WTF! :rolleyes:

All these PM's bouncing around, cause me a little concern about the longivity of our alternative sources.

Guys, get a grip on it! There are countless other ways to source this information without plastering it all over a freely available and anonymous (as in who are you sending it to) website.

We've killed the gossip on other products, how about this one as well?

Look out foot, there's a bullet coming....

DSTV in Dubai
 

This has been covered before but found no solid contacts. I would like to have DSTV in Dubai if it's still available. ........heard some mumbo jumbo about the signal being switched off or it being illegal.

Any help would be appreciated. :O

top of my head
 

I assume this is the African service, as the info I can find suggests.

The footprint might just cover UAE.

Thus when you know the satellite, and orbital position, get a local installer to try to receive the signal, then he should be able to supply a unlocked box, (usually need internet connection).

problem solved, I hope

glf

McG

Check your PM! :ok:

I will check but I think its still available

MR G - Check your PM

DSTV is alive and well here in the Middle East....... :ok:

PM for details.....:)

Best sat system in the ME....... well worth seeking out the supplier..

Mutt

End of DSTV
 

:sad:Just heard from my contact in Cape Town DSTV plan to close down the 'C' band service in May/June.

Watching today in Beirut
 

Last two hours fine, but some drop out on hotel service.

No idea as to dish size.

Watching Mnet Series.

Waiting for West Wing.

glf

How do i get you my PE for dstv info ?

@ Desert Aviator

Can you ask your contact for more info to elaborate? I have a direct line to a friend (a director) in Mnet, but I don't know if he'll tell me anything (if it's going ahead it'll be sensitive info for the moment)

Closing C Band is a big issue, because all of Africa (excluding S. Africa) runs on C Band....

If Mnet have made an agreement with satellite operators to shift to Ku Band, then it's entirely possible they will close C Band. But this undertaking costs tens of millions of dollars to achieve (and I don't believe Mnet have that funding to hand right now...)

@Gulfstreamaviator

The dish size for Mnet here is min. 1.8 meter dia.

My card has been disconnected as I was in there DTH
-direct to home data base for 6 years.
Jhb told me that all C band cards will be off on 31/5/10
C band cards registed in a C band country will work
untill then. I do not know if the signal will still be on
PAS7/10.

That means from end of May DSTV will no longer be available on the C-band.......or is it another rumour ? Anybody got anything official or it's all heresay ? Coz am really tired of Showtime :ugh:

DSTV
 

Gone ...official , just renewed my card , cut off 31st of May ....anyone know where they are going ? will all the SAFA's in the Gulf surely alternative . Remember the C band signal is for most of Africa too.....I heard they may be switching Satellite providers ...or is it the OSN monopoly flexing ?

Ku band will still be available, is this correct?

halas

Is anyone else having trouble getting the HKG Rugby 7s on channel 201? All I get is a blank screen. And yesterday 206 was the same and it was broadcasting day 2 of the 7s????

@Spark189,

If you were in their DTH database, as a South African based customer (with a registered South African address) then yes, the card will be discontinued as of 31 May 2010.

@Bighaji

OSN has nothing to do with this. I have inside knowledge which I cannot reveal. But OSN cannot interfere with the Mnet footprint directly. It may be that OSN has requested Mnet to change to Ku Band (to negate the large footprint that C Band has over Ku Band and thus eliminate the footprint 'bleed' into the Middle East) but Mnet can/may/will refuse due to financial constraints in changing to Ku Band.

@ Halas

Ku Band (at this time) is the main broadcast platform for South Africa and Zimbabwe. All Zimbabwe customers will have to change their old C Band cards to Ku Band eventually. This was started many years ago (2000 if I recall correctly) but it was never really enforced due to the Ku footprint not reaching the northern areas of Zimbabwe. But, due to transponder re-positioning, the Ku footprint has been improved considerably and thus Mnet are now changing all Zimbabwe subscribers to Ku Band.

I re-iterate to all: changing from C Band for the rest of Africa will take millions of US dollars and will not be done overnight. If Mnet are indeed changing to Ku Band, then there will be shed-loads of chatter on all Mnet based chat forums about this impending change - long before it actually happens.

DSTV are still broadcasting to Africa on PAS7/10 and the footprint still reaches the Middle East.

Sun activity (when the sun, PAS 7 satellite and your dish are all aligned for a few minutes in the mornings) will affect your signal.

Thanx for insight Dawg, but you assuming that the change from C-band will not happen overnight so we can go ahead to get DSTV till it does ? :cool:Don't want to set up for DSTV then sometime in the not-so-distant future smack in the middle of Isidingo omnibus get switched off:}

Nway from what l understand eventually the footprint for PAS 7/10 for the Mid East will be cut off. Or am l assuming too:hmm:

@Bonga

If Mnet are thinking of changing to KU Band, they will advertise extensively on C Band (Mnet Africa) that "...an impending move to Ku Band will happen on 'x' date... so please can all subscribers go to their nearest Mnet office and change out their smart cards before 'x' date...."

Has anyone seen this advertised yet on Mnet Africa? I bet the answer is a resounding No.... SO - go ahead and get setup if you want.

Get the picture? (no pun intended!)

Edit: Just been sniffing about the internet and I found out that PAS7/10 has been renamed IntelSat 7 (IS 7) and IntelSat 10 (IS 10) respectively. The satellite provider does provide Ku Band services which can be seen here FlySat Intelsat 7/10 (IS-7/10) @ 68.5° East and here (with a better view) http://www.intelsat.com/flash/covera...lay=map&spot=3 so it is possible that Mnet may move to Ku Band at some point.

But as I said above, there will be a media campaign by Mnet long before the change to Ku Band....

DSTV in the Middle East
 

Not sure about the actual switch off date, but when I tried to renew my subscription today the local provider in Abu Dhabi wouldn't take my money. I have been a subscriber in Abu Dhabi for almost 10 years through the same local agent, but he showed me an email today saying that the service to the M.E. was being discontinued. :sad:
Anybody finds a way around this, I would be glad to know.
Thanks.

Hmmmmm....

If the email that ExiledScot refers to is genuine, then it appears that MCA (Multichoice Africa) are looking at switching to Ku Band. The reason for the switch is that Ku Band has a tighter footprint within Africa and less 'bleed' into the Middle East - effectively cutting off illegal subscribers....

If anyone can post up details of any adverts that MCA will run on switching to Ku Band for Africa.... let us know please?

Currently, there is a working hack for MCA using a Dreambox and a card share but this is based on C Band transmissions. If MCA switch to Ku Band, then the signal will no longer reach the ME, so setting up a dish and a Dreambox etc. is void.

The only other option then, is to find someone who can stream MCA over the internet (in my experience IP TV is crappy at the best of times).....

Definitely gone. Received this e-mail from Space TV today:

Just renewed mine for a month only with my company in SA. They said defo 31 May cut off
:{

I believe DSTV is switching to Ku Band and releasing their lease on C band transponders from Intelsat i.e. switching off C band...

Oh well....!

Wouldn't the answer be a 'sling box'?

Orbit/Showtime doen't show ANY Formula 1. If you have a sat dish getting Nilesat, Abu Dhabi sports channel show it as do, I thing, Bahrain but obviously with Arabic commentary.
If you get Hotbird, I imagine there are several European channels with it.
Some SA and British rugby, but didn't have any of the 6 Nations :eek:

If you get anything good, PLEASE let us know :ugh:

H-D

Don't know much about slingbox, I looked it up onthe internet and it's not that clear. I understand that the way it works is that you have your satellite receiver in location 'A' and feed the signal through the 'slingbox' over the internet so that you can receive it in location 'B'.

In this case, location 'A' would be ZA where you can legally receive DSTV and are subscribed to it, and location 'B' .... I'll leave that to your imagination!

I hope someone with a bit more knowledge can inform you better than I.

Slingbox
 

Hi CT, setting up a slingbox in SA will require a good upload bandwidth of at least 1Mb with a static IP to feed a stream to destination B. As we know currently bandwidth is costly in SA, and mostly promises a download speed, rather than a stable upload speed. In the UK etc, where I know peers who run this system, there is no problem, as both the service and costs are favourable. :ugh:

6 Nations WAS available on Jazeera Sports Channel +3 with BBC commentators .
I watch Formula 1 on Abu Dhabi Sports 2 , turn the sound down , and tune BBC Radio 5 extra to the laptop for BBC commentary. Or watch it on BBC 1 player via my VPN .

I've got a slingbox, and as Sharkykzn says you need an upload of at least 1mbps to get a good picture and sound. Anything less then 500kbps and the picture becomes 'blocky'. Thats for a standard def image - for HD you will need probably a 7mbps+ upload. You can watch the stream on your laptop/PC and if you can hook it up to your tv and watch on there. Or you can also purchase a 'sling catcher' which you can permanently hook up to your tv direct. Has a remote etc

The only thing i'll contradict with Sharkyksn is that you don't need a static IP, or i never did anyway...

If your slingbox is in the UK and suitably close to an exchange use o2 or Be Braoadband as your isp, both offer 2.5mbps upload speeds :ok:

Oh and if you have an iPhone and purchase the slingbox app you can watch on there as well over a 3G network (and the quality is more than adequate)

DSTV!
 

Anyone have anymore news?

Does the KU band footprint cover the ME?

Anybody tried looking for covereage.

No luck in Bahrain!!!

SatBeams - Satellite Coverage Maps - Sat Footprint Eutelsat W4 / Eutelsat W7

The west coast of Saudi might get it, but not the other side of the Gulf.

Mutt

Actually got a message on screen last night - If you are still on C band signal lost on 31 May. Need to change to W7 or E7 Satts.
Not that I didnt believe it, but seems it really is happening.

Mutt
That shows the Eurasia beam squarley on us, or is DSTV only on the Sub Saharan and Sth Africa beam? Its the same Sattelite?

I'm also seeking a solution, this chart shows the MultiChoice is only on the Sub Sahara and Africa beams.

MultiChoice Africa on Eutelsat W7 at 36.0°E - LyngSat

Mutt

Guys, it's going. I got cut off on 20th when my subs ran out. have had to subscribe to showtime - not a bad package - I watched the 2 Super 14 semi's last week and they do televise it all - no 7's though!!!!!

jumbo1......i beg to differ on your comment of "no 7's though".......Showsports showed the IRB London 7's last week and this weekend they're showing the IRB Edinburgh 7's.........

Wun
Quite right - I see it's on today as well. CANCEL LAST!
Happy viewing
J

Clarification
 

@ Mutt

You are right.... The Ku beam appears to hit the SW corner of Saudi only.

@ Dixons Cider

MNET will only buy transponder space on the two transponders that cover south Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. They will not broadcast on the Eurasia transponder. This is how they will limit the signal to those countries that have MNET broadcast licence's

@ Capetonian

Yes - the Slingbox will only be 'workable' if the upload speed is in excess of 1Mb/s and provided the guy providing the 'service' is happy to set his decoder on the channel of your choice. Not a workable solution in my opinion.

What could be workable however, is if a friend in South Africa (or any MNET covered country) were to record the sports you wanted (ripping from their PVR/DVR) and then uploading these files to an ftp server. You could download the .avi file and watch it on your TV using the Western Digital WD Live multimedia box. Messy - but workable.

But live MNET as we used to know it here in the ME is sadly now part of history....

A mate in the TV business in Media City told me that since OSN have lost the Premier League rights next season, expect to see an improved selection of other sports. NRL is a classic example.

halas