Astra 2F: Western Europe Discussion

[PaulR]

intersting what namber transponder ka band use for france castomer service on astra 2f if can receiver out france

This is Ka band and so the footprint is much smaller than Ku band. So they will use a number of transponders to cover all of France.

It's crossed my mind too, although in this case it would be more like France and surrounding areas rather that than the whole of Europe.

As there will be multiple beams for France it may be possible to narrow down data transmission to a single TP. It certainly won't get sprayed round Europe!

 

[park_gate]

Any chance of them starting to use Ku band sometime in the future when they have used up the Ka band?

Terry

 

[samirlsn]

RECEPTION REPORT:

Location: Avignon, France

Dish: Triax TDA 78 78x70cm
LNB: Grundig GLT 40
Receiver: EchoStar HDS-600RS

Good reception of all Astra 2F transponders.

 

[PaulR]

To confirm the above, near Orange, France my English friends haven't even noticed the changeover. There's been no heavy rain so rain margin can't be estimated yet.

Dish: 80cm or 85cm
LNB: MTI Bueline (I think) Quad
Receiver: Humax Foxsat HDR

 

[Gary D]

First time back in France after the channels shift to 2F and I was looking forward to checking ITV and Channel 5 reception straight away.

First thing I noticed when I arrived was my dish pointing at the ground. The only cause I can think of is a big bird of prey deciding to use the LNB arm as a perch!

Now that the dish is fixed again and carefully aimed, I can report that 40km east of Toulouse, near Castres, I can receive all the 2F channels available to my Pace 2600 (Sky - sorry) box with no problem on my cheapo 80cm Brico dish.

The cable run isn't particularly long, but I am using a diplexer system to run the TNT (French Freeview) signal and the satellite signal down a single cable, so there will be some attenuation, but not sure how much.

Also, no problem with the Sky EPG so far...

 

[Analoguesat]

Thank you folks - the map has now been updated to here

 

[alec]

Dish 70 x 90 (nominal) Optex (looks like fibreglass)
LNB (now) MTI High line Quad
Humax Foxsat HDR, Topfield TF4000PVR

Longish (20 m -odd) cable run, one join (inside) where the external sections were replaced due to weathering.

Quillan (approx. 50 km south of Carcassonne)

Since the changeover, Channel 4 HD, 4/seven, 5 receivable at around 90% strength, 50-60% quality (occasional pixellation etc.) mornings only - quality starts to fade at around 12:00, "no or bad signal" by around 15:00.

Changed from a Smart Quad to the MTI High Line LNB this afternoon - no change to Astra 1F (rats! - waste of 50 EUR) despite already excellent signal on other Astra 2 channels improving from strength 90-95 to 97-100%, quality 100%.

"Nudging" the dish makes no difference - I'll have another go at improving the alignment tomorrow morning when there's some signal to play with.

Looks like the next step is a bigger/better(/newer) dish - the Optex is 12 years old or so and was pretty cheap to start with. Dishes certainly won't improve with age but is this likely to be a problem?

Worth trying e.g. a Gilbertini 85 cm - or is it better to go to up to at least 1 m? Comments / advice gratefully received.

 

[Analoguesat]

Interesting - you seem to be on the edge of the sub 1m drop off zone - we have had quite a few reports from around there on 80 90 & 100cm dishes with varying results. (Although its quite possible some of the poorly performing dishes need a tweak or a new lnb of course)

Have a look at the map - link in my sig & click over to the second page

 

[alec]

Hmm, looks like the extra 30 or 40 klicks to the south make quite a difference.

I'll have a go at tweaking the alignment tomorrow morning but I don't have a lot of hope.

Anything bigger than 1 m would probably mean resiting the (currently wall-mounted) dish at ground level, for aesthetic reasons at least. Luckily we have plenty of space facing south :-bigsmile

 

[alec]

Bad news - I only managed to get another 10% quality by tweaking the elevation a tad - a viewable picture on 4HD and 4/7 on the Foxsat but only until around 12:30, still nothing on the 5's. The more sensitive Toppy pulls in a non-viewable picture.

As there's only 10 EUR difference between the 85 cm and 1 m Gilbertinis, I'm thinking of ordering the 1 m (73 EUR plus carriage). it's tempting to go to 1.25 m, but it's more than twice the price and would involve a lot more resiting work.

One (slightly off-topic) thought - would a larger dish risk producing excessive signal on the stronger channels? Attenuators would not be a solution for obvious reasons...

 

[sonnetpete]

I'm using a Triax TD88 here for 28.2°E and there's no need for attenuators. The tuners AGC should take care of that. I wouldn't bother with a 1.25M, in my opinion it would be overkill. I'd be tempted to try an Inverto Black Ultra on your existing dish before changing to a larger one. A 1M Gibertini is a good choice as an upgrade. I use one on the multisat for 7°W and it's giving excellent results.

 

[NWW]

Thought I'd share my findings as well. In short, nothing as changed.

In details:

TD88 centered on 19.2E (with 13E and 28.2E on each side), location Koninslo, Vilvoorde, Belgium. As mentioned in my last thread, the Astra 2 LNB is slightly off, so reception is not perfect (gotta find the time to fine tune it).
The BBC HD transponder is at 50-60%. No breakups unless heavy, heavy rain. Will report back when I have adjusted the LNB.

(Using a DM800HD as reference.)

 

[Analoguesat]

Thank you NWW - Id missed an earlier report but Ive now added you to the map.

The map now has reports from almost every European country west of the Ukraine (apart from a few of the very small ones - any members in Andorra or Luxembourg??)

 

[alec]

Thx for the info and tips, sonnetpete. An upgrade to 1 m is certainly more attractive so it's good to hear you think the 1.25 is not necessary. I almost chose a Black Ultra but the quad version of the MTI Highline (a tad dearer than the Inverto) seemed to have slightly better reviews, so I went for that.

One thing I tried this afternoon was to wash (with warm water and washing-up liquid) rinse off and wax (normal car wax) the existing dish, which is about 12 yrs old and was looking a bit grimy.

This has given me another good 10% quality improvement. At 16:00, when before everything on 2F would have vanished, the Toppy was pulling in 4/7 with no artefacts (90%/51-56%) and Channel 5 was still visible although not watchable (95%/30%).

Unfortunately the Foxsat is a lot less sensitive - only occasional flashes on 4 HD and lots of artefacts on 4/7 - but that's still better than before.

 

[rodscha]

Hello
I m in Carcassonne on the edge of town
where i use an" axil "90cm dish with a low priced LNB and I get
the old astra 2 signals 64(strength) and 60(quality) on my comag receiver & pvr
And i get the few new Astra F signals just 10 less which is 52(strength) and 40 -something quality
so somewhat weaker but no obstacle to acceptable reception

my dish is on a 2m mast which allows me to gyrate it whenever i feel like trying 16° or 7°E or else 26°

 

[gonzobaby]

Today between 11.30 - 12.30 german time i got the highest level from 2F (without the 8PSK-TP) i ever could reached with my Gibertini 1m and TT S2-3600 USB

 

[solly]

please check the signal afternoon let see if peak stay high like the morning

 

[alec]

Hi rodscha - "bonjour (near) neighbour!"

A friend I met yesterday, who lives about 1 km away (cheap 70 cm dish, sky box) hadn't noticed any changes - all Ch 5 stations receivable 24/7 with no problem. She puts it down to having a signal booster (??) fitted by the French installer "because there is a long cable run". I will go and have a look to find out more...

After the new LNB/ alignment tweak /dish cleaning, in the mornings I am now getting 4/seven on the Topfield at 90%+ strength, 85% quality (quality on Ch 5 is much worse - around 50%) but it fades during the afternoon and is gone or unviewable by 18:00.

1m Gibertini is now on order.

 

[gonzobaby]

again new "world record" for me (highest level with first time lock on 11023H !)

_http://forum.digitalfernsehen.de/forum/dxer-news/309826-astra-2f-286.html#post5755483

 

[Gigioman]

again new "world record" for me (highest level with first time lock on 11023H !)

_http://forum.digitalfernsehen.de/forum/dxer-news/309826-astra-2f-286.html#post5755483

I returned to Munich during the afternoon of 31-Dec. No changes to my setup. Unusually, Ch5 worked until well after sunset. Weather conditions fair (high cloud, light winds, just above 0C ambient)

• This lunchtime (01-Jan), the 2F transponders (Ch5, ITV HD and CH4 HD are the ones I checked) were also at record levels (CNR 5,0..6,0dB, cf. ~3,0-3,5dB during December).
• I manually checked the 11023 transponder, and got lock at 5,0dB SNR - despite no reported change in signal level (cf earlier, unlocked measurements)
• I checked the "noise floor" at 11100, and noted no change (cf earlier measurements above)

One day, I'll dig out the FSL18 in the cellar and do a more professional report!