Hi everybody! Just joined the forum with a particular question and I am happy I did - lots of good information here!

We have satellite dishes with hotbird/astra/eutelsat and a receiver with 1 card slot. This slot is occupied with a card that opens up tv stations from my wife's country. But my wife also wants to be able to watch swiss TV stations (at least a couple) to better integrate.

Fully support her, are there any swiss tv stations available for free on the satellites?

I am aware of Zatoo tv, cable, Swisscom... just want to see if the investment is required into some monthly service for an occasional swiss tv experience or we can go by free satelite stations... (especially that Billag already takes a good sum of money away)

many thanks!

Hi
We have Swiss TV via Hotbird 13 but had to pay a one off fee of 60 Chf for the decoder card. As far as I 'm aware these cards are available through all the big electrical outlets, Fust, Media Markt etc.

The TSR does a fabulous job at offering almost all their programs on the Internet (News, debates, documentaries etc...).
There is a show that is equivalent to 60 minutes called "Temps Present" that is excellent and addresses a lot of Swiss issues.
Also I watch the debates on Infrarouge.
I have a laptop connected to a TV and the quality is superb.

Thanks Elly, this is good to know! Just need to get a new sat receiver with 2 slots...

I don't think it's that easy. You need
either:
a receiver with a slot for a VIACCESS card
or:
a receiver with a CI slot plus a CI module for VIACCESS.

In either case you need a VIACCESS card from Swiss TV, which costs 60 CHF. The CI modules cost from 60 to 80 CHF. so it is better to get a receiver with a VIACCESS slot built in.
Have you considered instead trying to receive the DVB-T (terrestial) signals? I think all flat-screen TVs sold in Switzerland now have a DVD-T tuner built in, as there are no longer any analog programs broadcast here.

Hi Podge,
thanks for advising what to look out for..

As for a TV with a tuner, nope, don't have that in my TV (I bought it last year and yes, there was an option with DVB-T, but I opted out - I think it was some CHF300 more). But also I understand that there are HD swiss channels, so buying an HD-sat receiver would be a better idea, even though an expensive one? DVB-T - will this support HD?

No, DVB-T does not support HD.

Concerning HD sat receivers, I haven't yet found one with a built-in VIACCESS decoder so obviously you would need to get one with at least one CI slot plus the CI module for VIACCESS, also the VIACCESS card to as to be able to decode the Swiss programs. The available HD channels on satellite are few and far between, so I'm waiting before taking the plunge.

If you want to order the VIACCESS card from Swiss TV, see wwww.digitalesfernsehen.ch

Have a look at Humax HDCI-2000 receiver. Takes 2 smartcards (including Viaccess). At the moment we can access SF HD and BBC HD. Have found quality of both to be excellent especially for sport.