Satellite TV is an area of life where size really does matter!

A small 60/80cm dish (similar to SKY dishes in UK) will get some SKY channels but not many but it will NOT get any mainstream (BBC/ITV/4/5) channels. Depending on location a 1.00m dish will usually receive some of the FREESAT channels and a few more SKY - but agin NO mainstream ones.

A 1.35 offset dish can receive all the mainstream channels and most of SKY – but it is very marginal ........... the BBC / ITV regions vary in strength and you may not get the region you would like.  We at Rainbow will not fit this dish as the reception is so marginal

 

A 1.45 prime focas dish will recieve most of the FREESAT and SKY channels but it is again marginal on many. It is the choice if space for mounting is limited.

 

A 1.80m dish will get most of the UK channels available with a margin for some bad weather and turbulence.  It is the prefered choice for good reliable reception. It must be floor mounted on a substantial concrete pad whereas the smaller dishes can often be wall mounted.  The extra cost over the 1.45 is far outweighed by the increased performance.

 

Larger dishes - 2.4 / 3.2 – are available but in general the additional cost does not warrant the marginal increase in performance – ask us for more details.

Signals do vary.  Satellites do change. Channel transmissions are often swapped around the system – the above dish size guide is a guide only. Please contact us for up to date information  before you commit to a system.

Location is critical in 3 distinct ways – where your property is,  the type of property and the possible positions for a dish.

Property location ........ Signals vary in strength just within the Murcia region – reception data is different in Los Alcazares to Lorca to Calispara – so you will need an up to date assessment of location before designing a system.

Type of property is critical. A finca in the campo with acres of land will have  no trouble installing a 1.80m dish – a fourth floor apartment in a 12 storey block with private roof terraces will almost certainly not have a location for a larger dish. 

A town house in a terrace with sloping roofs may have trouble with any size of dish. An ideal wall for a dish with close proximity to the television set may seem the perfect location but that palm tree in the line of sight to the satellite may just block signal!

Living on the top of a hill or in the bottom of a valley makes no difference to reception – it’s the line of sight to the satellite that counts.
 
We suggest that if you are buying a property contact us BEFORE you finally commit – we will carry out a survey and advise on both reception data in the area and the possible locations for a dish. Leaving it until you have purchased may be too late – UK TV may not be possible.

Once your system is installed beware of that growing tree in front of the dish – install a pergola in the wrong place and the TV may go blank !

As we have previously stated there are two systems available here to watch UK TV – SKY and FREESAT.
There are a range of boxes for both systems but beware – with our weak signal strengths not all work well over here – tuners vary in quality – all fine in the UK but not here. It is not a matter of price alone – some of the better known makes of SKY box are some of the worst performers.
 

FREESAT; run by the BBC/ITV – has no ongoing costs after installation and has all the major channels on its network.

There are three main types of digibox

 
FREESAT  SD
FREESAT  HD
FREESAT  HD PLUS.
 

SKY; in which you pay monthly as  in the UK – opens many more channels including SKY SPORTS – the reason many people subscribe.

We can now offer a complete SKY viewing package at substantially reduced rates - contact us for details.

SKY also has three types of boxes

SKY HD
SKY HD PLUS
SKY HD PLUS 3D

All the SD and HD boxes are similar basic boxes with picture definition differences. PLUS boxes can record one channel whilst you watch another or record two channels if you are not watching along with being able to pause live TV and many other features.  The ECHOSTAR FREESAT has Slingbox built in – access the box and your recordings from anywhere in the world !

 SKY 3D has 3D built in but you will need a 3D TV and there are not so many transmissions yet.

Contact us to discuss the latest and best option for you.

Rebooting of SKY digiboxes - changing the "default transponder" is now a thing of the past ............. plug in and go !      However in bad weather a default transponder reboot may be necessary so we have left the proceedures on the website .........................

 

SKY HD digibox reboot procedure

Use only if no channels being received and the message “no satellite signal being received ………..” is all you can get on screen after a mains power outage.

Press               “ SERVICES ”

Go Right 1       “ HIGHLIGHT SPANNER “

Go Down 1      “ ENTER SPANNER “

Press                “ 0,   1,   SELECT ”  in quickish succession

Go Right 2        “ ENTER DEFAULT TRANSPONDER “

Go Down 1 and the number in the highlighted box will probably be “ 11778 ”

If it is not then press the "RED" button to make it "11778"

“GREEN” button to save it

Press   “BACK UP” 4 times

On screen you will get the message: “SEARCHING FOR LISTINGS – PLEASE WAIT”

After a while you will get Channel 998 listed in the bottom box – you may get a full picture, a broken picture or a central banner “No Satellite Signal” – non of these matter – once you have 998 you can then go and do any normal channel selection.

 

SKY SD digibox reboot procedure
 

Press       “ SERVICES ”
                  “ 4 ”
                  “ 0,   1,   SELECT ”  in quickish succession
                  “ 2 “

The number in the top box will probably be “11778”

If not press the "RED" button to make it "11778"

Followed by “ SELECT ”

Go down and highlight the bottom box

“SAVE NEW SETTINGS”   and    press “SELECT”

Press   “BACK UP” 4 times

On screen you will get the message “SEARCHING FOR LISTINGS – PLEASE WAIT”

As long as you have the “TIME & DATE” at the bottom right “things are happening” After a while you will get Channel 998 listed in the bottom box – you may get a full picture, a broken picture or a central banner “No Satellite Signal” – non of these matter – once you have 998 you can then go and do any normal channel selection.

 

 

Recieving TV by the Internet is now a reality worldwide. NO DISH REQUIRED

We can supply boxes that connect to Routers & TV'S and will show a full range of programmes.

UK IP addresses are NOT necessary.

Computer is NOT necessary.

Please contact us directly for full details

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good A1 internet is required from a supplier who will support internet TV - not always easy in Spain but it is getting better - Mazarron town has recently gone fibre optic with 20MBs available !

 

Internet TV is the way forward ............ all TV will be delivered this way within 20 years !

Rainbow can install Spanish TV for your property – this is generally received from a standard digital TV antenna. As in the UK Spain is all digital now and you will need a digital decoder – built into new TV’s or a separate digibox for older analogue TV’s.

There are some 25 TV and 15 radio channels ............. all good for improving your language skills !  Formula One is shown in its entirety free (whereas half the transmissions in UK are on SKY pay) and any films / programmes originally made in UK / USA are generally available with the English original soundtrack.



 

Rainbow installs TV for most European nationalities

German, French, Dutch, Italian, Bulgarian and Russian have been recently installed by us and It is often necessary to obtain a digibox and paid subscription in the original country but we have data for most European countries.

Please contact us for details

 

 

If you would like to receive our bulletin by email please use the contact form above. We will not release your email to any third party or send you anything other than our bullitins.

 

All things TV in Spain ! View this email in your browser     Rainbow Satellites          TV Newsletter MAY  2017 For regular readers all is well at the Rainbow Satellites household. Strange without our cat that wandered the household and ruled the dogs for some 19 years but as reported last month she passed away peacefully in Trevor`s lap one evening. Then chaos ! Serena the foster dog arrived ......... we will be having here for about a month until here forever home is found. Young dog full of life .......... keeps us all on our toes including our own two dogs who are getting a little old ! Do you like dogs but not want the responsibility of owning one and the full time commitment they demand then have you considered fostering ? Short and longer term dogs need you before finding a home .............. very rewarding and very difficult to let them go but there will always be another needing you for a short session of training and love ! Contact us for any more details.   TV NEWS .................. Firstly we do now have a FACEBOOK page along with TWITTER and INSTAGRAM accounts .............. you can contact us through any of those - "RAINBOW SATELLITES" The big TV news is that many of you watch subscription TV through a system the industry call "CS" ......... the pictures and sound come from a satellite dish but the internet is used to "open" the locked and coded channels. This system has been running for some 10 odd years but the industry feels it is rapidly coming to a close. At the time of writing some channels are unavailable on the system and we feel many more , over a period of time , will cease to become available - this is subscription TV only - FREESAT channels (BBC/ITV/4/5/etc) are not affected.   The system has questionable legality and was bound to go out of service one day. There are alternatives and we at RAINBOW SATELLITES have them in place if you are experiencing any issues with your present provider. Generally fully internet based systems will need a good and consistent internet supply. As a last resort we can always take you back to "official" systems - expensive but perfect viewing (and no more expensive than you would have to pay in the UK !!!) Internet TV (IPTV) is the way forward for all TV viewing. The quality and the technology behind both internet supply and internet TV has progressed enormously over the last few years and very few current IPTV subscribers have problems that were very prevalent back in the early days. However you receive your TV  you should start to consider the internet options as it will be the only way in the not too distant future.   As with all things in life there are very many options to internet TV and so many people have had bad experiences - trying to use an ANDROID type box being one of the major ones ! Get your experienced TV installer to show you the options and ease of use .............. great value "internet TV box" on the market stall today - just a pity no one seems to know how to use  it !!!! If you are considering buying a property down here get an experienced TV installer to assess your TV options - sometimes there are none ! and equally important get a reputable internet supply company to check the internet supply possibilities - it`s too late once you have bought to find neither are available.  We at RAINBOW SATELLITES have an inclusive internet TV package that is easy to use with no computer or “geek” operator needed to watch an inclusive pack of TV , catch up TV , films and box sets.………… Android type boxes are free to operate but a real pain to use !   MAY OFFER : with internet TV in mind subscribe in MAY for IPTV  (and have a full reliable channel list including sports and movies) and get 12 months for the price of 11  -  quote offer "MAY17" when contacting us. .................. Still getting lots of reports from clients who are having problems with FREESATPLUS recording boxes – recording twice or not at all or odd channels not scheduled !   The frequency that controls all this is now very weak down here --- the only answer is to maximise that signal and if that is not possible then a bigger dish ……. If you are having problems call us in for a look. It does not apply to SKYPLUS as this uses a different frequency that is now stronger down here !    Article sponsored by RAINBOW SATELLITES – the company for all your TV needs in the Murcia region of southern Spain. We have been installing here for some 20 years now ! Contact us for free friendly advice on all matter TV – rainbowsats@gmail.com – (0034) 686 358 475 – or our website www.rainbowsats.org has lots of good basic information.

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