| We are
often contacted by our clients or prospective clients
living on the Costa Blanca or indeed in parts of Spain
such as Madrid and the Costa Del Sol and asked, why
it is that all the Sky digital Channels aren't available
all the time. The answer is quite simply a combination
of the geographical location and the footprint of the
Astra 2A digital satellite. The Channels broadcast by
Sky on the "North Beam", e.g. Sky Sports 1,
Sky Sports 2, Granada+, Breeze, History Channel (and
the rest... you know which ones they are!) tend to disappear
at the same time everyday and then reappear much later
or not at all the same day, only to be back to normal
early morning the next day and so on.. If you look carefully
at the "North Beam" footprint, the sizes in
centimetres are Astra's recommended dish size required
along the lines of the footprint.
So for example if you lived
in France or the U.K. a minimum dish size of 50cm is
recommended. The extreme limits of the footprints are
marked by the last ring on the outside. This is where
a minimum dish size of 120cm is recommended. That's
exactly where you are, right on the edge of the footprint
at the weakest point where the larger dish size is required.
If you look carefully near southern Italy, the 120cm
limit of the footprint suddenly bends in to the west
and then a bit further north curves round and bends
out again to the east. Effectively isolating southern
Italy from receiving all channels Broadcast on the "North
Beam" ( Why doesn´t the "South Beam"
do the same thing? )
As the day progresses due to
the earth's rotation and also its inclination the effect
on the footprints is that they "wobble" and
move to the West several hundred miles ( this has no
effect on UK viewers as they are in the middle of the
high signal strength area ). Gradually however, the
"boot" shape of the 120cm line moves to the
west until by mid afternoon its over the Costa Blanca
and mid Spain effectively moving us out of the reception
area. Then by the next day due to the rotation of the
earth the "boot" has moved back again over
southern Italy and hey presto were back on the air again.
This explains why as the day progresses the weak "North
Beam" channels start breaking up or "blocking",
that is the effect on the screen that breaks up the
picture and makes it look like a jigsaw puzzle.
For a detailed look at transponder
coverage please see /www.lyngsat.com/dig/skyuk.shtml
for a channel list and for coverage maps see
www.ses-astra.com/satellites/footprints.php?sat=15
see also our ASTRA COVERAGE GUIDE . This guide is compiled
by customers and are actual dish sizes being used.
|
SKY UK CARDS
