Satellite TV

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The dishes at the bottom of my garden

There are many satellites you can receive in Europe if you swing your dish a few degrees away from Sky. If only I spoke a few more languages... Of course the trouble is you start off with a secondhand Sky analogue system for twenty quid, but then you start buying bigger dishes and other gadgets in order to pick up the more distant stations.

Please don't ask me about hacking pay-TV: I won't reply to emails about that.

This page is not maintained, as I no longer play with this stuff. Sorry for any broken links!

Dreambox - Linux Satellite PVR

My Satellite Programs

My Windows Utilities These are free open-source Windows programs for the Nokia MediaMaster 9200/9500/9600 with DVB2000, and for the EchoStar LT8700.

Satellites + Frequencies

Frequently Asked Questions about Satellite TV. PLEASE read this before sending me email!
Ross Lockley's Analogue site. This is a very good guide for those getting started, using old Sky Analog kit to look around and see what else is there.
Lyngsat Satellite Chart Locations, frequencies, transmission formats, names of channels
Sat-Address Part of LyngSat, but indexed by Country and then Channel Name, rather than by Satellite.
SatCoDX Similar. Lyngsat, Sat-Address and SatCoDX are the font of all knowledge when it comes to finding out which channels are available in which part of the world. If they don't know, I don't know either ;-)
SMW Link. Excellent program to tell you where to point your dish to reach a given satellite from your location, what results to expect for a given dish size, and whether you can see that satellite from your house anyway. Recommended.
See also their Footprints section.
Stonnall's pages. Handy menu lets you pick a satellite, and see its footprint and a concise list of channel details.
Satellite Footprints by Dish Size and Satellite Global C/Ku Geo-Orbit Quicklook. Excellent website from Ricardo in Mexico. Interesting links as well.

UK Shops

AJL Gloucester.
Hisat Bristol
SatEuro.com receivers and genuine cards.
SatStore.co.uk Mark Hemming in Evesham.

DVB2000 - for Nokia digital receivers

Software for enthusiasts by enthusiasts!
Runs on Nokia Mediamaster 9200, 9500 and 9600 receivers - not 9800.

DVB2000 DVB2000 firmware from Doctor Overflow (Uli).
DvbEdit - uploads settings files and generally controls the box.
SetEdit - receiver settings editor (edit/compare channel lists, etc). SetEdit can be upgraded to include LTEDIT, which lets you set up DVB2000 to command the positioner in an EchoStar LT8700 analog receiver.
My Windows Utilities These are free open-source Windows programs for the Nokia MediaMaster 9200/9500/9600 with DVB2000, and for the EchoStar LT8700.
No-Access.de - Cool site from Micha R. The message board is essential reading for the DVB2000 enthusiast. The German version of Micha's site contains more info than the English one - lots of good software downloads there.
DX Andy's site including a DVB2000 settings-file creator

Other Stuff

SatCure Spares + Repairs + Hobby Kits + Electronics
Rod's North American MPEG-2 Information. Outlines how DVB works; how it relates to other standards, and how it fits into the transmission chain.
Download Echostar LT8700 User Manual (PDF) (Warning: 6.3 Megabytes!)