Can i get a digital signal in Spain?

[squirtle]

My sister has a house in Spain near Torrevieja and was ripped off after paying for a tv system supplied by a company called 'GBTVin spain'. Anyhow my question is.....if she purchases a dish and digital receiver from somewhere like Lidl who have the set on offer for �60 including fittings cables and signal tester, will she be able to receive any channels and if so then what?

I am sure she'll pick something up but is there any chance of there being any english channels or will it only be spanish tv?

Thanks to anyone who can help or advise

[pug100]

Hi squirtle,
Here is a list of the current free to air satellites available in northern Europe. Most aren't english I'm afraid.
http://en.kingofsat.net/tempfta.php

If you want to receive the Sky channels without a subscription then you'll still need a viewing card. This is a good site with some faqs towards the bottom. The second and third answers spcifically deal with freesat in spain and how to get a freesat card.

http://www.ukfree.tv/fullstory.php?*******=110 7051156

Hope this helps.

[pug100]

Also here for specific channels and dish sizes
http://www.ukfree.tv/helpme.php?faqid=2342

[squirtle]

Thanks for your links pug100 and i don't wish to be rude here as i appreciate your quick response, however i am not briliant at deciphering technical jargon and was kinda hoping for a more basic answer.

Someone i know purchased one of the sky dish/receiver/cable/tester units i was on about and just attached it to his house and he received freeview through it, so i just wondered if it was attached to a house in spain what it would be likely to pick up for free i. e similar to freeview over here or not?

Don't want to offend you but i just need simple info.
Thanks all the same and i will keep using links to try and work it out.

[Buenchico]

Nearly all of the 'interesting' English channels (i.e. the ones which aren't shopping channels, or similar) are on a satellite which has a very tight 'footprint' focussed on the UK. (Think of it like a spotlight beaming down at this country. Very little of the 'light' would stray either side of the beam). To get a signal from this satellite in Torrevieja you require a dish of around 2.4m diameter. Such dishes cost around �300, plus fitting by a specialist firm (which might well cost as much as, or more than, the dish). I don't know about Spain but, in the UK, planning permission is required for a dish of this size. Then you'd need a digibox to use with the dish. That set-up would enable you to receive a selection of TV stations roughly similar to the traditional UK analogue line-up plus a few extra channels and dozens of UK radio stations.

That system would be vastly improved by the purchase of a FreeSat card. These aren't sold outside of the UK but you could buy one and send it to your sister. They're sold by Sky for a one-off payment of �20. The system would then receive all of the FreeSat channels. The line-up is similar to, but not identical to, Freeview.

There is another satellite which has a much wider footprint. (Think of it as floodlights covering a wide area of Europe). The small dish in the Lidl package might pick up the signal from this dish but, unless your sister is addicted to shopping channels, there's nothing interesting to view.

Chris

[sqad617]

With a 3metre dish, which does not need planning permision, with a digibox and card (registered with a UK address, you will pick up ALL Sky satellite channels depending upon the package you choose to pay for. Some channels e.g ITV may break up late at night, but by includind ADDED CHANNELS this could be avoided. Size of dish is crucial

[squirtle]

Thanks to everyone who has answered and helped, i will pass on the info to her and she can decide from there.

Regards to everyone

Squirtle