" Free to Air "

Share experience regarding ownership of property and/or living in Portugal.
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tbbr
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" Free to Air "

Post by tbbr »

What can anyone tell us about this , understand its a bit like Freeview with many UK channels.
pm
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Post by pm »

I thought it was just a term for free to watch channels like bbc, itv etc.
As in.
Thanks to the grasping and short sighted ecb, cricket is no longer on free to air channels, it's on sky.
tbbr
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Post by tbbr »

I believe that there are two systems, Free sat is the other both available via dish which do not require a regular payment to Sky and have available the main UK channels.
One can be bought at Mestre Macro ???
e-richard
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Post by e-richard »

If you're thinking of a satellite system where you just install dish and digibox, then have no monthly payments (i.e. free to air), have a read of this thread.
I think it may answer some of your questions.
md 600 driver
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Post by md 600 driver »

free to air satelitte
you can use any std box and you will get all non encrtyped and soft encrypted channels bbc 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 itv ect

freesat
you need a sky reciever to watch these channels there is no subscriptions but you need a viewing card £20 you get c4 c5 and a lot more channels that are soft encrypted

subscription
you need a viewing card and a valid subscription to view with this you can get all channels [you are not suposed to be able to do this outside the uk but there are lots of ways around this ] send a pm if you want any help subscribing

freeview
is a digital terrestial service [from a aerial]in the uk similar to the digital from aerial in portugal you cant get uk freeview signals in portugal
tbbr
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Post by tbbr »

THanks MD for info, al we are looking for is a non subscription system that gives us the basic BBC/ITV channels plus afew extras ( incl golfchannel ).
From what we have seen Free sat seems to cover this.
( have an antipathy to giving any money those tax dodging Murdochs)
Gazza
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Freesat

Post by Gazza »

As this is a Sky package, do you have to purchase one of their boxes or can an existing one be used??? Plus.... is there the usual requirement to have the box hooked up to a telephone line..??

G
pm
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Post by pm »

What's soft encrypted channels?
md 600 driver
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Post by md 600 driver »

soft encrypted channels are the channels the sky receiver will decode without a viewing card just using the inboard decoder
pm
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Post by pm »

I see.
What please is the difference between
free to air satelitte
freesat

Is freesat just the sky equivalent?
Farol
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Post by Farol »

You only need a Sky digibox if you want to watch Sky packages.

I just bought a non Sky package for £60 in Lidl UK and can watch BBC1, BBC2 and ITV plus many others without any extra payments to anybody and do not need any viewing cards. This is exactly the same sort of system as can be bought in many of the Portuguese outlets such as Mestre Maco or Leroy Martin for 80 Euros.

The problem with receiving UK based channels in Portugal is that many of them are transmitted only from the Astra2D satellite. This has a very narrow transmission beam targetted at the UK. To receive channels from it in Portugal you need a 1.5mtr dish typically.

However, many channels are transmitted from other satellites that can be received with packages such as that described above and a dish as small as 60cm. Most of those in the shops in Portugal seem to be 80cm.

So if you are not too fussy what channels you watch I suggest you go along to Leroy Martins at Shop Algarve spend 80 Euros, install it yourself and watch all sorts of programmes from a wide selections of satellites.
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