[andysara]

We are both learning French and want to receive as many French television AND radio channels as possible to include (French) Arte, TF1, France 2, France 3, M6 AND France Musique and Culture. Does anyone know if this is possible in the UK (North London to be precise) and what the simplest and cheapest method is?

We don't want to pay Telewest cable charges, and we don't want Sky. We're prepared to do some of it ourselves with e-bay purchases etc. My sister lives in France and could probably help us if we need to buy French equipment. We'd like an informed quote, too - so far they have just been silly ones. All advice gratefully received.
Merci bien!
Sara

[daniel99]

there is one French channel on Sky TV5 Europe its helped me a lot.

[andysara]

Thanks, but no thanks - don't want SKY and really do want Arte, and would also love French radio stations Musique and Culture. I get them through the pc, of course, but only when I'm in the study and then I'm doing something else as well.

[aok_roolz]

simple
get a cheapo £60 FTA DVB receiver, a cheapo 60cm dish, and a cheapo length of wire. The dish can point at Astra 1

http://www.lyngsat.com/astra19.shtml


(all free channels in cream)

[philip24]

Alternatively, you could get an analogue receiver and point a 60cm dish at 5 degrees West. All the french national channels are there: http://www.lyngsat.com/5west.shtml

[easysat]

This topic comes up regularly. You can watch all the French terrestrial TV stations for free by tuning in to the analogue satellite broadcasts at longitude 5°W. Canal+ is "en clair" for part of the day, e.g. early evenings. You can buy a suitable satellite receiver and 80cm dish as a kit in the French DIY sheds (Castorama, Leroy Merlin, etc.) for about 40 euros. However you won't get any French radio stations and you will need a television that can decode SECAM colour via the SCART socket.

The French radio stations are nearly all free on 19°E and 13°E if you have a digital satellite receiver. ARTE, France 5 and TV5 should still be free on digital satellite. A FreeToAir digital satellite receiver will cost around 100 euros in the DIY sheds or hypermarkets.

However you will need to pay if you want to watch most French TV stations in digital. If you want TF1 and M6 as well as France 2 and France 3, your only choice is to subscribe to the TPS bouquet on 13°E. This is only possible if you have a French address and you will need to rent (from TPS) or buy a suitable digital satellite receiver equipped with a Viaccess decryption module. Watch out though if you choose to pay for TPS with a monthly subscription as it can be very difficult to cancel the contract. A better option might be to buy a 12 month card with a one-off payment. You can find satellite dealers offering this possibililty in the French Tele-satellite magazine.

[andysara]

Originally posted by aok_roolz
simple
get a cheapo £60 FTA DVB receiver, a cheapo 60cm dish, and a cheapo length of wire. The dish can point at Astra 1
http://www.lyngsat.com/astra19.shtml
(all free channels in cream)

Thanks for your help. But I don't know how to reconcile this answer with the one from Easysat that says:
"The French radio stations are nearly all free on 19°E and 13°E if you have a digital satellite receiver. ARTE, France 5 and TV5 should still be free on digital satellite. A FreeToAir digital satellite receiver will cost around 100 euros in the DIY sheds or hypermarkets."

I think I do want a digital receiver, so I can pick up the radio. But do I have to buy it from a French source or can I get one in the UK? And if I buy a French receiver, do I still need a TV that can deal with SECAM, or is that effectively done by the receiver?

thanks
Sara

[philip24]

The digital stuff is in PAL. The analogue stuff is in SECAM on 5 West. So for the SECAM you would need a SECAM compatible TV.

You can buy a DVB MPEG receiver from the UK.

[philengland]

dont forget you can also set your digi box to get french audio on euronews!

[Harshad]

Originally posted by andysara
Thanks for your help. But I don't know how to reconcile this answer with the one from Easysat that says:
"The French radio stations are nearly all free on 19°E and 13°E if you have a digital satellite receiver. ARTE, France 5 and TV5 should still be free on digital satellite. A FreeToAir digital satellite receiver will cost around 100 euros in the DIY sheds or hypermarkets."

I think I do want a digital receiver, so I can pick up the radio. But do I have to buy it from a French source or can I get one in the UK? And if I buy a French receiver, do I still need a TV that can deal with SECAM, or is that effectively done by the receiver?

thanks
Sara

I don't know the stuff from Secam, but for digital on Astra and Hotbird, you need a non Sky Box with a Viaccess CAM to decode France 2,3 France 5 Is FTA on Astra bit enctypted on Hotbird.

[andysara]

Our downstairs neighbour in a shared house would also like access to GERMAN language channels- television AND radio. Are there any problems, things we should know about with sharing a dish? Is videorecording a problem / issue? Should we buy a motorised dish?

Your answers are very helpful - we've had ridiculous price quotes and we may be able to sort it for ourselves, with the channels we want, for a good deal less.

Sara

[easysat]

Originally posted by andysara
Our downstairs neighbour in a shared house would also like access to GERMAN language channels- television AND radio.
Sara

The best choice of German language TV and radio is to be found on Astra at 19°E. If you're interested in French TV and radio on Hotbird 13°E, you can share a dish with your neighbour. You just need a standard 6° offset bracket that allows two (independent) LNB's to be mounted on the same 80cm (or so) dish. The dish is then adjusted so that one LNB is pointing at Hotbird and the other will magically point at Astra. Each LNB has a cable going to a satellite receiver. Each receiver 'thinks' it is connected to its own dish so you don't have to worry about what your neighbour is watching.

Digital satellite receivers are pretty much the same wherever they are bought in Europe. If you connect to the TV's SCART socket there is no combatibility issue. If you connect to the aerial input of a TV you need to make sure that the satellite receiver has a PAL-I modulated output for guaranteed UK TV compatibility. Some satellite receivers don't have an RF modulated output or it is only compatible with continental PAL-B or PAL-G systems.

If you're interested in a TPS subscription there is another point to check before buying a digital satellite receiver. Some receivers with a built-in Viaccess module have a nasty tendency to 'griller' (destroy) the TPS card. So make sure the dealer knows it is compatible with the TPS 'Carte W'.

[Radio Boy]

Would be great if we had NRJ on Sky Digital, The NRJ probably one of the best Dance and RnB stations across the channel. Alternatively Fun Radio maybe?.

[MartS]

Originally posted by Lee Francis
Would be great if we had NRJ on Sky Digital, The NRJ probably one of the best Dance and RnB stations across the channel. Alternatively Fun Radio maybe?.

It would be nice - as most days I have the internet stream on in the background as I surf, but let's face it - what would the odds be on a French music station have in paying EPG access costs to broadcast to English listeners..?

More than 1(add your choice of '0's here) to 1?

[Tony Richards]

Originally posted by Lee Francis
Would be great if we had NRJ on Sky Digital, The NRJ probably one of the best Dance and RnB stations across the channel. Alternatively Fun Radio maybe?.

All these and many more French radio stations available free to air on Astra 19.2: and they sound much chunkier than radio channels on Sky.

[Rodney]

I have access to all the French radio networks using a basic Sky Digibox and a dish pointed at 19 degrees. Tune in 12.207GHz V and grab the lot! NRJ, Fun Radio, RFM (my fav), RTL, Europe 2, they're all there. Also ARTE in FTV mode.

[mdjohnst]

Hi

I bought a FTA digital reciever with 2 lnbs for 99 euros. In hindsite I should have bought some more and stuck them on Ebay

I have them pointing to Hotbird 13 deg and Astra 19 deg

I have about 15 channels of french tv. I am trying to get my kids 2 and 3 to learn french so we have France 5 on at 6pm UK time and they get lots of british kids tv (clifford, noddy etc ) in French. They think its fantastic and hopefully will find learning french easier.

There are also a couple of African channels broadcasting in French (morrocan and Tunisian)

One thing that irritates me is Eurosport is encrypted in French.

Hope that helps

Matt

[Friko]

Sorry to bring this thread up but I was just on lyngsat.com and I saw that there are digital french channels on Atlantic Bird 3 5W. Can anyone confirm?

http://www.lyngsat.com/ab3.html It's halfway down the page where you can read

France TV
France 2
France 3
France 4
France 5
Arte Francais
LCP
France 3 Sat

They appear in the yellow background boxes, does this mean they are free to receive without subscription?

[broonale]

Originally Posted by Friko

Sorry to bring this thread up but I was just on lyngsat.com and I saw that there are digital french channels on Atlantic Bird 3 5W. Can anyone confirm?

http://www.lyngsat.com/ab3.html It's halfway down the page where you can read

France TV
France 2
France 3
France 4
France 5
Arte Francais
LCP
France 3 Sat

They appear in the yellow background boxes, does this mean they are free to receive without subscription?

Think that satellite is the replacement for the TELECOM bird at the same location....

I used to watch the French stations on a converted BSB box and modified Squarial indoors and with a whopping signal... albeit in B/W cos the box only accepted PAL/MAC.

Using a different receiver gave me color..... Incidently, most VCRs offer output in both PAL/SECAM

[Friko]

Do you know if these French channels are FTA digitally?

[Analoguesat]

Yes they are fta, but they wont be around much longer. There are 5 operational French dtt multiplexes distributed to the transmitters by satellite.

2 multiplexes are combined onto 1 satellite frequency. The only reason the 5th multiplex is in the clear is that the future 6th multiplex isnt on air yet. Once it arrives the fta stuff will disappear as 5 & 6 are combined.
(The de-plexing required is way beyond the capacity of domestic equipment.)

[Analoguesat]

http://www.selkirkshire.demon.co.uk/...gfrenchtv.html

will help anyone interested in getting the analogue signals from Atlantic Bird 3 at 5W

[Friko]

Thank you very much for the info Analoguesat, I will probably get an analogue box then

[Sesay2000]

I've never understood why the French national networks are all free in analogue but subscription based in digital on Astra/Hotbird. France 5 has encrypted lately too. Dunno why, there was never anything on their that caused copyright issues from what I've seen. Also, I imagine French TV will have the same copyright rules as German TV, ie. the majority of imported stuff is dubbed so it's "particially encrypted" - only those who speak the language can understand - so it can be broadcast on satellite in the clear.

[lebesset]

as someone said , get an analogue box from one of the french box shifters , cheap as chips , preprogrammed , point at 5w , and you will be like every french registered motor home ........just have a glance when the tour de france starts .80cm dish works fine in belgium , so no doubt s.england at least