Astra 2E: Central & East Europe Reports

[solly]

how the signal was before two mnth ago with march better ?

 

[npire1]

how the signal was before two mnth ago with march better ?

I think so ! apart from odd days here and there Its been very good for a while now excluding the last few weeks ! Now just c4, c5's and a few itv1,s good from 10 am to 5 or 6 pm with a slight drop in the middle of the day !

 

[Alistair_]

There seems to be an explanation on recent and long-lasting signal deterioration on skyinmadridnews but to be honest I think it's all crap:

ASTRA 2E SIGNAL WEAKENS
We have received many reports of weaker signals from the Astra 2E UK spot beam, which carries BBC & ITV.
In S.E. France, a local English language radio station was "swamped with complaints" according to our correspondent in Frejus.
The deterioration has affected southern France and Spain. It's likely that the satellite has been the subject of "station keeping", which can result in a slight movement of the beam. This happens every 4-6 weeks, resulting in loss of signal if the receiving dish is right at the margin of a viewable signal. All geostationary satellites need to be kept on station, which is achieved by firing tiny jets on the spacecraft.
Digital broadcasting is normally either received perfectly or not at all. Analogue systems in the past would just become more grainy.
Hot weather and humidity can also weaken faint satellite signals.
The solutions to push the signal back over the threshold for breakup are:
better LNB
adjustment of the dish
bigger dish
more sensitive receiver.
The signal should improve again in June or July.

 

[PaulR]

Seems mostly reasonable to me given that we have no official information on this from SES-Astra.

I might quibble with June/July as the beginning of the time when signal improves as atmospheric humidity will still be high. I would have thought that August/September would be more reasonable but if practical experience says earlier then that's obviously correct.

 

[Alistair_]

Seems mostly reasonable to me given that we have no official information on this from SES-Astra.

They look always so secretive to me I doubt they'll let away what they're doing. Do you think they might be able with this new technology of theirs to drastically reduce signal on purpose defying physics? Rumors say that's their plan, no spillage anymore except north of France. Realistic?

 

[PaulR]

"Ye cannae change the laws o' physics" Montgomery Scott, chief engineer of the USS Enterprise, "The Naked Time"

But by careful design SES have managed to make the beam more focused on the UK with a sharper drop-off than its predecessors. They have previously stated that their intent is to reuse frequencies from a single satellite and this will necessitate more spot beams so they will undoubtedly persue this type of design.

 

[Alistair_]

Not sure what are the consequences for us. More spot beams will mean more tighter footprint? Don't they say this "spot UK" will last 15yrs or that doesn't mean that they won't reduce signal for us within this time period?

 

[npire1]

Yes the truth is out there ! Unfortunately as always no one knows for sure what it is ! Was a bit better today but come 5:30 it all went pear shaped again ;( At least itv player works on the humax freesat box without any hassle. Shame the others dont. Found ways around everything on a laptop but its a pain to keep setting it up on the tv to be honest and the plugin android smart tv stick does not allow you to use the various free ip routing/hiding apps out available. Thats not to mention the lack of remote control and recording and epg features ! In this day and age we can do much more than before, but none of it well !

 

[npire1]

Much better signal since Monday night (11:30pm) Now getting many more channels like c4 all the time ! Some are still a bit hit and miss like bbc1 etc !

 

[Micxuc]

Finally found time to rescan all frequencies on my setup. With 2.0 m dish, I am now getting good reception on some 2F UK beam channels (BBC1HD Scotland, BBC 4HD, ITV 1 SD (sometimes pixelating), C4 HD). No sign of C5 or ITV 1 HD. Sadly, I am getting nothing on 2E UK beam. I live in central Prague.

 

[Richard Hunt]

That is interesting Micxuc, thank you. I have not tried any adjustments to my set up (well, I'm not capable myself, would get my techie crew round). But to prepare for that I have been logging reception. At 22.00- 00.00 CET time I am regularly able to pick up almost perfectly BBC1SD, BBC2SD,BBC4HD, C4, and BBC Radio 5, but not radio 4. Very clear weather across Europe extends that viewing time.

Fortunately, that time coincides well with programmes I want to watch. (have been able to download most Wallander episodes) But I would certainly be interested to find ways to extend that viewing window.

 

[MarkW]

Have you thought of 27.5W?you'd need a minimum dish size of only 80cm for Prague,according to satbeams.Best pm me for details if you need any help.Cheers.Mark

 

[Richard Hunt]

MarkW thanks for your help. I am not sure how to PM you in this web format. It would not let me start a conversation with you, so i have left a message on your profile page

 

[curly wurly]

Have you thought of 27.5W?you'd need a minimum dish size of only 80cm for Prague,according to satbeams.Best pm me for details if you need any help.Cheers.Mark

Hi Mark, Would we need a Freeview box for this signal from Intelsat 907 at 27.5°W?

 

[Analoguesat]

Hi Mark, Would we need a Freeview box for this signal from Intelsat 907 at 27.5°W?

No - Freeview is the dtt service via the tv aerial so would never work.

You need a dvb-s2 satellite receiver capable of decoding biss encryption. Not all dvb-s2 receivers are suitable due to technical jggery pokery on the mux.

There is a lot of info about it on the various 27.5W threads

 

[MarkW]

I'll pm you(ie start a conversation) .

 

[Luxlizard]

Today,30,august,I can Watch all the lost channels ...BBC,ITV,etc...(in SD..no in HD..) What is happening ?

 

[Lazarus]

Nothing but a minor (and no doubt temporary) change in propagation conditions.

 

[Analoguesat]

They look always so secretive to me I doubt they'll let away what they're doing. Do you think they might be able with this new technology of theirs to drastically reduce signal on purpose defying physics? Rumors say that's their plan, no spillage anymore except north of France. Realistic?

In time yes transmission areas will be reduced.

Cutting down the transmission area can be done in one of two ways

1) Use Ka band - probably 10 years away before its widespead for tv transmissions, although the technology is now in use at 9E for the Soarsat service. That really will be game over for satellite reception outside the UK and a little of north western Europe due to the small spots that can be used. Soarsat covers western Wales & a small part of Devon. And thats due to frequency reuse on other beams.

2) use none overlapping KU spots with frequency reuse on them - Astra 1K was designed for this, but she got dropped into the sea after a botched launch back in 2002. Eut 9B will launch soon and has 4 spots on it covering various areas of west and north Europe. Im not sure exactly what the reuse plan is for 9B but generally speaking With frequency reuse you will only get whats being fired at you, no chance at all of out of area reception for the other beam thats on the same frequency band

 

[Captain Jack]

9B will be an interesting satellite and obviously frequency reuse is already in widespread use, though footprints are pretty far apart to make a difference. I know some peeps trying to receive Russian beam on 36e are receiving sub-Saharan beam instead because of the same frequencies being used across both beams. They do manage to get some of the Russian beam where frequencies don't clash.