[wasdonkey]

Hi all, hoping somebody can help...

Every year I go out to see a couple of stages of the Tour de France and as much fun as it is, every year I find myself asking the locals how far out they are and wondering what's going on... I'm hoping to invest in a little DTV personal tv thing... so I have two questions...1 of which somebody can probably answer easily and the other which probably should exist in a different part of the forum...

So,

1) Do UK DVT players (something like this http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B001LE2O6W) work in France? Obviously I know they won't pick up UK tv, but will they pick up local French stuff? and are they any good?

and...

2) Does somebody in France broadcast the tour somewhere on free french tv that I'd pickup?

Ultimately, I'll have no Internet and I can't take a big rig out with me, it needs to be portable and fit in my bag/on the bike. The other option would be some kind of radio player that's in English? Any ideas?

[BMR]

I do know people on the channel coast can pick up French DTV with their freeview boxes, which I guess is a promising start...

[albertd]

As far as TV is concerned, UK boxes/TVs are generally considered to be compatible with the French system, though I believe that the text services are not. However, you would still need to have a good signal, so unless you are able to arrange a good aerial, you might struggle to get anything, unless of course you are planning for one of the mountain stages with a TV transmitter on the summit!

As for the networks, I would be surprised if there are none covering each stage live, considering that several of them are race sponsors.

[fmradiotuner1]

i use this TV here

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/1018...-portable.html

The battery only last just over two hours though if you have no power so might not be as much use.
This TV has a normal aerial socket so you can use any aerial for it which makes signal much better.

[riceuten]

Originally Posted by wasdonkey

Hi all, hoping somebody can help...

Every year I go out to see a couple of stages of the Tour de France and as much fun as it is, every year I find myself asking the locals how far out they are and wondering what's going on... I'm hoping to invest in a little DTV personal tv thing... so I have two questions...1 of which somebody can probably answer easily and the other which probably should exist in a different part of the forum...

So,

1) Do UK DVT players (something like this http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B001LE2O6W) work in France? Obviously I know they won't pick up UK tv, but will they pick up local French stuff? and are they any good?

and...

2) Does somebody in France broadcast the tour somewhere on free french tv that I'd pickup?

Ultimately, I'll have no Internet and I can't take a big rig out with me, it needs to be portable and fit in my bag/on the bike. The other option would be some kind of radio player that's in English? Any ideas?

You'd be able to get some, but not all of the Muxes - one of them is encoded differently to ours (the pay one), but the number of places I stayed at that had the French version of Freeview, the software looked suspiciously like ours anyway, and as people have said here, as people can receive it in the Channel Islands or Dover, then a modern Freeview receiver should work

[Winston_1]

Originally Posted by wasdonkey

Hi all, hoping somebody can help...

Every year I go out to see a couple of stages of the Tour de France and as much fun as it is, every year I find myself asking the locals how far out they are and wondering what's going on... I'm hoping to invest in a little DTV personal tv thing... so I have two questions...1 of which somebody can probably answer easily and the other which probably should exist in a different part of the forum...

So,

1) Do UK DVT players (something like this http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B001LE2O6W) work in France? Obviously I know they won't pick up UK tv, but will they pick up local French stuff? and are they any good?

and...

2) Does somebody in France broadcast the tour somewhere on free french tv that I'd pickup?

Ultimately, I'll have no Internet and I can't take a big rig out with me, it needs to be portable and fit in my bag/on the bike. The other option would be some kind of radio player that's in English? Any ideas?

That thing you linked to is not a UK DTV player or a Freeview receiver. (No digital tick, no red button services). it is a generic DVB-T receiver and as such is more suitable for use in France than it is in the UK.
For it to be sold as a freeview receiver is a mis representation of the facts. However for what you want in France it is ideal.

[albertd]

If you don't manage to get a TV to use, a useful tip would be to look on the Tour's web site a few days before you depart and print off the appropriate detailed timetables for each of the stages in which you are interested.

The timetables have been published for the last few years, but don't usually appear until the last couple of weeks before the start, so maybe about 15 June this year. They usually show three columns, one for each of three average speeds for the peleton and contains estimated times of arrival at numerous points along the stage. I think it also gives an estimate for the Caravane Publicitaire.

You may have to dig down into the site a bit to find them (via Stage-by-Stage I think).

[lbear]

If you plan to take a laptop with you, you could consider one of these USB tuner sticks. (Despite the name and the Avermedia displays that they had in store, these do not receive Freeview HD which is probably why they are selling them off on eBay. The two companies do have good reputations though).

A word of caution, the version of Windoze 7 that comes with netbooks does not have Windows Media Center so make sure the stick comes with appropriate software (of course you can return it if you use the internet to order)

[riceuten]

Originally Posted by lbear

If you plan to take a laptop with you, you could consider one of these USB tuner sticks.

A link to a cat rescue home in Lewisham ???

[BMR]

Originally Posted by riceuten

You'd be able to get some, but not all of the Muxes - one of them is encoded differently to ours (the pay one), but the number of places I stayed at that had the French version of Freeview, the software looked suspiciously like ours anyway, and as people have said here, as people can receive it in the Channel Islands or Dover, then a modern Freeview receiver should work

I think it will, but the other alternative is obviously to buy something out there, or via a French website......

[lbear]

Originally Posted by riceuten

A link to a cat rescue home in Lewisham ???

Sorry correct link

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AVER-MEDIA...71034575581942

Unless of course you can get French DTT using a cat's whisker.

[wasdonkey]

Thanks for the replies...fantastic!

Looks like this is the way forward and I should take a look at battery life.

Cheers all!

[BMR]

Originally Posted by wasdonkey

Thanks for the replies...fantastic!

Looks like this is the way forward and I should take a look at battery life.

Cheers all!

I'd be interested to know how you get on......

[albertd]

Originally Posted by BMR

I'd be interested to know how you get on......

Yes, me too.

If you want to try and place yourself on a stage route near to a TV transmitter to give yourself the best chance of a signal, this list arranged by Département numbers might be of slight assistance.

Unfortunately the geographic locations are a bit vague but it might help. The column headed "Zone" only gives a general idea of the area covered, "Site" is a bit more exact but not wonderful.

It would probably be best to avoid trying to use transmitters with powers (kW P.A.R.) lower than 0.1 kW unless you know you are very close to them.

The popup message in the PDF relates to regions in the south which have yet to be completed in the list. All regions are 100% converted to digital though.

[albertd]

I have asked a member of our family in France about live coverage on French TV. He is fairly sure that the FR3 channel (France 3) is the usual one, but he thinks they don't do the whole day's race, just starting sometime in the afternoon - maybe 2 or 3 pm.

He will, however, check with his cycling mad son, who is a junior competitve road racer.

[SteveMcK]

France 2 and France 3 usually share the coverage, if it isn't on one it will be on the other. There are regional variations of F3, the variant which is "local" to the race on a given day will often have extended coverage. It can run for many hours.

[dids858]

Wouldnt a camping sat dish set up be best? No issues with picking France 2/3 and UK channels.

[BMR]

Originally Posted by dids858

Wouldnt a camping sat dish set up be best? No issues with picking France 2/3 and UK channels.

Maybe, but I'm guessing the OP wants to stand by the roadside and watch the TV until the riders approach?

[BMR]

By the way,there's a pocket telly here for 40 quid, or 30 if you can live with B grade stock.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/3.5-inch-portable-digital-tv-505514

[BMR]

Originally Posted by BMR

By the way,there's a pocket telly here for 40 quid, or 30 if you can live with B grade stock.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/3.5-inch-portable-digital-tv-505514

Just decided to treat myself to one of these. So far I've only been able to try it at home- about 27 miles from both Sutton C and Waltham, and have got nothing.

I'll try it in some better locations over Easter and report back....

[BMR]

OK, took this to London today. Thought it would be interesting to compare BBC A mux at full power and the others still on low power.

First location was the top of Hampstead Heath with line of sight to Crystal Palace Unsurprisingly, it brought it all channels, the BBC ones even came in with the aerial down.

As soon as I got down into Hampstead itself, the reception became more patchy. BBC was OK, as long as you positioned the aerial carefully, the others disappeared totally. Once I got into central London, I lost reception most of the time. I could however get reasonable results from the top floor of a double decker, and good reception from a beer garden in Brixton (which is only 3 miles from CP, albeit without line of sight). All attempts at indoor reception failed, unsurpringly, even in Brixton.

As you would expect with digital, the slightest thing can take it from perfect picture to blocky to no signal and back again in a heartbeat....

[keithl]

It's pretty much impossible to escape Le Tour during July in France - it is probably the biggest sporting event in France annually so it's covered just about everywhere. On TV, as previously said, there's pretty much wall-to-wall coverage on France 2 and - sometimes - France 3. There's also pretty good coverage on radio on France Info too.

If you can read French, the local newspapers usually provide a guide to when they expect le peloton to be passing certain points. Based on my own experience, you will need to be there some time beforehand though because they close the road in advance, sometimes for the full day in the early stages. If you can, it's best to get either near the start or near the end, a climb or to see a time trial, otherwise the cyclists just whizz past in a couple of minutes on the flat!

[BMR]

Also getting good results with this little telly at my parents house, 12 miles from Sutton Coldfield.

For 40 quid, I don't think you can go wrong....