Aldi Satellite dish - or any suggestions on a satellite system

[starlightdj]

Hi all, I note Aldi have a satellite system on sale after the weekend.

Just looking into buying a system as we are travelling to germany in Aug & the better half likes her soaps.

Has anyone had one of their kits before?
Are they any good?
How easy are they to track into the satellite?

I watched on site at the weekend a guy who had been to maplins and bought their suitcase kit for £79, he seamed to be hours stood outside his caravan twisting it and adjusting angles.

He finnally shouted ive got a picture, only to find hed tracked into a german speaking satellite.

If you have had any experience with this or any other system, your comments and advice would be welcome.

Cheers
John

 

[Mike_S]

Hi John
I bought a satellite kit from Aldi a couple of years ago. Rather than use the supplied mounts I bought a few bits of hardware from B&Q so the dish now clamps to a short mast which is temporarily attached to the jockey wheel. The dish is then about 5 ft from the ground - easy to adjust but not in the way or likely to be knocked out of alignment.
Aligning the dish to get the strongest/highest quality signal using the set-up procedure built into the receiver is very tricky. Instead, whilst still at home where I could compare my dish's position with my neighbours', I got the main stations (BBC etc) tuned in. Now, on site, I adjust the dish to get the best picture - still takes a bit of time but the method works, making very small changes in dish position.
We've used the Aldi kit in southern Brittany with no problems. I'm not sure how well it would work in Germany though.
Mike

 

[Percy1]

The Aldi Satelite dish is 30cm I dont think you will get any reception in Germany. I used a folding 60cm camping Satelite (purchased from Maplins) in Germany last year it worked fine. I purchased it last year but I dont think they sell it anymore. below is a link for one on ebay and is same as the one i have. It is non HD I used an old sky reciever. The suitcase is quite big however I was impressed with the ease of set up. use http://www.satelliteforcaravans.co.uk/ for advice on bearings and elevation for your location in europe.

http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/170919098430?_lwgsi=y&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&device=c&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=64

 

[colin-yorkshire1]

hi John,
I bought a similar kit years ago yes they do work within limits, but you have to know what the limits are "difficult if you have never had one" dont be fooled into thinking they are all the same as they are not, there are 2 main types "freesat" and "free to air".
basically Freesat tunes into the astra satellites same as sky has a elecronic program guide "epg" and basically recieves freeview channels that are not on subscription plus any free HD broadcasts.
free to air uses the eurosat satlelite does not have a EPG and will not tune in to freesat, but it will tune into other satellites with free to air content,
out of my original kit only the dish satfinder and cable remain everything else was ditched the sucker mount was great on flat horizontal surfaces but nothing else, there was not enough adjustment to use the side of the van so one had somehow get it onto the roof of the van not easy "allthough I have used it stuck onto the roof of the car" secondly I have SKY at home so taking the box made more sense, I now mount the dish on the jockey wheel shaft like Mike with a few bits from B&Q and can tune it into Sky in about 10mins,
I am not saying the kits are no good because they are good for what they do just dont expect to set it up to astra and get Freesat or sky Atlantic thats all.

 

[SirRogerFFS]

The Maplins Kit in a case I have been using for a number of years now ,set up time is about 5 mins. I guess the Aldi kit from Ross will be the same once you have got the idea of how to set up.Cant speak for how they will perform over the water. Its already been mentioned that the Aldi Kit is Free to Air not Freesat so do not get confused there..
Sir Roger .

 

[DeliDave_]

I've got the Lidl version and the dish looks smaller than the Aldi one but we have got a good signal as far south as La Rochelle.Even the most southern part of Germany doesnt look furthur than that so I would have thought you would be fine.With practice its only a few minutes but you have to alter the elevation as you go furthur south,if you get the German channels you are very close.Astra 1a I beleive.I've been very pleased but also take a Humax Freesat recorder and a twin LNB so that we can watch TV when the sun goes down when abroad.
I think its well worth a try and ALdi are very good if you decide you want to return it