Bulgarian channels 23.5E or 39E in Bahrain

[dzmei]

Hi everybody,

I need some help guys. Can you recommend a dish size for (23,5E) Astra 3B PanEuropean beam reception in Bahrain. The biggest I tried with is 2.40m prime focus, but the signal is weak - 17%-18%.
I have no possibility to try bigger, so I need to buy something which I am sure it will be good enough.
I will be grateful if you can also tell me where to buy the dish from.

Probably the guys in Cyprus watching 28,2 can be very helpful. Thanks a lot.

 

[Analoguesat]

Unfortunately theres never any guarantee with dish sizes. You need local knowledge as to whats required and there no more than a handful of members in your area on the forum.

Any numbers we give you regarding dish sizes will be complete guess work.

Which channels are you particularly interested in?

 

[dzmei]

I am interested in the Bulgarian package located there. Thanks for the quick reply anyway. Well if 2.40m gets around 18% maybe 3m should work... Mesh type is not good for Ku band, is that right?

 

[Analoguesat]

Dont think the Bulgarian package is active atm

Its not as simple as that

 

[dzmei]

Hm, should be there... They've changed the FEC few days ago to 5/6 on 11817 and 12051. 12207 is still 3/4 all V 27500

 

[Analoguesat]

Yes my error - I hadnt noted the fec change

Ive just edited my tp list on the receiver

 

[dzmei]

So basically, I have to try untill I get it Any general advises are more than welcome.

 

[Analoguesat]

Now this advice is only guesswork, but Id say with the 23.5E signal being so low on a 2.4m dish you are looking at something MUCH bigger to give you acceptable reception in poor weather conditions. Probably nearer 5m - and thats just not practical for most folks.

Do you have any contacts in Europe that could host a slingbox for you to placeshift the channels via broadband. Or see whats available via iptv.

 

[BombedOne]

I think that broadband internet connection is not a simple thing to obtain in Bahrain. Anyways, I can provide slingbox host for that sat - perfect reception here on 1m dish.

 

[saadi]

Hello,

I receive Astra 3B here in Jordan with a 1.8 Meter dish very good (almost as strong as Nilesat on a 90cm dish), also the bulgarian package, the fta channels such as City TV and DSTV since I have a motor. ;)
When my Dish was fixed on 19.2 I was also able to receive astra 3B by multifeed, so I would estimate the dish size btw. 120cm and 140 cm here in jordan.

My advice for adjusting the dish on 3b: do that with the strong transponders such as 11914 H with the holland channels.
see: _http://www.lyngsat.com/astra3b.html

Can you recommend a dish size for (23,5E) Astra 3B PanEuropean beam reception in Bahrain. The biggest I tried with is 2.40m prime focus, but the signal is weak - 17%-18%.

I think 2.4 meter should be more then enough! Try to align the dish on the freq. i posted.

Can you post a reception report? I would like to see some pics of the dish, the LNB and the Signal reception ;)

Edit:

I am interested in the Bulgarian package located there. Thanks for the quick reply anyway. Well if 2.40m gets around 18% maybe 3m should work... Mesh type is not good for Ku band, is that right?

Well, 2.40m Mesh is not very efficient for ku band, so its comparable to a 180 cm kuband dish.
Nevertheless I would try to improve the alignment of the dish.

 

[A nonymous]

If its Bulgarian stuff that your after, you could always try aligning up on 39e. The beam footprint for a 150cm goes about half way into Saudi so you may get it with your dish in your localtion.

The Bulsatcom package was open on keys a month or so ago. I'm not sure if that is still the case now though.

Nano

 

[dzmei]

Guys, thanks a lot for the replies. I was busy these days, so I couldn't try anything.

@nanochickin
Bulsatcom would be nice, but they use the F1 beam on Hellas, which goes only to the north west of Saudi... Can you tell me where are you looking at for 1,50, so I can take a look as well. Plus... they will stop Irdeto soon and I will have to use their receiver, which is a massive disaster.

@saadi
Well this sounds promising... I will try this transponder and will see what happens. Hope to be able to make pictures also, so you can give me some hints. For the mesh i was asking because I can find any size here and if it's good I would buy one, even bigger. I was trying with 2,40m solid. It's impossible to find bigger than 2.40 solid here. Mesh I can go up to more than 3m.

@BombedOne
Well... the broadband is expensive, but quite OK(compared to the other countries in the region). I have a slingbox and I can host it from Bulgaria, but I was not happy with watching on a computer, if you put it on the TV it's acceptable, but if you want to change the channel... I go back in the early 80's - get up, walk to it etc. At a later stage they've introduced the sling catcher which might be my case... but this will be the very last option.

dzmei

 

[Analoguesat]

Many mesh dishes will be c-band dishes. Useless for Ku band - the signals go through the gaps in the mesh

If you are going to buy a mesh dish ensure its not a c-band dish.

 

[powel000]

yes slingcatcher sounds great, but in order to get a nice picture and if u plan to watch any hd channels on sling u need very high consistent speed.

 

[powel000]

analogue you are 100% right. I have a 3.6m mesh dish pointed towards astra 28.2, it seems like the 1.80m solid dish picks up the same amount of channels that the 3.60m mesh picks up with a slight variation in quality of signal

 

[dzmei]

Just to update the situation. I had no luck so far getting the signal, but I was very busy as well, so I hadn't too many chances to work on it. The dish I am using is 2.40m Gulf Star solid dish, _http://www.gulf-star.com/catalog/20090324180055%5C240%20CMS%20DISH.gif ; Star Gold Fuji LNB _http://images04.olx.com.ph/ui/10/38/13/1292989286_149223513_2-STARGOLD-FUJI-Universal-Prime-Focus-Twin-LNB-SG-920-San-Quintin.jpg ; and I am using this "bracket" to attach the LNB _http://www.sadoun.com/Sat/Products/Fortec-Star/Dishes/lnbf-bracket-holder.jpg At the moment I'm not happy at all with the dish performance. Maybe I'm wrong somewhere.. on weak signals it performs worse than the 1,65 offset. On strong signals it hits 100%. If anyone can give me an advise what to change/add I'll be very grateful. This dish is used by the Indian expats in Bahrain for the Sun Direct package on Measat 91.5E, so I hope this beam has a chance here as well... Regards

 

[BombedOne]

Large dishes have stronger sidelobes, too. So maybe when you're adjusting it to signal, you're receiving it by sidelobe, not by central lobe?

 

[Captain Jack]

That looks like a FortecStar dish, which are not known to be good quality.

Can you buy a 2.4m Channel Master/Andrews over there?

 

[dzmei]

Hi Captain Jack. I've been trying really hard to find any Channel Master/Andrews product here, but no luck. If anyone is willing to sale his 2.4 meters Channel Master/Andrews dish, please PM me or post it here. Currently I'm watching with a sling catcher, which is fine as long as the ADSL internet speed is constant. It drops significantly during local weekends.

 

[Huevos]

Hi Captain Jack. I've been trying really hard to find any Channel Master/Andrews product here, but no luck. If anyone is willing to sale his 2.4 meters Channel Master/Andrews dish, please PM me or post it here. Currently I'm watching with a sling catcher, which is fine as long as the ADSL internet speed is constant. It drops significantly during local weekends.

I come across those dishes in sections all the time and most seem to have the performance of a 1.2-1.4m dish. If you are on a budget a Famaval 2.4m works pretty well and costs about a quarter of the price of the Channel Master.