# TV Reception in France



## haggisbasher (May 1, 2005)

Good Morning Campers - hubby and I are off to France for the first time with 'Ruby' and are wondering what we need to receive UK TV channels. 

Have read so much about satellite dishes, satellite footprints etc. but it is all so confusing and if we don't watch out we may end up paying loads of money for something fancy when we could have got something just as good for half the money - my Scottish nature kicking in here!!

Our van is 2 years old and has a digital tv with manufacturer's aerial on roof which we turn to find best signal when in UK.

Can anyone recommend a system? Off to the show at Peterborough end of April and suppose we could look there but again might be fleeced.

regards
haggisbasher


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## C7KEN (May 27, 2005)

I think if i were you and not intending to venture too often if ever down as far as Spain then I would get a free to air receiver like the small one sold by maplin and also lidl in the camping satellite in a case set.Its made by silvercrest and is 12v with a built in sat finder which works extremely well. Match that to a Maxview or Camos crank up through the roof dish and you will get plenty of UK TV in France. Down here you will get all the news channels, true movies etc. but will lose BBC and also ITV as you get further south.However there is still plenty to keep you in touch with the UK. Check with Shane at Snellyvision for a dish and installation or if he is too far away and you can handle a bit of easy DIY check out outdoor bits on here where as a subscriber you will get a discount . (I am also a Scot)


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## dikyenfo (Feb 16, 2008)

I have the same set-up with a hard drive linked to it. Don't forget to search all networks and all fta channels when you do first ops. This way you should find everything you need. It will be worth looking at the other sats and doing the same search and this will give you many options more than those with Sky boxes-nasty things.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

haggisbasher said:


> Good Morning Campers - hubby and I are off to France for the first time with 'Ruby' and are wondering what we need to receive UK TV channels.


Don't forget Haggisbasher you can get terrestrial UK TV on a reasonable 'coat hanger' type ariel from Dunkirque to Dieppe and then all down the western coast of the Cherbourg Peninsular to Mt. St. Michele.

Ray.


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## Coulstock (Sep 2, 2008)

Yes but -no but - if I have a ATV/DTV TV linked up to my Status 530 and I stick up my aerial (in an appropriate direction ) and do an 'Autotune' on ATV or DTV - what do I get ???

Do I get the :

a. Analogue terrestrial French channesl (Canal 1 etc )

b. Do they 'have' digital terrestrial channels in France ??


Puzzled - but not bothered

Harry


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## Roger7webster (Oct 10, 2006)

There is digital TV in France and you can pick it up using your Uk set up just retune as for "first installation"


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## Coulstock (Sep 2, 2008)

Roger7webster said:


> There is digital TV in France and you can pick it up using your Uk set up just retune as for "first installation"


Well - I'd never heard that before - so :

a. Is that just a digital implementation of the current French analogue channels ?

b. OR - are there additional channels available as in Freeview UK ??

Anybody got any hands on experience out there ???

Thanks

Harry


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Coulstock said:


> Well - I'd never heard that before - so :
> a. Is that just a digital implementation of the current French analogue channels ?
> b. OR - are there additional channels available as in Freeview UK ??
> Anybody got any hands on experience out there ???Harry


Hi Harry.
France went digital last November and stopped all analogue channels.
The French terrestrial digital is called TNT just like in UK it's called Freeview. Most modern TVs will seek and find both if you set it to digital search.

We have two modern flat screen TVs here in Normandy and get 18 French digital channels in French but retain the old analogue channels from Jersey till next November.

Ray.


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## hogan (Oct 31, 2006)

C7KEN said:


> I think if i were you and not intending to venture too often if ever down as far as Spain then I would get a free to air receiver like the small one sold by maplin and also lidl in the camping satellite in a case set.Its made by silvercrest and is 12v with a built in sat finder which works extremely well. Match that to a Maxview or Camos crank up through the roof dish and you will get plenty of UK TV in France. Down here you will get all the news channels, true movies etc. but will lose BBC and also ITV as you get further south.However there is still plenty to keep you in touch with the UK. Check with Shane at Snellyvision for a dish and installation or if he is too far away and you can handle a bit of easy DIY check out outdoor bits on here where as a subscriber you will get a discount . (I am also a Scot)


This is the exact set up I have with a Maxview wind up 66cm dish and can get all UK freeview channels as soon as I get out of Spain and into france.Not to mention hotbird,German astra,and a load of others I dont bother with.


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## Coulstock (Sep 2, 2008)

hogan said:


> C7KEN said:
> 
> 
> > This is the exact set up I have with a Maxview wind up 66cm dish and can get all UK freeview channels as soon as I get out of Spain and into france.Not to mention hotbird,German astra,and a load of others I dont bother with.
> ...


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## hogan (Oct 31, 2006)

Coulstock said:


> hogan said:
> 
> 
> > C7KEN said:
> ...


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## derek500 (Oct 31, 2005)

Coulstock said:


> what the thread was discussing was what do you get in France with a Status 530 and a DTV with built in Freeview


It went off topic then. The OP asked this


> hubby and I are off to France for the first time with 'Ruby' and are wondering what we need to receive UK TV channels.


.


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## Coulstock (Sep 2, 2008)

Apologies to derek500 (for nicking his thread) and hogan for being so flippant.

However to restore order - if I considered some 'sat dish' + 'sat receiver' solution to viewing UK TV while abroad -as far as the dish solution is concerned I'd recommend the 'external dish on a tripod' solution for the following reasons:

a. No cutting any holes in my van and I'd therefore retain my Status 530 aerial.

b. Objective recommendation by a fellow MHF member ( Exmusso) who has I think done about >40K miles in Europe (as far south as Sicily) and when I visited him last year he had no hesitation in recommending the 'external dish on a tripod' solution. I think this solution also has merit where you might end up parked where some line of sight object would block a 'van mounted' dish.

Harry


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## hogan (Oct 31, 2006)

No problem Coulstock  
The stand alone tripod would be the cheapest and easiest and you dont have to worry about parking the van in line of sight of the satt.

But I went for the wind up through the roof (as I am lazy) Also most of my camping is wild so did not want things lying around outside.


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## derek500 (Oct 31, 2005)

Coulstock said:


> Apologies to derek500 (for nicking his thread) and hogan for being so flippant.
> 
> However to restore order - if I considered some 'sat dish' + 'sat receiver' solution to viewing UK TV while abroad -as far as the dish solution is concerned I'd recommend the 'external dish on a tripod' solution for the following reasons:


No problems. I started with an 'external' dish, but was finding we were more than likely wanting to watch when we arrived somewhere in the dark/cold/wet.

It's not fun!!

We've got a Crank-up. OK you need a small hole in the roof, but it does not mean you can't have your TV aerial too. You can put it anywhere on your roof where there's space above and a small space below for the handle.

It's just so easy when you arrive to get a picture within a couple of minutes, without having to go outside.


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## haggisbasher (May 1, 2005)

Phew - didn't realise how much interest my question would raise! Thank you all for taking the time to make your points, which we will digest at our leisure. :roll: 

As we are only going to France for 6 weeks I think I can live without Holby, Casualty etc. and just see what we have already installed in the van brings in!!

Thanks again

haggisbasher


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## eribiste (May 1, 2005)

We bought a cheap tripod and dish and a length of satellite grade cable to connect up to a Sky box, along with an inexpensive satellite finder gadget There's a bit of fiddle faddle needed to find the right satellite, but the more times one does it the better one gets at it. Here's my lash-up at work in Provence.


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