Television on the move demystified

If your interested in watching your favourite tv channels while away in your caravan or motorhome you might find that purchasing the required equipment is full or technical jargon and complications. This article explains what is required to receive a signal and help you avoid expensive pit falls.

Digital Terrestrial Television Vs Satellite Television
Now that the digital age has dawned upon us and the analogue service is being switched off we have two choices, Digital Terrestrial Television or Satellite Television and there is one clear winner!
Digital Terrestrial Television is a directional service which means your antenna needs to be pointing at the mast which beams out the service which becomes quite hard to find as its hard to fine tune. Its not like in the days of analogue were you could turn the antenna until the fuzzy picture becomes clearer it's a case of it either works or it dosen't. To add to this there is also a considerable delay in getting the picture so you could of already passed the point were is would work. Digital Terrestrial Television is really intended for homes and towns not in the middle of the countryside were you will be on holiday. Satellite television combats this problem by offering an unbeatable service which is available as long as you can see the sky so unless your planning your holiday in an underground car park you should be fine.

Satellite Television Explained
There are various different satellites in orbit beaming down digital television and music services. The satellites have names such as astra 2a, astra 2b,astra 2d, HotBird, Eurobird etc. Before May 2003 tv channels such as BBC, ITV, Channel 4 etc where beamed out from the Astra 2a satellite all over europe. The signal was encrypted though so the use of a viewing card and decoder such from SKY TV was required to be able to make use of this signal. After May 2003 it became aparant that these free to air channels should be available to more than just SKY TV customers but the issue of TV licensing was holding them back until the point that everything was switched over to the Asta 2d satellite. The Astra 2d satellite has much more compact footprint which covers the UK and Ireland [see illustration below].

What about outside the UK?
The further away you get from the UK the weaker the satellite signal becomes, because of this you will need more specialised equipment such as a bigger dish size and systems that automatically search out satellites. If you cant receive signal from the astra 2d satellites there are others satellites out there showing different television and digital radio channels such as:

Satellite Footprints
Below are footprints of the satellite beams and the dish size you would need depending on what area you were visiting

What do I need to buy?
By using our products and expertise you will still be able to view your favourite channels all over europe.