Hooking up a Sky+ box for satellite TV

Hi. We are in the UK now and are moving next month to Germany. I understand that my SKY+ box will work in Germany. Will the satellite dish? Also, do we need to buy a new card from sky germany?

sorry for the dumb questions, just want to make sure we bring everything we can use!
thanks.

WHATEVER you don't tell sky you are moving. There is no such thing as Sky Germany and they will cancel your card if they think you are here.

Depending on where you are moving to there are companies who would help you install the dish and give you far better advice than I can.

There are better qualified people on this forum, but in a nutshell SKY is not allowed under their licence in Germany, but the good thing is that your receiver has no idea where it is. An 80cm dish is usually enough in the Munich area to pick up a signal.

So ensure that you keep the current UK address with SKY, tell them nothing, and just move the unit and keep paying as usual. And never phone them direct if you have a problem in future!

Your best bet is to get "Bavaria Satellite" to set you up at this end. In theory you might not need them, but they will stop you screwing things up and ensure you have the best possible signal etc. And trust me - German TV is toss and full of adverts so you need UK TV.

JE, 90cm for most of Munich, unless you live in the far west, if you want to watch BBC etc. The further west and north you go, the smaller the size of the dish you need. If you live in the Rheinland, I believe you can get away with a 60cm dish or perhaps even a minidish.

Thanks for the help.
1. We will be in Stuttgart. Any recommended installers?
2. The sky will work without a telephone line? Just wondering since it is currently uses a phone line and sky has called us when our line was not working.
3. You still recommend that we keep our current address on file with sky even if we are selling the house? We are Americans, and hoped to sell our house and eventually close our UK bank accts. Is it cheaper to keep the UK card going instead of buying a new card once we are in Germany?
4. Is it worth bringing our dish with us?

Thanks again.

In the UK "Normal" Sky requires the phone line to be connected for a minimum of 12 months. Sky+ and SkyHD require (in the contract) permanent connection of the line, but they really don't take much notice of this. If you have Sky "Multiroom" (2 or more receivers at the same address) then ALL receivers MUST be permanently connected to the phone line, and you are in danger of losing your subscription if one or more receivers is left disconnected for a long period of time (typically 4 weeks or more)

Ergo Sky boxes (provided by Sky in the UK) should be at least 12 months old before you take them out of the country, and systems provided under the Multiroom deal should never leave home.

Thanks for the help.
Our system is 2 years old and we were not planning on taking the "multiroom" boxes with us.

Off hand, how much is Sky if I go through skygermany or another official provider?
I will do a search now.

There is no such thing as an "official" provider for Sky outside of UK and Ireland. Anyone who suggests otherwise is lying and probably a crook.

We recently took the german sky package in Nuremberg and it costed us € 449 for the receiver and the viewing card. We pay extra for the monthly subscription which depends on the package chosen.

The installation including the dish etc costed us € 350. Expensive but I can assure you it is worth it

No you didn't, as YL6 says there is no such thing as a german sky package, just as there is no such thing as Germansky. Their are ways of getting sky here, as a lot of us have, but it is not official, it's done through the back door! Contact Bavaria Satellite and they will sort you out.

He did if he used German Sky, but they are indeed not official (and in fact their website is down, which may tell it's own story, or may not).

I noticed the GermanSky site was not working also. That is why I was confused. A few months ago I found something that look official - so I thought that yes you can get SKY in Germany. Bummer. I really appreciate everyone's help.
Has anyone heard of this company? http://storesatellite.com/skyingermany.php
Thanks.

setting up a dish is not difficult, especially if you use this site: http://www.dishpointer.com
And it's quite a good rewarding feeling when everything works **tap on the shoulder**

That's freakin' expensive!! I suggest doing the DIY way, you would spend a fraction of that. I brought mySky box over with a viewing card and a 45cm mini-dish as I don't have space for anything bigger on the balcony. If I remember it right, the box was £20, the dish £15, and the freesat viewing card £20. For that I get Ch4, five and five plus etc... but for BBC and iTV, the dish is unfortunately too small (on sunny days I get bbc 1, though).

Getting Sky isn't difficult, just not official. You've already got the equipment, get a specialist to install it for you and get a card. You may be able to use your existing card if you know someone who would let you use their address. If your paying for it from an English bank account, start paying for it with your credit card, that's what I do. My credit card is British but I've known people use German ones and you've probably got an American one, just change the payment method before you leave the country.

HI does anyone in the Nürnberg and area... know what english channels programmes one can get with a Digi Dish 45 (Techni Sat) and the same companys digital receiver... at Astra 28.2... and the same question again with a techni sat reciever and larger 85 cm dish , been told .. and its probably a fact that only a 85cm dish works.. to pick up english programmes...ime curious to know what the digi 45 picks up though!!! all answers will be much appreciated... besten dank

The Technisat Digidish is a portable antenna with similar performance to a Sky minidish as used in the UK. See here for a list of "free" English channels. On your dish you'll get all those shown on "Eurobird 1" and "Astra 2x, except those on Astra 2D - these need a 80cm dish or larger in Nürnberg, but are for many the most valuable as they include BBC and ITV