Tv question

[Ann-Marie]

Hi there. My parents have a villa in Carvoeiro and are not technically minded to say the least. They have had a very old Tv and sky for the past 6 years. The Tv has now turned into black and white and they only get certain channels through sky as they bring their sky card from home.
What is the best way to move forward if they bought a new tv? They don't want to pay a monthly sky fee and just don't know how else to get channels. They have been quoted over 200euros for 'a box?' This is supposed to give them a few channels eg itv bbc1 etc, the basic.
Can anyone help as my parents are just so confused what to do
Thanks x

[bookbabe]

There is no point in bringing your sky card with you. Sky moved their satellite over 2 years ago and since then no sky programmes have been available. Your best bet would be to get a MAG250 box which will give you all the UK TV programmes and the sky ones as well. It will require an internet connection and a router. There will be a charge for this and the router but at least you will be able to get UK television. PM me if you want further information but the Portugal News has lots of adverts for people who would be able to set up the systems for you.

[DaveK]

When all, or almost all, satellite channels went we moved to internet, firstly with Cabo and now with Meo. Using the IPTV box we get all UK channels and loads of others. Wifi is strong and connection is fine throughout the house. Problem is that as far as I am aware you will have to pay for the internet connection with your provider on a monthly basis and for IPTV also on a monthly basis. Go and talk to R J Technica on Estrada do Farol. Always had good service from them. Sorry, but I doubt you will get a service without a monthly fee. Good luck.

[Farol]

If they only want basic UK channels (BBC1, BBC2, BBC News, ITV & Ch4) then if they want to gamble a few euros then there is a way available to them.

Read the article here: http://www.satandpcguy.com/intelsat-bbc-satback/

If they have a 90cm dish get it turned to Intelsat 907 at 27.5 W - I did it myself.

Buy an Icecrypt S1600CHD box from ebay or maplin etc for say £50

Get the BISS codes from a site such as http://www.bb4s.com/en/intelsat-907-codes and follow the instructions on the web site on how to enter the codes.

The codes have not changed since late 2014 but can change without notice. However, when they do there are internet sites that publish the new codes within a day or two.

OK there is no guarantee this system will continue to work but for an outlay of say £50 and no ongoing charges at all it's worth a punt if all you want are the basics.

I've used it for the last few years without any problems at all

Marc Electrica on the Monchique road out of Portimao used to also supply, install & maintain the system (including the codes) if you don't want to do it yourself but don't know if they still do. They advertise in the Portugal News normally.

[analogman]

Further to the previous very helpful post by Farol, those using Satback might not be aware that the now defunct BBC3HD transponder spot is now delivering Channel5 HD. You will need to edit the Video PID to 6401 and the Audio PID to 6402 and change the name of course. This will vary depending on the receiver box you have. Additionally to Farol's list of course Film4+1 has been on there for the last year or so in SD with PIDs 7501 and 7502.

[sat]

There is no point in bringing your sky card with you. Sky moved their satellite over 2 years ago and since then no sky programmes have been available.

Most of the Sky Pay channels are on the European beam on the satellites, which gives generous coverage over Portugal. probably even better reception as to when they were on the older satellites.

FYI : Sky did not "move their satellite". Sky, and all the other broadcasters, rent space on the satellites, currently owned and operated by SES Astra of Luxemburg. Sky do not own or operate the UK TV satellites - a common mistake made. They were also not moved. The UK TV satellites are still in the same location (28.2 to 28.56 degrees) as they were when they were first launched back in 1998. However,the first batch of UK TV satellites (2a, 2b,2c 2d) were replaced with new satellites ( 2e, 2f, 2g) in the last 3 years. The new satellite have better beam shaping technology, and so reception of these new satellite differs from the old satellites...

But true that non Sky channels that you do not require a Sky viewing card for, like BBC ITV C4 and Fives, will be harder to receive, although not impossible. You simply need the correct sized dish for where you are. In some cases tho the size of dish required may be too large for the situation, in which case alternate methods would be required (like hacking into the intelsat feeds, or paying for the free channels on a mag systems)

[John Burgess]

You can always get the TV man I ussed to get british TV fron Gib did the lot and will up date code ect when nessceary all I did was pay and I have 4 TV
Hope this helps

[maccasa]

I have found the best way is to get a good wifi signal and use internet; I use a Vodafone mifi dongle on a €25.99/mth contract from Vodafone, which gives me wifi, 4G phone and internet TV using an amazon firestick or Mbox with Kodi app downloaded - you can buy these on E bay for £20-30 with Kodi downloaded onto it. That will give you almost every TV channel there is, including sky sports, sky movies plus all the latest cinema movies - watched Finding Dory (ugh), Secret life of pets, Ghostbusters and Jason Bourne last few days (baby sitting grandchildren!!), and of course Lewis Hamilton winning in Germany on Sunday .

[SJ & RE]

Hiya one and all

I am coming over to Cabanas de Tavira from first week of December til June 2017 and have been looking at all the different views on tv, mainstream channels, wifi and phone stuff.

I am not tech minded at all, however I know I shall want the following:

Brit tv, bbc1/2/4, itv/channel4/5
radio 1/2/3/4

Bonus channels
Movie channels like my SKY
atlantic/being able to watch Bones, Arrow, Flash etc

The apt owner says He said he has a satellite dish which picks up the main channels but could disappear at any time if the programmes are moved to another satellite, no idea what that means or what stations it picks up!!!
What does that mean ???!!!

For me to be able to still run my community led project I need the following
to phone UK Landlines, mobile use in Portugal to UK, WIFI, Internet for my emails and skype

No idea how to deal with this and costs etc and need it to be as cheap as possible in order to move over for 6 months
No idea what we shall need to see what is in place in the apt we shall be renting for any of the above.

Hope someone can make sense out of my ramble and give me some advice from above

Many thanks
xxxxx

[maccasa]

you need to go to a phone house or Vodafone/meo/nos shop and get the best deal for mobile wifi dongle. If the TV doesn't work you could always invest in a firestick or MMX box but you need to do that from the uk.

[SJ & RE]

Many thanks

It seems the apt has BBC1,2,4, channel 4 and a news channel.
I shall see how I get on re tv when I get out there, and then b4 Richard comes back out a fortnight later if I find the tv channels not enough, he can get the fire stick thingy.

Wifi and phones are going to be an issue a I do need to phone lots of people on UK land line and multiple txts on mobile, and lots of emails, for running my community run oil syndicate which I do every 6 weeks. Finding a cheap way of dealing with this is fundamental or I shall have to close the syndicate which will be difficult not only for me, but the householders who rely on me, which are over 140 households.
Cannot do it from the apt as the landlord does not wish for a contract re phone line set up.

[fmm]

As the others have said, something like a Vodafone sharing dock for the wifi access, and then use skype for the phone calls. Either direct skype to skype or you can dial phone numbers (mobile or landline).

I have an O2 phone, and I am charged something like £1.66 per day and for that I get 50Mb of data, and phone and texts - very reasonable.

[SJ & RE]

We have decided to see what the tv is like re reception when we get to Cabanas mid Dec and then see re wifi, dongles etc when we get there. No doubt I shall be doing a lot of 'Please help' posts and probably need someone to come and navigate it all for me. #
I find some of the shops and companies dealing with this out in Portugal are apt to make a load of money from nitwits like me and I cannot afford to waste a penny as 6 months renting is far from cheap.
Love and best wishes to one and all out there
xxxx

[SJ & RE]

Hiya

Tis me again and help needed.Mega please

We have had a great stay in the apartment in Cabanas for the last 6 months, where has the time gone.

The owners had a small dish with a box and we received brilliant service on BBC1,2,3,4,News,Parliament, CBBCC, BBC Ireland/wales,Scotland, Channel ITV 3, 4, 5, Film 4 plus 1 & a few other stats plus Portugal channels etc nd radio BBC1,2,3,4,5,6 etc. All worked well apart from when the weather goes horrendous we get scrambled.

I am moving to a full time permanent rental here in Cabanas for 2-3 yrs or so.
In this apartment it has a land line and internet access.
MEO I think it is. Again no idea of what any of this means.

I shall be purchasing tv's from the UK and bringing out.

I need a 42 inch approx for the sitting room and 2 x 30 inch approx for the bedrooms and a 24 inch approx for the kitchen all to go on the walls.
It would be good to get all the UK freebie channels, as above and perhaps more.
How do I get sky/atlantic/netfilx etc

I presume they need a 'box' for each tv is that Kobe or something?.

So please
1) What type of tvs should I look for
4k HD, or what please

2) If they have a box thingy for each one does that mean they run independently?

3) How do I get sky/atlantic/netfilx etc- (quite happy just for that in the sitting room and freebie channels in the other rooms).

As you can see not a bloody clue about how it works with the internet and landline for the tv's
4) what are the costs roughly for the stuff above.
Is any of it just a one off fee or are /is it a monthly fee for these things.

My internet//landline charges comes under my rental fee.

5) what are the pitfalls of internet use for all of this vs dish
Do I need both

What is the cheapest way to run 4 tv's in the apartment please

In fact any other questions I have not asked and so stupid did not know to ask

I await you tv/internet people users to help me choose the right way forward as this is a very expensive part of the move and addition to the apartment.

HELP HELP HELP

THANKYOU

XXXX

[davethegreat]

hi
give this guy a call, he can provide all Internet TV Sky TV etc very reliable and back up is excellent.
Mark on 915644484