Astro Tv, Working Great.......

[edwinchester]

I recently had ASTRO installed and compared to the ripoff that is TRUE it is great, better picture and cheaper.

I have only one minor irritation.

Periodically when watching any channel the letters xxxx followed by yyyy followed by zzzz flash up on the lower right side of the screen, maybe about 10 times and then stop.

Is there anyway to switch this off?

The installation shop seem at a loss to explain.

Thanks for reading.

Edited August 29, 2010 by astral
Specific codes deleted

[gotlost]

To bad we cant receive it up north

[astral]

You do not say which channel you are watching, Sport perhaps?

Some broadcasters mark their signals to make it easier to identify

where a pirated version comes from.

I have noticed similar numbers when watching F1 on Astro.

[edwinchester]

Hi Astral, thanks for the quick reply.

Seems to happen when watching any channel, still there when I change channel anyway.

[MikeWill]

What is ASTRO/what channels do they have? Is it available in Bangkok?

[Richmah]

You do not say which channel you are watching, Sport perhaps?

Some broadcasters mark their signals to make it easier to identify

where a pirated version comes from.

I have noticed similar numbers when watching F1 on Astro.

HI astral, you are wrong. The xxx1 xxx2 xxx3 is actually the ....

which i cant tell you here. Dont be too smart by typing here what is

appear on the screen. Just keep quiet and watch it. Sorry for a bit too rough.

You transmittion can be cut off anytime by just telling the command appear in your screen, ok.

I know what it is but i cant tell you. Same goes to edwinchester. The installer cannot explain to you this, ok.

[gotlost]

You do not say which channel you are watching, Sport perhaps?

Some broadcasters mark their signals to make it easier to identify

where a pirated version comes from.

I have noticed similar numbers when watching F1 on Astro.

HI astral, you are wrong. The xxx1 xxx2 xxx3 is actually the ....

which i cant tell you here. Dont be too smart by typing here what is

appear on the screen. Just keep quiet and watch it. Sorry for a bit too rough.

You transmittion can be cut off anytime by just telling the command appear in your screen, ok.

I know what it is but i cant tell you. Same goes to edwinchester. The installer cannot explain to you this, ok.

Not to worry. As long as powers to be get their TEA MONEY Astro will be alive and well in southern Thailand as its a pirated system. When money is not past on you can look for something else.

[edwinchester]

What is ASTRO/what channels do they have? Is it available in Bangkok?

Available in BKK and can recommend bnpsat. Have a look at bnpsat dot com.

[selftaopath]

Sorry for my ignorance. Would you give me a brief description of what Astro is and if we could get this in Isaan?

cheers,

AND I'm "dyin" to get some decent internet other than paying TOT Bt2,600 a month.

[MikeWill]

What is ASTRO/what channels do they have? Is it available in Bangkok?

Available in BKK and can recommend bnpsat. Have a look at bnpsat dot com.

Thanks edwinchester,

Unfortunately, the site is in Thai only. It'll take me sometime (to find someone) to translate it.

[astral]

http://www.astro.com.my/

for details of Astro, the Malaysian equivalent of True.

[samuijimmy]

Interesting, I've not had or seen this appear on my screen, with Astro

As Astral points out it is Malaysia's version of True.... But no speak "Thai," so not good if you have Thai wife or hubby!

Much better picture quality on all channels & sound......(why would that be?.......) & choice of programs, (hooked to my stereo unit) .... I am very pleased with it... & for those who say it may get cut off, is rubbish : as the likelihood of them moving the satellite & extremely unlikely.....

I have heard / read the signal fades out north of BKK...

For some reason CNN does not always come in, but BBC & Algerzera are fine... as are the other programs...

HD is first to go in heavy rain, but can live with that. You do get Malaysian sub titles on some programs....

I have read some where in these forums that you can renew the subscription in Malaysia, for less money, than in Thailand, I guess one would have to take the Card down & find an Astro Shop. I think they are listed on their web site.... that way it's even cheaper for better quality.

On Samui, there are several vendors who sell the Astro satellite system, price varied a little... but the one I choose had set up within a few hours of ordering.

Edited August 29, 2010 by samuijimmy

[astral]

For some reason CNN does not always come in, but BBC & Algerzera are fine

If you watch carefully you will see that the news is running a 2-3 minutes behind real time,

so they can exercise censorship............

Ads will appear at unexpected moments.

That may well be why CNN is not always available.

[PattayaParent]

Does the forum sponsor provide an ASTRO service?

Does it need a big dish or the same size dish as UBC?

[RedNIvar]

Sports is ENGLISH. EPL halftime show in ENGLISH, everything in ENGLISH.......With a subscription you even get Cricket, Rugby, etc.

If you have friends in Malaysia, get them to register and get a decoder box from Astro and have the monthly payment deducted from your credit card. Anyone here can install and align the dish for you for a reasonable price. A lot cheaper that lying, good for nothing, ripoffs True.

[astral]

Does it need a big dish or the same size dish as UBC?

That will depend on where you live.

In the South of Thailand the standard UBC dish should suffice,

further north you go, the more likely you are to need a larger dish

http://www.measat.com/satellite_91e_measat3a_ku.html

The footprint map does not show coverage outside Malaysia.

IMHO the UBC dishes are undersized for optimum reception in all weather conditions.

[apetley]

Does the forum sponsor provide an ASTRO service?

Does it need a big dish or the same size dish as UBC?

We initially had a 1 metre solid dish similar to that used by TRUE but upgraded to a 6ft dish when offered one for 1500 bht by the installers.

To be honest there appeared no difference in picture quality but I have heard the bigger dish offers a better chance of keeping a picture during bad weather.

I have spoken with the forum sponsor JSat and they seem very knowledgeable but you can buy elsewhere alot cheaper.

[mightyharriss]

i heard when it spits with rain astro goes down.. It is supposed to detect rainfall 10 minutes in advance... It's better than otters

[samuijimmy]

i heard when it spits with rain astro goes down.. It is supposed to detect rainfall 10 minutes in advance... It's better than otters

Well that is not true, (no pun intended!) (about rain) although could be further north... It was pouring rain here an hour ago, & programs were fine, except the HD channels. .

The dish is same size as True's , here on Samui ( I would guess 24 or 30 standard size, I am not going out to measure it!!!!! ) it's green & a slightly different angle, so pointing to a different satellite obviously...

If you go to a local shop that sells the Astro system here, then you can compare & see... If it's available so easily on Samui, there must be other outlets around the mainland. ... more likely where the signal is OK.

[powderpuff]

Did you put up your own satellite dish?

HTV cable doesn't carry Astro any more

[samuijimmy]

Did you put up your own satellite dish?

The new satellite dish came with the package, they also installed new coaxial cable to the Astro receiver box, for the initial installation price & one year payment for the channel selections, I chose.

I would only recommend people planning on staying a number of years to do this, as they set up few will take two years to become much cheaper than True Vision for a similar package.

[powderpuff]

Thanks for that. Is it a 3 meter dish or a smaller one , around 1 meter diameter or less?

[astral]

Was that 6ft dish a mesh one?

If so not optimal for Ku band signals.

1m dish should do fine, but as previously stated it depends where you live.

Obviously in Samui, you are very close Malaysia so a smaller dish is fine.

It would be nice to have a report and details of dish size from someone in Bangkok,

or further north.

[samuijimmy]

Thanks for that. Is it a 3 meter dish or a smaller one , around 1 meter diameter or less?

OR LESS! Here! I meant to say 24 inches to 30 inches, so in metric terms around 60 cms.... to 90 cms approximately.

I gather they are larger the further north you go! Mine is exactly the same as the red True Dish, except it is green, & points about 10 degrees off, where the True one is, which I still have.

It's a different satellite!

[apetley]

Was that 6ft dish a mesh one?

If so not optimal for Ku band signals.

1m dish should do fine, but as previously stated it depends where you live.

Obviously in Samui, you are very close Malaysia so a smaller dish is fine.

It would be nice to have a report and details of dish size from someone in Bangkok,

or further north.

Hi Astral, yes the dish is a mesh one but the signal seems to be fine, better than the original solid 1 metre dish, and as I said the pic is better than the old TRUE one.

Pic does go AWOL during heavy rain but no more so than TRUE either

We live on an alignment just slightly north of northern BKK.

Happy happy so far!

[powderpuff]

Gotcha.

[austinav]

Astro TV is by far the cheaper offerings than from True. I have been using it for 2 years while I was working in Bangkok. And now they have the HD service and I think is a no brainer.

The other reason is the languages in the channels are mostly native English and not dubbed like True.

I had it installed by an excellent installer company. However, I took up the subscription while I was in Malaysia and pay the subscription through my credit card online.In this way, I get the best direct rates.

I was given a IC card and I just insert into the widely available Astro STB for sale in the installer company. If you have a problem, I just called the customer service to malaysia, and they can do a lot of things like resetting, subscription matters and etc. And yes, the Astro customer service can speak great English.

I use a VERY BIG DISH. to prolong signal strengths in case of bad weather.

Edited September 8, 2010 by austinav

[Phil Conners]

After DSTV/Multichoice disappeared I just had my dish realigned to Astro and I'm actually positively surprised with the program selection. One problem though, while some of the channels are quite stable, some are really poor and fall out every 5-10 seconds. Question for those with Astro in Pattaya: How big a dish is needed to get a clear signal on a normal day? My dish is 7 ft and with a brand new Ku-LMB. Shouldn't that be enough? Maybe I need to get the sat guy to come around an adjust the alignment...

[astral]

Is your dish mesh, or solid?

Mesh was fine for Multichoice (c-band) but the shorter wavelength

of Ku-band, for Astro, tends to fall through the holes.

No I am not joking!

http://www.tech-faq.com/ku-band.html

[Phil Conners]

It's a mesh, but it worked fine for Dream which is also KU band.

Also your link says "However, with a mesh dish- if the "holes" in the mesh are greater than a quarter inch, the chances of computability are not in your favor, due to the fact that your dish won't reflect Ku-band signals properly.". The holes in my dish are about 1-2 mm, (1/4) inch = 0.635 centimeters. So I think that is not the problem.