# latest lidl satellite offer



## Spiro

hi,

i just bought the latest lidl digital portable satellite kit yesterday.
before i waste time opening it and trying it out and having to bring it back can anybody tell me what to expect.
its for a holiday house in co. clare ( but i,m looking forward to messing around with it in dublin as well )
now, correct me please ;

-its digital so i will never be able to watch any analog tv stations from any satellite no matter where i am located in the whole universe ??

-i have 3 choices of satellite realisticly to point at - astra1, astra2 and hotbird ?

-but astra1 is for analog channels only ?
-astra2 is where the digital channels are ?
-hotbird is only analog as well ?

-what english channels will i get (presumably on astra2) ? i tried looking for this info on google but some sites are confusing.

i bought the kit first expecting them to sell out before i got a chance to do my homework on the subject !!

however if i have bought the perverbial "pig in a poe" then ill return it more or less unopened (and maybe consider getting the mmds system - but for a holiday home perhaps its not worth the investment ?? )

could someone point me to a comprehensive list of digital channnels available please.

tonka seems to know a lot on the subject from other threads.

id be grateful for any help.


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## colli

I'm afraid I can't help you on the technical side of things here but one thing you can expect is wall to wall porn. We bought one last year, it was tuned in in jig time and we had been misinformed that we would get channel 4 (the only reason we got it) but there was no channel 4 and due to there being kids in the house we very promptly got rid of it into a local skip! I suppose it depends on what you're looking for. There were few english speaking channels on it either.


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## Guest107

you pointed it at astra 1 or possibly hotbird , had you pointed at astra2 you would have bbc lots and itv lots but no channel 4 without a sky box and a "yellow house card" as they are known on ebay. 

astra2 is not wall to wall porn but you will never know that now , Much of the porn on astra 2 IS channel 4  . Astra1 is digital but mainly german and dutch, hotbird is mainly south and east europe and tv5 from france , plenty of porn on astra1 and hotbird too. 

you need an 80cm dish for astra2 (in bad weather) in west clare but the lidl one is not very weatherproof .

if you need more info ask the experts here

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=55

channel linups and transponders if you need to add them, this site has every channel and every transponder and is definitive for astra 1 and 2 and hotbird

www.lyngsat.com


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## colli

2Pack said:
			
		

> you pointed it at astra 1 or possibly hotbird , had you pointed at astra2 you would have bbc lots and itv lots but no channel 4 without a sky box and a "yellow house card" as they are known on ebay.
> 
> astra2 is not wall to wall porn but you will never know that now , Much of the porn on astra 2 IS channel 4  . Astra1 is digital but mainly german and dutch, hotbird is mainly south and east europe and tv5 from france , plenty of porn on astra1 and hotbird too.
> 
> you need an 80cm dish for astra2 (in bad weather) in west clare but the lidl one is not very weatherproof .
> 
> if you need more info ask the experts here
> 
> http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=55


 
Wow, that's an impressive come back. Our neighbour fitted it and to be honest, I think we spent 80 or 90 quid on it. When he did a channel search, I wasn't oo impressed with what I saw so I told him to disconnect it. There was no major loss, I like Sky and wouldn't be interested in changing but the idea of getting channel 4 is the only reason I got it. Haven't a clue where he pointed it but it pointed towards the skip later the same day and that, in my opinion is where it belonged!


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## Guest107

I'd have offered him €25 and the postage for it


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## jhegarty

-but astra1 is for analog channels only ?
No , has lots of digital channels , but most are in german...

-astra2 is where the digital channels are ?
BBC 1,2,3,4 
ITV 1,2,3,4
Sky News
Poker Chanel,Travel Chanel, Reailty TV, some music....
and lots of other free crap...


-hotbird is only analog as well ?
 No , has lots of digital channels , but most are in french...


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## patspost

The only thing about that camping satelite is that is is designed for temporary / mobile use. There may be no decent wall mountilng kit which is needed as accuracy of aim at the satellite is crucial and a good permanent fix to a wall. 
Personally I would bring back the sat system and wait until they have a proper domestic system as it usually comes with a mounting bracket.

www.lyngsat.com will tell ypu what is available to view on any sat, I presume you want Astra 2, that is what most people have and is OK. No C4 or Sky1 or discovery, but for €100 all in good value.

It is quiet difficult to find the Astra 2 satellite, time is needed as you have to be precise with the location. If you can have a TV beside you with the Sat tuned to a channel e.g. Sky news while looking for satellite. It may be a good idea to set up decoder to dish at home if you have one and tune in the channels there.
If you have a neighbour with sat system it will give you an idea of the direaction and angle relative to horizon.


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## sarahfleming

I bought one of these lidl camping sat systems and when I went to the local tv guy he said I could not get it set up in the house. Was he just being lazy and picky as I didnt get a sat system from him? Should I try elsewhere?


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## Slim

This site has a lot of good info on portable sat TV. www.satelliteforcaravans.co.uk

Sarah - THere should be no difficulty trying the set up at the house. You need a length of cable to reach from the dish to the box. Point the dish towards southsoutheast and angle at 28degrees or 28.5 degrees til you get a signal. Patience required. Refer to the website above.

Slim


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## Bj the dub

For those who want to position their sat dish . If you have a compass  face it 
145°
towards the Astra and Eurobird
satellites from Dublin area.​ and set at 
21° vertical elevation angle
this should give you a good starting point​


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## pat127

patspost said:


> but for €100 all in good value


.

Not sure I agree unless you are a caravanner perhaps. If you want an FTA system and you are prepared to shop around, for not too much more money you'll get a decent-sized dish (e.g. 80cm), a proper mounting bracket, and a well-recommended receiver as well as the coax, sat finder etc. There are kits advertised in Dublin from €120 upwards (and no I'm not associated with any of the suppliers!) and loads in the UK - which is where I got mine.

I also think it's an awful shame just to dump the LIDL kit in a skip! Give it away on Freecycle or even consider trying to sell on the receiver, coax, LNB, sat finder (is one included?).


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## Guest120

pat127 said:


> .
> Not sure I agree unless you are a caravanner perhaps.



Bear in the mind the post was from 14 months ago.


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## Murt10

jhegarty said:


> -but astra1 is for analog channels only ?
> No , has lots of digital channels , but most are in german...
> 
> -astra2 is where the digital channels are ?
> BBC 1,2,3,4
> ITV 1,2,3,4
> Sky News
> Poker Chanel,Travel Chanel, Reailty TV, some music....
> and lots of other free crap...
> 
> 
> -hotbird is only analog as well ?
> No , has lots of digital channels , but most are in french...





Unfortunately Poker Channel on SKY receiver station 843 is gone. Now you get is interactive roulette.


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## jhegarty

Murt10 said:


> Unfortunately Poker Channel on SKY receiver station 843 is gone. Now you get is interactive roulette.



It wasn't when I made the post a year ago 

Its actually still about 25% poker now , 75% red button gaming....


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## pat127

Bluetonic said:


> Bear in the mind the post was from 14 months ago.



Point taken. As a matter of interest what has happened since? Is the system  different or cheaper? I spotted a system in ALDI in Germany last month which had a 60cm solid dish, mounting kit etc, marked down from €79 to €55.


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## kerrymaid

Hi Folks,
We bought one of those satellite systems in Lidl last month, and to date, nothing, absolutely nada, no matter which way we point it, all we get is NO SIGNAL. It is now sitting in a corner (in disgrace) and we really dont know what to do with it? We're wondering if we bought a dud? Any advice?


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## jhegarty

Did you get the Satallite meter ? (black box with a red light on it)


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## thelagg2000

hi all i also have one of these lidl sat systems,i live in donegal and can get no channels on it,i have bought a satellite finder so hopefully this will resolve the finding signals problem,what do ye all think


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## serotoninsid

Neither of you have 'bought a dudd'.  You need a satfinder to install - and even then, those cheap satfinders dont always function accurately at times.  Its not like throwing up an aerial.  A mm out and you get nothing - its all or nothing.


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## ClubMan

There is at least one other recent thread dealing with how to tune a satellite dish/tuner that might be of interest to some readers here.


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## podgerodge

serotoninsid said:


> Neither of you have 'bought a dudd'.  You need a satfinder to install - and even then, those cheap satfinders dont always function accurately at times.  Its not like throwing up an aerial.  A mm out and you get nothing - its all or nothing.



i managed to get all channels with the Maplin satellite suitcase (very similar to the Lidl one as far as i know) - didn't need the satfinder but serotoninsid is right - I thought initially it was a dud - u just have to move it millimeter by millimeter - once you have got it tuned in its a lot easier if you want to set it up again as you just put a channel on and move the dish slowly until it appears.


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## pat127

podgerodge said:


> i managed to get all channels with the Maplin satellite suitcase (very similar to the Lidl one as far as i know) - didn't need the satfinder but serotoninsid is right - I thought initially it was a dud - u just have to move it millimeter by millimeter - once you have got it tuned in its a lot easier if you want to set it up again as you just put a channel on and move the dish slowly until it appears.



As already stated on another thread, the job is much easier if a little research is done in advance. http://www.lyngsat.com/ will tell you which stations are on each satellite (follow 'Frequencies' and 'Europe' to take you to Astra 1 and 2D and Hotbird).

http://www.satsig.net/maps/satellite-tv-dish-pointing-uk-ireland.htm will tell you the horizontal angle ('azimuth') to point the dish at and also the 'elevation' (vertical angle). A useful rule-of-thumb is that for the sats of interest expect the dish to be near enough vertical although when fine-tuning you'll almost certainly have to change the angle slightly (and very carefully!).

I find it extremely useful to work out the horizontal angle (azimuth) and mark it on the ground under the dish in some way, before first pointing the dish. Otherwise for Astra 2D, South-East is about right and Astra 1 is 10 deg to the right. Watch out though for large trees or dense bushes which might impede the signals from reaching the dish. If they are dense enough you're probably wasting your time or you should look for a clearer position. The optimum angle at which signals arrive to the dish is not straight out in front as you might think but it's typically between 21 deg and 25 deg dependent on the dish - that's why the dish is more or less vertical for Astra 2D for example which is at an elevation of 22 deg and Astra 1 is 25.


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## snowden

Just go to the menu on your sat receiver box and access the TP setup menu (the one that tells you the signal strength and quality) and leaving it on the screen go out and start to move the satellite around the 28-degrees azimuth, and get someone to shout out to you when they see the signal quality jump up to around 70%.


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## Quincy

I borrowed one of those little caravanning satellite dish's from my dad last weekend. He bought it in lidl last year and it was never taken out of the box. We went to killarney for the weeekend in our caravan. I have to say, I never set up a dish before and was sceptical but I was surprised to find it worked brilliantly. The suction cup attachment did not work, the dish fell off after 30 mins when fitted to the glass window (pre cleaned with glass cleaner as recommended) But I was able to clamp the dish to the jockey wheel on the front of the caravan with a "g clamp" thing supplied with the kit. 
I went to the setup menu, found the signal strength and quality bars and I was able to find the right position in about 4-5 minutes using the directions in the manual. With the TV pointed towards the window and the volume up high (to hear the audible indicator) I was able to get a signal quality about 75-80%. The pre set channels were a bit messed up, a lot of them not working, but we did find BBC1, BBC2, ITV3, UTV. Loads of german channels. I didnt bother going through all the pre set channels as there were hundreds but I'm sure there were others worth watching... Very impressed with the dish, it didnt flinch one bit all weekend, even when we had heavy rain, the signal didnt fade. Tidy little black dish about 40cm wide and about 50cm high, easy assemble and dissasemble, easy to store in its grey case in the caravan and even looks pretty cool while set up outside... got a few guys coming over asking about it, wondering if it was good or bad. The decoder supplied with it was slow to respond to input, maybe 2-3 seconds to catch up with the remote control inputs but it was acceptable for our needs.

My question for you guys, Could I use my home Sky decoder with this little dish? I could bring my decoder and viewing card and have all the channels I have subscribed to at home... I think I might buy one of these for myself if I can use my sky box with the lidl dish.


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## podgerodge

Quincy said:


> My question for you guys, Could I use my home Sky decoder with this little dish? I could bring my decoder and viewing card and have all the channels I have subscribed to at home... I think I might buy one of these for myself if I can use my sky box with the lidl dish.



well i purchased a second hand sky box and a yellow house card and used it with the lidl dish - to get channel 4 , channel 5 etc - so I assume you should get whatever channels you subscribe to.


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