Communal Dishes

Just having come back from Spain. I noticed two communal satellite dishes on our apartment block. Any ideas on how this works. Do I need a digital receiver to watch the channels. I'm not fussed if they are english or spanish. I certainly will not be getting one of those mesh dishes as thery are highly illegal.

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Regarding communal dishes it depends on what your community set up is.  Most communities operate communal dishes that you can then hook up to. Speak to your administrator about this.

In some communities, such as mine, some people think it's ok to erect their own dishes which is actually illegal as it goes against the horizontal laws in place for the community.

Justin

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We bought an apartment in Spain about 6 months ago and have yet to spend real quality time there as each visit seems to revolve around kitting out the place.  When we go out next time (December) we want to get a TV.  Getting the TV itself is easy enough (although I wonder if there is anywhere on the CB that is cheaper than Carrefour), but this issue of dish sizes totally confuses me. There is no end to the companies offering their own system, but they seem to be split in to those who offer systems with dishes over 1m (up to 2.4m)  and those who say below 1m (down to 0.45m) is fine.  I have been told that those who provide smaller dishes are really pirating the signal and re-transmitting locally, but still reckon they are operating legally, does anyone know if this is true?

Also the builder installed an aerial array on the top of our block, which includes square mesh dish and I am told that the signal from this is used by only one provider, does anyone have any idea who this might be?

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To receive Sky in Spain you really need the big dish.  The smaller dish shouldn't work so you must be right in that it must be some sort of local signal they are using.

From my understanding you're not supposed to get Sky in Spain anyway so I think either way is actually illegal, even though communities set up communal Sky systems!

Justin

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Sky does not broadcast to Spain or authorise anyone to retransmit the signal.  If you get a satellite dish, you can pick up the satellite signals broadcast on the Astra satellite, via a decoder, which carries ITV and BBC programmes plus some of the freeview channels although most of the channels are German or Dutch.  You can also pick up Sky but you will need a digibox with viewing card.  You need to take the viewing card with you as they will not be provided by Sky for european addresses or you can obtain them from companies abroad (whether this is legal or not is a debateable point).  You will be able to pick up some news stations including Sky news and BBC 24.

For northern Spain, dish size requirements for Sky TV are 1.2m, but a 1.8m - 2.4m dish (minimum) may be needed for reliable Sky TV reception in Madrid, Barcelona and Malaga. For Portugal a 1.8m dish is the recommended dish. The island of Madeira requires a large dish of approximately 3m for reliable reception of all Sky TV channels.

The best dish for an area centred on Alicante in a radius of 150KM would be a 1.8M for reasonable reception, with a 2.4m being optimum for channels such as ITV BBC1 etc, (BBC 2 is always difficult but obtainable on a 2.4M dish,)   The mesh antennae you see on the top of houses are picking up signals retransmitted by one of the companies offering this service (without the permission of Sky).  They use a large dish to pick up the signals and then retransmit them to the subscribers so  the meshes or smaller dishes aren't actually picking up the satellite signal but a retransmitted terrestrial signal.  Signals will get weaker during the evening and you may lose channels, especially BBC, during the late evening and night unless you have the larger 2.4M dish.

You need to check with your community (if you live on one) if you can put a dish on your property as most communities forbid this (see other threads on horizontal laws). 

Alternatively, you can pick up Spanish digital terrestrial signals with a normal antenna (depending on your area) but you need a digi box to decode the signal.  Most of the TV sets you buy in Spain will have a dual language button (marked II on your remote control) and, if the digital provider is transmitting in the original language plus Spanish, you can receive it in English (obviously, only if the original programme is in English.)

To avoid the hassle, I record DVDs from Sky in UK and take them with me when I visit.  5 or 6 of the 4 hour recordings are ample for the week and I also record a load of kids ones when I take the grandkids over.  I get the news from the radio.

 

 

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We have just had a system fitted we get all free view channels and most of the Sky channels inc movies and sport it was 500 euros to install but then only 15 euros a month it comes into the property via a small 30 cm square mesh dish dont know the technical spec but we have been more than happy.

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We have the same system JPD and are in the same area as you.

Our provider is now Cina, was Nortons..............my monthly charge is 19€, it was 15€ but rose after about a year's service.

We were not told about the increase, they just took more on the DD from our Spanish bank.

I am still happy with the service and cost though, they do pick up the signals illegally mind and very soon I think Sky and the other companies will come down hard on them and we may all lose out..................time will tell.................so enjoy it while we can!

Regards,

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I have the same system and my D/D went up to 19 euros some time ago.  You should now be receiving the extra channels, Hallmark, ITV3 and RTE2, these where only available to those who paid 19e.

I was told by my engineer when he called round to upgrade my box that Cina were legal but I think that's why they are transmitting Spanish programmes such as Calle13 and others with Spanish adverts.

These systems used to none as Microwave.

A friend lives in Xativa and on a visit we watched a couple of programmes in the afternoon by pressing a coloured teletext button on the remote control.  A logo comes on in the right hand corner of the screen everytime a programme or film has been dubbed in Spanish.  Sometimes you can come unstuck and find that the main language isn't English.  Still a lot cheaper just the cost of the TV and an ariel.

I also take out the freebie DVD's from the papers, check your local charity shops as some will have them for sale for 25p cheaper than buying the actual paper.

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In recent months most British Terrestrial Television has become FREE to view. This means NO subscription for the following channels:
All ITV channels, ITV1, 2, 3, 4 & All BBC channels, BBC1, 2, 3 ,4

To receive these channels it is NOT necessary to have a Sky digital receiver, nor a card, nor pay any subscription. This is a real case of “free TV” without the asterisk!

So far, the only way to get British Terrestrial Television in Spain is from Astra 2. Generally speaking, you will need to get a professional to install your satellite dish correctly. And for those DIY fans who are not phased by modern sat-com technology, this satellite can be found at 28.2ºE of South. But then you already knew that, didn’t you?

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But you will still need a digital receiver of some sort and a pretty big dish, right?

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I use the same system as a few who have already posted on here,the 19€ per month one.

Our suppliers recently came and took down all the dishes they had originally fitted as they will soon be illegal.

We are now on Cable,the same service but without the dish.

most people who recieve this service would have noticed lately that  some of the programmes have changed,ie sky movies etc has got crap!!(technical term) and swithched to something else.

I was told that the reason for this is the licensing laws are going to be updated and the signal will be legalised,this will mean changing the transmitters and an addition of a further 15 channels avaliable to the network with Sky movies returning.

Mesh dishes are not actually illegal at this time but soon will be,

In the Algorfa region you only need a small dish or cable if avaliable as the transmitter is very close by,in this area you only have to make your garden look like a NASA listening station if you go further into the mountains.

Just on a different subject the mortgage rate has finally dropped after constantly climbing for 2 years,

Regards

Georgia

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Typical!!

First I get told that the communal arial will be for Spanish TV only so paid an arm and a leg for sky installation, then it transpires that the communal is for sky. and they say estate agents are sharks

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Which development are you in? You are very lucky if you have a SKY compatible dish provided :-)

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Acezz,

Apparently not so much luck, a lot of people in new builds, I have learnt since, have the facility put in for communal sky.

As I said "TYPICAL"  I was given duff information. Hey ho we live and learn.

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Anyone on the CDS got any idea what they are talking about up there on CB?

As far as I know, SKY uses different satelites from Spanish TV, so if you have a communal dish set up to receive SKY signals, you either must have an awful lot of Brits in your community, or an awful lot of Spaniards who will be very p*ssed off when they find they can't get any Spanish TV! Presumably, your community also has the terrestrial digital TV arial, as required by law, to receive Spanish TV? If the community has voted to install a SKY system, I think owners who don't want the service do not have to contribute to the cost. Don't quote me.......

Read on another forum that someone is installing Albanian digital TV. Cheaper than SKY, 6 live Premiership games every weekend in English, plus a lot of Norman Wisdom......

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Basically roberto,

The builders had put in sockets for sky into the apartments. There is a communal sky dish as well as Spanish. Which as I said was not made clear when we had dish installed. These were put in before any community meetings so as i said I had duff info.

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Must be a pretty big dish? How many properties can plug in to it? And since SKY have no licence to broadcast to Spain, seems to me like the builder is aiding and abetting! Very curious.

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Hi Roberto

Dunno......... Not a huge dish, do you think it is because it is a very small development? All I know is that if we had waited we wouldn't have had to have the wiring from the roof and it would have been nice and neat straight into the socket. Just my luck

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One dish can have up to 8 separate feeds off it at the moment. There are a couple of Sky dishes installed on the roof of the apartment block we are buying and if you want a feed, you contact the company to connect you. You then have the free to air channels and no further subscription costs. We are taking our spare digibox and buying a FTA card from Sky and activating it before we come out, that way we only have to pay for the cable to be run from the dish to our apartment and not the 500€ or so for the complete system.

Mark

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Hi Mark

This sounds a bit like what happenend in the first instance before we all completed, I think, maybe yours is different. We were told that the communal arial would be Spanish only. Ok, so decided to get our own. Then we were told that if anyone in the apartments below wanted to connect then they would have to ask permission from the top to run a feed. I was ok to help out if anyone wanted to run off ours. After this it transpired that there would be a communal ariel for the block. So wasn't needed and paid more to have our dish installed. Does that make sense?

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