Hello again all readers of the monthly TV newsletter - and may I welcome any new readers. Well it's May already and we are getting prepared for the "influx" of summer visitors. Have you got a string of visitors lined up? It can be a difficult situation but we do lay down ground rules - we are not on holiday - we live and work here. Visitors must have their own transport and as we are not on holiday we don't want to go to the beach everyday and eat out every night.. These rules do make it a lot easier and visitor's stays a pleasure - try enforcing your own rules!
TV news. Firstly for newcomers the aim of this information page is to keep all the expat British residents up to date with UK TV and its availability down here in this part of Spain. Things continually change on the broadcaster's technical front and in general these changes do not affect viewing in the UK but can have significant repercussions over here. Always remember that no UK TV is designed to be watched over here - we are very lucky to be able to get what we do. In simple terms think of being in the UK and your antenna delivers "10 buckets" of signal to your TV - loads for a picture and spare to cope with bad weather, interference etc. Down here, and most of Murcia is the worst place in Spain for UK TV signal, the 1.35m antenna delivers "1bucket" of signal - even though the dish has 10 x the surface area of the SKY minidish used in the UK. That's just enough to get a picture but there is no spare. On the same scale a 1.45 dish will deliver "3 buckets" - a vast improvement but still not approaching the UK signal levels. Up one level the 1.8m dish gives us "5 buckets" - then we have enough for signal and some spare. This is a very simplified analogy - different channels have different signal strengths - signal strengths vary throughout a 24 hour period - but I hope it gives the "layperson" some idea of the difficulties installers have to try to get you some decent UK TV down here. As a company we now have a policy of not fitting 1.35m dishes as they are so marginal for reception - 1.45 being the minimum for "acceptable" viewing.
If you have an installation and the reception is far from being acceptable I expect you have a 1.35m dish - consider an upgrade to 1.45. If you are a new property purchaser to the area and UK TV is important, then get a reputable satellite installer to survey before you buy - it is not always possible to install the required huge dishes on all properties.
The big bit of news - especially for those who have been following my newsletter over the past months, is that the new "FREESAT" consortium (mainly BBC and ITV) have announced the launch date - from months of saying Spring 2008 is now May 5th! However it was immediately followed by a rider saying that if the system, for any reason was not ready by then, they would have no hesitation in delaying the date!!! I read between the lines that there are technical problems unresolved and we may have to wait. However I have a UK visit planned for 12th May and if the system has been launched then I will bring back a selection of the available boxes to test reception out here. Finally I did see some information, from quite a reliable source, that the "FREESAT" system will use the satellite at 28.5 east of south. Now most of the existing UK TV transmissions come from 28.2 east of south - technicalities!!! - the point is that 28.5 has a wider footprint - more technicalities!!! - the real point is that smaller dishes down here may be enough for good reception of "FREESAT". I really doubt we are going to go below one meter dishes but possibly the 1.35m will be more than adequate - giving the same good performance for "FREESAT" as the 1.8m gives for SKY.
Article sponsored by RAINBOW SATELLITES - installing UK TV in the Murcia region. Contact Alan or Matt for free friendly advice and competitive quotations. Telephone (0034) 686 358 475 or email rainbowsats@terra.es. Our website - www.rainbowsats.org - has some good basic information.