Satellite TV through your PC

Broadcasting is changing to digital and the UK’s existing analogue service is set to be switched off by 2012.

We’re promised more channels, high-definition content and exciting new services.

While many people will simply choose a set-top box, digital TV and the PC are natural bedfellows, allowing you to use the PC to record programmes and put it at the heart of an entertainment system.

Take a look around PC stores, though, and you’ll get the impression that where TV on your PC is concerned, terrestrial reception is the only game in town, with analogue or Freeview (DVB-T) tuners easily available. But what if you want channels that aren’t available on Freeview, or you’re in one of the many areas where you can’t even get a decent signal?

To many people in the UK, satellite TV is synonymous with Sky’s subscription package. In most of Europe, however, that’s not the case. In many countries, free satellite services are better established, partly because there isn’t the extensive analogue terrestrial coverage that most people in the UK take for granted. And, even in the UK, a subscription isn’t a necessary part of satellite television.

Both the BBC and ITV broadcast their channels ‘free-to-air’ (FTA), which means there’s no encryption or subscription needed – and that includes the BBC’s HD trial channel and the ‘extra’ digital channels such as BBC3, BBC4 and CBBC.

And just as terrestrial broadcasting is a standard, so too is digital satellite, using a system known as DVB-S. A DVB-S receiver, whether standalone or PC-based, is all you need to be able to pick up extra FTA channels. Why pay Sky then? It provides an electronic programme guide (EPG), and regionalisation, which ensures, for example, that people who watch ITV via Sky automatically see the correct version for their geographic region on channel 103.

On a standard domestic satellite receiver, not having a programme guide can be annoying – most channels simply broadcast ‘now and next’ information – and it’s not always easy to move channels around. But on a PC, it’s much easier to overcome those issues. You can download programme information from the internet, organise channels how you like, and even record directly to the hard drive.

So, if you can’t get Freeview, want to sample the BBC’s HD service, or just fancy a few extra free channels, a satellite receiver for your PC may be the solution.

First steps
First you will need a satellite dish. If there’s not one set up already, don’t despair – they’re not that expensive. For example, a mini dish from Maplin costs less than £50 and is quite simple to set up, with a compass and a £20 satellite finder gadget. You don’t even need to fit it to the side of your building. You can stand a small dish on your patio if you like, as long as it faces in the right direction and has no obstructions in the line of sight of the satellite.

If you don’t buy a kit, you’ll also need an LNB (low-noise block converter) to convert the high-frequency satellite signal and send it via a cable to your PC. These start at about £15. Our sister magazine, Activehome, explained exactly how to install and align a dish in a recent issue and we’ve included a copy of that feature as a special bonus on the cover disc in the ‘From the Mag’ section.