Originally Posted by
monahos
Unless your home is in Europe, DVB-S gear won't do much good, even with a huge dish, as satellites broadcasting DVB-S compatible signals are in geostationary orbit over Europe, and invisible from say the US.
Generally, most of western Europe uses a 60cm dish, moving up to 85+ in peripheral areas such as Greece, and smaller if just watching freesat in the UK.
There are smaller camping dishes, but their performance can be marginal, as found out by British RV'ers in Spain...
You are mistaken. DVB-S is used not just in Europe but in most of Asia, except China, Japan, Koreas, etc, Africa, and even the U.S.
DVB-S is the standard for satellite broadcast in the U.S. DVB-S broadcasts are available on every continent. Those broadcasts are for paid subscription and I have no interest in the programming delivered by U.S. satellite services subscription. There are other broadcasts that I would be of interest to me.
Originally Posted by
monahos
As for a DVB-T dongle, I do have one, but find its usefulness limited, unless the aim is to directly record mpeg2 (DVB-T) or mpeg4/H.264 (DVB-T HD, just starting now in several European countries) streams onto a laptop. This because most European hotels will have digital TV (analog broadcasts are being phased out Europe-wide), and the DVB-T standard is not designed for watching TV while in motion (antenna orientation matters), leaving few areas (coffee shop? office? camping? unfurnished rental?) where watching TV on a laptop would be the first choice.
No I do not plan to watch TV on my laptop when I am driving or travelling by train. There is the DVB-M standard for that need.
