Yes the subject line sounds a little bit like spam. Sound too good to be true?

I've ignored all these messages about Satellite TV for years - just wasn't interested. I don't watch much TV anyway, and I balk at the prospect of handing over 70-75 francs per month to watch Sky TV - including all the advertisements - no thanks!

But, like many of you I was outraged when Cablecom pulled the plug on BBC Prime and tried to sell it back to us with the digital TV product. We had a big rant about it on this thread if you are interested.

Anyway to cut a long story short I decided to do something about the situation and give the proverbial two-fingered salute to Cablecom. I consulted with our resident satellite-TV consultant to the stars - Lob Rockster and then decided to write the:

Dummies' Guide to Getting Free-to-air Satellite Channels for Almost Nothing.

Why? Because you want English-language channels
Which channels? About 200, including BBC, CNN, etc. You can see a list here.
How much will it cost? If you can beg, borrow or steal an old sky box - only 200-300 francs.
How much time to install? Took me less than an hour.
What about ongoing costs? If there were any, I wouldn't have done it.
Is it legal? The signals are there, and they aren't encoded.
Will I still have to pay Billag? Unfortunately yes.
Will I still have to pay Cablecom for the cable which carries the analogue TV for the channels I will no longer watch? If you own your own house - you can tell them to cover up your wall plate. If you are renting as part of a building you'll probably not have much luck but it is included in your rent anyway.
How hard is this to do? Can you tighten a bolt with a spanner? Can you plug an aerial into a socket? Can you follow simple instructions? Even the most lazy or inept people should be able to manage this.

Ingredients

I bought all my components at www.satshop.ch because Lob Rockster recommended it. They took credit card and a box will all the stuff arrived the next day. I later discovered that the dish was slightly cheaper at media markt, but not by much. If you don't feel comfortable buying the stuff online - just go to Media Markt and ask for help - they'll advise you on the components you need to buy. The following list is the stuff that I bought, including links to satshop.ch. Sometimes I bought more expensive items - you can get away with cheaper stuff. Here's what I bought:

88cm dish - Don't get to excited about dishes. A 78cm would have also been fine. Get one that you like. You can also get a transparent dish.
LNB - I've no idea what it stands for, but it's the bit that hangs on the front of the dish. Again - I got a fancy pants one like Lob Rockster that can see up to four satellites (which I won't need, and you probably won't either). Feel free to get a cheaper one!
Mouting pole - This was cheap and suited my purpose. Mount it anyway you want - onto a balcony railing, on a floor stand in your garden - choose the best method for your situation.
Screws and plugs - For above mounting pole - no need to trek to the hardware store to find the right bits, just get these.
Antenna cable - You'll need two - one for outside and one for inside. Choose the appropriate lengths for your setup.
Window cable - Allows the cable to go under or around a window frame. There are cheaper ones, this was the fancy version and very flat!

The above items, including postage cost something like 280 francs. You could save money on some of those components though.

Absent from the above shopping list was the old sky box that I got from a friend of mine. You can look for these on ebay, or try and find some friends in the UK who upgraded to some fancier equipment like a dreambox (some fancy box that does all sorts of extra stuff) and have their old receiver lying around. Edit: If you don't have a mate with a sky box you can use any free to air satellite receiver (they should sell them in shops like Media Markt). This will work fine, but with the following disadvantages: You won't get the sky TV listings in the box. You won't have the ability to use a free viewing card (one-off cost 20 pounds) to decode Sky 3, Channel 4 and Channel 5 (so you'll only lose those three channels). You won't have an easy upgrade path should you decide to go for a sky subscription in the future.

Now onto the good stuff:

Method


Step 1. Check that you have all the parts you need. In addition to the "shopping list" described above you'll need a couple of other items: Hammer drill (Jumbo - 39 francs), 12mm masonry drill bit (Jumbo - 8 francs), shifting spanner for tightening the hex bolts (not shown). Your installation may have different mounting requirements, therefore possibly different tools.



Step 2. Fold down the arm of the dish. Find the plastic bit that folds around the neck of the LNB. Fold the two halves together and insert the assembly into the end of the arm as shown. Push the arm down hard until you feel a click and it doesn't move upwards anymore (look at the other end to figure out how this works if you want).



Step 3. Attach one end of the cable you wish to use outdoors to the first port (if you have more than one) of the LNB as shown. Use cable ties to neatly attach the rest of the cable as it runs down the arm of the dish. Use electrical insulation tape to wrap around and cover the metal of te plug - remember this bit will be outside, so shield the connection from the weather (not shown).



Step 4. Attach the clasp that will eventually hold the dish to the mounting pole as shown. Tighten the wingnuts only lightly so you can make adjustments. Be sure to check the manual to see which way up this clasp will go - it depends on the range of elevation you want - we want 32 degrees.



Step 5. Get ready to mount the pole. Have someone hold it while you mark the positions of the holes with a pen or pencil.



Step 6. After you've drilled the holes insert the plugs.



Step 7. Attach the pole to the wall by screwing in the bolts. You are now ready to mount your dish!



Step 8. Remove the smaller wing nuts and screws to allow the clasp to spread apart as you push the dish onto it. Once the dish is clicked on replace the screws and wingnuts, but leave them fairly loose. Adjust the elevation until it shows "32". Tighten the wingnuts so they are only thumb-tight.



Step 9. Assuming you have a window or door open it now. If you have a multi-section window, part of which doesn't open, use a screw driver to loosen the normally non-moveable parts of the window and install your window cable as shown. Close the door/window as appropriate. You now have a closed window with two sockets on either side.



Step 10. Attach the other end of the aerial cable which leads to the dish to the outside part of the window cable as shown. Don't forget to seal with electrical insultation tape to keep out any rain or moisture.



Step 11. Attach one end of the indoor cable on the inside of the window connection.



Step 12. Plug the other end of the indoor cable into your sky box. Switch on the sky box.



Step 13. Go to the setup menu of the sky box and look for the option for the signal test. This is a much more scientific method of checking your signal strength than asking your drunk mates if the picture quality is ok. At this stage you probably want to refer directly to Lob Rocksters contribution about how to adjust your dish correctly here. [swisswiki.ch]

I'll summarise the steps I took. I already had used a compass to point the dish at bearing 152, and I had already set the elevation to 32 degrees. If you've done the same you are very close to the correct position. A small tip at this point - take your TV to somewhere where you can see the screen as you adjust the dish - this will save you a lot of time. Start by nudging the dish slowly (very slowly) and in small steps until you see the signal strength and quality jump up. Great - you found it. Now remember that the bars take a few seconds to react, so make each adjustment and wait. Once you have signal move the dish left and right from that position until you have the strongest possible signal. Now tighten the wingnuts that hold the clasp to the pole. Tighten them well - they will now lock our horizontal axis.

Now we have the horizontal axis taken care of double check that you still have a strong(ish) signal. Now we'll try to improve it by adjusting the vertical axis. Slide the dish slightly so you experiment with slightly different elevations. Same principle applies - small adjustments and wait a few seconds between adjustments. Find the position with the strongest signal and tighten the wingnuts that pull the clasp together. Double check that everything is tight and stable and confirm that your signal strength is still good.

Congratulations. Exit the setup menu and you should see something like this:



Step 14. Go to the fridge, crack open a beer and watch the BBC. By the time you've finished your beer and flipped through all the channels you will have realised that you have a couple of hundred channels, nearly all of which carry total rubbish. Welcome to the world of satellite TV.

Step 15. Now you want to organise yourself a Freesat viewing card. These cost 20 pounds from the UK give you access to a couple of more channels (Sky 3, Channel 4, Channel 5) which are ecoded. It's just a one-off fee, but you'll need the help of someone in the UK. They just call Sky on (UK) 08706 061111 and ask for the Freeset FTV card. Remember to tell them to not mention that they are sending the card outside of the UK! It will also need to be activated over the phone once it is installed in your sky box - you'll need your friend to make this call for you inside the UK and pretend that they haven't sent the card to you. Without this card you'll still get all other channels, just without Sky3, Channel 4 and Channel 5.

Conclusion

This is so simple and cheap - you'd be crazy not to do it. What better way to "just say no" to Cablecom's digital TV offer? No monthly expenses and no waiting for ages on a support line that costs 2.13 francs per minute...

I have to say you were luckier than I was with aligning the dish. Previously I had had analogue satellite and that fades in and out and could be lined up quite easily.

I gave up after 3 hours and called in the local TV shop who had a meter. Though it would have been cheaper (CHF200) to buy a meter. It transpired that as digital SKY is from another satellite I would never have received the signal from the old position anyway.

Don't forget radio too (0102 (Radio 2)) and 0104 Radio 4, I start the day with 'Today' on Radio 4 - they are an hour behind and s don't start until 7am CET. There are about 50 station on Digital Sky.

If I was starting again, I'd go for Sky Plus and get a digibox with a hard disc recorder. Recording sat TV with any other system is a bind as you need the box on and on the channel you want to record...

True - but I found the need to write this guide because there was a lot of confusing satellite talk out there and I found it intimidating. I figured there was a need for information for those people who don't care about recording programmes or watching my TV - they just want to watch the BBC from time to time without paying or Cablecom digital.

I think that sometimes the people who have already worked out satellite forget how confusing it is for "normal" people to hear terms like hotbird, astra, and the wealth of other jargon that goes with it.

I'm hoping that all those people who've been shying away from going satellite realise that it is REALLY easy and CHEAP and that even they can do it.

Since the investment is almost nothing, it's easy to upgrade to all the fancier stuff once people become comfortable with it.

We have full blown all singing and dancing Sky + with a full package UK subscription - does anyone know if we can still have sky plus but cancel the subscription we so we only get the free to view/air channels? but still keeping the sky + recording facility?

Great guide Mark, we could certainly have done with that info when we set ours up, luckily the sky master Lob was on hand to help us also, although he loved my husbands improvisation of a broom handle to line up the dish

Don't mind if someone answers this question quickly, but we should try and keep this thread for install related questions - or else it could quickly degenerate into yet another sky TV discussion thread (we have a whole section now for those!!) I'd say the fastest option would be to have someone in the UK phone sky and ask them, or send them an email. I see no reason why you couldn't cancel your subscription - all the free to air stuff will keep working.

My setup right now shows all the free to air stuff, but for the Sky subscription stuff it says "Insert your card". Try it - pull your card out and the free to air stuff will keep working.

sorry mark, didn't mean to hijack the thread, you can delete that message if you wish - my understanding was though that you still needed a de activated sky card for free to view, you can actually get these for £20 from sky if you just want to use your old sky box to watch free channels - so not sure by removing our card we'll still get BBC 1 etc... i'll check but i'm pretty certaain we can't as it needs a card - do you not have a card with yours?

I'm running no card whatsoever. I get all the free to air channels except Sky3, Channel 4 and Channel 5. You'll need a freeview card only for these three channels (See my note at the end - step 15) that covers this point. Pull your card out and see what I mean!

OK will try that, sorry didn't read the bottom bit of your post - but channel 4 is my favourite channel so will need to keep a card, feel free to delete above replies from me if you want to.

This is because the previous owner activated the box. As I understand, you will need a UK address to active a new Sky box even for free to air...

Hmm, well if you've got an old sky box it will be activated - true. But I've just been told by the guy that gave me the box that you can get free to air using ANY satellite receiver. It doesn't have to be a sky box.

However, the disadvantage in this case is that you won't get the sky TV listings, you won't have the ability to upgrade to a sky subscription if you want to in the future, and you won't be able to use the freeview card to add Sky 3, Channel 4 and 5. I'll update my original post at the top with that information.

I have just tried Sky without the card in and you are right I got BBC1, 2, 3 & 4 ITV1, 2 & 3 etc.. not Channel 4, 5 or Sky 1 etc.. didn't realise that would work so thanks for clearing that up with me.

If someone does want Channel 4 etc... and wants to get a card for £20 from sky the problem i can forsee is that the card needs to be paired with the box from Sky? I may be wrong but before we decided to keep our UK sky account and get a dish we got a nokia sat receiver to link up to the communal dishes in our building, we got one of the £20 cards from Sky but the problem we had was pairing it with that receiver, we then got an old sky sat receiver and also couldn't use the card as it needed to be paired with the box so in the end we decided to keep on our subscription and use the same box etc.. we had in the UK

I may be wrong with the above, but we had months of faffing about with Sky and different options and in the end we only seemed to be able to get our current box and card to work because that card and box had already been paired together in the UK.

But as Mark says, to get the BBC and ITV channels non of this matters, its only if you want the other free channels that require a card.

Nicky

Correct - it does have to be paired. I covered that specifically under step 15 (have a look, the info should all be there). Note that sky will probably be less strict about the free cards as they are with the normal stuff - but caution is still advised. Just have someone else make the call for you from work and send them a picture of the screen with all the serials numbers etc.

The card can be activated remotley by Sky. We had to get a new card when I lost mine when moving, I didn't know about this pairing thingy until the new card did not work. I called Sky, using my mobile so I could hide the number, they got me to go through the menus until I came to the code for my digibox they then did something their end and within an hour all the channels were available.

durr wish I had known all this info earlier! would have saved us a lot of time and hassle! I did read step 15 but still couldn't figure how to phone them without being at your box with the card in because they usually require you to change settings etc.. in the setup menu whilst on the phone - but if a screen shot is all it takes then great!.

anyway i'll shut up now

Well just to make it very clear about how I did it. Ask friend in the UK to order it - he said he already had everything installed, he just needed the card. He paid for it over the phone and they shipped it to him. It arrives this coming Friday. He'll give it to me, I'll stick it in my sky box and send him a photo of important details.

He will then phone them from his work and say "I put the card in my box this morning, but I don't have a land line phone at home, so I waited until I got to work to call you (becaus it's cheaper than calling from the mobile) - I've jotted down the details from my sky box to give to you - it's switched on an waiting back at home, can you activate?"

This sounds like a very reasonable story, and I don't think sky are too fussed about these free cards to be honest - they probably see this as an easy way to get people to upgrade once they see all the channels they CAN'T have. Registering a free card first is probably a really easy way to get them to give you a subscription card later. Once the free card is registered to a UK address getting them to send an upgrade card later will probably be very simple - without them suspecting that you are out of the country.

To answer your question: If you unsubscribe from Sky, then your viewing card turns into a FTV ("free-to-view") card which you can use to watch Channel 4, 5, etc. However, the Sky+ feature will stop working. In other words, you can't record and you can't play anything previously recorded. Try it out: Remove your Viewing Card and try to access previously recorded movies. It won't let you. In fact, you need to subscribe to at least 2 premium channels in order to get the recording feature, or pay £10 per month for it.

See here for details:

Alternatively, you could just get any free-to-air receiver with a hard disk built in (e.g. Dreambox) and use that instead of the Digibox. No monthly fees anymore, and the recorded stuff can be exported and burnt to DVD if you want to archive it. But the downside is, the EPG won't work anymore...

Nice one Mark. Note that a better mounting solution for many might be a vertical mount onto a paving stone because that way you don't need to drill into the building at all.... I can confirm that in 7 1/2 years of such a mount on my balcony it was never misaligned by high winds - even after the massive storm of New Year's 2000.


To Nicky - you should be able to cancel a Sky subscription and keep Sky+ but at a cost of a tenner a month for the recording functionality. However, it depends on who you speak to at the Sky call centre.

You might need to insist on speaking to a supervisor as (a) Not all assistants know that you can do it and (b) They are trained to use Sky+ as a carrot to keep you subscribed to their pay TV packages.


Gav

Hi,

I’m totally new to this forum. Found it by mistake when I was searching around for info on the "newish" M&S in Geneva.

Here's my tuppence worth on Marc's posting.

Most importantly IT IS NOT necessary to have a Sky Digibox to receive the the FTA channels beamed by Sky! Any digital receiver will do. If you do have a Digibox, then no card is necessary.

There are advantages and disadvantages to using a Digibox. With a Digibox the remote control has the renowned "red button" which comes into its own during events like the Olympics or the World Cup as it allows the viewer to access the interactive service sometimes giving the choice of different programs, e.g. choosing from 4 different athletic disciplines or between different semi-final games. I guess a universal remote control would overcome this shortfall with a normal digital receiver?

With a normal receiver it’s easier to program the channels in the order that you want them. The only way I’ve found to do this with the Digibox is by using the “favourites”, which is really clumsy.

For info, LNB stands for “Low Noise Box”. I would suggest doing some homework and buy a high sensitivity LNB. Don’t buy the crap that you can find e.g. at a Co-Op DIY shops.

I live in Canton Fribourg and have an old 80cm dish which gives good reception.

I bought my old Panasonic Digibox via Ebay from Germany for CHF 200 or so. Don’t pay more!

That’ll do for now.

Cheers

Piv

Hi Piv and welcome along. LNB is actually 'Low noise block' (not box) www.tech-faq.com/lnb.shtml and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-noise_block_converter

Ok, that was meant to be for Dummies... and, er...

Can anyone recommend a dealer/contact who's clued-up on all of this, allowing the Dummiest of Dummies to pop into the store and say "Here's the cash, where's the kit?" and walk home with all the nuts, bolts, LNBs, BBCs, ABCs, et cetera? My mate reckons this is a palaver on his own and thinks he'll probably come home with a Wok or something...