Law / Can I apply to live in Poland while actually in Poland ? [21]


You're welcome.

Here it is on the map, 99% sure this is the place

maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=plac+powsta%C5%84c%C3%B3w+warszaw y+1+wroclaw&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x470fe9d6111420b5:0x12127ab953ac03f0,P lac+Powsta%C5%84c%C3%B3w+Warszawy+1,+Wroc%C5%82aw,+Poland&ei=EzrLT-qGB fOM4gS7uUQ&oi=geocode_result&ved=0CAsQ8gEwAA

Law / Can I apply to live in Poland while actually in Poland ? [21]

Thanks.

Pleased to see I found the right place for the OP, and if it is where I think it is then it's not too far away from a very decent ice cream hut with some of the best ice cream (called Lody) in Wroclaw at about 50p for a cornet. So get your form done, then go for a stroll by the Odra with your other half and enjoy an ice cream which rivals some of the best we have in the UK.

Just out of interest, is it a legal alternative to the residence permit for someone in Poland from the EU to leave Poland every 3 months, for example going.over the border to Germany for the day, and then to come back in to Poland for another 3 months?

Years ago, people visiting the USA from the UK used to do something similar there, not sure if they went to Mexico or somewhere else, from what I remember hearing back then (80s or 90s).

Life / Can no longer receive TVP Info Wrocław on digital DVBT [25]

Thanks Peter, I will try to do that.

I should perhaps also add that maybe Polsat etc is not free on DVBT, only free on analogue terrestrial

Not successful :o(

Can't see how to switch to mux1 etc - scanned 64 (818mhz) but nothing found. No other options there.
Model is a Hyundai DVBH 331.
Spec: IF bandwidth 7mhz & 8mhz, input frequency 170 - 230mhz, 470 - 860mhz

I can't see how to make it scan 64 differently - the way it is scanning now it finds 0.

According to Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyfrowy_Polsat
these are the free ones on Polish digital TV

TVN7
Polsat Sport News
TV6
TV Biznes
Euronews
TV Puls
TVS
TTV
Mango 24
Tele5
TV5Monde
TVP1HD and TVP2HD
TVP Historia

I have I think TVP Historia and Kulturia, TVP Opole, TVP 1 & 2 HD, TVP Polonia, and used to have TVP Wroclaw.

There are quite a few others (excluding Wroclaw) but they say "scrambled" and do not play out, although their EPG does show.

I don't think I can unscramble the others as the tuner unit does not have a facility for a card or code to unlock premium channels.

Life / Can no longer receive TVP Info Wrocław on digital DVBT [25]

Thanks

My set top box doesn't pick anything up from there. I am using a 42dB gain high quality powered indoor aerial that was fine before - now any adjusting of its position does not bring back TVP Wroclaw. As for the other free channels, most of them were never shown on the screen list.

From your link above, which confirms Peter O's info

MHz Kan. Multipleks Lokalizacja DW NW ERP kW Pol. Kier. Kompr. Uwagi Więcej
818,00 64 MUX-1 RTCN Wrocław *G.Ślęża* WRO DNS 100,000 H MPEG-4

Zawartość: TVP 1 HD, TVP 2, TVP INFO (wersja regionalna), TTV, ATM Rozrywka, Eska TV, Polo TV
Offset: 0
Wysokość: 693 m n.p.m.
Współrzędne: 16°42'42"E, 50°51'55"N

- I confirm I have the TV1 & 2 HD and Polonia TV - but TVP Info Wroc is gone.
This happened a few days ago when the weather was sunny and is the same with the rain now.

Just checked again: I am receiving TVP Info Opole and all the others only on 570mhz bandwidth 8mhz 98-100%. No other transmitter is being received. Corresponds to this transmitter only: radiopolska.pl/wykaz/pokazdv_nadajnik.php?pid=592

I can't find a position for the aerial where it picks up any other transmitters. There are too many large buildings nearby perhaps.
Analogue reception is pretty poor so not worth bothering with here either.

Life / Can no longer receive TVP Info Wrocław on digital DVBT [25]


Thanks for all those links!

It's a quality indoor aerial, pretty much as good as they get. The block doesn't have a working roof aerial. If I turn off the amp, I get nothing, reception here is very poor due to nearby taller buildings (eg ghosting, noise, etc)

It doesn't matter where I position the aerial, it either picks up 570mhz or nothing.

Looks like I'm stuffed until I move out to Bielany or similar, where the TV reception is very easy to do.

Life / Can no longer receive TVP Info Wrocław on digital DVBT [25]

Yes, at the back of the Polish language section of the instructions booklet, where it says Problem - tall building(s) around, I can only receive a few channels - under the Solution column it says Sir is lucky to receive anything then. Get cable, or sir is a tighfisted loser. Cut back on the mature cheddar and buy a TV package.

So, thank you TVP Wroclaw for changing how you broadcast if that is the case - causing me and probably many others in parts of Wroc to do without our local channel on DVB-T unless we fork out for cable.

Life / Can no longer receive TVP Info Wrocław on digital DVBT [25]


Quite right, after all it is Cathedral CIty, frankly I don't want to give it up :o) (Memo to mods: I do not work for Dairy Crest!)

I'm just guessing, but for example I can get Polsat Sport News listed on the channels but not receive it - screen says "scrambled channel". PSN is not scrambled, it should be free to air. Polsat Sport Extra is scrambled but not the other one. I reckon I am getting "scrambled" for the ones that are too weak too, because it's getting just 55% quality on PSN. TVP Wro has vanished completely of course, probably for the reasons you describe.

Anyway I knew using the word scrambled would get me hungry, so the frying pan is coming out and DVB-T will have to wait for another day :o)

Life / Can no longer receive TVP Info Wrocław on digital DVBT [25]

I think that some of the channels being shown as scrambled aren't in reality although most are. Where the box says scrambled the signal is under a consistent 90% which seems to be the minimum for some sort of reception. No doubt some of the channels will not display even if the signal were 100% because they are scrambled although probably the screen would show an advert for getting the station unscrambled.

If I were staying in this flat I'd buy an outdoor aerial and clip it to the balcony but I'm moving I hope so won't bother. Probably even then, I won't get TVP Wro as it's completely vanished.

Thanks again for the help and advice.

Life / Can no longer receive TVP Info Wrocław on digital DVBT [25]

Well, that's interesting! Where I do have a station (eg TVP Opole, TVP2 HD etc) the signal is 90-100%. I'm going to get an extension coax lead tomorrow and pop the indoor aerial outside for a test and see what I pick up. In the past I've aligned satellite dishes without a meter, so if I can do that then I'll find any signal that's out there because don't have to be anywhere near as precise with this antenna as I had to be with the sat dish in the UK when I installed it

Quick update for anyone who needs this info...

By moving the amplified aerial outside, TVP Wroclaw can again be received although it's weak compared to before, about 65%.

Can also receive intermittently TV6, Eska, Polo, TTV, etc. Not Polsat Sports News, however.

Can also manual search and see if anything is to be found because a bar on the screen gets colourful if there are signals there. Mostly there's nothing receivable, save the above.

What needs to be done is of course to fix an outdoor aerial with probably amplification, I think conventiona; aerials have a degree of gain built in but I am not sure. (With the gain/amp off, nothing is received with the indoor aerial whether in or out.)

Now I've lost TVP Opole, Historia, Kultura, TVP2 etc. A search for channels now brings up Polsat News and others but they're apparently "scrambled" and there's nothing showing on the list as free to view.

Have they turned another transmitter off, or is this a local issue? I am near Skytower.

UK, Ireland / Ad from my UK newspaper today : not worth a zloty [13]

Checking Polish money is not counterfeit

Just found this on the Bank of Poland's website in English - good for visitors for Euro 2012 as gives some guidance on how to detect and avoid fake banknotes.

Downloadable PDF

nbp.pl/en/banknoty/zabezpieczenia_en.pdf

Some of the advice from the PDF:-

Life / Which services is Poland still waiting for? [218]

Bug screens
They are from around 6zl in Kaufland and Auchan. They are a net curtain which you affix to the window using a tape that they adhere to similarly to how velcro works. They can be taken down and washed but they are very cheap so you just buy another and cut it to size using the old one as a template. I am not sure they would keep mosquitoes out - they seem to come in anyway from somewhere, as do moths,

The mosquito problem in Wroclaw in my experience is awful. I was bitten last week in the park and I know this summer I will wake most mornings covered in bites. I don't like those chemical things that you plug in but even when I use them there is little improvement.

The mosquitoes are for me one of the worst things about Wroc.

Real Estate / Poland's flat rental agents and the anger they brew in me.... [60]

Good idea, thanks.

I think sometimes they are not anti-Brit etc, they are just not interested in what they see as the hassle of translating or, perhaps, not sure what the legal requirements are, such as whether I would insist on them registering me at the town/city hall, whether they need to check I have a resident's permit etc etc. They don't want to get involved in that area of things, probably, in some cases of ignoring or rejecting prospective tenants from the UK etc.

Real Estate / Poland's flat rental agents and the anger they brew in me.... [60]


I'll give it a try soon, but I don't speak Polish, I only know a few words, most of the time I understand max 2 words in a sentence and have to guess what they're saying. Can get hilarious results with the fuzzy logic method of communication... :o)

Real Estate / Poland's flat rental agents and the anger they brew in me.... [60]


I have that all the time, and I then feel really awkward when I say the Polish phrase you mentioned. Just today on the bus, a lady went into a lot of detail in her question, and when I just said the sorry part she immediately got that I was a foreigner and she guessed English but she didn't speak any. I think she just wanted to know if the next stop was the nearest for the post office, but I wasn't more than 50% sure that's what she said.

A surprising number of the younger ones speak English, a young neighbour who is a blue collar worker speaks better English than my bank staff and he's never lived in the UK. He knows obscure words almost instantly, it's amazing (to me).

Anyway, back to topic - I am going to ask around a lot more - Polish or no Polish - and see if I can get a decent landlord and fair rent. The agents are charging about 50% of a month's rent in some cases now, maybe it will drop further if they get more volume. If there are additional safeguards by renting through an agent, then I'd go for it, but if not then their fee is just a waste of money.

With acknowledgements to American English spelling btw!
Neighbour - neighbor
Through - thru

Real Estate / Poland's flat rental agents and the anger they brew in me.... [60]


:0)

Taken a long time but the fees the agents charge in the UK is now getting negative Press coverage there.

Life / Best Polish production TV show [12]

This one en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%9Awiat_wed%C5%82ug_Kiepskich

Comedy, surreal and ridiculous at times, a well-known classic. Try to watch with subtitles so you can see the Polish words as they are spoken.

Real Estate / Poland's apartment prices continue to fall [1844]


Are those figures for March? Seems like it. Are they asking prices or selling prices? Do they take into account economic developments since, rule changes, credit crunch issues, etc?

Developer's agent I spoke to was talking of about 5 or 10% off, from that I would infer he meant 15%.

Food / Where to buy British mature Cheddar Cheese and salted butter in Poland? [289]

Good news for the mature cheddar cheese posse - Tesco in Bielany Wroclaw have plenty of the brand I like (C/ City) now in the aisle. Top shelf, right of the other speciality cheeses, on the end of the section of the chiller but not the end of the aisle of chillers. It is 200g for 8zl at the moment. They aso have mild, both pack types are similar, burgundy colour. If it's not there, try the deli counter where there are some prepacked foreign cheeses too.

Also there today: Tesco baked beans 2zl (1 tin left) and Tesco Fairtrade Finest black tea 11zl (about 4 packs left, hiding on the middle shelf in a silver box).

Also butter - Mlekovita 3zl on special offer.

Real Estate / Poland's apartment prices continue to fall [1844]


Doesn't seem that way here, not sure what category of property that applies to, although prices aren't tumbling fast they don't seem to be in the ascendancy at all. Not so far, anyway

Real Estate / Poland's apartment prices continue to fall [1844]

I don't know what they're asking, but there's a house and a flat on the side of Krzyki near what was the drama academy, and new church - I think they have both been for sale for 18 months. Whether the vendor has dropped the price or stubbornly refused as Harry suggests I couldn't tell you, but they're certainly not sold so far. Also quite a few with the for rent signs locally and in the Rynek, for some months. (Banners on balconies or windows is how I know.)

Real Estate / Poland's apartment prices continue to fall [1844]

Was just checking the direct (not via agents) rentals on Gumtree and seemed to me the prices were down - more were sub 1500 than last week when I last checked. I was thinking perhaps this was a blip and I wouldn't post here but then I saw one reduced from 1600 to 1200 a month and that encouraged me to post this anecdote. I would post a link but I may go view it, sorry about that!

Life / British Population in Trojmiasto [10]


Sometimes it seems like there's only about 20, frankly.

Probably 5000 in reality.

Real Estate / Poland's apartment prices continue to fall [1844]

What will the reforms and deregulation mean for consumers? What will agents do/not do differently? Deregulation usually means a relaxing of rules, does this mean there will be more people setting up a business as an estate agent/real estate agentrealtor?

Law / Investing money in Poland - what are the best areas / ways to invest private money? [23]

Aren't there restrictions on buying agricultural land by foreigners, even EU citizens? Lots of hoops to jump through? Or was I misinformed when I enquired a few years ago?

Food / Where can I get the spreader/rake for making crepes & pancakes in Poland? [15]


Makes it a bit easier to spread the batter thinly, not essential to have but the professionals use them for a reason!


Well, I could do that, Leroy Merlin probably has some cheap wood. But was hoping to find one assembled and cheap, Even 10zl, although a lot compared to most wooden kitchen utensil products here would be acceptable just about. You can buy a spatuala and lots of wooden things in the shops for 2zl or 4zl, but none of them so far have this item at all. Only supplier so far is via Allegro.


Don't worry, Gazeta Polska, Radio Marya and PiS will get mentioned somewhere in this thread, won't be dull here for long!

Food / Where can I get the spreader/rake for making crepes & pancakes in Poland? [15]

Hmm. well that's a pitfall I shall now bear in mind, you could have averted disaster for me with that tip, thank you!

Food / Where can I get the spreader/rake for making crepes & pancakes in Poland? [15]

:o)

In case you want to make them thin: batter should be quite watery, almost like water. You can pour the batter into the pan or use a soup spoon ("ladle"). To get the batter to reach the pan's sides/edges - move the pan around while keeping a firm grip on the handle, you can also gently shake or vibrate the pan to get the batter to go to the edges of the frying pan. A proper pancake pan is better than a multi-purpose frying pan. When frying, take care not to let a non-stick pan get too hot before you put the batter in as this can be toxic (fumes etc, see link below). Keep pancakes warm by putting them in an oven at 100C after frying. Not too much oil - just brush the pan with oil, no more than that is needed for each pancake.

goodhousekeeping.com/product-reviews/cooking-tools/cookware-reviews/nonstick-cookware-safety-facts

Food / Where can I get the spreader/rake for making crepes & pancakes in Poland? [15]


It's 80zl in Tesco Bielany Wroclaw, 2 left (yesterday) if you want one. Slightly more upmarket one with a lid, about double that in Jula.