ASTRA 2D BBC & ITV RECEPTION

[Corrigapp]

Thanks for the info about Wotsat.

Since Jan 1st I've noticed no difference at all in my reception patterns for 2D. Were you getting a stable signal all the time before Jan 1st? IIRC you posted a long time ago regarding the 4 hourly cycle of Asta 2D.

I don't think the temperature has anything to do with the problem your'e experiencing unless it's forced the dish and/or LNB to go slightly out of alignment, enough to make 2D disappear. That happened to me a couple of times when I was aligning my dish. As 2D is so weak, alignment is extremely critical. At times I was getting a great signal from 2A/B but nothing at all from 2D, until I started tweaking the dish and LNB.

Peter

 

[valb]

I got rid of the on/off cycle approx. every 4 hours by adjusting the LNB skew so that unless it was raining a lot ITV1 London was always available. As were Disney, Hallmark and Eurosport News. ITV2 was seldom available.
As you have not noticed any dropoff in signal strength I guess the problem must be at my end. Perhaps it's water in the cable, 'though as you write it's a question of milimeters so I still have a theory that the cold has caused the dish to go out of alignment. As it is motorised I have been able to test east/west but not up/down. I'm just waiting for the temperature to rise.
By the way how much did you have to give for your dish? Mine is an old Triax prime focus which I understand is about the equivalent of a 1,1m offset dish.

 

[sayireand]

Can someone fill me in on this 4 hour cycle???

Also it seems that for more than a few people seem to lose signal at 7/8 in the evening as do I here in Madrid, (well at least the Horizontal transponders, the vertical ones stay for most of the night).

Also some people seem to think that other signals at times swamp the weaker 2D frequencies. From what I've seen with my installation the big drop- off seems to coincide with the start up of the mature content channels on 12.480. Any other channels that start up at that time are on 2A/B, which don't 'appear' to cause a problem at other times of the day.

If this is the case what possible solution might there be.

 

[Corrigapp]

valb:

I paid DKK1995 for my dish from www.nettopris.dk but I had to go to the wholesaler in Farum to get it and ship it home myself. Interesting about the LNB skew, I've tried a lot of different skew angles but the best I can do at present is the previously mentioned times, which is why I'm thinking about a better LNB (Invacom or Syntech, both 0.3) and I'm getting nothing at all on the V transponders. Your problem could be water in the cable but it seems odd that it started on Jan 1st. It's not some local interference? I live in the Lund/Malmö region so our reception patterns should be more or less the same. Did ITV1 disappear completely in heavy rain or did it just get 'blocky'? Also, what type of LNB are you using?


sayireand:

If there's any 'swamping' this will be down to how good the tuner in your digibox is. On my Panny 30, I haven't noticed any signals getting better at the expense of others. The astra 2a/b signals are constant round the clock. As I posted above, the most credible theory about the 4-hour cycle that I can find is that the satellite repositions itself to get maximum light on its solar cells hence making fine differences to the footprint. These differences will not of course be noticeable in the centre of the footprint (a/b as well as d), but for us at the edges it's a different matter!

BTW, as regards the V weaker than H thing on 2d, there have been a couple of posts from Hungary indicating that the opposite applies there.

Peter

 

[sayireand]

http://forum.digitalspy.co.uk/board/t/47459/e760097a6fd0ba919f77b5415aaadc89ds.html

Some comments on the LNB's that you wanted to try Corrigap

As regards the V - H, here the vertical polarity is the stronger one. Therfore ITV Scotland no problem but yes with other ITV as well as Disney, Hallmark, Eurosportnews etc.

If I'm not missing something, why 4 hour cycle, why not 6 or 8??

 

[Corrigapp]

Thanks for the link sayireand!

Now all I have to do is get hold of the Invacom article somehow. But the sharp SHUNI7 sounds interesting ...

Can't help you with your question about the 4-hour cycles, I'm afraid. Maybe it's a question for the good people at SES.

Peter

 

[valb]

My measurements of when the signal was there and not there were not done scientifically. At the time it just seem to fit that it was on for 4 hours and then off again for 4 hours. I've read a report from Spain where they experienced the same sort of thing on the north beams. I've also seen a suggestion that all the satellites turn at certain times so that their solar panels are facing the sun. Anyway as the temperature is only -2 at the moment I put my boots on and standing knee deep in snow adjusted the dish and now have 2D again, apart from ITV2.

Corrigap
It's funny you got your dish from Farum. I work near there but when I was looking for a new dish about a year ago I couldn't find anyone in DK who had such a large dish. I've made a note of the www address in case I need some advanced equipment in the future. Thanks for your help!

Good viewing to you all.

 

[Old Satellite]

It is normal for satellite footprints to have variations this is due to a large number of reasons including maintaining the position of the satellite by the use of the on board thrusters. (approx every 3-4 weeks)

Normally every satellite drifts marginally in its pre defined area in space along the geo stationary orbit- external influences cause the satellite to drift they include gravitational effects, thermal extremities etc.

Additional the cycle (approx 4 hours) you identify is most likely a result of the actual power on board the satellite changing marginally due to re-positioning of the solar cells to maintain the satellites aspect to the sun.
As a consequence the satellite's Transponder TWA (Travelling tube wave amplifiers output will also change marginally this results in a minor change in level of signal within the defined recieving footprints area.

When you consider that a majority of TWA are around 100 Watt's it gives you an indication of why only a small change in TWA power results in quite signifcant changes within the recieving area.

if there is further interest in this area we can provide further backgound on satellite operation

regards

Old satellite

 

[Geoff Simpson]

Have just posted a request for information Javea Spain, but have a friend living in Bedar near Almeria getting all the freeview channels inc ITV 24/7: He is using Panasonic TUBS30 with a 1.2 Channel Master dish

 

[meatball]

Hi,

Just to let anybody who is insterested, got back from 100miles south of rome, trying to get astra 2d,

1.8 metres petalised dish,
0.7 db l.n.b,
grundig receiver,
20 metres ct 100.

no astra 2d, will be trying 1.8 metre channel master of set in may, with 2.4 metre channel master as well.

astra south beam 80 cm 70% signal, no quality.
astra south beam 1.8 metre above dish, 100% signal, 30% quality
astra north beam 1.8 metre above dish, 70% signal, 10% quality,
no north beam morning till noon then all ok.

 

[rolfw]

Thanks for that Meatball. which Grundig receiver were you using?

 

[barney]

Where are you meatball?
we are near Pescara and with a 240 cm (8 piece) no astra 2d and
ok the north beam from midday to 11 pm (sky sports news) while C4 and granada ok until the morning (7 am).
Tomorrow i want have a new 300 cm (2 piece).
Now rain , but i hope for tomorrow.
What you Think of new dish?

Panasonic 30 and MTI 0.6

 

[Old Satellite]

A high Quality 3.0 mtr should provide some interesting results,

Be very careful to enusure that the LNB offset for polorization is set correctly,

I have previosuly heard that 2d Northerm beam has been recieved at a South of Rome location on a Patriot 3.8 mtr with no problems- 100 % reception.

Good Look, and let us know your results

Old Satellite

 

[barney]

Hi old satellite,
i'm sorry for my english.
No good news. The dish is ok (beautiful), 2 piece, prime focus,300 cm.
At 9 am in the morning whit old dish we measure the power on tp 12226H. 68db. he locked the tp.
After 4 hour we start with the new dish.the same apparatus lnb, cable ecc. 76 db., but don't locked it.
move the skew and i have the same result of yesterday.
i've more signal strenght but the quality is the same.
No astra 2d.
how can i have more quality?
is possibile that the frequency very strong go on that less strong?
There is an lnb which works very good for to have H and V (no interference)
Please help me.

 

[Old Satellite]

What type of lnb are using? is it a normal universal lnb?

What is the make of the dish that you are tying out ?

regards

Old Satellite

 

[barney]

Thank you for your reply.
I have a lnb universal MTI AP8W.....,Sferrario in Spain said was the best.
The dish is make of fibreglass prime focus.
Today at 1.00 pm i have CH4 on 12168V but no Plus on 12226H and no Sport news on 12148H.
Moved the skew of LNB and i have all treeh frequencys., but only this from north beam. The 11778,11856 or 12480 that is the low and high frequency no signal, like if the middle frequency was ok.
i've panasonic 30 and 35mt of cable.
Bye

 

[Old Satellite]

Have you ensured that the two dish pannels are correctly aligned? this needs to be within approx 0.2 mm or better.

How do you centre the feed to the dish?

What make of dish do you have?

I would have expected slightly better results from a high quality 3.0 mtr dish.



regards

Odl Satellite

 

[barney]

Yes, the dish is aligned very good.
the techical is comed from Rome and is the best for big dishs in Italy( all the Ambassy ecc.....call it).
Whit a meter we have had the centre for the feed( the arm of the lnb focus are inside the dish).
The dish is make from PELLINI.

 

[siena_us]

Hi all. I am in Siena Italy (up on top of one of the Chianti hills if that makes any difference) and yesterday we installed a 1.8 m Prime Focus dish. I had been using a 1.3m but was only able to get Astra 2D sometimes. We figured 1.8 would be fine but we are still having problems. The lnb that we used to have was a 0.5 and the one that came with the new dish is a 0.6 which could make some difference I presume. I have a panny 30 digibox. My signal strength is around 80-85% and the quality is 90% I guess my questions are:

1) what should the lnb setup be (currently lo is 9.75 and hi 10.60)

2) Default transponder is set to frequency 11.778 (V, 27500, 2/3), should I set it to something else?

3)Any other helpful hints on how to get the picture more often (cuts out early morning and early evening, both for a couple of hours).

Thanks for any ideas,

Cristina

 

[barney]

Ciao Siena,
can i talk in italian whit you?