How can I get German TV?

[Mattk40]

Just spoke to a local engineer and he said I would need a bigger dish (currently 45cm sky dish), at least 60cm with two LNBs to get the two astra signals. I then enquired about getting Hotbird and he said I would need a motorised dish really (about £200) plus a new receiver if my Humax couldn't do the moving of the dish, can my humax handle this? so it seems I have two options really

[SAT-WORLD]

Originally Posted by Mattk40

Just spoke to a local engineer and he said I would need a bigger dish (currently 45cm sky dish), at least 60cm with two LNBs to get the two astra signals. I then enquired about getting Hotbird and he said I would need a motorised dish really (about £200) plus a new receiver if my Humax couldn't do the moving of the dish, can my humax handle this? so it seems I have two options really

Yes the Humax Foxsat can be used with a motor,so you don't need an additional receiver.

[Mattk40]

Could I then just replace my ordinary dish with a motorised one, is it as simple as that?

[Mickha]

Not quite that simple, you would probably need a new pole, and brackets, to move the dish far enough from the wall which will then allow the dish to move around and track the satellite arc.

[Mattk40]

As my house faces due south then could I attach it to my chimney and get all the satellities in the arc as there is a clear line? are these extra channels worth it or would it be like sky where you just surf through channels of rubbish to get something decent? Is the size of dish important to what signals are picked up? I presume the bigger dishes pick up fainter signals?

[Robbo]

Originally Posted by Mattk40

Just spoke to a local engineer and he said I would need a bigger dish (currently 45cm sky dish), at least 60cm with two LNBs to get the two astra signals. I then enquired about getting Hotbird and he said I would need a motorised dish really (about £200) plus a new receiver if my Humax couldn't do the moving of the dish, can my humax handle this? so it seems I have two options really

A motorised dish is a good option for many satellites, but having a fixed dish does have its advantages. Astra(28e),Astra(19e) and Hotbird(13e) will easily be possible on a single 80cm fixed dish.

[Mattk40]

What advantages Robbo? also, would the two astra satellites and hotbird be enough viewing? they seem to be the most popular, does that mean the others are not worth the extra effort?

[Robbo]

The two advantages are:

Not having to wait for the motor to move (1.8 degrees per second)

and that is better siuted for having more than one receiver connected.




If you only ever want german then a fixed dish is all you need, however if you want other satellites a motor is best. I don't know what is worth the effort for you.

Me, ideally I would have both, and did have for a litttle while, but wouldn't do without the motor, as I watch Spanish sometimes, plus a lot from other satellites.

[Mattk40]

My tv engineer guy says I need at least a 90cm dish to get the two astra satellites which is a lot bigger than I thought

[Mickha]

It would help if you gave us your general location but you shouldn't need that size of dish for 2 powerful satellites.
Take a look at these links to see maps of the approximate dish size required, remove the underscores:
_http://www.lyngsat-maps.com/maps/astra1h.html
_http://www.lyngsat-maps.com/maps/astra1l.html