Old Panasonic Sky box used for FTA

[tommysat]

Hi guys,

I'm new to all this. Sorry if posted the in wrong section.

We recently moved into a house tha had a sky dish and box left behind.
We are using the sky minidish with a technomate 5200D and are recieving channels from Astra 19.2e. We want another box for the second room, but it would be good if the old sky box would be able to be used for FTA. It has no card in it.
I tried connecting it and could only get bbc1 and ITV1 I think, not really sure.
So is there anything I can do to get the rest of the FTA channels ITV'S BBC'S E4 C4 etc..?
And also can I get a dual or quad LNB compatable with the dish? can you recommend one?

Thanks

 

[Topper]

Hello

Welcome to the forum tommysat

Firstly sky and freesat are transmitted from 28.2/5 East not 19.2 East which is the old analogue satellite location of sky, now used by mainly German channels

If you are wanting to receive channels for a second stb you will need a quad lnb as a splitter will not work since control signals are sent from the stb to the lnb to determine the frequency and polarity of reception. An old white sky card will work as a freesat from sky card provided it is left in the stb long enough to re-activate, easily obtainable from either ebay or sky

 

[satelliteman]

In addition, with freesat receivers being fairly inexpensive, you could get a single input freesat receiver and enjoy a 7 day EPG.

 

[tommysat]

Ok thanks, I might just go for freesat, the 7 day EPG is nice. How come I'm able to get all the free bbc, itv, ch4 , e4, news, movies and kids channels on ASTRA 19.2?. If I switch to 28.2 will I get a better selection?. I do notice that some of the channels signal drops and the channel goes but comes back later.

 

[Lazarus]

You aren't and can't get those channels from 19.2E as they are not transmitted from there: They are exclusive to 28E.

I imagine you have simply scanned a "Satellite" labelled 19.2E on your TM: Imagine editing the label to say 28E and all will be well.............

ie The TM has no idea where the dish is aligned to and owing to re-use of Transponder frequencies and other parameters across the arc, scanning a "Satellite" will often bring in channels - but never from a position other than the one the dish is pointing at. "Satellites" are just dumb (and often incorrect) data tables.

 

[tommysat]

Thanks Tivù, I'm a complete novice here . Your right I just did a blind scan of ASTRA 19.2 when I meant to select 28.2 . So no need to re-scan or change anything?. Can you think of a reason why some of the channels go? channel 4, ITV +1, FILM4 among others. It is quite cloudy right now, I guess that can affect the signal?

 

[Analoguesat]

Rescan using the 28E menu - 19E still has a lot of the transponders filled by the old analogue channels so you wont get anything off them

 

[Lazarus]

Dish might be marginal on size - is it a Zone 1 or a Zone 2? Giving "Ireland" as your location isn't precise enough to guess what the appropriate size should be.

Or it could be slightly misaligned.

Or the LNB skew might not be correct.


Whether you rescan using the existing 28E "Satellite" or just change the name of the one you did Blind Scan to eg "UK" or whatever floats your boat is entirely up to you. Control the box - don't let it control you!

 

[tommysat]

I'm in county Galway, the mid west of Ireland. I think it might be the bigger zone 2 I have, but i'm not fully sure. I'm going to re-scan when the weather gets better (could take a while) And if i'm still having trouble I'll let you know. Dish is covered in snow as of this morning.

 

[Lazarus]

Dish covered in snow is probably the problem! That will have far and away the biggest weather related impact. Cloud and heavy (but not torrential) rain should not affect your signal to the point of pixellation or loss of lock.

Snow and ice on the LNB face are the usual culprits.

 

[Analoguesat]

Yup - if you can safely reach the dish take a handbrush and gently take the snow off the dish face and the lnb. If you cant reach it then spray the dish face with warm water from a super soaker or similar

 

[benidormgary]

.............

ie The TM has no idea where the dish is aligned to and owing to re-use of Transponder frequencies and other parameters across the arc, scanning a "Satellite" will often bring in channels - but never from a position other than the one the dish is pointing at. "Satellites" are just dumb (and often incorrect) data tables.

You are wasted on these forums!:-sman2.Merry Xmas to you,and all at satellites.co.uk.:-Cgrin

 

[Lazarus]

You are wasted on these forums!:-sman2.Merry Xmas to you,and all at satellites.co.uk.:-Cgrin

I know, Gary!

Merry Crispmouse to you too.

 

[tommysat]

I cleared the dish of snow (no super soaker needed) and re-scanned. I am still having the problem with some channels coming and going, Channel 4, FILM 4 and others. Anything else that could be done?. I will wait till the weather gets better before trying any other suggestions. Thanks guys.

 

[satelliteman]

You may have a misaligned dish.