Satellite TV in a field in France

[Steve TTTD]

With both the World Cup and the race on TV I'm thinking of investing in a mobile satellite setup for this year..
How does it work?
There's a kit that you can buy in Maplins which is basically a plug and play setyup that comes with a dish, decoder and stuff and gets Free To Air programmes.
There's another kit I've seen which has the dish, a satellite finder and room to store a digibox..

So now I'm confused..

Is FTA the same as Freeview, in which case that takes care of the Football, but what about Motors TV...?
Is that FTA or only available witha Sky subscription?

If it needs a Sky subscription how do you avoid paying for a full year when you only want a couple of weeks in the year and can you buy a second hand digibox and use that?

Anyone know the  way through all this?

Steve

[Robbo SPS]

With both the World Cup and the race on TV I'm thinking of investing in a mobile satellite setup for this year..
How does it work?
There's a kit that you can buy in Maplins which is basically a plug and play setyup that comes with a dish, decoder and stuff and gets Free To Air programmes.
There's another kit I've seen which has the dish, a satellite finder and room to store a digibox..

Is FTA the same as Freeview, in which case that takes care of the Football, but what about Motors TV...?
Is that FTA or only available witha Sky subscription?

If it needs a Sky subscription how do you avoid paying for a full year when you only want a couple of weeks in the year and can you buy a second hand digibox and use that?

Motors TV is ONLY available on SKY  and comes with the premium sports package.

No idea aboput plug and play items from MAplins.

We take MY sky box and card and plug it into our travelling dish. We managed to aquire a devise for assisting searching the satelitte.

If your wanting to watch the footy, then feel free to come over to ours, My brother is footy mad.

[DelBoy]

Motors TV is ONLY available on SKY  and comes with the premium sports package.

Sorry, Robbo -it's only on Sky, but it does not come with the premium sports package.

It comes with the 'News and Events' mix.  If you get the premium channels, all the 'mixes' come with it.

Del

[Robbo SPS]

SKY lied to me when i thought about down grading !!!


Bar stewards

[DelBoy]

I agree - they are.

I downgraded a few months ago - but beware, if you zap both premium channels (films and sport) then you pay an extra £10 per month on top of the cost of your 'mix' choice to use the sky+ facilities.

Del

[Robbo]

I'm looking into this too!!!
Lots of very helpful stuff: www.satcure.co.uk
Looks like you need a minimum 60cm dish angled at 28.668 degrees.

[Steve Pyro]

A couple of years ago I donated a standard Sky minidish to Robbo and the SPS crew.
As I like to provide maximum smiles per mile, I fitted and aligned the dish at his encampment in MB - and a pretty good picture came beaming down.

If you're able to align to 3 decimal places (28.668 degrees) then more power to your spanners.
It's far easier to get a satellite signal strength meter and set it up that way.

Elevation needs to be just a bit steeper than the south of England (LM is nearer the Equator!) and compass bearing is slightly east of south - towards that big clump of trees on the far horizon visible from MB (if the ACO haven't felled them).

But I say, f**k the football, I'm there for the motor racing.

[Lorry]

I agree.  And I've given up on the whole idea of TV, as if I could get MotorsTV, I'd never get as far as the track, and should have stayed at home.

The odd DVD on Friday night is another matter

[DelBoy]

All very technical and precise - but when you come to adjust the dish, you'll find the adjustment mechanism very un-sensitive - just a large clamp bolt around the pole and similar for the tilt.  By the time you've tightened up the bolts, the angle of tilt or bearing has changed a couple of degrees, and you have to start over.

I have an 85cm dish, and when I camped last year at a place about the same distance down as LM, I couldn't find Motors TV - got most of the rest though.  I have to add that when I get onto a site, the last thing I do after setting up the 'van is to set up the dish - and I'm usually a few stubbies in by that time, and as long as I could get EastBlenders (or whatever it is she watches), that was good enough for me.  Also, the larger the dish, the more precisely it has to be set up (I bought the 85cm one for a lot further down south).

The problem at LM is getting the dish clear of the trees (ask JPC).  If there is any sort of vegetation between the dish and the satellite, forget it.  

It is not impossible, but not all that easy either; and like everything else, it gets easier the more you do it (ooooeeer Mrs D!!).  I would suggest a few practice sessions in the UK before you go.  The Satfinder gizmo is worth it's weight in gold - you don't have to keep running back to the TV to see if you've got the signal.  Got mine from scottishkelpie on *bay - £20 including an in-line amplifier.

Del


Edit:  Steve beat me to it.  The 'few degrees' is actually about 30 degrees east of south.

[USAJohn1]

do the hospitality tents have TV coverage?  Are they worth the money? I saw where some Brits have a "Pub" with a membership fee of 20 euros or so, and then you buy your food and drink.  Any experienced users out there?

[BigH]

Welcome and howdy, USAJohn1!
The Hospitality tents are very inhospitable if you ask me, and you'l end up getting stitched like a kipper in Grannies cardigan. Last year, one was modelled on the Houses of Parliament, called the English Pubbe, and ran out of beer 10 minutes after the race started. My local MP was caught in the bushes behind the whole shebang with his todger out! The food will have been sweating in a Tupperware box for about a week, and the barman will look as if he's been doing the same in a wheeliebin parked next to a roaring fire. The beer, if there's any left, will be warm, a brand unheard of, and overpriced; and can anyone tell me the point of sitting in a tent watching the action on a piddling little screen, when the real thing is just outside.
There are plenty of bars around the track, in fact you'll be tripping over them, and the beer will be cold and fresh. If you can still see, and stand, after satisfying yourself as to the freshness and cooling qualities of the French lager, then you can see the action on the giant screens that are on the pits straightaway.
Hope this helps, enjoy the race!
H

[powermite]

is there any coverage on eurosport this year or has MotorsTV got it stitched up.Weve always managed to get eurosport on the sat.set up.
If we are to try to get Motors TV I assume i'll need my sky box with viewing card.Is this correct?
cheers
PM

[jpchenet]

is there any coverage on eurosport this year or has MotorsTV got it stitched up.Weve always managed to get eurosport on the sat.set up.
If we are to try to get Motors TV I assume i'll need my sky box with viewing card.Is this correct?
cheers
PM

Spot on PM!!

[redstu]

Hi John

You may have found http://www.speedchills.com/lm2006.htm

I used it in 2004 and unless you are in Beausejour, its too far from anywhere else to be worth considering.
 It was ok though but the food was limited.

I heard reports that in  2005 it was  poor (pistonheads website).

Its sold out this year though so not an option anyway!

[termietermite]

But I say, f**ck the football, I'm there for the motor racing.

Absof**king lutely!