Digital Radio via Satellite (DSat)
For home listening digital radio via satellite is a far better option than
DAB. The reason for this is that the bit rates are either higher or the same on
satellite as they are on DAB and the equipment doesn't cost very much.
Take the BBC stations; on DAB for the majority of the day Radios 1-4 are
transmitted at 128, 128, 192, and 128kbps respectively. The same stations on
satellite are all 192kbps. The streams over both DAB or DSat are both encoded in
MP2 format so the DSat streams are of higher quality. There are no problems due
to audio processing or vinyl screwing up the audio quality because the encoders
don't run out of bits.
The reason why the bit rates are higher on satellite than on DAB is that on
satellite the bandwidth available is far higher in the satellite band in
comparison with the VHF band which is where DAB presently transmits. There is nothing inherently wrong with
DAB it just lacks enough bandwidth for the stations to properly exploit the
system by using the higher bit rates.
Sky Subscription
It is not necessary to get a Sky subscription to receive digital radio but it
is a cheap way of getting brand new equipment. Subscriptions start at £12.50 per
month for a minimum of one year, and this generally qualifies for a large
discount on the standard installation fee, and at the end of that year you get to keep the
equipment. If you don't want to renew your subscription you can then either
listen to free-to-air (FTA) stations or get a free-to-view (FTV) card to
listen to radio stations and watch the free digital TV channels.
What you'll get for your basic subscription is a Sky digibox which is
normally made by Panasonic, Grundig, Pace or Amstrad and you will also get a Minidish. Then all you have to do is to connect
the audio output of the receiver to an input on your amplifier or whatever
system you have.
Sky now offer a non-subscription installation-only package which costs £120.
The only thing that you have to do to get this is to connect your Sky digibox to
the phone line so that, when instructed, the Sky digibox phones an 0800 number
(usually in the early hours of the morning, and it won't interrupt a call of the
line is busy) and then at the end of the 12 months contract you get to keep the
satellite system. So, in effect you're getting all the free-to-air
(FTA) channels for £120, which includes about the same amount of choice of
TV channels as you get on Freeview, but you get far more radio stations on FTA
DSat and the bit rates, and hence audio quality, are far superior to DAB.
To contact Sky, their sales phone number is 08705 800 874 or go to Sky's
customer service website.
Sky also require that your TV is within 30 feet of a suitable place to put the
dish and they do not install to flats.
Installation costs are usually very low if you subscribe to Sky. For example,
if you subscribe to one of the premium packages you frequently get installation
for £1, then you can downgrade your subscription after you have Sky to one of
the cheaper packages, thus taking advantage of the £1 installation charge, but
not paying as much for a yearly subscription. For example, if you get a premium
package, get the £1 installation offer, then downgrade to the £12.50 per month
package after 1 month you save the difference between the standard installation
charge and the cost of the premium package.
Buying Receiver & Dish
This option lets you buy 2nd hand from places such as Satcure's
2nd hand adverts page, ebay.co.uk
or other on-line auction pages or Loot.
This also allows you to save on installation costs if you do it yourself (I will
post some basic instructions on how to install a satellite system soon).
Free to Air (FTA)
Almost all of the radio stations carried on the Sky satellite are FTA. This
means that you don't need a card to receive them at all and can receive them on
any suitable digital satellite receiver with a dish pointing at the Astra 2A
satellite which carries the Sky signals. This gives you the most options because
there is no need to have a Sky digibox because the signals are not encrypted
using Sky's Videoguard encryption. Unfortunately the digital TV channels cannot
be received FTA because they are encrypted by Sky.
Free to View (FTV)If you want to watch ITV1, Channel 4 and five then you will need to get
a Solus card from Sky or
the BBC. The cards are available for a small one-off payment For a list of the stations and TV channels available
FTA or FTV see
here.
PC Card Receiver & Dish
At present there are quite a few PC card satellite receivers such as:
The most highly recommended DVB-S card is the Hauppauge
WinTV DVB-S card. This is suitable for listening to all FTA stations and
channels but cannot decode the FTV channels. It is advisable to make sure you have a good sound card as
otherwise you will limit the audio quality of the signal. The main advantage of
this card is that you can record directly to your hard drive which makes burning
CD-Rs very easy. I have a Psion Wavefinder DAB radio for my PC and I would
definitely recommend this function. This DVB-S card does not have any of the
instability problems that has plagued the Wavefinder.
Multiple Receivers
A problem with getting a satellite receiver is that if you use it both for
watching digital TV and listening to radio stations then there could be
arguments about who uses the receiver. Fortunately you can connect more than one
receiver to the dish. What is required here is a universal LNB (low noise block)
with a twin output where each output goes to a different receiver. LNBs with
more outputs are also available. The LNB is the thing that collects all the
signals after they are reflected onto it from the dish surface. The LNB reduces
the frequency of the received signal from the 11-12 GHz to a far lower frequency
so that they can then travel down the cable to the receiver.
Multiple Satellites
To receive signals from more than one satellite you can buy dual or quad LNBs
which are still available with twin outputs etc. The different LNBs are held in
a special bracket and they are inclined at different angles in relation to the dish
so that signals from the
different satellites are reflected onto them. This means that there is no need to actually move the dish to look
at a different satellite. This is a relatively cheap way of hugely expanding the
number of digital radio stations that can be received although the additional
stations are from other countries. Classical music fans are well-served in
Europe with some stations using high bit rates such as 256 kbps. Two stations
that have been recommended are Bayern 4 Klassik and HR Klassik, both of which
have reportedly exceptional audio quality.
To receive from different satellites a receiver that has what is called
DiSEqC (Digital Satellite Equipment Control) must be purchased but the vast
majority of receivers have this function although the Sky digiboxes don't. PC cards
will probably all have DiSEqC. To change from one satellite to
another all that is required is to control an on-screen menu.
Dishes
One thing to bear in mind is that you must get the correct combination of
dish and LNB or LNBs. For example, the Minidish that you would get with Sky is
oval shaped and has a specially designed LNB that is shaped for oval dishes.
In general the larger the size of the dish the better the signal will be and
a large dish should provide some protection against bit errors especially when
it is raining. A 80 or 90cm diameter dish should be easily enough and 60cm
should be okay. Unless you find there is problems or you want the best possible
signal to minimize the likelihood of bit errors then if you have a Sky Minidish
then there is probably no point in changing it.
For round dishes a universal LNB is the best one to get and these are very
common and quite cheap.
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