Satellite TV options
 

I was discussing the availability of bicycle racing on TV with a Forum member, and it was suggested that I share what I did, and what I know. That certainly is not nearly everything, but enough to make me happy. There are sat TV stores everywhere in the U.S., and magazines on the stands, not to mention tons of stuff on the 'net. So if you are really interested, take a look.

The critical issue is whether there are viewable sats in your locale that carry the essential channels in the clear. I have zero knowledge of that re the U.S. However, here is a link that will start you off re this question: http://www.satmania.com

Here is the message I had sent ...

Forgive me if you are already Sat TV literate, but ...

A satellite service is one thing, but not the only way. Most sats beam many channels in the clear for various reasons. If you get a dish (or have one already, and the sat of interest is within the effective view area of the one you have), you can buy a generic box, and get all of those clear channels.

That's what I have done here. I have a TPS setup - dish, box, and card (subscription) - which is a service, which gets me a bunch of encrypted channels that they have contracts for, as well as a few clear ones.

But I also bought (after I learned a lot more) a second dish and generic box, pointed elsewhere in the sky, and get about 450 other channels, sent in the clear, from all over Europe.

That would work for you as well, if any sats you could see carry any of the European channels of interest in the clear. Like France 2/3 (TdF), TVEi (Vuelta), TVP Polonia (Tour of Poland - I'd bet on that one given the Polish population in the USA), RAI3 and RAI SportSat (Giro, and many, many other Italian races), ARD "Das Erste" (Deutschland Tour), etc. Many of those also carry many of the classics as well. May be worth a try.

The total cost of the new setup was around $500 USD. It could be less there. A lot, but perhaps worth it.