Problems with TP 11,623 on Hot Bird 13E

[HB13DISH]

Over the past few nights, I noticed that Arte channel is not receivable for a certain period of time or that the picture is not stable.
Last night I checked all the channels on the same transponder that Arte is transmitting and they all disappeared at the same time.
This is TP 156 on Hot Bird 6, Provider Globecast frequency 11,623 Vertical 27.5, 3/4
There are 15 TV channels and 13 radio channels.
I haven't checked if this is also happening during the daytime.
Checked on other receivers and they behave the same.
My dish is 1.6m, which is quite large, but obviously it is not helping me with this problem.
Has anybody else noticed this problem?
Could this be anything to do with being on the oldest satellite of the fleet?
Hope that they move to Hot Bird 9 soon.
Here is the list of channels

TV Channels
Pianeta TV
Cartomanzia Lotto
ARTE
RTL 102.5 RadioVisione
Best of Shopping
Italia Channel
TVR International
Carisma
KBS World
Beur TV
K+
ItaliaSat
Abu Dhabi Al Riyadiya
Blessing TV
TV Sei

Radio Channels
ARTE Radio
Tamil Alai
RTL 102.5 FM
România în direct
Radio Romania International Open Radio
RadioClassica
RTL 102.5 Groove
RTL 102.5 Italian Style
RTL 102.5 Radio Guardia Costiera
RTL 102.5 Classic
TamilOlli
RCF

 

[Analoguesat]

Hotbird 9 main mission is to replace Hottie 7A - which is being redeployed to 9E.

11623V is a bullseye frequency for locally generated interference from dect type phones and some home routers.

 

[HB13DISH]

Hotbird 9 main mission is to replace Hottie 7A - which is being redeployed to 9E.

11623V is a bullseye frequency for locally generated interference from dect type phones and some home routers.

I doubt if it is interference. At least nothing generated by me near the equipments.
This is happening at the same time in the evenings. Could it be anything to do with the power supply (batteries) on board the satellite when it is going dark ?
Has anybody else got this problem?

 

[Analoguesat]

I would have thought the satellite should be in full sunlight until around the equinox in March/April.

What time are you having problems if Im home I'll try to remember to see if theres anything noticable here.

 

[HB13DISH]

I would have thought the satellite should be in full sunlight until around the equinox in March/April.

What time are you having problems if Im home I'll try to remember to see if theres anything noticable here.

Usually in the evenings between 20:00-21:30 local time or 18:00-19:30 your time (I think there is a two hours difference between our times).
But I doubt if you would notice anything as HB has the best signal over Europe.
Anyway, I will send a post tonight when this starts so that other members can check if they want to help.
Can you please ask around in other places. This is driving me crazy. two of my favourite channels are coming from this transponder.
Arte has a good programming at these times (films, operas, doco), but I lose interest when this happens and recording is out of the question now.

 

[guest poster]

You could still have a close neighbour who uses their phone at the same time every night..

 

[HB13DISH]

You could still have a close neighbour who uses their phone at the same time every night..

I checked this already. Nobody was at home last night until 22:00, at least in the same floor and below.
I believe that it is a transponder related, but I could be mistaken.

 

[HB13DISH]

I read somewhere that even an energy saver bulb can cause interference.
As I have changed the filament lamps to CFL in the living room about a month ago, I will try to switch them off tonight when the problem starts.
I don't understand why such a bulb would cause interference after it has worked for few hours and is giving the usual brightness?
Would it have it's RF frequency spectrum changing all of a sudden enough to cause an interference?
I know that they give interference. When I checked this after the change with a portable AM radio, there was a buzzing sound, but I had to have the radio quite near the bulb in order to hear the interference.
Anyway, worth eliminating this possibility.

 

[HB13DISH]

Just a little update:
The energy saver bulbs are not guilty. Had the same problem when they are switched off.
I am beginning to rule out the transponder possibility and looking further into interference, which I don't really understand:
If someone nearby is using a DECT phone, will the interference be received by the dish or the receiver at home?
It seems unlikely that it will do anything on 11,623 MHz, but possibly on the down converted signal from the coaxial cable from the LNB down to the receiver.
Or will it only affect the receiver circuitry and the cable is immune from interference?
When the problem occurs, the signal strength drops down from 80% to about 40-50%.
Are there any anti interference filters or gadgets that I can try?
Any ideas or possible solutions will be greatly appreciated.

 

[guest]

DECT Phones operate around 1.8/1.9 GHz.

They exploit lack of immunity in cabling, mainly, as opposed to affecting the LNB or Receiver.

The Receiver, being fully enclosed, acts as a Faraday Cage of sorts and should have adequate EMC Immunity.

So, the cabling (including effectiveness of screening by design and physical condition, joints, wall faceplates etc.) being the weakness, implies that the interference is at L Band:

For Low Band, and working backwards to ascertain which Ku Band Channels you might have difficulty with, add 1.8/1.9 GHz to the LNB Local Oscillator at 9750 MHz and you get 11550/11650 MHz (Ballpark).

For High Band, add 1.8/1.9 GHz to the Local Oscillator at 10600 MHz and you get 12400/12500 MHz (Ballpark).

But DECT is not the only possible source: In the UK, BT Home Hub (For Wireless Broadband) is known to be a potential nasty.

In your specific case, you are looking at 11623 - 9750 = 1.873 GHz as the culprit emitter.

 

[Analoguesat]

Rai Im going to copy this info, and make it a sticky - its too useful to lose!

 

[guest]

Rai Im going to copy this info, and make it a sticky - its too useful to lose!

The thing is, it ought to illustrate why there are so many complaints from our UK punters about "I can't get Flava, Bliss, Scuzz, Flaunt, True Movies etc" on 11643, and then of course there is the infamous rejigging of German TV on Astra 1 to avoid 12480 MHz - was it ZDF that moved because of L Band Interference? I know there is just a load of garbage occupying that TP now!

I may not have expressed it too well, but I hope it is sufficient to gain the sage nod of understanding from at least some Members :-righton

A point of clarification for those that don't do jargon: L Band is roughly from 1 to 2 GHz (depending upon who is defining it!) and just about coincides with the IF (Intermediate Frequency) range carried along the cable from LNB to Receiver, having been Downshifted from Ku Band.

 

[HB13DISH]

Thanks a lot Rai Uno for this info.
Let's see, assuming the interference that I am getting in the Low Band is caused by a 11,623-9,750=1,873 MHz signal, then am I right in assuming that I should expect problems ALSO on the High Band 10,600+1,873=12,473 MHz transponder?
Looking at Lyngsat
_http://www.lyngsat.com/hotbird.html
This would be TP 89 12,476 H (nearest)
OK. Will check this as well. Maybe I didn't notice it as there aren't any exciting channels there.

 

[Analoguesat]

Info copied, and edited for the extra L-band info in post 12.

http://www.satellites.co.uk/satelli...interference-frequencies-around-11620mhz.html

 

[guest]

Good point: If you do get poor results on the corresponding High Band TP, that is proof enough of the Interference hypothesis.

But, if that TP is unaffected, I don't quite know where that leaves us!

 

[HB13DISH]

Good point: If you do get poor results on the corresponding High Band TP, that is proof enough of the Interference hypothesis.

But, if that TP is unaffected, I don't quite know where that leaves us!

Well, I checked all the channels on the High Band TP 12,476 when Arte disappered last night and they were not affected.

 

[guest]

Ho, hum ................. Not sure where that leaves us, sadly.

Scratches head in frustration.

If I have any bright ideas, I'll get back to you.

 

[sibax]

I have the same problem but on HotBird 11604H and Astra19.2 12728V transponders. No signal at all during night and day when the rest transponders are OK. Could it be LNB related problem?

 

[guest poster]

could be... you can get a duff lnb or a dead spot on an lnb..... & a receiver's tuner and if they are the same you can get a real dip...

it works the other way too... you can peak a frequency with a well matched lnb- tuner..

 

[sibax]

Thanks for reply pedro2000uk, but it works fine before.
I just checked 11623 on HB and as HB13DISH, I also have weak and unstable signal on that tp. Could it happens because of WiFi antenna on the neighbor roof? Here is also CDMA/WCDMA (I don't know exactly) in our city.