Easiest and cheapest way to receive "Five"

At the moment i am receiving BBC / ITV via a normal german sat receiver from SkyMaster, but I would like to recieve Five. From what i have read this is only possible via a SkyBox ??? Wouldn't this also be possible with a 'normal' reciever that uses VideoGuard, or is there no such thing? I don't want any Sky packages that i have to pay for every month. The thing is i want only one sat box (a pvr with about 80GB) for german and uk tv, and it has to be compatible with a DiscEq 1.2 motor. does anyone know the cheapest and easiest way to do get this?
thanx

Channel 4 via the Astra 2D satellite, which you could have done yourself, if you had typed in channel 5 into the search box!

i read that, but can you get the german channels via a motor too?

I hope you're not planning on recording UK TV whilst watching German TV, if you're going to hook up a single PVR to a motorised dish, as they are broadcast on different satellites.

i know that's not possible! I have kabel for 'normal' german tv, but when my bf decides he wants to see something highly intelligent like ZDFDoko then we can swing the dish around!

As I understand it you can't use a Sky box to receive German channels, I can't remember the exact reason but Bavaria Satellites will be able to tell you all you need to know.

humm...

does it have to be a sky+ box? won't a reciever with a videoguard slot also get Five?

It has to be a Sky Digibox ("normal" box, Sky+ or SkyHD) with suitable card. Only Sky boxes have "Videoguard slots" - they can't be (easily) retrospectively added to non-Sky systems

and why can't a sky box be then used to get the german channels too? the german channels are free without a card...

Normal Sky box and a free to view card.We have it works a treat.Get in touch with Bavaria Sattellite and stop being cheap.

that implies that BavSat are expensive, which they certainly aren't for the service they provide.

Because a Sky box is designed exclusively for Sky. You can manually add up to 50 "other" channels but this is not very practical and they won't be in the EPG. Plus, of course "swinging the dish" is really not quite as easy as you might think, when the alignment, both horizontal and vertical has to be to fractions of a millimetre.

Try this link

http://www.myp2p.eu/channel.php

i'm not intending to be 'cheap', but my balcony is small and i don't really have room for a second dish - unless i want to forget what daylight looks like, which is why I would like and all-in-one solution!!

As for "swinging the dish", we do that at the moment, and i know that it's a pain with the alignment, but my Bf is good with things like that.

if you ask Bavaria Satellite to install, they can give you a one dish solution without the need for a swinging dish; they installed such a set-up for me in my old place. I didn't bother with the German satellite in the new place cos frankly it is crap and not worth bothering with.

did you use a motor to get both??

Google offset LNB.

nope. 90cm dish (which you need for BBC1,2,3,4 etc), two LNBs on a bridge 9 degrees apart focussed on Astra 19,2 and Astra 28,2. I had two satellite receivers but I am sure you could feed both into one receiver with a DiSEqC switch.

You may be interested to know that Ch4 and 5 could be free next year!!

You heard it first here!!!

oh yeah, i forgot. Five isn't Free-to-air yet, only free-to-view, which means you need a Sky digibox for the moment and that doesn't support DiSEqC.

@owain glyndwr - that's what i do at the moment but using a motor, but i get get five that way!

@Spiderpig, doesn't look like Five will be joining soon, but great info!!

@Guy. I googled Offset LNB but didn't understand a word! - helppppp

Google is great when you know what to look for!

[img]http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c148/satman124/P1010128.jpg[/img]

ist offset LNB another term for twin LNB? me confused...

yes and no...

Offset lnb means you need 2 LNBs..

2=double=twin= oh I dont know...

no one knows what an offset LNB is?

Spiderpig does. Like he said, an offset set-up is two separate LNBs place slightly apart on a bridge at an off-set angle to each other to allow them to aligned to different satellite positions (see his attached photo). A dual LNB in a monoblock is, i think, two LNBs in one block which are not off-set and can only be aligned to the same satellite but enable multiple feeds with the horizontal and vertical being fed seperatley. A twin LNB is one LNB with two output feeds enabling you to connect two receivers.

I'm sure YL6 will tell me if that is wrong.

Yes, that is wrong

he he thought so. can you explain then?

A monoblock LNB is two LNBs in one package with integrated switch, normally with a fixed spacing of 6 degrees so allowing Astra and Eutelsat satellites to be received on a single dish - it makes installation easier as you only need to line up the LNB on the main satellite you require, then the other is already there due to the preset spacing of the LNB. Such an LNB is no good for other satellite combinations (as the distance apart is different)

if i understand correctly i need an offset LNB. one more question to those with Sky+ , i read that you can watch one programme and record another, doesn't this mean that 2 LNBs are needed just for the Sky+ ?

No. Sky+ (and SkyHD) need two connections to the same signal off the dish so you can watch live TV and record a different programme at the same time. For this you need a twin LNB. This is a single universal LNB with 2 identical outputs:

ok... let me get this straight. I need one Twin LNB for Sky+ and one normal LNB for German TV mounted on a bridge (and two recievers for Sky & one for German TV)

Why do you need 2 receivers for Sky?

i meant two recievers - one for sky and one for german!

i meant two recievers - one for sky and one for german!

Yes - a twin universal LNB for Sky+, a single universal LNB for the German receiver, a variable bracket for offset LNB mounting (that works with your dish without disturbing the focal point) and someone who knows how to install it (3 degrees of freedom in 2 relative planes is not trivial)

what do you mean by variable?

he means get someone to install the kit who knows what they are doing.

A variable bracket for offset LNB mount as opposed to a fixed bracket for offset LNB mount. Sorry, can't be much clearer...