Has anyone actually lost their TV signal yet?

[Devils Advocate]

Whats your stand by plan Sid if you did lose the main channels?

[El Cid]

Whats your stand by plan Sid if you did lose the main channels?

Install a big dish. I have plenty of room for it at ground level where the current one is. The cost however may not be worth it and I have a few more options such as:-

We listen to a lot of radio but that isn't a problem as I can get all the BBc radio channels and thousands of others through my Apple TV output into my HiFi system. Many of the non BBC radio channels that are on Freesat are not moving so there will be no change there.

Watch BBC Iplayer on my iPad which transmits directly to the TV via the Apple TV.

ITV player seems to work on the Humax without blocking non UK IP addresses.

Watch live TV on the iPad from Filmon. Lousy quality unless you pay for a better option. OK on the iPad screen though.

Having been aware of the potential problem for over two years I also have been archiving programs from the Humax to external hard disks and now have about 700 hours of (unwatched) decent programmes in HD which I can play back through the Humax.

No doubt there are a few more options which I haven't looked at yet.

Sid

[Devils Advocate]

Hmm, so watching "live" normal TV without a bigger dish could be a problem then I gather from your answer. Is there a definate size required or is that still up in the air? As you say, with your situation mounting a bigger dish will not be a problem...........same with us as you know. If we were to upgrade (which we probably wouldn't for holiday use) I think this time I'd mount the dish remotely from the house and out of sight as a lot have done in our area. What concerns me is friends and people we know there who with living in small towns and built up areas simply won't be able to do this............like you we are on a 1.3 now..............others are struggling on smaller dishes as it is, as 1.3 was a no go, what will they do if the worst happens

I had a battle with the OH to have the 1.3 bolted to the house anyway..........any bigger and it'd certainly be veto'd.............she wanted it down the hill and out of sight last time so she may just get her wish this time if we decided to upgrade. We have very rarely used the system/telly in the years we've had the place.............but that last rainy month we had there it came into its own I have to admit.

Hope the switch over does not have the effect on full timers there I'm now realising it may have.........I didn't think it was a real issue until this thread

[Zofia]

I think most people who live in towns- and therefore would have trouble with bigger dishes- will have decent unlimited internet so can use that for streaming/iplayer/filmon etc.

Sadly I only have satellite internet which has a limit, so things like that aren't an option for me.

Zofia

[El Cid]

The likely dish size won't become clear until the new sat is fully operational. Initially all you will know is that you need a bigger one as the old one doesn't work but how big that is will only become apparent if there are plenty of people who have bigger dishes now and who are getting a good signal.

There are loads of reception reports coming in from all over Europe at the moment so it is becoming a bit clearer but there haven't been too many reports from the CDS yet apart from negative ones.

There are thousands of Brits down here and nearly all of them seem to watch UKTV. It's going to be a very big problem for many people. What is odd is that there has been no mention of the possible problem in the expat press even though it's been well known to many people for some time - especially those that read forums.

Yes Sky will still be OK but what about all the soaps, Strictly, x-Factor, etc etc which probably represent well over 50% of all viewing (sport excluded).

Sid

[El Cid]

I think most people who live in towns- and therefore would have trouble with bigger dishes- will have decent unlimited internet so can use that for streaming/iplayer/filmon etc.

True but it isn't that simple unless you want to spend your evenings hunched over a PC in another room or dragging your laptop over to the TV to hook it up - if you can find the right cables!

Still - it's better than nothing. Perhaps we will see more community systems appearing and also these offers from the phone companies might be an option.

Sid

[Zofia]

What is odd is that there has been no mention of the possible problem in the expat press even though it's been well known to many people for some time - especially those that read forums.

Yes, Sid, I'm perplexed as to why there has been so little published about what could be a huge problem for many expats, not to mention the thousands of bars etc on the coast who rely on screening sport events (although if Sky remains - and I'm still not 100% sure of that- it shouldn't hit them too hard)! I've seen 'rumblings' about it for some time, but most people have not really picked up on it. I think the thing is that no one knows quite what the effect will be until it happens. It has been discussed pretty thoroughly on a Facebook group I'm in.

Zofia

[Devils Advocate]

I was talking more about "White Pueblos" rather than large urban towns. Broadband is still a nightmare there..............even mobile phone use is a no,no in some of them, depending on service provider.

[Zofia]

True but it isn't that simple unless you want to spend your evenings hunched over a PC in another room or dragging your laptop over to the TV to hook it up - if you can find the right cables!

Think there are gadgets for showing TV from internet without loads of cables etc.

Zofia

[rafiki]

I use a paid-for VPN to connect to UK services and an HDMI cable from my tablet to TV when we both want to watch something. I view on my 17" laptop HD screen with headphones when watching on my own. Can't get Sky though but that doesn't bother us.

[Zofia]

Latest I've heard, there has been a slight delay but it should all happen within 8 days....the tension is killing me!

Zofia

[El Cid]

True but it isn't that simple unless you want to spend your evenings hunched over a PC in another room or dragging your laptop over to the TV to hook it up - if you can find the right cables!

Think there are gadgets for showing TV from internet without loads of cables etc.

Zofia

There are certainly lots of gadgets but have you come across one that works OK? It's certainly an option we need to know more about from people actually using it.

My smart TV has the ability to access the internet directly and has loads of content but certainly not any UK TV apart from BBC news. The Apple TV box can access media on my PC but it cannot stream TV programs that I am watching on the PC. Again it has loads of other content including BBC radio but no live TV.

Sid

[El Cid]

Latest I've heard, there has been a slight delay but it should all happen within 8 days....the tension is killing me!

Zofia

Where did you get that info? Last time is happened a year ago the BBC posted a blog entry about it a few days before the changeover - they haven't published anything yet as far as I know.

Sid

[Zofia]

There are certainly lots of gadgets but have you come across one that works OK

No, but unless we can find a satellite internet company that has unlimited bandwidth it's not going to be an option for us. I've seen posts on other forums from smug townies who aren't worried about this Astra thing at all as they will all do streaming. Some do already....

Zofia

[Zofia]

Where did you get that info? Last time is happened a year ago the BBC posted a blog entry about it a few days before the changeover - they haven't published anything yet as far as I know.

The same place as all the other info, other forums, people who are watching the situation and who actually understand this stuff (which I don't!). Google Astra2F and there is quite a lot of stuff about it.

Zofia

[El Cid]

I am watching the relevant forums and one poster (less than an hour ago) who has a contact at SES was quoted off the record as sometime within the next 8 days but that's still a bit vague.

Still it's going to happen so when isn't really important is it - there's nothing much we can do about it.

I also just read a report from 20km east of malaga where there is no signal on a 2.4m dish - that's really bad news for me!

Sid

[Zofia]

Wondering now if I will get to see the last episode of The Secret of Crickley Hall next Sunday.....did wonder if it was worth starting to watch a serial!

Zofia

[Zofia]

I also just read a report from 20km east of malaga where there is no signal on a 2.4m dish - that's really bad news for me!

That's what I don't understand - why have some people already lost their signal if it hasn't actually happened yet? I keep reading these reports...

Zofia

[El Cid]

It's the BBC test transmission that they are reporting on.

You have to manually enter the frequency details into your satellite box and see if you can get it. You can't do that on a Sky box but you can on the Humax. I did so and can find no signal at all.

Sid

[Acen]

If worse case scenario we lose all the main terestrial channels but the paid sport/movies remain from SKY then I can see people still cancelling their subscriptions as it simply will not be worth it.

My money is on that we MAY lose a few but the CDS will not see any major problems. I actually think we will not lose any.

I can tell you for a fact if at any stage Gibraltar was going to lose its BBC sat connection then they would have done something about it by now, and the local government would have made provisions.

The BBC would have to consult the foreign and commonwealth office if they were going to "cut off" a british dependancy, and essentially they would not be allowed to.