Astra 2F: Central & East Europe Discussion

[PaulR]

When SES say that reception will remain the same they mean within the targeted area. If it does become worse for us on the new fringes then I have a 90cm, 95cm and 1m dish available if need be. I also have a 1.8m PF dish sitting in store but that's probably overkill and anyway I eventually want to motorise that.

There is some slight difference between brands but unless you go really bottom of the market it's unlikely to be significant. What you're paying for with the premium brands is ease of setup, rigidity once fitted and, finally, a little bit better accuracy in the dish profile.

I'm not entirely surprised that 1m won't cut it in Milan. Going west and south from me 85cm isn't big enough in the French Pyrhenees and 1m is the next step to try. Maybe even 1.2m, perhaps? So perhaps you should be thinking along these lines as well? Unfortunately you won't know until you try.

 

[Alistair_]

Unfortunately you won't know until you try.

Not necessarily, if I knew for a fact what other people in my area have at present to receive the fives then I'd have a pretty good idea, that's why I asked about an up-to-date map on 2F, I know every set up has its own merits (better dish, better cables, LNB.... and other factors) so it's no guarantee, but still better than a guess.

Most of the satellite hobby is informed guesswork. We get very little definite information about the satellites from the operators

I see, I also expect not many will actually admit holding back the power, it would be nice to know though..

 

[Luxlizard]

I've got the best equipment available..The 150 cm .Emmeesse dish was made to order,and about 10 years ago I paid it about 550€,The cable are the maximum size available...The LNB on the dish at the moment,is a Twin Humax,(0,2 noise) but I have an Inverto black quad and an invacom twin to try again...The Dish is on a 4m.x4 terrace ,and I have all the time to test everything,and search the slightest signal from the elusive 2f satellite while sunbathing ..Just to say that if I can't get the 2f ...Is very ulikely that is possible to get it in Bologna with a 150 cm..My doubt is if would be possible with an 180 cm...Anybody in the area has it?

This is the last 2f map I found..https://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?msid=204957311454637204711.0004d126e21814cdbf26b&msa=0

 

[wallycharlo]

Have noticed a considerable drop in reception over the last weeks on the 2F channels, e.g. 11023H is now black more or less most evenings, I had been picking this up pretty perfectly beforehand.

Regards ... Wally

Signal levels have now returned to where they were originally since about 4-5 days.

 

[Alistair_]

I've got the best equipment available..The 150 cm .Emmeesse dish was made to order,and about 10 years ago I paid it about 550€,The cable are the maximum size available...The LNB on the dish at the moment,is a Twin Humax,(0,2 noise) but I have an Inverto black quad and an invacom twin to try again...The Dish is on a 4m.x4 terrace ,and I have all the time to test everything,and search the slightest signal from the elusive 2f satellite while sunbathing ..Just to say that if I can't get the 2f ...Is very ulikely that is possible to get it in Bologna with a 150 cm..My doubt is if would be possible with an 180 cm...Anybody in the area has it?

This is the last 2f map I found..https://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?msid=204957311454637204711.0004d126e21814cdbf26b&msa=0

Thanks for the map. I see a vast majority of those reports were updated on 20th December, and browsing them randomly I see there are some clear incongruencies, aside technical equipment, does anyone know if there are other area-specific factors that can compromise reception?

 

[Luxlizard]

Hi,everybody...I,m sorry ,but I couldn't find an updated map for the elusive 2f...Unfortunately I think that even the Sky Uk channels will be watchable only inside the new restricted footprint from next july ( not available for us in Italy )..For many years I watched Sky Uk from here, ,paying about the double of a standard subsciption ,to the people who provided me the original decoder and the card ...I gave up subscription ,when the group Freesat started his trasmissions......After july I would be ready to pay again...But I don't think will be possible...Am I right?

 

[uk-expat]

After weeks of daytime-only reception from 2F I decided on Sunday to check my dish alignment.
I could see that nothing had been disturbed by weather; the deterioration of reception since March would seem to be the result of factors already aired in this forum (like slight satellite re-focus or reduction of power).

However, by raising the mounting bracket of my 1.05 m dish by 30 cm (and thereby better clearing neighbouring roofline obstructions) I have been able to restore acceptable behavior
- Error-free reception day & night on all the 5's, 4Seven and Ch4HD
- Error-free reception on BBC One HD Scotland/Wales except between 8 p.m. and midnight (for whatever reason)

If it doesn't deteriorate from that I will hold back on moving up to a 120 cm dish until I know where I stand after the mainstream BBC channels migrate to 2F or another satellite with a vicious UK spot beam.

 

[PaulR]

Luxlizard, on 22 Apr 2013 - 18:01, said:
Hi,everybody...I,m sorry ,but I couldn't find an updated map for the elusive 2f...Unfortunately I think that even the Sky Uk channels will be watchable only inside the new restricted footprint from next july (not available for us in Italy}

Although we can't be 100% certain it is very likely that most of the $ly channels will be on the European beams which should be receivable by you in Italy - with the right subscription of course.

Luxlizard, on 22 Apr 2013 - 18:01, said:
I gave up subscription ,when the group Freesat started his trasmissions......After july I would be ready to pay again...But I don't think will be possible...Am I right?

Paying a subscription will not get you the BBC, ITV, C4, C5 etc,. as these are the same as used by Freesat.

 

[deepbluesky]

Just to help some people from Italy: _www.digital-forum.it/showthread.php?138621-Astra-2D-gt-Astra-1N-gt-Astra-2F
There you can find lots of positive/negative reception reports. Of course nobody knows what 2C/E/G will bring in future.

 

[wallycharlo]

SNR seems to have improved signifigantly since the start of the weekend, does not seem to be weather dependent?

 

[Alistair_]

In my case the improvement has been hardly perceptible, and in any case a long way from what it was before end of February, when the signal strenght deteriorated significantly

 

[r11co]

Hi folks. Just got back from Tuscany, Italy, and I can report the following...

Latitude/Longitude - 43.610589,10.292269

Equipment - Gibertini OP125 dish, Televes LNB, Goodmans Freesat HD receiver

NOTHING from 2F, not a glimmer or a sniff of a signal.

Depressing situation Have neither the space nor the inclination to try and source and install something much much bigger.

 

[Lazarus]

That must be somewhere in Tuscany?

Having trouble working it out!

 

[r11co]

http://goo.gl/maps/7SoQL

Tirrenia, right on the west coast.

 

[Lazarus]

Fab.

We've had a few decent hols in a Villa just inland from Cecina.

And you've taught me how to use Lat/Long with Google Maps!

I tried before, but failed miserably .................

 

[Luxlizard]

Hi folks. Just got back from Tuscany, Italy, and I can report the following...

Latitude/Longitude - 43.610589,10.292269

Equipment - Gibertini OP125 dish, Televes LNB, Goodmans Freesat HD receiver

NOTHING from 2F, not a glimmer or a sniff of a signal.

Depressing situation Have neither the space nor the inclination to try and source and install something much much bigger.

In Bologna,slightly north of Tuscany,still the same situation, with a 150 cm good quality emmesse dish and different top quality LNBs...If only I knew that with a 180 0r 2 meters dish the 2F (and in particular the future 2E )would be ...watcheable...I could study a something ..but Nobody in this area suggested an affordable solution..So..I have to wait ..and see if the Proton and the satellites on board will be destroyed around Baikonur like last time,a few weeks ago...(I know...I'm bad)

 

[r11co]

with a 150 cm good quality emmesse dish and different top quality LNBs...

Are you getting nothing at all with the 150? Interesting you mention emme-esse dish as AFAIK they do not actually manufacture their own dishes but commission them from other makers. My OP125 came branded as emme-esse but has the Gibertini logo stamped into the pressings and is 100% identical to the OP125 except that it is painted dark grey instead of light grey.

I also tried an Invacom LNB and it made no difference to the 2F reception and actually caused a slight deterioration in the signal strength of the TPs I could pick up. The Televes was a cheap LNB but it seems to suit the OP125 very well.

All moot though as I'll be pointing the dish somewhere else next year....

 

[Luxlizard]

Are you getting nothing at all with the 150? Interesting you mention emme-esse dish as AFAIK they do not actually manufacture their own dishes but commission them from other makers. My OP125 came branded as emme-esse but has the Gibertini logo stamped into the pressings and is 100% identical to the OP125 except that it is painted dark grey instead of light grey.

I also tried an Invacom LNB and it made no difference to the 2F reception and actually caused a slight deterioration in the signal strength of the TPs I could pick up. The Televes was a cheap LNB but it seems to suit the OP125 very well.

All moot though as I'll be pointing the dish somewhere else next year....

When I bought the 150 cm Emmesse we had the 2D problem,and I sent an E-mail to the Emmesse factory,asking if that satellite was receivable with that particular dish...They were very helpful...They sent 2 tecnicians on the roof of the factory and were soon able to answer my question positively...So I went to a specialist shop ,and I had to order it,because the 150 cm.were pressed only to order...A couple of weeks later the shop called me back ,and in a couple of days of work,I was able to watch the elusive 2d satellite..This time I think will be more difficult to solve the plot..

 

[Alistair_]

Depressing situation Have neither the space nor the inclination to try and source and install something much much bigger.

Do you have any idea of how bigger it should be, maybe cos you know, or heard of, someone who can still get the fives so expects to get ITV and BBC as well? Or it's still a stab in the dark?
I personally, like you, couldn't go much bigger, very little more in fact, and for some regions not even a 3mt dish would cover it I hear (from expat crowded Spain http://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2013/02/07/are-you-ready-for-the-big-switch-off/)

 

[Luniman]

Hi Everyone, I'm new to the forum, first post. I've been in Casola for 9 years now, so I've experienced Astra 2D, 1N and now 2F. Along with others on this forum, I am searching for someone who can get Ch5 at the moment. My 1.2 dish never let me down in all this time, but 2F has changed that. I can get a pixilated Ch5 sometimes in the middle of the day, yesterday for example, but when it goes there is absolutely zero, no sign of a signal at all. I have priced up a Skyware 1.8m (formally Channel master) dish from the importers here in Italy, and was surprised to find the price was less than in the UK, quite acceptable in my eyes, but my problem is.....will it be enough to pull in the signal 24/7 from now on? There doesn't seem to be anyone who can answer. I have asked the Skyware reps and they say I can get the signal with a 1.2, or a 1.5, but we know this not to be the case! So I don't trust their advice, especially as they wont guarantee it by offering a sale or return. I am reluctant to spend my hard earned cash on something that is not going to work. Any ideas? Please don't say wait till 2E goes up, as I feel it doesn't change things all that much, we are going to be in exactly the same situation, until someone in this area puts a big dish in a gets a few readings, how are we ever going to find out?
Cheers,
Luniman