Astra 2E: Canaries & Africa Reports

[FRINGE]

I was about to invest £100+ in trying an Invacom C120 quad and matched feed horn for my Channel Master 2.4m offset, but for less than £20 I guess this might be worth a try.

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That's my one concern - the matched laminas feed horn. It has proven to be a winner for me so far and not having it with any alternative flanged LNB makes me think that the outcome can never be improved upon. That's why I was so tempted by the flanged inverto black pro. That combo proved better than the inverto black ultra so would I simply repeat that finding with a technomate ?? Suppose the only way to find out is to try it and see. But if I do, it will be the last trial LNB on my list.

Found this tele-satellite report for the Technomate LNB.

 

[DishDick]

What is the smallest dish that gets Astra 2E & F 24/7 in the Canaries and has a margin for cloud and light rain?

Thanks

 

[radioagogo]

Good question DishDick, I live in the North of Fuerteventura, have a channelmaster 2.4 metre offset and can only receive 11052 and 11127 on 2f after much twiddling and changing to a technomate tm 5402HD M2. Depends where you are but I'd guess well over 3 metres. By the look of other posts on here TF and GC fare better than us mind Fuerty is supposed to be backward.;)

 

[FRINGE]

What is the smallest dish that gets Astra 2E & F 24/7 in the Canaries and has a margin for cloud and light rain?

Thanks

It seems it is one of these - 3.8m Prodelin

Certainly my 2.7 laminas has no margin for light rain when looking for BBC, ITV, CH4 etc.

 

[radioagogo]

Only € 11,000 dollars, ahem, divide that by the projected life of the satellites and it works out at roughly 800 per year, providing ses don't change things like reduce power. My neighbour here is a surfer dude and is into board repairs ect. He doesn't think it would be too difficult to extend the channelmaster a bit. I am thinking about it. I remember reading on a forum here that someone has done it for C band but KU band would need to be absolutely spot on. The best answer is internet but here we have no land lines within 3 miles, have to use Movistar 3G dongle, works well but max speed capped at 10GB month, would use that in a week. I can almost lock a signal on one of the BBC transponders on 2E so maybe a 2.7 laminas like yours would be enough, I reckon another 1db gain would do it. As I said previously can get Ch4 HD 4 seven and the ITV/UTV mplx most of the time from 2f. It don't bother me too much but er indoors has to have her soaps.

 

[BLUEPLATINUM]

The best answer is internet but here we have no land lines within 3 miles, have to use Movistar 3G dongle, works well but max speed capped at 10GB month, would use that in a week.

I am not certain, but I think Urania Telecom might have WiMAX coverage in Fuerte.

 

[DishDick]

Well originally a manufacturer thought 3.6 now saying 3.8m. But using my old rusty triganomitry, calculating using a flat circle (where dishes are concave so difference would be bigger) a 3.6m circle surface area is 42% larger than a 2.7m. Would I really need more than a 42% increase in surface area to get a good signal on those channels I am just getting now?

 

[FRINGE]

Well originally a manufacturer thought 3.6 now saying 3.8m. But using my old rusty triganomitry, calculating using a flat circle (where dishes are concave so difference would be bigger) a 3.6m circle surface area is 42% larger than a 2.7m. Would I really need more than a 42% increase in surface area to get a good signal on those channels I am just getting now?

Personally wouldn't think so, even In light rain. I see that they produce smaller ones (from 3m) but he did say that he had installed the 3.8m version.

 

[mickwig]

Well originally a manufacturer thought 3.6 now saying 3.8m. But using my old rusty triganomitry, calculating using a flat circle (where dishes are concave so difference would be bigger) a 3.6m circle surface area is 42% larger than a 2.7m. Would I really need more than a 42% increase in surface area to get a good signal on those channels I am just getting now?

But 1 dB more is double the power!!

 

[Lazarus]

But 1 dB more is double the power!!

That'd be 3dB ............................. ;)

 

[radioagogo]

Er yep 3db is double the power. Thanks Blue platinum for that info, must say I haven't heard of them but will look into it. I was told by a contractor for Movistar that they were going to up the cap because dongle users are at a disadvantage to land line, something to do with Brussels but you know what the Canarian rumour mill is like. We are back to the old is a prime focus better than an offset argument but when I was a lad in the last century we was always taught they was, offset that is but now I'm glad I'm retired. I should think DishDick, that if you want continual reception in cloud ect you will have to go big, we don't normally have to worry about rain and things in Fuerty, except the last couple of days it's been really cloudy here, no reception from 2f.

 

[satelliteman]

Yep, dB = 20 x log
That'll be 3dB.

 

[FRINGE]

Not a lot of change seen since my last post:

View attachment 64543

I have abandoned the weekly checks due to monotony so opted for monthly (almost). My last check was on Monday 9th June with clear blue skies and no wind. Results are posted below. No appreciable changes to be honest. As I mentioned before, this is not a truly 'scientific' set of data as it simply relies on the readings from my TM.




As for the 04:00 and 06:00 readings - too bloody tired

 

[BLUEPLATINUM]

I recently posted in the 2F Canaries thread that I have changed my LNB and my 2F reception has become poorer.
However this morning I have noticed that I am now receiving many 2E TPs. I am also receiving the UKTV channels Watch HD, Alibi HD etc. The dish has not been tweaked over to 28.35E.
I am confused. Is this a coincidence? Has anyone else noticed any improvement to 2E channels today?

 

[BLUEPLATINUM]

A little further analysis shows I am receiving most 2E vertical SD channels (some slight change pixelation, but haven't made any optimisations yet).

 

[BLUEPLATINUM]

All gone now :-(

 

[BLUEPLATINUM]

Have awoken this morning and the channels are back. Just some slight pixelation but watchable.

The channels on 2E are much more important
to me than 2F, so I am wondering what my next step should be.

Given that 2E is at 28.35E and the dish (which was installed in the 2D days) is presumably aligned to 28.2E, should my next step be to get an expert to optimise the alignment of the dish for 2E?

 

[FRINGE]

Has anyone else noticed any improvement to 2E channels today?

I'm in the UK at the mo. Will take a look when I get back home next weekend.

 

[FRINGE]

Has anyone else noticed any improvement to 2E channels today?

Back home now. No change to my reception here.

 

[BLUEPLATINUM]

Defo looks like my LNB upgrade has made a difference. Woop. Woop.