Although I've gone through most of the other Sky related threads, I could not seem to get it clear on a few things:

I want to get Sky tv from the UK. I live in Lugano now. I don't know anyone from UK, nor have I ever lived there. Here's what I think I need to do, but I'm not quite sure...

1. Get permission from landlord.
2. Get a sat dish and stand. I assume I need something 80cm or more given my location. I want as much of the Sky channels as I can get (movies/sports, etc). I see the dishes at MediaMarkt and Coop and other places. Can I just get one of these? Is there particular ones that work better than others? Probably need a stand/mount as well.
2. Then, I think I just need to go to the Insat International website and order the box and card (likely Sky+). I assume they just mail the box and card to me. I also assume that Insat then sends me monthly bills for the subscription. Is this correct?
3. Hook up the LNB, run the cables, align it, and watch the channels.

Am I missing anything critical? (I realize 'aligning' can be a challenge, but I've done it in a different country before)

Something that is not clear to me... do I need to change the alignment of the dish to different satelites if I want to get different channels (through Sky). Or is it basically done once I align it the first time?

Thanks for your suggestions.

Murray

1) I wouldn't ask for permission. This is a subject we'd had here before. If you ask you are asking for a decision and the easiest answer is 'no'. If you mount is discretely on say a balcony on a stand no one need know or worry.

2) You can get the lot for under CHF150 from Fust or MediaMarkt - without stretching to a Sky box.

3) You can receive all the free to air channels on 'Sky' with any digital box. All you get with a Sky box is the EPS (Electronic Programme System) which allows you to see what coming some hours ahead, favourites etc. But a Sky box actually makes channel 4 and 5 hard to receive (on mine anyway). You can pay handsomely outside the UK for a Sky subscription - if that's what you really want. But google what's free to air first.

4) All 'Sky' channels can be received without moving the dish.

1) To my knowledge there is no need for permission unless you are getting a dish bigger than 90cm or attaching the dish to the wall (simply get a stand instead)
2) We got our dish from Mediamart - just explain what you want it for and they'll explain what you need to get.
3) Alligning the dish took about twenty minutes for us, someone posted a link to a site which tells you the direction from your address the dish needs to point.

One thing you will need a decoder box, you don't seem to have covered that?

Keep in mind that if you are talking about things like Sky Sports, Sky Movies etc, these are only available as packages from Sky, so you would need a Sky subscription, card and digibox.

However as AbFab says, you can get all the FTA channels using any receiver for no fee - you just won't get the Sky subscription ones.

Yes, sounds like you want all the channels, not just the free to air one's. Ideally you will need to have a UK address you can use for the subscription. There are companies that offer a system for you based here in in Germany, Spain etc.. but they charge the earth for this.

There is one other option which I can PM you.

One more Q, are you wanting just SD or HD (standard or high definition). And I guess you want a PVR (Personal video recorder - system with harddrive)

Sorry, I have looked around the threads, but they quickly get complex & a little muddy for a layman.

Forgive me, but can I just ask a quick n' simple Y/N question:

If I buy the sat dish & FTA box package from MediaMarkt (chf150 ish) will be able to receive Channel 4?

Ta.

Yes. Make sure you are picking up the Astra 2D satellite. There's loads of channel lists out there, here's one to get you started. (Bear in mind that list covers all satellites, not just Astra 2D).

Yes. And 4+1 and More4 and More4+1 and E4 and E4+1...

Have a look at freesat.co.uk this shold give you a better idea of what you can get.

But bear in mind NBP that a standard FTA box from MediaMarkt won't give you the HD channels or red button that you get with Freesat, or a full EPG, but will give you a few FTA channels not listed on the Freesat website.

At least that's my understanding of it - someone please feel free to jump in and correct me if I've got that wrong.

Check out eBay UK for Sky boxes as well. You might be able to save some money there. I bought our current box off of eBay without a problem.

Then you'll need to contact one of the many gray-market outfits listed on the other threads and get a quote from them for the package you want. IIRC, they charge about EUR 100/year extra (the German ones anyways) for the subscription. This shouldn't be a big deal for you if you're already looking at spending £57 or so per month for sports, movies, HD, etc.

You might find it's worth it to just use one of the gray-market sites to do everything (supply box and subscription). It's really up to you.

Firstly, thanks to everyone for your help.

To be honest, what I really want is to get more english language channels, with more of the typical North America programs. Sitcoms, weekly dramas, etc, etc.

We have Bluwin TV now. It is OK, but the channels we watch are ITV 1 through4, BBC 1 through 4, and Film4. That's about it (except news), and there really isn't that many typical N.America shows on those. I have been told (correctly, or incorrectly?) that if I get Sky (from the UK), I will get many more English speaking channels (from the UK), that broadcast many more of the typical weekly shows one would see in N.America (ie. Grey's Anatomy, ER, NCIS, etc, etc.) We can get some German or Italian channels that sometimes have these shows with the seperate English language track, but we find this is hit or miss. So, my assumption was that my only real option to get more of these programs, was to go with Sky.

So, this whole Free To Air thing is quite interesting. I really didn't realize how many channels there are. Seems like quite a lot...

So, the real priority is:
- as many english language channels with the typical weekly N.American shows as possible
- needs to have the recorder function.
- the tv guide/onscreen program is a definite plus, if possible.
- Needs to be able to recieve the appropriate signal in Lugano (someone posted this awesome site http://www.satbeams.com/footprints?beam=5223 in another thread, and my concern is that Lugano is outside the range shown on the map for Astra 2D. Most of the Northern and Western parts of Switzerland are within the beam, but Lugano is just outside... so I don't know how to interpret this....and whether or not a 90cm dish will be enough)
- The movie channels and other things (sports) are not as critical at this moment. If we can just get the regular weekly TV shows, I think we'll be in good shape.
- HD not a big priority (not even sure if my TV can really show HD or not... I'm a bit dumb about those things, and I know there is some technicalities with that.... It does have an HDMI connecter at the back, if that makes a diff...)


Do they sell decoder boxes at MediaMarkt that have recorders and can display the program guide?
Is it possible to have the program guide if you're just watching Free to Air channels?
IF I buy an FTA setup, and decide later to go with Sky, do I have to buy a seperate/special decoder box from them? Or just the subscription/card?

Sorry again for the dumb questions... I'm willing to try the FTA option, but would appreciate your thoughts/comments whether or not I am going to get the types of shows/programs I'm looking for.


Murray

Perhaps another dumb question...

I just notice that from http://www.satbeams.com/footprints?beam=5223 that

Astra 2A North
Astra 2A South
Astra 2B North
Astra 2B South
Astra 2C North
Astra 2C South
Astra 2D

All have exactly the same position in the sky, but different distribution patterns (on the map). I assume they're all the same satelite, just with different transmitters pointed at slightly different positions on Earth. Does this mean that once I align the satelite, that I typically could recieve channels from ALL of them at the same time (some may be stronger or weaker than others, depending on how the transmitter is pointed). But would I have access to ALL of the channels broadcast at once? Or do I have to reprogram my decoder box if I want to change from 2D to 2C (or something like that...)

Thanks for clearing the fog...

Murray

Depends on what shows you are looking for. I get more than enough shows with the combination of BBC, ITV, Channel4 and the Swiss channles (with dual/original language). For eg:

Heroes: BBC 2 or HD - only about 10 days behind the US.

Desperate Housewives: Channel 4 - only about 3 weeks behind the US.

Lost: TSR1 - started showing season 4 about 3 months later than the US, but by transmitting 2 or 3 episodes in a row each week, the season finale was barely a month after the US.

One Tree Hill: I think they just finished season 5 on TSR. (aired in the US in until May 2008)

Prison Break: on TSR, season 3 was only 2 months after the US.

Gossip Girl: Season 1 was on ITV (or channel 4?) last summer. Season 2 should be coming soon.

CSI: too many times during the week.. I can't keep track anymore.

House MD: TSR1 has finished showing season 4 last autumn. (currently season 5 in the US.) Season 5 should be here in the summer.

Comedies are a bit more difficult. They tend to show daily reruns...

It is hard to tell when the shows are coming - In general, the UK channels are the quickest but you don't get a lot of choice. Then TSR should show the shows about 6 months after the US, and SF2 will follow about 6 months after TSR... I would record whole seasons (as you can with Bluewin) and find myself with plenty to watch spread out over the year.

Gossip Girl starts tonight on ITV2.

Big thank you from Mrs. Axman !!

You might want to check out digiguide.com for an online TV listings guide. You can download the software for free and search listings to find the programs you like. It's primarily set up for UK channels so it won't help with Swiss TV, but it's pretty helpful.

I have a Sky HD receiver for sale if you are interested. A viewing card can be established but many companies here in Switzerland.

Hi Murray,
Sounds like you are going trhough all the issues that I am also facing in Lugano.. if you wouldn't mind e mailing me the final solution I would really apprecaite it. Then I do not need to bother anyone with a repeat thread of the whole story.
Many thanks,

I don't know the exact technical details (and it's not really necessary). By all means correct me if I get any of this wrong (but the concept at least should be correct if the detail not exact).

Basically for every satellite location i.e. Hotbird, Astra 1, Astra 2 etc... There will be one or more satellites (in geo-stationary orbit). Where there is more than one, the position is close enough that your dish will be able to pickup the 'group' without being moved. Obviously some will be better aligned than others (ideally you would want the weaker signals to be the primary focal point but I am not sure if they are in the centre or to one side).

The second point is each satellite will have a number of transponders. Each transponder will send X channels. Also the beam of each transponder can be focussed. For the BBC's etc... these are on a 'narrow' beam which is quite closely focussed on the UK. But does spill into Europe.

With the right equipment/know-how you could make the primary focus to be the narrow beam (weaker channels). I have some ideas how I would go about this, but in the end having the right equipment would provide the best results. Without this i.e. with just a Sky box, you can change the setup in the box for the signal meter to use for example the details for BBC1 then do your fine tuning with this. You have to access the 'installer menu' to change these settings.

The meter I have enables you to see the signals strength separated by frequency and polarity (4 options): high/low & horizontal/vertical. Some more sophisticated one's use an oscilloscope.

For dish size, you might struggle with a 90cm down there, but you may not be able to install a larger dish without building permission (mind you if it's inside your balcony then maybe you'll get away with it). VisioSat do a 120cm dish but not so cheap.

For the box, unless you want the 'SKY Sports' then I'd recommend the HUMAX Freesat HD PVR. This is only available in the UK (but companies will ship them here) cost around £300 (UK Pounds) which for a HD PVR is a good price (I think anyhow).

I also have a Sky+ box (with new 250Gb drive) for sale along with dishes, mounts, lnb's etc.. due to various upgrades etc..

The HD boxes also tend to have a better tuner which works better with weaker signals than non-HD boxes (generally but there are also differences between makes models etc.. i.e, some of the Pace Sky boxes were meant to have a better tuner).

In the end invest in the best kit (quality) you can afford and keep cable connections to a minimum (avoid the door/window flat cables which also add 2 more joints to go wrong... if possible). In several installations, I've converted a socket mounted on the inside of an external wall into a double socket so that I can easily bring the cable in without a join. Then when this is no longer needed, just added a socket blanking panel and filled the hole on the outside.