Archive-name: tv/european-satellite
Last-modified: 2007/09/01
Posting-Frequency: monthly
URL: http://mjr.towers.org.uk/comp/astefaq.txt (Who's computer is this?)
Copyright: 2007 MJ Ray. Permission granted to copy whole or in part.

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Subject: 1. Introduction

This is a compilation of some Frequently Asked Questions from the
alt.satellite.tv.europe newsgroup. It covers basic equipment,
posting to the group and other online resources in the questions:

2. What do I need to get European satellite TV?
3. What does "on 19e" (or similar) mean?
4. How is satellite TV different to Sky? Where's ITV 1?
5. Can I use my old Sky/Premiere analogue dish?
6. What are FTA, FTV, CI, DiSEqC, ...?
7. What extra equipment may I need for pay-TV?
8. What are the posting rules for alt.satellite.tv.europe?
9. What's the charter of alt.satellite.tv.europe?
w. What other resources are recommended?

Please send updates for this FAQ to the address in the "From" line.

Other FAQs posted to alt.satellite.tv.europe include:
Sky Digital FAQ - http://skydigitalfaq.cjb.net/ (Who's computer is this?)
HDTV FAQ - http://www.burnyourbonus.co.uk/HDTV/faq.html (Who's computer is this?)
Sex on Satellite FAQ - http://www.sexontv.co.uk/faq.htm (Who's computer is this?)

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Subject: 2. What do I need to get European satellite TV?

There are basically three parts to the equipment:
a. An antenna aimed at a satellite - often a dish with LNB - see
advice about siting and aiming dishes (links below),
b. some reception equipment - usually a "set-top box" - and
c. something to display it on - a TV.

Standard free-to-air (FTA) systems can be bought fairly cheaply
and installing it yourself is fairly simple if you don't mind
drilling holes, fitting cable connectors, waterproofing joints
(self-amalgam tape!) and some trial-and-error in aiming the dish.

For a particular country's stations, see lyngsat or digitalsat.

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Subject: 3. What does "on 19e" (or similar) mean?

Satellite positions are described as the longitude of the place
on the equator that the satellite hovers above. 19e means 19.2
degrees east, which finds some Astra satellites about 35000km
above the Congo basin, with many FTA German broadcasts. If your
dish isn't aimed at it and you want to watch a channel on 19e,
you need to move the dish, either manually or maybe with a motor
or jack. A good signal meter (either on-screen or connected
near the dish) and a compass is usually enough to aim a dish.

Satellite signals can only be picked up within their transmission
"footprint" so check coverage first. For channel frequencies and
reception reports, see "What other resources are recommended?"

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Subject: 4. How is satellite TV different to Sky? Where's ITV 1?

BSkyB is one broadcaster on 28e that sells subscriptions. If you
subscribe, you'll get a dish that's too small to receive much
else, a Sky-branded receiver with built-in CAM, a viewing card,
non-standard "digital text" software and it all installed for
you. The Sky UK sets can be used to pick up other satellites,
but aren't very good at it.

A non-Sky satellite system could be used equally well with a dish
aimed at another satellite, such as 19e for ARD/ZDF or 13e for
RAI. Some systems can have added subscriptions, if you want. If
you aim a non-Sky system at 28e, you can receive FTA channels
(BBC, itv, Euronews, for example) which are "on Sky" but not FTV
channels.

If you have a Sky receiver, Free To View cards are still available from
Sky for a charge, but only get you Channel 4, five, five life, fiveUS
and Sky 3 in addition to the Free To Air channels.

ITV 1 is not one channel: there are many regional variants of ITV 1,
mostly very similar, but some (Scottish, Grampian, Channel and UTV)
differ more and are not called ITV 1 in their channel name text on
satellite. For the reasons why, see http://www.htw.info/ (Who's computer is this?)
On 1 November 2005, ITV 4 launched but was not available on the
Sky EPG at first (it could be added as an "other channel"). On the
same day, other ITV channels became Free To Air instead of FTV.
Any standard satellite system (including non-Sky) can view them.

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Subject: 5. Can I use my old Sky/Premiere analogue dish?

Analogue (PAL, NTSC or Secam) and digital receivers differ, but
can use similar antennas. If you have an analogue set, you don't
need a new "digital dish", but maybe a modern LNB and re-aiming.
See http://www.selkirkshire.demon.co.uk/analoguesat/raihelp.html (Who's computer is this?)

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Subject: 6. What are FTA, CI, DiSEqC, ...?

FTA is free-to-air, a programme which needs only a standard
receiver, not any decryption equipment.

FTV is "free-to-view", encrypted programmes that can only
be decoded using a special receiver and a viewing card. No
subscription is required and expired cards may work. See the Sky
Digital FAQ in "Introduction" for more info on UK FTV channels.

DVB-S is digital video broadcasting by satellite. It's similar to
DVB-T (Freeview/digital terrestial) and DVB-C (digital cable),
but most receivers only work on one. Each DVB-S transmission can
hold many TV and radio programmes, show information, teletext
and more. See http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/dvb.txt (Who's computer is this?) for details.

DVB-S2 is the next generation standard, mainly used for HDTV.

HDTV is High Definition TeleVision, aiming to give better pictures
for modern bigger screens. See the FAQ listed in question 1.

LNB is low noise block-downconverter, the bit on the end of the
arm in front of the dish which collects the signal onto the cable.

DiSEqC is Digital Satellite Equipment Control, which lets
receivers control switches between LNBs (on one or more dishes),
and later versions can control motors.

USALS is the Universal Satellite Auto-Locator System, a way to aim
a motorised dish just by telling the system its geographic location
and the orbital position of the satellite. Works well for me.

CAM is Conditional Access Module, a small device which decrypts
channels. It usually needs a keycard, but some work without one.

CI is Common Interface, which is a type of slot on the receiver,
usually for putting a CAM into (such as Viaccess Red).

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Subject: 7. What extra equipment may I need for pay-TV?

To view satellite pay-TV, you may also need:
a. a receiver with a spare CI slot and the right CAM; OR
b. a receiver with the right built-in CAM; AND
c. maybe a keycard from the seller.

Some of the built-in CAMs aren't available for CI slots,
which forces you to use a licensed built-in receiver (Sky
does this). There are also CAMs which claim to support more
than one system, but results seem to vary between packages.
For more details, ask the sellers on lyngsat's "Packages" page.

Many EU countries have nasty laws against getting pay-TV without
paying, or even against discussing it. I think it sucks that
the law props up inadequate technology while free trade in
European television services isn't enforced, but that's the
current situation. See private web forums and other newsgroups.

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Subject: 8. What are the posting rules for alt.satellite.tv.europe?

This group is old, its legs are grey and ears are gnarled!
It also has a lot of British and English posters, so "daft"
messages may be answered with humour or sarcasm. Don't worry
about it: recover gracefully and you should get useful answers.

If you "top-post/whole-quote" you may get complaints or be
ignored, because it's harder to understand where your message
fits and harder to edit into a reply. Please start with a
trimmed quote. See http://www.allmyfaqs.com/faq.pl?How_to_post (Who's computer is this?)

If you are asking for help with equipment, please give relevant
model names. For reception problems, please say which satellite/
frequency you are trying and where you are trying from.

Adverts are tolerated, but I doubt many people act on them.

As an alt group, there are few rules, but if you want useful
replies, it helps to follow the local culture.

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Subject: 9. What's the charter of alt.satellite.tv.europe?

It was created for postings "All about European satellite tv"
in 1993. In 1995, there was an attempt to remove it because
of some group in rec.*, but the alt group continues...
Everything in the rec group seems on-topic here, as well as
feedhunting and other things that aren't often discussed. See
ftp://ftp.isc.org/usenet/control/alt/alt.satellite.tv.europe.gz (Who's computer is this?)

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Subject: w. What other resources are recommended?

General help and advice:
http://www.digitalsat.co.uk/ (Who's computer is this?)
http://www.analoguesat.co.uk/ (Who's computer is this?)
http://www.satelliteforcaravans.co.uk/ (Who's computer is this?)
http://www.odpm.gov.uk/ (Who's computer is this?) see Planning Advice, Installation of satellite

Frequency listings, reception reports and news:
http://www.lyngsat.com/ (Who's computer is this?)
http://www.kingofsat.net/ (Who's computer is this?)
http://www.flysat.com/ (Who's computer is this?)

Related newsgroups:
news:alt.satellite.tv
news:alt.satellite.tv.crypt
news:uk.tech.digital-tv