Using a Satellite Receiver To Watch UK TV From Abroad
Many
people moving abroad decide to pack their Skybox and Viewing Card in
the hope that they will be able to set them up when they settle
abroad.
This is a sound assumption and although the Astra 2d beam at 28.2East that carries the main channels is tightly focused on the UK and requires very large dish sizes (up to 4m in Southern Europe) there are some channels still broadcast from stronger transponders on Astra that only require a smaller dish depending on where you are.
There are a few tips and tricks available to receive programmes from a stronger transponder and not via the EPG which tries to tell you that you cannot receive a satellite signal (wrong!). See the right column of this page for manually tuning ITV and Channel 4 from weaker signal areas.
The image above gives you an idea of how the signal strength deteriorates as you move down across Europe into Africa or The Middle East and how the dish size you need increases.
Any set top box using digital satellite will receive UK TV from the Astra Satellite according to the signal strength available and should work from abroad when connected to the right size dish as well
It is important to note that the quality of your cable and your LNB have a bearing on the quality of your signal. Our recommended equipment for maximum reception is available HERE...
If you have a Skybox but need the new issue Viewing Card sent to you abroad you can obtain them from a web based service. For our recommended supplier click HERE... Or if you need to buy a new skybox click here
Useful Links
A Little Known Way of Manually Tuning a Skybox to Receive Some of the Channels Not Available on the EPG
Start By selecting Services . System Setup and Add
Channels
The Menu you arrive at has 5 items on it
Key in the following frequency 12.402 and leave the other
sections unchanged
Use the down button on your remote to scroll down to Find
Channels and press select
A number of channels will then come upon your screen and for
each one that you want press the yellow
button on your remote
You can then access these channels from the services menu by selecting
services > other channels
Repeat
this process using the frequency 12.480 and you should now have access
to ITV 1 regional programmes and the Channel 4
stable from a
stronger transponder - enjoy
BBC News Interactive Red Button. Live Sports On Your Digibox
Unlike BBC 1 The BBC News channel is broadcast from a stronger transponder and carries live sporting events such as F1, Wimbledon etc. Just go to channel 503 press the red button go to Sports Index > Sports Multi-screen and select what you want to watch. Couldn't be easier!