Which Satellite?

[jaiyenyen]

I'm thinking of buying a satellite system, and I've been to a couple of shops but they all seem unable to tell me what English channels are available. So far, I have felt the salesmen have only wanted to take my money, and are not too worried if the system suits my needs. They just give me a copied sheet of paper with a list of channels that I'm not familiar with, and say 'these are English'.

I'm not too bothered about sport, but would like to watch News, Documentry's, films, etc.

Will I need to buy a motorised system, or will a fixed one be OK?

I have a budget of around 15,000 baht.

Any advice would be very welcome.

Regards

Jaiyenyen

[Jai Dee]

Check out this website.

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with this company in any way, just a happy customer.

[LivinLOS]

If your looking to scan the free channels then look to lyngsat, and check what sats and viewable, then check what channels are on those sats.. To look at multiple sats obviously you need a motorised dish..

I would say that unless you are a hobbyist then just get a paid for monthly package (UBC).. Or have a paid for system as primary and free (or hackable) broadcasts as a secondary setup.

[JimmieBlonde]

Check out this website.

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with this company in any way, just a happy customer.

I also know these people, they know their stuff, not cheap but good.

[Plus]

You should really look into your needs.

Will free to air programmes (usually from state run TV) satisfy you?

Those satellites are in business, too, they don't broadcast anything unless being paid. Will ESPN pay them to broadcast Champions League for everyone with a dish? NO.

For that premium content you'll have to hack into signals meant for UBC and other regional companies, like Malaysian Astro.

Maybe it's easier to hack Astro than UBC, maybe it's cheaper to pay for African Mutlichoice (but you can't do it legally in Thailand).

So you should really check what you need, is it available for free or will you have to buy subscription to watch these channels, and will it be cheaper than paying for UBC?

[Naam]

just get a paid for monthly package (UBC)

AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH !!!!!!!

[Retired2]

We have decided to go with the company mentioned several times (above) .

For us, it is going to work out slightly more expensive than UBC - but a great deal

more choice.

[LivinLOS]

However all your buying then is equipment.. Not a regular feed..

I used to be into sat hobbying, and used to follow al the encryption standards and signal cracking etc.. All fine for a hobby, but not when you want to just sit down and watch TV..

[jaiyenyen]

Thanks for your advice so far.

I'm not looking for this to be any kind of a hobby. I just want to come home and turn the TV on and watch some half decent English speaking programmes.

Thanks for the link to the J-Sat site, but they still don't really tell me what stations I can look forward to watching (unless I havn't looked hard enough)

They also don't seem to offer anything from the UK.

Regards

jaiyenyen

[jaiyenyen]

I have also heard a lot of complaints regarding UBC programming, so I am reluctant to go down that route.

[Dazzler]

I have been investigating JSat and to get any half decent program selections seems very expensive. Here is some of the correspondence I have had with them:

Me:

I live in Bangkok and am fed up with UBC. I want a system so that I can get the following:

HBO, Cinemax, Star World, Star Movies, Channel V, MTV, Sky News, BBC (as much as possible), ESPN, Star Sports, AXN, Discovery, National Geo, XYZT, FTV.

What would it cost me to install all of these?

JSAT:

There are 2 options available

1) on subscription (approximate cost = 39,000 baht (being 16,500 per year))

2) on card sharing over the internet (approximate cost = 24,500 baht being 2,500 baht per year)

For this option you need to have ADSL hi-speed internet installed in the house.

No sky news, xyzt.

So for option 1) I have to pay Bt22,500 for dish/set up, and then Bt16,500 every year (same as UBC Gold).

For 2), I have to upgrade my internet service.

1) Seems little better than UBC

2) Are there issues with internet interruptions, picture quality, etc..

They also say Multichoice from Africa is available for Bt58,000 per year!

People on this forum have mentioned many free channels; perhaps this is for experts and/or illegal?

What about Dreamworld?

Any one can help?

[Plus]

What kind of subscription in option 1? Subscription for what?

As I said earlier, these channels are never free, you have to subscribe for UBC or some other provider. Which one did they offer?

Basically it means that you want to break UBC's monopoly in Thailand by subscribing to "foreign" company. Question is - are they any better, really?

Multichoice has less channels than UBC, and 58k a year is a rip off.

[Dazzler]

What kind of subscription in option 1? Subscription for what?

As I said earlier, these channels are never free, you have to subscribe for UBC or some other provider. Which one did they offer?

Basically it means that you want to break UBC's monopoly in Thailand by subscribing to "foreign" company. Question is - are they any better, really?

Multichoice has less channels than UBC, and 58k a year is a rip off.

They never said what option 1) was, just that it would provide the channels I want.....

[scotsman]

Have A look in this web site you can e-mail them for any information on this subject. http://www.eldsat.com/

[Gary A]

Has this J-Sat improved over the past two years? I had two friends who bought systems. One guy was sort of a techie and ended up fiddling with the system MUCH more than watching TV. The other was quite disgusted with his system. He tried to sell the system and had no luck. When he sold his condo he asked the purchaser if he wanted to buy the system and the guy didn't want it. My friend didn't even bother to remove the system and just left it. Years ago I had a movable dish that worked great. One by one the stations scrambled signals and it ended up being an expensive yard ornament.

I want a system that I can watch BBC, CNN, Fox News and NFL football games. It must also be capable of receiving the Thai channels. If I have to pay for monthly service, I'll continue with UBC True TV.

[monty]

A bit of information on the legalities of satellite television over Thailand:

UBC (Truevisions) has the sole legal right to re-transmit most of the so-called premium channels over Thailand. (HBO, Cinemax, Discovery, NaGeo etc)

In short this means the only legal way to watch these channels is to take out a UBC subscription.

All the other options are illegal to a certain extent.

Getting a legal subscription card from another provider means you are not breaking any copyright laws (you're paying, the channels are getting their money!), but either the provider is breaking the law if they knowingly sell a card to be used in Thailand (they're not allowed, they don't have any rights to re-transmit these premium channels over Thailand), or you are breaking the law by misleading the provider in thinking you are in an area they have the rights for and then take the card out of that area to use it in Thailand.

The Multichoice card falls in the last scenario, the outrageous price is a result of all the middlemen needed in misleading multichoice to think the card will be used in their area and then bring the card to you. In reality Multichoice costs roughly the same as UBC in their country!

The option of using a decoder hooked up to the internet to descramble the channels is highly illegal, no copyrights are being paid to nobody and you are using illegal equipment, capable of circumventing the scrambling systems used by UBC, Multichoice or any other provider.

SO please take heed of the above in deciding what to discuss on this board!

Unfortunately in Thailand we are stuck with UBC, and the only stuff you are legally able to watch with a satellite system are the Free To Air channels, which unfortunately due to our location here are mainly aimed at the Indians and Asians, and not to Westerners. You'll find mainly news and the "world"channels of various countries (RAI, DW, BVN, TV5 etc...)

[jaiyenyen]

Thanks for that advice Monty,

Looks like I'm going down the UBC route

Regards

Jaiyenyen

[LivinLOS]

What kind of subscription in option 1? Subscription for what?

As I said earlier, these channels are never free, you have to subscribe for UBC or some other provider. Which one did they offer?

Basically it means that you want to break UBC's monopoly in Thailand by subscribing to "foreign" company. Question is - are they any better, really?

Multichoice has less channels than UBC, and 58k a year is a rip off.

They never said what option 1) was, just that it would provide the channels I want.....

It will be UBC anyway !!