Are Banks cutting Back on lending

There seems to be a bit of confusion over Sky. The Spanish are very keen to maintain the architectural integrity of Don Juan. That is why they passed a rule at the 1^st meeting specifically banning the erection of dishes until they had been approved by the community. Max, as Vice President, didn’t make this rule but he is responsible for making owners aware of it and urging them to comply with it. The Spanish do not want to deprive us of Sky but simply to avoid a proliferation of unsightly dishes. It is unfortunate that some people have not been patient and I hope that by educating people and by putting forward a plan to get approval for Sky we can prevent any more unauthorised dishes going up as they will all end up coming down again.

Trying to figure out how many people want Sky through EOS is not practical. Most owners don’t use the forum. Also if we install to soon what about all the people who haven’t completed yet? The administrator is best placed to gather the information on who wants Sky and who doesn’t and Max and I will try to work with the administrator to gather the information so that a firm proposal can be put to the January meeting. If approved we can all look forward to Corrie or even see Trevor MacDonald back on News at Ten in the New Year. I do not see any way that we can get this up and running before then.

Why is Max & Saskia being abused in regards to the sky dishes?,  They and a few others , are the link between the residents and the demanding builder.. If they wont carry this burden  on behalf of the community then will you?.

 Please be very careful to look after the very people who are prepared to put themselves forward and argue with authorities wishing to undermine the Don Juan residents association.  

  It is pointless in trying to reach a decision in regards to the dishes without full consent of the majority of fellow members. A lot of people have been living in countries which encourage a must have now at any cost mentality, which differs from others. So please be patient, and allow Max and others to negotiate on our behalf.... Thank Bevron.

Hi i also  think it is wrong to do this to both of them.I also think if this is our community and run by us why could we not have added this to the last  c/meeting  ps i know we have to do it by the c/meeting votes .But this would have stopped people putting more sky dish than needed and make a mess of the site.But i like to tell you there are people there who are staying for a long time in the winter than summer they do not drive and dont go out at night to pubs.I think if we just turn are tv off for 1 night we would no how they feel never mind 2months or so to wait.I can wait but i think it must be very hard on your own at night bye irene/peter

RG I am afraid that if people can’t understand the explanation of what is already being done by Max in English they are unlikely to be able to absorb much Spanish J but there are other things to do: listen to music for example, or go to the likes of the Caribbean bar which shows all the must see British television as well as some you could do without.

hi david there was a stabbing at that bar just ask wichmann and max it was in september bye irene

Hi all,

I have just read a lot of what is on this section but what stands out to me is that people of the community are abusing Max and Saskia even to the point of knocking on there dor at night when most people are aware they have a small daughter.

For the debate on Sky TV surley it makes sense to deal with this at the next meeting when everyone has completed and let our community representatives look at the best options for the whole of the community. Saying that the retired need Sky TV , we are talking about a generation who have had to endure far greater hardship than not being able to watch their favourite TV for a few months, this is the generation who could entertain themselves with music, reading etc and not pass their life away sitting infront of a box like most of the young today, watching TV that is mostly poor quality soaps and so called reality TV.

This is not life or death and please lets RESPECT EACH OTHER in this community and look at the bigger picture here of trying to build a community in harmony where everyone can feel safe and secure without being abused by your neighbour.

I look forward to meeting many of you in the near future,

Neil Plaister

News

Freesat from the BBC

It seems that everyone is looking forward to the proposed "Freesat" service, which promises to launch next spring. There's even a new web site to explain it all - or rather not explain it at all! 

http://www.freesat.co.uk

Anyway, the bottom line is that from March 2008 you should be able to watch "BBC Freesat" programmes, using your existing Sky dish, without paying a penny in subscriptions. Please don't confuse this with Sky's "FreesatFromSky" or with terrestrial "Freeview" (for which you need a TV aerial).

There are around 200 FTA (Free To Air) channels broadcasting from Eurobird 1 and the Astra 2 satellites already. They include programmes to cover most people's interests. There's also many shopping channels, for those who like them!

The BBC's eight channels are included, as well as ITV's four stations. Channel 4 is contracted to Sky until 2008 but is then expected to join the ranks of "Freesat" with CH4, More4, E4, and Filmfour. Five is still tied to its Sky contract for another year so I guess we won't be seeing it in 2008.

For the "movie buffs" there's Movies4Men, PropellerTV, ShortsTV, Film 24, Hollywood TV, and True Movies 1 and 2. Unfortunately, Sports enthusiasts will just have to settle for Extreme Sports and the Golf Channel, unless a miracle happens (don't hold your breath).

Music fans can see over a dozen channels. "Arts" programmes include Performance and its sister channel, Mainstreet, There's news in English (and other languages) from a worldwide perspective - pick France 24, CNN International, or Russia Today.

The 'infotainment' channel has also come into its own on satellite, with broadcasters like Legal TV, Living in Spain TV, The Business Channel, Wine Network, the Entrepreneur Channel and Information TV.

It's not certain how many of these will choose to meet the necessary technical specs for Freesat's full programme guide, (or pay upwards of £30k to be listed) but, as the platform grows, it will be in their interest to make the extra effort for an anticipated audience of several million.

A company called Arqiva has been awarded a contract by the BBC to help bring Freesat, the free-to-air digital TV platform, to air by March 2008. Arqiva will support the creation of the new service, which will complement existing digital TV platforms, ensuring that viewers across the whole of the UK can access digital television without the need for a subscription, at and prior to "Digital Switch Over".

The company already provides much of the infrastructure behind television, radio and wireless communications in the UK and has a growing presence in Ireland, mainland Europe and the USA. If you've never heard of it, don't be embarrassed - nor had I.

Arqiva has its headquarters in Hampshire, with other major UK offices in London, Buckinghamshire and Yorkshire. It now has eight international satellite teleports, over 60 other manned locations, and around 3500 shared radio sites throughout the UK and Ireland including masts, towers and rooftops from under 30 to over 300 metres tall.

The company is owned by a consortium of investors led by Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group and has five operating divisions: Terrestrial Media Solutions, Satellite Media Solutions, Mobile Media Solutions, Wireless Solutions and Public Safety.

Major customers include ITV, Channel 4, Five, the BBC, BSkyB, Classic FM, the five UK mobile operators, the RNLI and the Metropolitan Police.

Arqiva will provide the BBC with an "end-to-end distribution solution for the platform management data, which will have fully-redundant back up across dual teleports to ensure maximum robustness of the broadcast signal". In order to provide this resilient network, Arqiva will implement multiple circuits between two key teleports - the primary one in Bedford (Bedfordshire) and secondary one at Crawley Court (Hampshire) - and the BBC broadcast centres in London.

(Forgive the technospeak; I lifted this explanation from Arqiva's own press release.)

Arqiva has been working with the BBC for more than 18 months to develop initial project plans and design a solution to meet the broadcasters' needs - both technically and commercially. After the BBC Trust gave Freesat the green light to launch, work went into full flow but testing of the platform didn't begin until August 2007.

Many channel owners are now in close contact with Arqiva and Freesat in order to secure space on the new DTT platform.

"We work closely with Arqiva to uplink services for our BBC DSat 3 and DSat 7 DTH platforms, which host the majority of our interactive services, so we know of the company's capabilities when it comes to supporting our satellite network requirements," said Alan Boyle, Head of Distribution Operations, BBC.

"The team knows our infrastructure and the people involved, so this made it a lot easier to develop the right end-to-end solution for the Freesat platform."

"This will be a major digital platform in the UK and we have worked very closely with the BBC to get it right," said John Bozza, Director of Broadcast Sales, Arqiva Satellite Media Solutions. "When we reach the time for Digital Switchover in the UK it's vital that every household is able to receive free digital TV, which is why this project is a key part of the nation's digital TV offering and supplements the new high-power digital terrestrial network that will deliver Freeview services to 98.5% of UK viewers via a normal aerial."

There are already almost a million homes in the UK watching satellite TV without a Sky subscription. It's become the second fastest-growing digital platform choice in the UK, only beaten by Freeview terrestrial.

But even though more than 200 free-to air channels are now broadcasting at 28'E - the home of Astra 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D and Eutelsat's Eurobird satellite - you still need a Sky Digibox to get an onscreen programme guide, digital text and interactive channels. And the kind of recording functions you'd want can still be found only by getting Sky+ (or Sky-HD) with a Sky subscription.

However, with Freeview on satellite you won't need a viewing card or a Sky Digibox. There will be a range of receivers to buy from different manufacturers. Like Freeview, Freesat will have an onscreen programme guide, interactive TV software, and support for digital recorders, but it will also look forward to high-definition TV.

The exact date hasn't been announced, but Freesat should be live by March 2008. Who's making the kit? So far, only Alba, Humax, Panasonic and Sagem have committed to make Freesat receivers. We can expect to see both single-tuner receivers and PVPs from the beginning. It's not known if Pace and Sony will join in and nobody seems to know nor care about Amstrad!

You should be able to use your existing Sky dish, since transmissions will be from Astra-2D. A FTA receiver will receive the Standard Definition broadcasts but without the 8 day EPG. Likewise the Sky Digibox, since the BBC Freesat consortium won't pay Sky to use its EPG, so the two EPGs will not be compatible.

So, ideally, you should buy a Freesat-ready receiver, Freesat PVR or Freesat Integrated Digital TV. These will all (hopefully) be available early in 2008.

How will the Electronic Programme Guide work? Freesat channels will broadcast now-and-next programme data in the standard FIVE format alongside their audio and video streams, but extended data for the next eight days will be sent via a dedicated transponder on Eurobird 1. Freesat receivers will switch to this channel when you access the full EPG.

BBC already broadcasts a High Definition programme so it's likely that HD Freesat receivers will be manufactured and that other HD channels will appear. Well, that's my guess, anyway. And guessing is all we can do right now, since Freesat is giving away very little. One wonders if they even know!

One more factor to consider. Spanish Digital Terestrial (like Freeview picked up from an ordinary aerial) will eventually include 5 English language channels including BBC. Unfortunately this is not scheduled until 2009 and as with most things in Spain could be later

Dear neighbours,

I found some interesting information on the internet about  Communal dish

Since we are living in an international community it will be hard to choose the satelites we want to receive.

The English want Sky, the Dutch want the astra's, te finnish and spanish other sats.

The solution could be one dish with the possibility to put 12 LNB's for different satelites

See the link: