So I understand Sky works and one can bring the box (and maybe the dish) and keep paying using your UK card. Does anyone have experience with Sky's Indian cousin Tata Sky? Did you install it in Switzerland and still get all your Indian channels (plus the free Swiss channels if there is such a thing

Sounds difficult technically. Every satellite has a so-called footprint. This means the signal beam is focussed on a particular area. For the Sky beam that would mean the transmitter on the satellite has been oriented to point towards the UK. The further you get from the point that it is focussed on, the weaker the signal gets, ie you may need larger dishes or more powerful boosters to pick it up properly, and at some point you will lose the signal altogether.

For UK reception in Switzerland this isn't really an issue, as on a global scale Switzerland isn't too far from the UK and the difference in signal quality is minimal. However, the distance from India to Switzerland is much larger so unless you are prepared to invest in some mega-sized dish and booster system you probably won't be able to pick up a useful signal. That is, if indeed there is a line of sight from Switzerland to the transmitting satellite at all. If there isn't such a line of sight, there is no signal at all, and even the best equipment won't help.

All the INSAT satellites are below the horizon from here so you cannot access them.

Ah thanks for the info folks. I guess that's one less item to pack then.

I would leave your SKY dish behind. Just bring the box.

You will have to buy a bigger dish to receive SKY (UK version) here.