We are currently having the facade our home here in Ludwigsburg redone. The scaffolding is up until this weekend, and I want to take the chance to:

1) Install a new dish on the roof to receive Astra2.
2) Replace the existing (60cm) with a larger dish to also receive Astra2.

Questions:

a) What size dish do I need here (in the Stuttgart area) to get Astra2?
b) What size do I need to get multiple sats?
c) Is this something I can do myself (I am pretty handy, and installed many dish in my days in the States)
d) If not, does anyone know anyone that can do this job at a reasonable rate locally (i.e. Stuttgart — Ludwigsburg)

Thanks

60cm is plenty big enough for all Astra Satellite in Ludwigsburg. Even for the BBC. A Sky Zone 2 dish works perfect for one of my friends there!

I am moving to Sindelfingen-Stuttgart area this summer. I have no idea where to look for a sky satelite? Also, any information which internet provider with included international calls I should use. I 'll apreciate any help. It 'll be very depressing to be in a new country with out tv and internet.

Bavaria satellites and Eventful communications will be a one stop solution.

Travel costs will be a bit high, but thats cos a guy is sat in a van for 3 or 4 hrs!

I have this question posted in the TV subforum, but thought to add it here also.
How hard is it to get SKY tv? We have a SKY+ box and would like to continue getting sky when we move.
Any tips on installers / providers??

Topics merged by admin

I am living in Heidelberg so can't advise on installers etc. but I do have Sky (not Sky+) installed which I did myself. The reason I only have Sky is that I believe for Sky+ you must keep your phone connected - maybe it is no longer the case but I have been living 5 years outside of UK.

I looked also at German satelite TV but there were not too many English channels.

My only advise is that make sure you have a big enough satelite dish. I made some research and discovered that you will need either an 80cm or 90cm dish to have a good picture. You can buy these quite cheap locally yourself, i.e. MediaMarkt, MediaMax etc.

Are you wanting to carry on receiving subscription channels or just the free to view / free to air stuff?

If subscription channels are required you will have to keep up the subscription though a UK address. If you cancel your subscription your box should only continue with the usual free channels, BBCs ITVs, 4, 5 etc. I think you have to pay sky if you want to use the plus services also, so maybe that will be disabled.

There are loads of installers in Stuttgart, so just find one when you get here and make sure he aligns to the correct satallite. I did mine myself with the help of a knowledgable friend. It took a couple of hours to setup. Was easy as I was able to install it on my balcony, but obv this isn't the case for everyone.

I'm in Stuttgart and have a 60cm dish which never has any reception problems, a friend has an even smaller one which seems to suffer a little when it rains.

JRD,
If we cancel our sky here in UK. I can take my box to Stuttgart and get Free channels? I am sorry for the dumb questions, this is all new to me. Is it easy to do?
also, what is Astra 2?

Our other option for germany is get the AFN channels (armed forces network), but we we really have gotten use to our SKY tv and hate to give it up.

thanks

Thats what I did. But it was just a standard Sky box and not the SKY+ one. Someone must know if this works! As for it being easy, it is pretty easy, depending on where you locate the dish. It is MUCH easier though if you pay someone else to do it, they will have the correct gear to align things correctly and so on.


There is more than one Astra satelite. All the UK/Sky stuff is broadcast on Astra 2A. The standard german free channels are on another one. My setup is that I have a 60cm dish aligned to Astra 2 (28.2º I think), this is connected to my old sky box. I then have a second LNB offset on a bracket connected to a separate sat receiver to watch the german stuff when required (never).

Hi. I posted this in the Germany forum for TV and Telecom, but got no replies.
Can anyone recommend dish installers for the Stuttgart region. We want to get Freeview on Sky and maybe AFN (two dishes).

Thanks!

This guy did it for me (including AFN) and did it well, but he is not that cheap. He is in Ludwigsburg. His English is limited.

We cover the Heidelberg/Wiesbaden Area..pm for more infos!

If you need AFN or Sky hooked up by a very reliable guy in the Stuttgart/Patch area then email Mac at mcloughl_2000@yahoo.com. He hooked my Sky and AFN up and supplied the parts (quad LNB and cables) and charged me $220.

I used him also He installed our sky (two boxes) and afn. He charged us $165 labor (flat rate, but he spent a few hours at the house) and cost of the parts. Your $220 sounds very cheap! He bought the parts for us and charged us his costs. two dishes, cables, etc. Worht it as I would have spent hours at the store trying to figure out what parts we needed.

sfs@europe.com for Sky/AFN help...

I can also fully recommend Mac (mcloughl_2000@yahoo.com)
He hooked up a good friend of mine`s sat intallation. The guy is real class.He really knows his sat stuff. No fuss. Got everything they needed. Set up everything perfectly. Very professional and in the end the price was way better than any of the "competition".
A+ and outstanding.