# FTA Satellite from Lidl



## pennypincher (19 Aug 2005)

I've just seen that Lidl are due to sell a FTA satellite dish and receiver.Is there any difference between buying this and getting a Sky active card?Has anyone bought one of these before.


----------



## legend99 (19 Aug 2005)

FTA will get you a specific list of channels including all the BBC channels, Sky News, ITV News etc. gets you lots of other crap religion channels and shopping channels and radio stations.
As these sat. decoders do not have a slot for a subscription card etc. thats pretty much it. 
So no, its not like Sky alas.


----------



## hansov (19 Aug 2005)

Yeah I bought one the last time. You get all the FTA (free to air) channels, which when pointed at Astra 2 gives you BBC1,2,3 and 4, BBC News, ITV News, ITV3, Ceebies, Extreme sports, Sky News, CNN and a lot of other (some useless) channels. You will not get RTE1, 2 TV3, TG4, ITV, C4, C%, Sky One etc.

Point it at Hotbird and you get a host of Italian and southern Mediterranean channels. I think that there are about 20 satellites that cover (have a footprint in) Ireland. This time around Lidl seems to be selling a package - the last time they sold each component separately. The dish size this time around seems to be smaller than the last time. Satellite opens to world of "other TV" to you. The best few bob I have spent.

HOWEVER! and there has to be a however, you can be lucky and find the satellite say Astra 2 easily (it's signal is pretty powerful) or you can end up tearing your hair out for hours. The satellite meter is handy for this. Just remember that a movement of just one degree of the dish on earth equates to a large distance in space. There is a satellite forum on boards.ie that is very helpful. And the second however is that you have to get the package. Lidl q's on satellite days are often horrendious.


----------



## MissRibena (19 Aug 2005)

I was thinking of getting one of these or something like them but know diddly squat about satellites etc.   I have heard about the ones with the subscription card slots - do Aldi or Lidl ever do these kinds of ones or do you have to get them elsewhere?

Rebecca


----------



## hansov (19 Aug 2005)

MissRibena: As far as I know, Lidl never do the "boxes with da slots". I knew nothing about satellite before now (okay some would say that I know nothing now either  ). So if you have a spare 99 yoyos it could be well spent! And there is a good second-hand market for receivers if you want to upgrade. The "boxes with the slots" aka digiboxes allow one to pick up ITV and C4 if you have a UK activated Sky card. This is an area that somebody on here might have more info on (and then I can become the expert  ).


----------



## legend99 (19 Aug 2005)

CAM is the term AFAIK that describes a box with a card slot.


----------



## ClubMan (19 Aug 2005)

throws up some potentially useful links.


----------



## mmclo (22 Aug 2005)

Just remember that a movement of just one degree of the dish on earth equates to a large distance in space. 

We've come a long way from twidling the rabitt ears


----------



## legend99 (22 Aug 2005)

mmclo said:
			
		

> Just remember that a movement of just one degree of the dish on earth equates to a large distance in space.
> 
> We've come a long way from twidling the rabitt ears



We haven't really...its still the only way to get RTE for free...you have to pay mr. Murdoch to get RTE from sat. after paying your TV licence...


----------



## ClubMan (22 Aug 2005)

legend99 said:
			
		

> We haven't really...its still the only way to get RTE for free...you have to pay mr. Murdoch to get RTE from sat. after paying your TV licence...


Just to clarify, you need the _TV _license regardless - i.e. even if you are using "rabbit ears".


----------



## Jenny_H (22 Aug 2005)

Hi there,


Are there adult channels available on this dish or on other non Sky dishes on sale in Ireland? If yes, how can they be blocked? Wouldn't want the little Hs watching unsuitable material.


----------



## TarfHead (22 Aug 2005)

> Are there adult channels available on this dish



AFAIK - Yes. I know someone who bought one of these, from LIDL, last year and has not 'tuned in' many of the available channels as he doesn't want the 13-year old in the house to stumble over them.


----------



## ClubMan (22 Aug 2005)

Aren't there parental controls on these receivers?


----------



## Betsy Og (23 Aug 2005)

The Lidl dishes have, apparently, been crap in the past.

Have Sky FTA and its not bad when combined with a conventional arial to get the 4 Irish channels. Good for the BBC's, Sky News, ITV, CNN. Have bought a "Yellow House" card on E-Bay in the UK, this is supposed to give me UTV and Channel 4 on a free to air basis (plus other rubbish I already have or dont want). Its in the post so I'll let ye know how I get on. There was a thread here recently from successful purchasers of this card. Cost about €50 on conversion and is supposed to be guaranteed for 3 years.

Also bear in mind:

You can get an attachment for a dish, forget the name, but it give you 4 "feeds" off the dish. Therefore potentially 4 diff satellite channels in diff rooms. You would need 4 boxes though to use this fully though. We have a Sky box and a Lidl box, yet to put the Lidl box going but it should work - As Bruce Springsteen nearly said " 57 channels and 1 TV!"


----------



## ribena (23 Aug 2005)

I don't know that you're right about getting 4 feeds from your dish.  I think you're talking about a splitter that lets you feed your signal in to 4 different rooms but you can only watch the same channel as the one your dish is tuned in to. If you can get a device that gives you 4 different channels, please let me know.


----------



## legend99 (23 Aug 2005)

Ribena, shes right. The item in question is the LNB. Basic Sky system comes with a single block LNB. This feeds 1 decoder. 
A quad LNB will feed 4 decoders. You can even get an LNB that feeds 8 decoders.
if you get Sky multiroom for example, they install a quad LNB and feed 2 seperate decoders with 2 independant signals.
if you get Sky plus, you get a quad installed, because 2 signals are needed for the Sky plus box. So if you get Sky plus with multiroom 3 of your 4 signals from the quad are used up.
You can get them on Ebay no worries.

Of course, to get different channels in each room you need a decoder as well as the signal!

However, you are right. You can't just split the cable into 2. Something to do with splitting horizontal and vertical elements of the signal so you will get half the channels in one room, half in the other.


----------



## ribena (23 Aug 2005)

That's interesting legend 99.  Does it only work for Sky or would it work on chorus digital also?  I must look in to it.


----------



## Markjbloggs (23 Aug 2005)

Can the satelite dish be mounted in an attic or must it be external?


----------



## ClubMan (23 Aug 2005)

A dish normally neads clear line of sight to the broadcast/relay satellite so having it in an attic would presumably not work well or at all.


----------



## delgirl (23 Aug 2005)

> Ribena, _*shes*_ right


 I might be wrong, but I'm sure I read somewhere that 'she's' actually a fella!


----------



## legend99 (23 Aug 2005)

Betsy Og...God in fairness, thats surely a female!


And for Jenny_H above:"Are there adult channels available on this dish or on other non Sky dishes on sale in Ireland?If yes, how can they be blocked? Wouldn't want the little Hs watching unsuitable material."

Thats sounds well dodgy...come  on out and be honest and say you want to know it so you can tune them in yourself!!!!!! A bit like those conversations from people when they invent a  'friend' when talking about themselves!!!!!!


----------



## Betsy Og (24 Aug 2005)

legend99 said:
			
		

> Betsy Og...God in fairness, thats surely a female!


 
Infacta, I is a geezer. (and No, I'm not like yer man in the ad, standing on the train platform with the plackard that says "At weekends my name is Louise"  - another good word for you, also unrelated to my hetrosexual & married status, Brendan Behan describing his sexuality... "ambisextrous" !!  )

God, in fairness, when was the last time you heard of a girl called Betsy  

Betsy was the name of a packpacker car, '84 Ford Falcon Estate, 6 cylinder, 3.5L, a beast of a yoke that somehow had personality (i.e. it had moods when the mechanics got a bit wobbly but then seemed to fix themselves), which did something like 19,000 km over the space of a couple of months around Australia. Therefore it was a workhorse, and of course Betsy is a workhorses name.

Subsequent cars have occasionally been called Betsy Mor, Betsy Beag and of course Betsy Og.


----------



## MissRibena (24 Aug 2005)

I'm kinda going off the Lidl dish idea now.

What I want is a yoke that will give me as many of the UK channels as poss.  I have a special gra for BBC (particularly BBC2) and Channel4 but don't mind after that.  I would prefer to pay up front now and not go on subscription.  Himself would probably like to be able to watch Eastern European telly too so the dish thing was appealing on that front.

I don't need it to feed to lots of points in the house and I already have an aerial that gives great reception for the 4 Irish stations.

I'm really confused about what I should be buying and how much I should be paying.  Maybe I'd be as well just to get a bigger aerial for the UK stations, like I had in my old house but since that will cost about €200, I wouldn't mind paying more and getting tons of satelite channels.

Rebecca


----------



## Betsy Og (24 Aug 2005)

Miss Ribena,

Why dont you get someone to install a dish and sky box without the Sky subscrition Package - I have had that done, dont even have a phoneline. You then have all the BBC's, Sky News, CNN, ITV & loadza garbage.

I'm awaiting delivery on a Sky Yellow HOuse card from the UK, bought on Ebay, that is supposed to give me UTV, Channel 4 & loads more garbage. 

So I'll have all BBC's, UTV, CH4, Sky News, CNN & loads of rubbish, for NO subscrition. That sounds like what you are looking for.


----------



## hansov (24 Aug 2005)

My advice for what it's worth, if you can "go get it". If you get killed in the stampede - don't blame me . Despite all that was said about adult channels etc, you can block them out. AFAIK  you can see adult stuff in any newsagents nowadays! Before long you will want to upgrade the dish (the dish offered is 57 cm I think) and put a motor on it. At least that's what happened to me after I bought the last Lidl deal. And even if you just want to point it at astra 2, you might in future put on a twin or even quad LNB on it and buy (even Lidl in future offers) receivers for the other rooms.

Sorry writing my answer as Betsy Og submitted his! Good idea there too!


----------



## MissRibena (24 Aug 2005)

Thanks guys.

The sky dish is a mighty idea!! I could even decide to subscribe later on if I changed my mind. Now all I need is someone to put it up without making me subscribe to sky.  

Thanks again
Rebecca


----------



## cerberos (25 Aug 2005)

iI can't get a signal on my LIDL sat finder - any obvious mistakes that I should look out for? all help greatly appreciated
C


----------



## Jenny_H (25 Aug 2005)

Hi Folks,

Me again, I'm a bit like "cerberos" here - we got the dish this morning spent most of the evening connecting it up and we have on screen display saying *"No* *Signal" - *Mr. H is driven demented, he feels it’s the connections at the end of the cable. Could this be the problem? Or is the positioning – we have pointed it in the same direction as other dishes in the neighbourhood.


----------



## Pollock (26 Aug 2005)

The SilverCrest from Comag has a twin output from the LNB. I believe this model won't drive a motorised dish.


----------



## dam099 (26 Aug 2005)

Jenny_H said:
			
		

> Hi Folks,
> 
> Me again, I'm a bit like "cerberos" here - we got the dish this morning spent most of the evening connecting it up and we have on screen display saying *"No* *Signal" - *Mr. H is driven demented, he feels it’s the connections at the end of the cable. Could this be the problem? Or is the positioning – we have pointed it in the same direction as other dishes in the neighbourhood.


 
It could still be the positioning, the same direction as everyone else is only a rough guide, small variations in the direction here translate to huge distances in space. You need to be very precise in your positioning. You can get signal meters or even just try moving the disk around with someone inside by the TV to shout out when you hit the right spot.


----------



## legend99 (26 Aug 2005)

MissRibena said:
			
		

> Thanks guys.
> 
> The sky dish is a mighty idea!! I could even decide to subscribe later on if I changed my mind. Now all I need is someone to put it up without making me subscribe to sky.
> 
> ...



To be honest, you're safest and least troublesome bet is to get Sky installed and decide to subscribe to it for 12 months. You could even get a mutliroom installation so you have Sky in two rooms. AFAIK installation is free, you pay roughly 45 euro a month for the basic package which gives you most stuff except Movies and Sports. Then cancel at the end of the 12 months and go and buy 2 UK freesat cards from a relative/friend based in the UK. This will then give you BBC channels, ITV channels, Ch4 and Ch5. You say you have RTE off aerial. 
The beauty of that is that you will own the equipment at the end of the 12 months...both boxes and the dish. You will have got the install as part of it. 

So as I say,you could go with a 2 room install and pay 45*12 = 500ish
1 room install, 30*12 = 360.

Buying the kit and getting it installed professionaly without the subscription will end up costing you over 200 euro I'd say.....

So its just an option to keep in mind. You will never be able to get ITV, Ch4, Ch5 off the Lidl box unless either of them switch from Free to View to Free to Air. Free to View can't be got off Lidl box cause it has no slot for a card(a CAM). The monthly rumour mill again says ITV are about to go FTA but to be honest, noone has a clue.


----------



## cerberos (26 Aug 2005)

I bought the separate sat finder as well as the package and have stood outside for hours trying to get any signal and no success


----------



## Gimme (26 Aug 2005)

I'm like the rest of you I got a dish as well yesterday and I'm having difficulty getting it to work. I didn't know about the seperate Sat Finder for sale for €12 as I would have purchased this as well. How do I know if it's the cable/connections or the positioning of the dish? I get the same on screen display once the receiver is powered on regardless of whether the coax cable is plugged or not.

The dish has a dual LNB - does it matter which one I use if I'm using only one connection?

Where can I get a Sat Meter and how much does it cost?

Is there anyone that can help us??????????


----------



## legend99 (26 Aug 2005)

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=55 is the very best bet for all of ye!


----------



## DACMAN (26 Aug 2005)

I've set the Sat from Lidl - try this - secure the dish to a solid base - i.e. shhet of timber or ply temporariliy, next use the sat finder turn the tuner until the bleep is just  audible now slowly move the dish in the horizontal then vertical axis, the beep will increase /decrease in intensity, fix the dish at loudest bleep, remove the sat finder & reconnect the cable.
Next use RC & select menu go to the Satellite menu & select autotune. this will get channels, this is the basic procedure I used & I'm first time user - yesterday evening. FYI got lot of foriegn channels but am still need to locate BBC.


----------



## GreatDane (27 Aug 2005)

legend99 said:
			
		

> We haven't really...its still the only way to get RTE for free...you have to pay mr. Murdoch to get RTE from sat. after paying your TV licence...


 

Correct & disgraceful, given you can get the BBCs for free, though I think its intended for UK residents only, who no doubt would have paid their licence fee.

This is down to our own RTE just as much as Mr Murdoch's Sky operation btw, given they signed up to broadcast via Astra and the Sky package on this basis ... Rip Off Ireland !

Cheers

G>
http://www.rpoints.com/newbie


----------



## GreatDane (27 Aug 2005)

Markjbloggs said:
			
		

> Can the satelite dish be mounted in an attic or must it be external?


 

Hi

Only if there is some way for the signal to get through your roof in reasonable shape ... have you a clear line of sight to the satellite you want, from inside your roof ?  ... perhaps, if you have a large glass window you might get away with it, but you will lose signal strength so may need a larger dish or better LNB to help compensate.

Cheers

G>
http://www.rpoints.com/newbie


----------



## Jenny_H (27 Aug 2005)

DACMAN said:
			
		

> I've set the Sat from Lidl - try this - secure the dish to a solid base - i.e. shhet of timber or ply temporariliy, next use the sat finder turn the tuner until the bleep is just audible now slowly move the dish in the horizontal then vertical axis, the beep will increase /decrease in intensity, fix the dish at loudest bleep, remove the sat finder & reconnect the cable.
> Next use RC & select menu go to the Satellite menu & select autotune. this will get channels, this is the basic procedure I used & I'm first time user - yesterday evening. FYI got lot of foriegn channels but am still need to locate BBC.


 
Dacman,

What will appear on the screen while you're adjusting the dish with the sat finder connected? We spent another few hours today with no success. We tried all angels and positions but to no avail. How do I know I don't have  faulty equipment?

This is what we have done - connected the LNB to the dish, placed on a tempory stand, connected the cable to the receiver and the receiver to the TV via the leads for the DVD (White/Yellow/Red), the TV shows the station (Astra 617, etc) but show 0% signal. What are we doing wrong?


----------



## DACMAN (29 Aug 2005)

Jenny H
Hope this has been resolved by now,
You should get a picture on screen while adjusting the dish with sat finder. sat finder should emit a bleep once you connect between the reciever & LNB - this will confirm connection is good.
Real key is to face the dish S/E select BBC1 have a clear line between dish & sky - no trees / buildings ect. tur sat finder sensitivity up - 2-3 bars plus audible bleep.
If you recieve a high frequency bleep on any location ten you will have some audio/video on some of the channels but it may be that you are not pointed to Astra 28E instead Astra 19 or Hotbird  so scan the channels using the RC-  really no need to autoscan as in my earlier post.


----------



## cerberos (29 Aug 2005)

I did autotune and now my data base is full, can I clear it?

So far i have astra 19 and hotbird but want astra with bbcs on it.

started due south and went east, then inclined the dish and went back.
found the sats.


----------



## ClubMan (29 Aug 2005)

This site might be of interest in the context of this thread - lots of useful info about satellites, orientation, channels etc.


----------



## Jenny_H (29 Aug 2005)

Hi Again, just a quick Thank You for all your tips - we finally got it tuned in this evening. We didn't get a chance to try yesterday but about an hours work this evening and we're rolling. Again TY.


----------



## podgerodge (29 Aug 2005)

Jenny_H said:
			
		

> Hi Again, just a quick Thank You for all your tips - we finally got it tuned in this evening. We didn't get a chance to try yesterday but about an hours work this evening and we're rolling. Again TY.



Jenny, what was the trick for you in the end? Did you use a finder?


----------



## Gimme (30 Aug 2005)

I got mine working on Sunday - I tried the Sat Finder that came with the box but I didn't find it any use (no vol control). I wasn't sure if you would get a picture with it in and it was so much hassel taking it on and off that I tried without it. 

I stuck a bar in the ground outside my window and tried from there as I could see the TV and move the dish. I had read that the bar holding the LNB should be horizontal (parallel with the ground) - so I tried this and then moved the dish so that the arm was facing almos South. Strangely, I got 64% siganl but no picture yet I now a have picture with only 58% signal. 

I have picked up Astra with BBC1, 2 and 3 and load more mickey mouse channels, but I thought I'd get ITV and Sky news - anyone know what I have to do to get these?

Thanks to everyone for their contributions and their help.


----------



## Chupacabra (8 Sep 2005)

hi everyone.....I am another "PROUD" owner of the LIDL Satellite, and as everyone else I had great difficulties in tuning it.... my AIM was to get RAI 1 and I got hotbird but so far no sign of RAI 1 wot's so ever..... any ideas suggestions....heeeeelp


----------



## GreatDane (9 Sep 2005)

Hi

Have you managed to find Astra ? (Sky etc)

If Yes, then when pointed at Astra, move the dish approx 1 inch to the right, possible 1.5 inches & fingers crossed, you'll be very very close to hotbird 

Regareds

G>
http://www.rpoints.com/newbie


----------



## z102 (12 Sep 2005)

If you get Astra ( digital ) then you will receive RAI I as well.


----------

