UK TV in our area (one month on from switch off) by Richard Shanley By the time you read this article all the final tweaks should have been carried out on the new Astra 2E satellite and all is now located in its final trajectory. Thats not to say things wont alter again in the future but for the time being at least nothing should change. That brings me onto the subject of larger dishes. Costa Almeria in on the fringe of needing 1.9 or 2.4m dishes. In the far north of our region a 1.9 should suffice but anywhere else a 2.4m is needed to go back to EXACTLY what you had just over a month ago. A lot depends on the sensitivity and quality of your equipment (digibox/LNB/cable) and even more on the competence of your installer. You would think that owning a TV company I would have had one installed already. WRONG. For two reasons. 1. They are extremely expensive (approx €1000 for the 1.9 and €2000 for the 2.4 (by the time cabling and a concrete base are added) and 2. They are pig ugly. The 1.3s were bad enough but I certainly dont want something the size of Jodrell Bank on my property when there are credible alternatives. Europa Digital have not even ordered never mind installed a single larger dish as I refused to do so before all adjustments were carried out on the new satellite. Having been operating in the area for 14 years we are not after the quick buck, we just want to offer sensible solutions. I certainly cant wholeheartedly recommend something that I wouldnt have at my own house and in my opinion is unnecessary. Please read on as now is the time to think about other options for watching TV. So what other options do you Have? Streaming live TV via the internet in my opinion is a complete no no in the long term. At the moment it is a bit of fun getting Film On on your ipad and passing it through to the TV or using an android or IPTV box but we are already encountering problem with internet speeds at peak times with only residents using the systems. When the tourists arrive it will get considerably worse. To use an analogy the Internet is like a motorway. It doesnt speed up the more traffic you put on it. So live streaming is not a long term fix. Also people using streaming boxes are treating them like a digibox. They are leaving the boxes on and just turning the TV off when they go to bed. So they are still using at least 1 meg of download to the box even though they have chosen not to watch it. Your Internet provider will notice this and you start risking getting into the realms of their fair usage policy. Every provider has one in their small print and if you exceed your monthly limit they may throttle your bandwidth making the box unusable. If you pay a Sky subscription you are in a much better position than those who dont as there are still all the sky channels you can watch live as these have not moved. But you really should upgrade to Sky+ HD. This used to be an extra £10 on you subs but Sky are currently offering this at just £5.50. ITV, 2,3,4 & Channel 5 all in HD are still available with your current dish (they are part of the Sky package not the free to air one) as are Channel 4, More 4 & E4 to sky subscribers so really you are only missing BBC1, 2 & ITV1. Now I know these are 3 very important channels but with the Sky On Demand service you can download all your favourite programmes to watch at a later date. You do require a specially programmed router with a UKIP address which we can supply and away you go. Although this does rely on the Internet it doesnt matter how slow it might be as you are not streaming the channels live. It will just take longer to download programmes when the Internet is slow. Or wait until just before you go to bed and set the box to download all that evenings entertainment overnight whilst the Internet is fast. Perfect for drama, soaps, documentaries, game shows etc but not for live sport of news which as anyone who already has a recording option will testify; are the only things you really watch live any more. The beauty of this system is that because the programmes are downloaded you will never get any buffering or break up of picture like you do when trying to stream the channels live. All of the latest movies are also on there (depending on your package) as well as box sets of your favourite programmes. Lots of these have already been sent to the Sky section of your hard drive to view whenever you want, no download required. This UK router system can also be used in conjunction with a Humax recordable Freesat box with no monthly subscriptions but without the movies and box sets obviously.. If you have no access to the internet or you really cant live without live TV then the new rental system exclusive to Europa Digital is your answer. You receive your favourite UK terrestrial channels all in high definition with just a 1m dish. Your HD digibox if free (security deposit required), installation is from just €49 (please telephone for details) and a monthly rental fee of €16.53 plus IVA (€3.47). TOTAL €20. This is an encrypted service from a different satellite and nothing to do with Sky. Approximately three times per year new codes are released and entered into each box. We usually receive these within 24 hours. Any at time you can cancel the service and your security deposit is refunded as soon as you return the HD digibox. So for an initial outlay from just €49 plus your security deposit you can be watching UK TV again and be in charge of your own destiny as this does not rely on the Internet, just a small dish. Perfect if you want an inexpensive alternative for receiving UK TV or you have a rental property and need to offer UK TV to your clients. If you want to cancel at any stage simply bring the digibox back, your security deposit is refunded and monthly rental fee cancelled. So as you can see there are plenty of alternatives to a huge, expensive, ugly dish. If you have any questions or would like more information please email richard@europa-digital, telephone 950 133 233 or call in and see everything being demonstrated at Europa Digital, 2nd Floor Parque Comercial, Mojacar playa, next to Spectrum Radio. Europa Digital, proudly finding solutions to Almerias telly addicts for 14 years.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 12:43:42 +0000
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