Has anybody had any experience with setting up their own sattelite system for Thai TV. Just wondereing if its worth buying some gear and trying to do it myself.

Also , does anyone know of anybody suffering from Hayfever in Thailand? I didn't out there but couldn't be sure why not

Basically you need a medium size dish, a digital free to air decoder (best source is Ebay or Lidl/Aldi), and a little patience. Whereas the professional installers have a special gadget (spectrum analyzer) to see which satellite they are pointing at, you'll have to guess, once your pointing in the right general direction. The way I do it:
Using a compass, work out where Hotbird is, 170 degrees or so, and plan to fix the dish pointing there. Align the dish so it's vertical, connect an old analogue decoder if you've got one and a small telly, set the decoder to the frequency for BBC World, and then start moving the dish around. After anything between a minute and an hour depending on luck/skill you will have fixed on the satellite and then can tighten all the bolts on the dish.
It's a perfect time to do it now, as you don't want to do this in February when it's freezing, as I did last time I set up ThaiTV.

Maplins 99 pounds includes 80 cm dish and receiver.Also all the fittings you will need.
Instruction manual inside includes setting up the dish.
I did it on friday and working perfectly , ask the wife.

I presume this is the kithere?

Hi Andy
The one I got was a metronic touchbox 3 receiver with a metronic 80cm dish. I dont think its top of the line stuff , but you only get two channels ( thai ) and it gets perfect reception , and thats good enough for me.
Ying watches all her programs on www.jahbulani.com.
She watches it on the computer or plugs that into the TV.

Have fun

quote:

Originally posted by Andy :-):
I presume this is the kithere?

That one appears to have a "65 cm dish with wall mount"

Which may not be big enough in some areas.

Some intersting comments , thankyou all.

A 80 cm dish maybe unsightly on the side of the house though.

Are there any other channels worth viewing on the same setup as the Thai channels?

The dish does not have to be positioned high up on the side of the house. It could be placed near the ground, or on the side of a shed, as long as it can "see" the satellite it is pointed at.

quote:

Are there any other channels worth viewing on the same setup as the Thai channels?

None that are free, except the Beeb 24 hour news. There is some encrypted channels with adult content.