Astra 2F: Canaries & Africa Discussion

[trigger]

Ok so far without adjusting the dish i have lost the followingITV Central E (which is what my card is set for)Channel 4 HD and 4/7I have also lost all channel 5 output except for 5HDI have a 1.8m prime dish with invacom.Have spoken to an installer friend and he says he has got all of it working again on a identical dish today with a bit of a tweak.

Been very busy today so not had much time to play, but I would guess when he comes tomorrow he will get you ITV back on that dish using a 1N transponder. ITV channel islands or STV on 10906 but would doubt you'll get anything on 2F, but fingers crossed.
With the low signal & very bad BER I saw this morning I can't see a 1.8M getting anything off 2F as it stands.
I think that even 2.7 - 3M dishes are going to struggle. It's been relatively cold here today (13 degrees this morning when I got up) and the 3M that was holding a picture on a very good Technomate this morning went off about 2:30!!
I'll get some more time to play tomorrow

 

[Mr Hoover]

It's really amazing you are getting signal out there when in the south west of the Iberian peninsula we aren't getting anything... We are for sure under a radiation nule...

They are receiving the first sidelobe of the 2F spot beam for sure.
I wonder if it goes into Madeira and the Azores also ???

 

[Analoguesat]

map updated to here.

 

[FRINGE]

Just completed my first range of signal strengths/quality readings (24 in all). I did the same in November at 10:00, 14:00, 18:00 and 22:00. So will do the same today. These are the results from today 10:00 readings (only the four signals of interest).

11126V 75% strength 50% quality. Stable picture. In November this was 80% strength 100% quality.
10964H 75% strength 60% quality. Stable picture. In November this was 80% strength 100% quality.
10994H 75% strength 60% quality. Stable picture. This was not on my list of November readings.
11053H 75% strength 60% quality. Stable picture. This was not on my list of November readings.

I have also noticed a slight decline on 10773H (BBC4) from 80/80 in November to 75/70 today but its only slight and is not the result of 2F switchover as such.

Will post my other readings tomorrow.

As posted previously, I know that my dish is slightly out of alignment but will not touch this unless I do get a picture break up. LNB skew not adjusted. Weather; clear sky's and no wind for readings taken in November and today.

At 14:00 today - broken heavy cloud, slight breeze, dry.
11126V 75% strength 50% quality. Stable picture.
10964H 75% strength 50% quality. Stable picture.
10994H 75% strength 60% quality. Stable picture.
11053H 75% strength 60% quality. Stable picture.

At 18:00 today - Light broken cloud, no wind, dry.
11126V 75% strength 40% quality. Unstable picture. Lots of break-up. Not watchable.
10964H 75% strength 50% quality. Stable picture.
10994H 75% strength 50% quality. Stable picture.
11053H 75% strength 50% quality. Stable picture.

At 22:00 today - Clear sky, no wind.
11126V 75% strength 40% quality. Unstable picture. Lots of break-up. Not watchable.
10964H 75% strength 50% quality. Stable picture.
10994H 75% strength 50% quality. Stable picture.
11053H 75% strength 50% quality. Stable picture.

So the signal does reduce a little later in the day but I am generally happy with this. To be honest I'm not really fussy about HD channels but I will play with the LNB skew and dish alignment when I have time later next week. Will post again if I can improve on this or if readings deteriorate.

One of my neighbours has a 3m prime focus (pettle) with unknown LNB. Not sure what box he has but its not a Humax. He lost these channels today.

 

[TENERIFEFORUMTV]

so looks like between 40 and 50 percent is threshold ??

 

[teide_ian]

How are some picking up on 2.7m dishes when reports coming in off other forums that 4m dishes are not clearing the channels moved so far. Are these frequencies still going to get tweaked more or if you get the frequencies now you will get them from now on.

 

[FRINGE]

so looks like between 40 and 50 percent is threshold ??

Yes, looks that way.

Having said that, HD is generally more prone to picture break-up/pixelation than SD. I think anything less than 50% is a problem.

Also, the 'right' equipment helps.

 

[FRINGE]

How are some picking up on 2.7m dishes when reports coming in off other forums that 4m dishes are not clearing the channels moved so far. Are these frequencies still going to get tweaked more or if you get the frequencies now you will get them from now on.

What 4m dish reports ? in the Canary Islands ?

 

[daztfs]

I only have a 2.4m channel master with invacom quattro and I'm getting channel 4hd perfect up till 9.30pm
Channel 5 is bad all day it works but can get lines across the screen but sound stays on
The ITV regions central s and central E so far are working 24 hours.

 

[teide_ian]

What i just read a post from chayofa " I have a 4 meter dish and can't get a signal from the new satellite. How big do you want to go

?

 

[FRINGE]

What i just read a post from chayofa " I have a 4 meter dish and can't get a signal from the new satellite. How big do you want to go

?

That's odd given reports of smaller dish's (including mine) receiving watchable signals. So based on what I have seen so far, I don't need to go any bigger.

 

[teide_ian]

Will they be tightening up the footprints anymore as in turning down the signals once in place and confident that the UK is covered. Will there be a problem here or if you pick up the frequencies tonight that is it you either have them or not. I cant check my 2.4m dish as the canaries will know high winds this week and mine got blown off fta channels so havent bothered messing as might not be getting them anyway from this week.

 

[FRINGE]

Will they be tightening up the footprints anymore as in turning down the signals once in place and confident that the UK is covered. Will there be a problem here or if you pick up the frequencies tonight that is it you either have them or not. I cant check my 2.4m dish as the canaries will know high winds this week and mine got blown off fta channels so havent bothered messing as might not be getting them anyway from this week.

Don't know. All I can say is that I'm not taking anything for granted but I live in hope that what we see now will remain.

 

[pipino]

What i just read a post from chayofa " I have a 4 meter dish and can't get a signal from the new satellite. How big do you want to go

?

the real question 4M of what??? round metal from JONSA??? or a proper channel master or other top class dishes??

 

[radioagogo]

Midnight report from Villaverde on Spiderbox 2.4 channelmaster

11126 Channel HD & 4 Seven Sig 62% Q 40/42 stable pic

10994 ITV Nothing

11052 ITV 1+1 Sig 64% Q 42 stable pic

10964 Channel 5 Group Nada

Channel 4 HD was breaking up slightly around 8pm, it seems the Spiderbox can't handle much below 40% quality.
Oh and clear skies tonight, now off to bed, Cheers.

 

[satelliteman]

whats the quality threshold for a stable picture ??

A quality threshold of what? This will vary from receiver to receiver and is meaningless.
The only true calculations can be obtained from a real-time analyser taking signal measurement at the front end. We await that from Lanzadan's installer friend.

 

[radioagogo]

A quality threshold of what? This will vary from receiver to receiver and is meaningless.
The only true calculations can be obtained from a real-time analyser taking signal measurement at the front end. We await that from Lanzadan's installer friend.

Hi TT, Yes I know that, If you read my previous posts I have stated that the readings are purely academic but at the moment I dont have access to an analyzer. Only trying to be helpful.

 

[TENERIFEFORUMTV]

well with the reports i have been reading here and elsewhere the ´´rough´´ figure seems to be 40% ...

 

[radioagogo]

This Morning there is no change in anything, certainly a 2.4m quality dish doesn't leave any margin for cloud. It seems Tenerife and Gran can are fairing better that here in Fuerteventura, hopefully I will have an analyzer here after Christmas. BBC HD on 11023 showing 24% this morning but still getting pulsing interference which knocks it out, pretty sure it's Arrecife Radar, if that wasn't there I might lock a picture, It's only showing up on that Frequency, I will try and find out what frequency Arrecife Radar is on and work out the harmonics. Sorry to go a bit off topic but it's relevant.

 

[FRINGE]

the real question 4M of what??? round metal from JONSA??? or a proper channel master or other top class dishes??

Maybe a converted paella dish . Seen some really big ones over here.