queries directly in the DB forum.

STICK