Channel Five Reception in Costa Blanca and Spain - confusion by installers not knowing the correct situation

Earlier this week I received an email from someone, that included an email from another Sky satellite dish installer based here on the Costa Blanca in Spain.

The text of this emails is as follows:

Due to broadcast frequency changes made by Channel 5, the signal for Channel 5 in standard definition is now similar to that for BBC 2 England, this means:

On small dishes (less than 1.8 mts) there will be no signal.

Unless you already have a Sky HD digibox or upgrade to a Sky HD box , in which case Channel 5 HD is still available.

Upgrading to HD - if you have a 2.4 dish this will also give you BBC1 and BBC HD which will stay on. Please contact us for more information on this.

On larger dishes (1.8 & 2.4 mts) you can now only receive Channel 5 in the morning.

Sorry this is bad news but this change is made by the broadcaster not "COMPANY NAME REMOVED". I will let you know if there is any more news.

This information is incorrect in so many ways.

Due to broadcast frequency changes made by Channel 5, the signal for Channel 5 in standard definition is now similar to that for BBC 2 England, this means on small dishes (less than 1.8 mts) there will be no signal.

This is incorrect.
The recent frequency changes made by Channel Five mean that smaller satellite dishes, even 80cm satellite dishes are still able to receive Channel Five.

The frequency changes for channel Five are NOT on a similar satellite or reception to BBC2 England. In fact they are similar to what they used to be.

If you are unable to receive any of the channel five channel on their new frequency on your 1.8m dish then you have serious problems with your satellite installation, a s these channels are easily available on an 80cm satellite dish here in most of Spain.

On larger dishes (1.8 & 2.4 mts) you can now only receive Channel 5 in the morning.

One of the 4 or 5 regional versions of Five will still be unavailable on 2.4m dishes past mid afternoon. But there are still the other regional versions that you can add to your sky box "other channels" list. You can add these by searching for the channels using frequency 10965 h 22 5/6.

The channel five channels on this frequency do NOT require a 2.4m dish and should be available 24/7 even on a smaller 80cm satellite dish in Spain.

To say Channel Five will only be available in the mornings only even on 2.4m satellite dishes is totally incorrect.

Unless you already have a Sky HD digibox or upgrade to a Sky HD box , in which case Channel 5 HD is still available.

There is no need to upgrade to Sky HD and receive Channel Five HD.
Unless you want to watch Five HD. All channels fives are available using a standard definition Sky box, like the Pace 2600 or Sky+ boxes.

Personally, I would not be surprised if this is a "cash in" scheme from this company to try and get people to buy a Sky HD box from them, by falsely claiming there is no other way to receive Channel Five 24/7 on small 80cm or big 2.4m satellite dishes.

This is shocking that a satellite installation company would send this email to its clients, with this misleading information in what can only be an attempt into tricking people into buying a SkyHD box from them.

There is no need to buy a Sky HD box if you have lost reception of Channel Five.

You can still receive Channel Five on a normal standard definition Sky box.

I mentioned this in a previous blog
http://costablancasatellite.blogspot.com/2011/11/lost-channel-five-in-spain-no-satellite.html

And now you only need a Sky card to watch Five HD, as all the other Channel Five channels, including 5* and Five USA are now free to air and no longer require a Sky card to view.

Channel Five, Five * Five USA - change of frequencies for reception on Sky boxes. Channel Five in Spain

Channel Five and its sister channels Five* and Five USA has today changed frequency.

It is no longer available on its old frequency of 12442 H.

The Channel Fives are now located on the new frequency of 10965 H 22000 5/6

This new frequency for the Channel Fives is on the new Astra 1N satellite.

This new Channel Five frequency has a very good strong signal here in Spain and the Costa Blanca, and should be easily available on an 80cm satellite dish. If you can receive True Movies (sky channel 321), then you should be able to receive Channel Five on its new frequency. If you cannot receive Channel Five, and you are receiving a "no signal is being received" message, then either your satellite dish may need to be realigned, or it may be too small toreceive Chanel Five on the new frequency..

Sky boxes should will automatically change to the new Channel Five frequency, and users need to do nothing.

Freesat boxes: this does not affect Freesta users at the moment, but you will have to performa Freesat channel scan on the 8th December 2011 to inlcude the Five channels into your Freesat channel list.

Any other receivers will need to be manually updated, via the installation menu, for the new Chanel Five frequency on Astra 1N

Astra 1N - Testing frequencies

These are some of the latest frequencies showing test signals for the new Astra 1N satellite, that has recently been launched and will be providing additional satellite capaciity for UK Satellite TV.

From the looks of it the scare stories being banded around about loosing channels may just be that: stories.

These three frequencies are onthe alleged UK Spot beam of Astra 1N, however I am able to receive these on my 80cm dish.

Frequency: 11053 horizontal symbol rate 22000 fec 5/6
Currently transmitting and carrying ITV1 regions, in the clear with no sky viewing card required.
These ITV1 regions may be in preparation for the ITV1 regions on Frequency 11973 or 12402 that do require a sky card to be moved.

Frequency: 10965 horizontal symbol rate 22000 fec 5/6
Currently transmitting carrying Channel 5, Five USA, Five USA+1, 5*, 5*+1, and "7720" which we think may well be Channel 5+1. These channelsa re still encrypted at the moment.
These channel Five channels may be in preparation for the channel Five channels on Frequency 12422 that do require a sky card to be moved. They are expected to get Free to air, available with no sky card, sometime in December.

Frequency: 11.123 vertical symbol rate:22000 fec:2/3
Currently transmitting carrying C4HD.
This C4HD may be in preparation for Chanel 4 HD to move from is current frequency ot another, and it may also be in preparation for more C4 HD channels, like E4HD and maybe even Film4HD.

Note: These are the latest test signals. They may not be the final frequencies for the channels. Although I am able to recevive these on my 80cm satellite dish , there is no saying they will still be available on my 80cm satellite dish when the channels go live.

Have you lost Channel Five, Fiver and Five USA in Spain? "This programme is not available"

If you have recently lost Five, Fiver and Five USA, and are getting a message on the screen saying "This programme is not available", then I am pretty sure that you are using a blue Sky viewng card.

This old blue Sky card will need to be replaced with a new white Sky viewng card.
Since April 2009, Sky have been issuing new replacement Sky cards.

On 1st March 2010, Sky started to deactivate the old blue Sky cards.

Should you wish to continue to watch the free to air TV channels then you will need a new replacement Freesat from Sky viewing card.
You can still get Five without a viewing card, by using the frequency settings as per these instructions : http://www.satandpcguy.com/Site/extra_secret_frequencies_channels_sky.php



For more information please visit:

The Sat and PC Guy - Digital Satellite and Terrestrial Installations and Maintenance for the Costa Blanca

or the forum

The Sat and PC Guy FORUM - Digital Satellite and Terrestrial Installations and Maintenance for the Costa Blanca

Why some UK channels are not for free on satellite / Freesat but they are in the UK on Freeview?

Why some UK channels are not for free on satellite / Freesat but they are in the UK on Freeview?

Hardly a day goes by without someone contact me asking for the frequency for Sky Sports News on Freesat.

There is no Sky Sports News frequency for Freesat receivers.

Although Sky Sports News is available for free on Freeview in the UK, on satellite Sky Sports News is a PAY TV channel only, and requires a monthly subscription to view. So even if you do input the Sky Sports News frequency of 12148 H 27.5 2/3 onto your Freesat receiver you still will not be able to watch it as you require a Sky SUBSCRIPTION.

There are many UK TV channels that are like this, that are available for free in the UK on Freeview, but not available on Freesat.

These channels include:
Sky 3
Yesterday
Dave
Dave ja vu
Virgin1
Five USA
Fiver
Quest
4Music
Viva
Sky Sports News

Some of these channels are available without a monthly Sky subscription, but do need a free to view card (also known as a freesatformsky viewing card.) These channels are Five USA, Fiver, Viva, Sky 3.

This also proves that you cannot receive Freeview in Spain. Freeview is a UK only TV service transmitted from the land based transmitters in the UK. These Freeview signals just do not reach Spain. So if you get a UK TV satellite installer who says they can get you Freeview, dont believe them as they cannot - test the installers by asking if the above channels will be available for free just like they are on Freeview.

For more information please visit:

The Sat and PC Guy - Digital Satellite and Terrestrial Installations and Maintenance for the Costa Blanca

or the forum

The Sat and PC Guy FORUM - Digital Satellite and Terrestrial Installations and Maintenance for the Costa Blanca