Description:

For anyone living in Normandy, it is possible to access the UK Freesat TV service just as if they were in the UK.  All that is needed is a Freesat satellite receiver, a satellite dish and a suitable TV.  There is no subscription and nothing to pay.  However, we are not sure of the legal position of receiving UK television without a valid UK licence.

There are a number of suppliers of equipment in France such as Mayenne Satellite in Mayenne who can also carrry out the installation.  A HD Freesat box will cost from around 100 euros to just over 300 euros for all singing twin channel version with an built in hard disk recorder.  You will also need a 60cm satellite dish.  For some Freesat boxes, you will need a twin feed from the dish.  This is not a problem as twin and quadruple LNBs are readily available in France.

The Freesat service is broadcast from the Astra 2D satellite at 28.2 degrees East.  For Seine-Maritime, the angle of elevation for the dish is 27 degrees and the skew angle is 14 degrees.

For those who have not carried out a satellite dish installation before, don't be put off.  It is not difficult.  The fist task is make sure you have a clear line of sight to the point in the sky where the Astra 2 satellite is located.  Next mount the satellite dish and set the angle of elevation of the dish and the skew angle of the  LNB. All that now needs to be done is to rotate the dish until it is pointing to 28.2 degrees East.  This can be checked with a compass or a signal strength meter.  Compasses and signal strength meters are relatively cheap and can be obtained at many UK supermarkets or a specialist electronics supplier such as Maplin in the UK.

Once the dish is aligned, the tuner can be set up.  The installation process is usually automatic but you may be asked to enter your postcode.  This only serves to choose a regional programme preference but the choice is up to you.

And if you don't want to tackle the job yourself, there are plenty of experts around.

Access BBC i-player on your computer

Did you know that services such as the BBC's i-player are now available to internet users in France.  Normally such services are blocked to non-UK IP addresses.  This geographical blocking can now be avoided using a new service - Expat Shield - that gives users a UK 'identity'.  

The use of alternative IP addresses is a long established means of appearing to be in another country but until now this has required subscribing to one of the many  'open VPN' services that are available on the web such as Strong VPN and Unblock VPN.

Expat Shield is paid for entirely by advertising which does not intrude on programme viewing.  Programmes can either be viewed or downloaded.  To access  i-player and other UK on line TV services, you will first  need to install the free Expat Shield software which is available at the following link:  http://www.watch-bbc-iplayer.com

At this time Guide2Normandy has not checked the legality identity switchings and does not advocate the use of such services. Our aim is simply to advise visitors what is possible.