Forums > Specific Focus > Technical Mexico

Christina Stobbs

Jul 8, 2008, 8:36 AM

Post #1 of 18 (10548 views)

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Television Star Choice or Sky

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Hi

This is Christina again.

For our new home we will be signing up for television services. The home we are renting has Star Choice and it seems to work well, except when it rains the TV conks out. We expect most of our guests will be Canadian or American, and we like to watch the show Lost, Prison Break and American Idol so we enjoy Star Choice for this. That said; I have heard Star Choice is illegal and you do not receive any Mexican channels with Star Choice.

There is a TV service called SKY which offers some USA channels plus Mexican channels. Does anyone know what USA Channels you receive with SKY and if it is a good service? Or other recommendations for satelite TV?

Thank you

Christina
www.MagicalLosAyala.com
Everything you need to know!

Rolly

Jul 8, 2008, 9:06 AM

Post #2 of 18 (10534 views)

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Re: [Tippy] Television Star Choice or Sky

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Stick with what you have. Sky is not a good choice. Most places cable is better than Sky.

Yes, heavy clouds block the signal, but that doesn't happen very often.

It would help if you would tell us where you live.

Rolly Pirate

Christina Stobbs

Jul 8, 2008, 9:28 AM

Post #3 of 18 (10529 views)

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Re: [Rolly] Television Star Choice or Sky

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Hi Rolly

Thank you. We are in the state of Nayarit in the town of Los Ayala.

Christina
www.MagicalLosAyala.com
Everything you need to know!

esperanza

Jul 8, 2008, 11:00 AM

Post #4 of 18 (10510 views)

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Re: [Tippy] Television Star Choice or Sky

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Sky satellite will give you Mexican channels. Star Choice and other outside-Mexico satellite TV services will not.

If there's Mexican CABLE service available where you live, you could have both Star Choice satellite and Mexican cable, couldn't you? That way you'd have both.

Although...we have Megacable (Mexican cable service) and we get Lost, American Idol, CSI, and many other English-language television series. They have Spanish subtitles but are spoken in English.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

Georgia

Jul 8, 2008, 11:05 AM

Post #5 of 18 (10507 views)

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Re: [Tippy] Television Star Choice or Sky

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The upside is that this "rain shadow" effect only occurs in the rainy season when they're showing repeats.

johanson / Moderator

Jul 8, 2008, 12:13 PM

Post #6 of 18 (10495 views)

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Re: [Georgia] Television Star Choice or Sky

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Also remember that satellite dealers are famous for installing satellite dishes that are too small, that therefore work great when it is not raining, but stop working at the slightest THOUGHT of rain. Put in a larger satellite dish and the picture will last longer. I was motivated by this string to phone a DISH technician. He pointed out that his system did fail during the heaviest of rains but that it didn't during normal rains. He was somewhere in the US, I didn't ask where. I also have Star Choice, and up North have only witnessed rain fade during the very heaviest of rain. My dish is the larger E75 model. With that same dish in Jalisco (lakeside) where the signal is slightly weaker, I get some rain fade but less than I do with my DISH system.

The system that has never gone out is C band. they use a different frequency that is not subject to rain fade.

I too have local cable, that way I get the local channels as well.

PS yes, I know, I have too many systems.

Christina Stobbs

Jul 8, 2008, 12:31 PM

Post #7 of 18 (10493 views)

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Re: [esperanza] Television Star Choice or Sky

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Hi Esperanza,

Thank you for the clarification. I have not heard of Mega Cable before and will look to see if they have it here.

Christina
www.MagicalLosAyala.com
Everything you need to know!

Jerry@Ajijic

Jul 11, 2008, 8:18 PM

Post #8 of 18 (10425 views)

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Re: [johanson] Television Star Choice or Sky

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Speaking of Star Choice, we have 2 Star Choice receivers, almost new with 2 LNBs for sale for 200. USD. If interested please call 766 2698

JohnnyBoy

Jul 12, 2008, 7:31 PM

Post #9 of 18 (10401 views)

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Re: [Tippy] Television Star Choice or Sky

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I want to second Rolly's opinion about Sky. We have had it here in Hermosillo for a little over a year. We had been counting the days until we could cancel, only to find out we apparently signed an 18 month contract, not 12. It generally sucks, unless you are a conservative Republican and like to watch Fox. Sky has Fox out the ying yang. Otherwise I enjoy the History Channel and The Discovery Channel. When we recently went to cancel our service, thinking our 12 month contracted had ended, we had to settle for downgrading our service, which I think saved us a maximum of $5 (I am paying over $50 US monthly for this crap) and we lost most of our English language channels. That was a mistake, but too late now to switch back, plus I do not want to run the risk of getting sucked into another lengthy contract.

TV service companies (both cable and satellite) all seem crooked to me, somehow. I have had more trouble with them than with cell phone service or internet service over the years. Then couple that to the fact that these are MEXICAN satellites services, and you have a recipe for heartburn. Our volume is eratic. Shows suddenly end. Schedules are often very wrong or inaccurate. Commercial breaks suddenly start in the middle of a show or program, go on and on, for 30-45-60 minutes. The original show is just gone. Hype for upgrading and other money making gambits pop up in the middle of a show or program, while you struggle to figure out how to shut it off. It is awful.

I can also second or third the opinions and claims about small dishes and lost reception. Here in Sonora, in the extreme desert, any cloud that may appear seems to shut Sky down. We are in the "rainy" season now and it has been down more than it has been up. Which could also be true of other services.

I am moving into a new house and will have to pay out my Sky contract. After that, who knows. I am scrounging for "alternatives" that are known to exist.

bournemouth

Jul 13, 2008, 6:33 AM

Post #10 of 18 (10389 views)

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Re: [JohnBleazard] Television Star Choice or Sky

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John - Direct TV works in your part of Mexico. There probably is someone locally who can provide the equipment - you'll need a US address for a legitimate card. You can probably also get local programming with just an antenna.
You don't have to pay Sky out if you don't want to waste the money - they will move the equipment for you - a tenant of ours did that as he was an avid soccer fan - he left them when his contract was up and moved to Star Choice, the Canadian system. I have no idea if it can be supported in Hermosillo - I never heard anyone talk about it in San Carlos.

JohnnyBoy

Jul 13, 2008, 7:40 AM

Post #11 of 18 (10382 views)

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Re: [bournemouth] Television Star Choice or Sky

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I intend to ask Sky about moving the service to the new house. It will be a matter of how much they charge to do that and whether or not that will effct the contract. Another thing I am considering is the damage to the new roof. If Sky installs their dish and later I have to have someone else come and install a new service, I will be left with holes in the roof when Sky takes out their dish and new holes from the new service. Would be nice if they could use the existing holes, but I think that might be a little too much to hope for.

I already have a small leak in a brand new roof, so I suppose I will have to have it fixed. I could wait until all this dish installation work is finalized and done and then just get the whole roof resurfaced/reprotected (whatever the correct expression is.)

I guess I can research here on MexConnect about Direct TV. Thanks for the recommendation. I do have a legal US address I can use. Where do I begin this process? Do I look for something local or do I have to call somewhere in the USA (ostensibly near my address there) to get it started?

bournemouth

Jul 13, 2008, 8:22 AM

Post #12 of 18 (10379 views)

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Re: [JohnBleazard] Television Star Choice or Sky

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I think you might need to ask on the San Carlos boards - lots of folks use Direct TV there - you might head into Circuit City or Best Buy next time you are in Tucson and pick the stuff up, using your US address. It used to come almost free. I'm sure there are people in Hermosillo installing it - have your partner ask around.

I found with the Sky situation here that Sky leaves the antenna in place on the old house and tells you to take the receiver with you - they then come and mount a new antenna. When our tenant finished with them, they finally picked up the receiver but left the antenna in place - it's on a wall of our place, not the roof, and it's there if any other mad soccer fan wants to hook up with them again. I know that the change of location of service did not extend his contract.

travisdyer

Jul 20, 2008, 9:25 AM

Post #13 of 18 (10333 views)

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Re: [JohnBleazard] Television Star Choice or Sky

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John,

In my days as a commercial satellite installer, we used to use non-penetrating roof mounts, especially on rubber roofs. These are basically medium to large angle iron frames that are built to have cinder blocks laid on top of them to provide the ballast for the dish. The frame has a pole welded to it in the middle for mounting the dish. Any good welder (herrero) could make you one very quickly and it should not cost very much. I would recommend getting one that is one meter square. If you don't want to have one made, your installer should be able to get it done rather easily, but you'll probably pay more for it. Hope this helps. Good luck.

Travis Dyer

Judy in Ags

Jul 21, 2008, 7:28 AM

Post #14 of 18 (10305 views)

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Re: [JohnBleazard] Television Star Choice or Sky

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Hey, John, we have Sky (not by choice, particularly but cable doesn't run out as far as we are. Granted, we're not especially happy with it, but don't have a fraction of the problems you're talking about. They certainly don't shine in the area of customer service, do they?

JohnnyBoy

Jul 21, 2008, 7:21 PM

Post #15 of 18 (10280 views)

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Re: [Judy in Ags] Television Star Choice or Sky

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I have never had the pleasure of talking to the customer service people. My partner always does that. And I am happy for that.

We recently called and had them restore us back to the plan we had originally and I was absolutely dumbfounded that the change was instantaneous. Now, I know that is possible but I almost never get instant service anywhere in Mexico. I was expecting at least a 24 hour wait. We are in the process of trying to get the phone and internet service moved from the rental house to the new house. It is our line, not that of the landlady. They told us 7-30 days. I realize that may not be a fair comparison, because someone from the phone company has to come to the new house and do some work with the wires. At least I assume that is what the 7-30 days holdup is all about. One thing was almost instantaneous though: our phone has quit working (no dial tone, no incoming or outgoing calls) but the internet (which is part of the phone service) still works.

My major complaints with Sky are: the quality of the programming (the Fox news channel has not had the picture and the sound in sync since Hitler was a corporal) and things that are supposed to be on at a given hour are on at some other hour or just don't come on that day/week. 60 Minutes is one I have the most trouble with. Then, as soon as any rain clouds appear we lose signal. The sound/volume levels vary drastically from one channel to the next, or on the same channel between programs and commercials. Some programs I have to have the volume all the way up at its maximum in order to hear it. Then if I change channels without first lowering the volume I get blown into next Thursday. And finally, the 399 peso plan I signed up for costs me about $58 a month by the time it hits my credit card. There may be a slew of taxes and surcharges and other things that account for that, like there always was with my cable service in the USA, but at least there I got an itemized statement every month and I could see those things. Here I just have to pay it and like it.

I thought I had a 12 month contract but actually have 18 months. August ought to be the beginning of month 15. I think there are four months left (15, 16 ,17, & 18). We asked Sky customer service to just cancel our service and let us pre-pay the last four months. Should have been about 1600 pesos but it was over 3000. So you cannot pre-cancel without serious penalty.

So, I am not really happy with Sky but I cannot say that they any different than any cable or cell phone company I have ever had to deal with in the USA.

Judy in Ags

Jul 22, 2008, 8:09 AM

Post #16 of 18 (10260 views)

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Re: [JohnBleazard] Television Star Choice or Sky

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John, I think the higher payment is for the equipment rental. (It is in addition to the monthly fee). It is charged for only part of the year. The amount should be reduced after the rental is paid off. Then it is charged again when the contract is renewed. I don't know if ours is annual or what, but it much higher part of the year. (We have more than one unit.) We didn't use to have the problem with the voice and picture not being in sync on Fox. And it isn't all the time. It's maddening, though, to try to watch a program with the voice way ahead or behind the picture. We lose the signal pretty often on Fox also and then the voice is all stuttery and repetitive. It's funny as all get-out, but also frustrating if we're interested in what is being said.

JBrazee

Jul 26, 2008, 5:07 PM

Post #17 of 18 (10220 views)

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Re: [Tippy] Television Star Choice or Sky

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Hi we're new to this site, but does anyone know if Direct-TV will work in San Miguel? We will be moving there in September. Also, someone told me that if my Direct-TV would not work there I should subscribe to Dish Network while in the US and bring that equipment down, since that is related to one of the satellite services provided in Mexico. A local technician wanted 850.00 US to setup and provide equipment. Thanks for any help Dawn.

delmaracer

Dec 6, 2008, 9:36 PM

Post #18 of 18 (10142 views)

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Re: [travisdyer] Television Star Choice or Sky

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When I moved my DirecTV dish to San Felipe, I installed a 2"galvanised pole attached to the inside of a parapet wall, then mounted the dish onto that. I did have to remove the "s" shaped mounting pipe used when installing on an angle iron base. It has worked out very well.
Hope this helps.

Bob