TV in a Community

I live on a community of nearly forty properties where the community does not provide a TV system.

In the past, roughly 50% of the owners bought a Satellite system that served their needs but which is not, administered by the Community. (All UK channels were availabl)

Last year the system went down and the fault was diagnosed to the distribution system. €2000 was spend on replacement hardware but we all seem to get different channels. For example, I can’t receive ITV HD, any of the Channel 5 channels nor Scottish BBC. Others have similar problems however, some re blessed with all broadcast channels. My Humax Receiver is OK, as I tested it on a friend’s smaller dish.

It seems then that the dish can receive the signals but, our infrastructure can’t distribute the same to everyone. I’m being told by the President that we have to accept this as ‘experts’ have said this is normal in Communities and that owners wouldn’t bear the cost of investigation or resolution, although, none have been asked. Also, if I want all the channels I should go down the route of IPTV.

When I mentioned erecting my own dish, I was told I can’t. But surely, if the Community don’t provide a TV solution I must be able to provide my own?

I think the only TV the community must provide is Spanish tv. On our community we do have a satalite system where owners pay a once off payment of €300 for UK tv if they want, owners are not allowed to put up their own dish.

Would need more details of what the system comprises and how it's been configured but on the face of it it seems odd, in principal I would expect all channels being received to be available for distribution to all not selectively.

IPTV would be one way to go independent although if regional channels are important to you (Scottish BBC) then make sure they will be actually be available on whichever service you choose, every one is different in the channels they provide.

Is this still going on? Back in 2001 the EU came up with a ruling which states that private individuals should be free to use satellite dishes without undue technical, administrative, urban planning or tax obstacles.
This was called "TV without borders" and the directive is IP/01/913 of 2 July 2001 and part of it states:
the right to receive information via satellite dish is related to the fundamental right to freedom of expression, which is established by the European Convention on Human Rights.

And in 2008, San Fulgencio councillors (don't know if it referred to La Marina or lower San Fulgencio) that everyone is entitled to receive TV programmes in their own language and a community could not stop dishes being erected unless they provided an equivalent system (that would mean all channels available to all EU nationalities.

Surprised some communities are still ignoring this.

ITV HD is weak even on a private system. I have my own 1.8 metre dish, well-tuned and it goes on and off.

Secondly part of the issue will be cable run lengths, so if you are on a long cable run and someone on a short one, can weaken the signal. Sometimes on communities, cable run lengths are pushed to their limit, to avoid putting in a more expensive fibre optic type system - fair jump in equipment costs.

It may simply be a case of the cable has perished over a period of time.

Community law does not state you must UK TV, but you are allowed under EU law to receive via satellite - but that is up to the community or group of owners within if they want a shared or community system.

Also larger systems pass through a number of amplifiers & it can be very much a balancing act, so if not well balanced or old, perished or large differences in cable run lengths, you will see these differences - sometimes it can be difficult to balance an older system, especially if falling apart and needs an overhaul - underground cable may have gotten wet & over time it will need replacing.

No one ever gets 100% we are living in Spain - so you will find that there is a compromise - so some BBCs are weaker than others - as well as ITV HD as mentioned (many cannot get this in the evening or consistently) & to go investing the odd frequency for one community member for a couple of channels, can on a big system (a) eat up a load of time / money (b) prove fruitless (c) Affect others if balancing incorrectly.

Getting your own dish is unlikely to give you 100% stability on ITV HD, it will get you your channel 5 back. I'd say unless you want additional content such as video on demand or premium type content, sports etc, then IPTV would be justified. Otherwise, if just wanting free to air i'd suggest live with missing a couple of channels, it will be cheaper. Or put your own dish in for a couple of channels, not sure if it's that worthwhile?

We do not get 100% of what you would get back home, on satellite, so likely to be a small compromise somewhere - moreso on an older big community system.
Paul
http://www.televisiontechnology.eu
865774055

Glassfull wrote:I can’t receive ITV HD, any of the Channel 5 channels nor Scottish BBC. Others have similar problems however, some re blessed with all broadcast channels. My Humax Receiver is OK, as I tested it on a friend’s smaller dish.

Having read this, I would say that the test you’ve done isn’t conclusive.
The proper test would be to attach your Humax box to the feed into one of the properties that has no problems whatsoever and check that you can receive the desired channels with your box.

Pete.

Thank you Paul, for your lengthy reply.

One grievance, with not receiving the channels we once did and finding that other do, is that we all contributed €100 to the repair but, our equal investment has left us with an inequality.

your community dish would pick up signals from many satellite tv providers. This mean your tv will pick them all up too. And, so it all depends which one your tv receiver box has been selected to receive from. Which means u get different channels to the rest of your group. Check your neighbours selected one, and tune into that. Is that too simple, I don’t know.

I tried to re-tune my Humax Receiver but the signal strength from our system wasn’t strong enough. My wife, on a trip back to the UK, connected it to a daughter’s dish and the system re-tuned. Than, as stated before, that receiver connected to a friend’s dish here in Spain, managed to display all the channels listed on the EPG.

Before the loss of TV in the community, all the channels were available to all owners of the system. A €2000 repair job, left us with various levels of service. Perhaps Paul’s idea of dodgy cables might be correct if the new hardware isn’t as powerful as the old?

Have you tried connecting another box to see if you get the channels that are missing