recording sky sports

[satandpcguy]

Well the three options are : it stays the same, it gets worse or it get better.
It will be as varied as it is today - you can get Sky Sports 1,2, 3, 1HD, 2HD, 3HD 4HD and SSN HD,on a Sky minidish where I am, yet a 1,8m dish can sometime pixelate on Sky Sports 4 and SSNews at aorund 5pm. That situation may imporve, stay the same or get worse. Who knows? Sky know that a number of subs come from other European countries, so by them putting their all their Sports channels on a very limited beam that, for example, Spain cannot receive, would mean a drop in subscribers to the Sports channels, and thus a drop in their revenue, which they would not really like too much. As for the main UK channels, who knows... 8 or 9 years ago, they said you would not be able to get BBC channels in Spain, but with the 1.8s and 2.4m you can. Maybe you will need 3.1m or 4m dishes like they have in the Canaries or in Greece? Who knows, its all specualtion,and only those people designing and who ordered the satellite know what that footprint will be like...but I dont anyone will suddenly lose all UK TV channels.

Anyway, glad you go your box sorted.

[chrisdoc]

Here in Córdoba I get all channels with a 1.4 dish. I think we're on a sidelobe or something which is nice now but I don't think its gonna last. I'm not sure how much of a dish upgrade my patio can take, what's the biggest size dish you can hang on a fairly well wind protected wall?
Do Sky have complete control over the transponders or beams they use or do Astra call the shots? If the beams on the new sats are focused enough, it won't really matter what Sky want anyway. If they want expats to subscribe, why is Sky Sports 4 so hard to receive? To tell you the truth I got a bit tired of 1n threads, so much blah and just two channels (at least when i last looked!) do you know what the drop off is like? I think that's the issue that might most affect us fringe people..
By the way its an amstrad drx890, working nicely, graphical interface a bit hard on the eyes and horribly weighted remote but it's working nicely so I aint complaining!

[satandpcguy]

Here in Córdoba I get all channels with a 1.4 dish. I think we're on a sidelobe or something which is nice now but I don't think its gonna last. I'm not sure how much of a dish upgrade my patio can take, what's the biggest size dish you can hang on a fairly well wind protected wall?!

I say 1.8m dishes are the maximim to install on a wall. Anything bigger and that is a lot of weight on that wall...not ideal

Do Sky have complete control over the transponders or beams they use or do Astra call the shots? If the beams on the new sats are focused enough, it won't really matter what Sky want anyway.!

Sky do not have complete control over all satellites, transponders or frequencies. They like the other channel providers, BBC, ITV, C4, Five, CBS, UKTV, rent the transponders from the satellite operator. Astra would consult all their clients - Sky, BBC, ITV, C4, Five, CBS, UKTV etc as to their requirements, and those which require more premium "spot beam" would pay a higher price than those on "european / wide" beams. See how many "cheap" channels are on the Pan European Eurobird 1 satellite.

If they want expats to subscribe, why is Sky Sports 4 so hard to receive? !

No idea, but then it is not a full 24/7 channel, and also is a portal to a lot of "red button" services, which i suppose makes it harder to receive and thus keep rights holder happery..?

To tell you the truth I got a bit tired of 1n threads, so much blah and just two channels (at least when i last looked!) do you know what the drop off is like? I think that's the issue that might most affect us fringe people..!

The channels on 1N are: ITV1 Centrals, C4HD, Five, Fiver, Five USA. 1N reception has hit those in the Canaries and in Greece - ie extreme fringe reception areas, where for example, Five could be received on a 1m dish, and now it requires a 1.8m dish.

The footprints for 1N suggested that an 80cm dish would not be able to receive channels where I am, but I can receive those channels on a 80cm dish, so the official footprints for 1N are not exactly correct.

By the way its an amstrad drx890, working nicely, graphical interface a bit hard on the eyes and horribly weighted remote but it's working nicely so I aint complaining!

The new guide takes a while to get used to but its good. Love the miniscreen so you can see what on without missing the programme, and that you can ask it to show programmes that are actually in HD, as opposed to SD ona HD channel.