Reuse of old 45cm dish in SW London for Hotbird

[Captain Jack]

Upward pressure will tilt the dish upwards to look high up in the sky. Satellites are in an orbit over the equator so appear as if they are on a curve.

In the UK, 28e is lower than 19e, which in turn is lower than 13e - so you need to tilt up. The highest satellite around London is 1W.

 

[a33]

Also try and experiment shifting the LNB more towards the dish, in the LNB holder. (It is now in the furthest possible position, from the dish.)

The present LNB skew of about 10 on the scale would be a very good starting point, for later finetuning.

Greetz,
A33

Edit: added "present".

 

[Lazarus]

Not sure what the upward pressure will do? just tilt it a bit more ?

Is the skew the LNB rotation? if so, I did try it, it seems to not be affected much at all, but I'll try harder now that I have a strong transponder to try out with rather than some out of date one on my sat meter device.

No trees / buildings within line of sight of the dish. Able to pickup around 900 channels with average 45-50% signal strength. IIRC it should be higher though... like 1500+ channels and maybe 60-70% signal?

There will be sufficient flex to enable you, by seeing if the signal improves or degrades, to determine whether you need to slacken the elevation bolts and actually alter the elevation setting.

 

[D4ftpunk]

OK so... There are some solar panels (flat roof mounted) that sort of obstruct the dish (in front of it not above it) about 40cm away... they are about as high as half way up the dish... perhaps these are the culprit?

 

[Lazarus]

The dish, although the face is almost vertical, is actually looking upwards at about 25 degrees, so it's hard to say if the panels are an effective obstruction - are you able to raise the dish a few inches (sorry, cm )?

 

[D4ftpunk]

It's on the wall with a 4 bolt bracket... I could probably raise it by the gap between the bolts quickly (probably about 10-12cm). It's an easy thing to try before giving in and buying a bigger dish! Although may wait until the morning as to not attract strange attention.

Some transponders currently give great reception (50% ish)... others around 15-20%. Hoping that'll improve.

 

[a33]

that sort of obstruct the dish (in front of it not above it) about 40cm away

Then they should not be higher than some 23 cm above the bottom of the dish.
Can you post some pictures, from the side?

 

[D4ftpunk]

Then they should not be higher than some 23 cm above the bottom of the dish.
Can you post some pictures, from the side?

 

[D4ftpunk]

After adjustment I feel it’s still too blocked, thoughts?

 

[rolfw]

After adjustment I feel it’s still too blocked, thoughts?

That doesn't look like the panels are an issue, the elevation is about 1 in 2 and the bottom of the dish looks to be unobstructed. The LNB skew in one image looks like it's too much, it shouldn't be far off the vertical. Does your little meter give you a quality reading, as thats wht you need to monitor when adjusting skew, adjust it on one of the weaker transponders, as they're the ones on which you'll get drop out in bad weather.

 

[D4ftpunk]

Thanks.

That doesn't look like the panels are an issue, the elevation is about 1 in 2 and the bottom of the dish looks to be unobstructed. The LNB skew in one image looks like it's too much, it shouldn't be far off the vertical. Does your little meter give you a quality reading, as thats wht you need to monitor when adjusting skew, adjust it on one of the weaker transponders, as they're the ones on which you'll get drop out in bad weather.

After moving up the 12cm or so the situation has improved a little. the skew is on the 10 degree marker on the LNB, but maybe your right I should dial it back in... tbh it didn't seem to make much difference. On strong signal channels I'm now getting a decent signal, on weaker channels (like Rai 1 HD) I'm still getting a crappy signal, but now watchable at least. I may try to move the dish even higher, but need some more wall plugs first.

 

[a33]

The solar panels are definitely not blocking the signal (I thought the 40 cm distance was between dish and panels, but it seems is was from LNB to panels).
Can you now try fineadjustment by moving the LNB nearer to the dish, as I wrote above?
LNB skew looks about OK, to me.

Greetz,
A33

 

[D4ftpunk]

I've got it now to a point where it's pretty good, but still not good enough. It's even finding more channels. I'll admit, I have succumbed and bought a 65cm dish, hopefully arriving tomorrow. Thanks for everyone's help. I may decide tomorrow whether to keep this 45cm up there and align it to another satellite or to just remove it.

 

[Channel Hopper]

I've got it now to a point where it's pretty good, but still not good enough. It's even finding more channels. I'll admit, I have succumbed and bought a 65cm dish, hopefully arriving tomorrow. Thanks for everyone's help. I may decide tomorrow whether to keep this 45cm up there and align it to another satellite or to just remove it.

Try covering a small section of the small dish with a wet towel and adjust for maximum signal in all directions, skew and focal distance, then remove.

 

[D4ftpunk]

Try covering a small section of the small dish with a wet towel and adjust for maximum signal in all directions, skew and focal distance, then remove.

Well this is a classic turnaround. I thought “why not give it one more go” I did the worlds smallest adjustment to the west which made a small difference and then adjusted the lnb skew back to more centre. Using a weaker signal transponder and like that I have good signal across the board! Now I have a brand new unopened 65cm dish and an impatient mind… we’ll see how the bad weather goes but thanks all!

 

[Channel Hopper]

Well this is a classic turnaround. I thought “why not give it one more go” I did the worlds smallest adjustment to the west which made a small difference and then adjusted the lnb skew back to more centre. Using a weaker signal transponder and like that I have good signal across the board! Now I have a brand new unopened 65cm dish and an impatient mind… we’ll see how the bad weather goes but thanks all!

Smallest dish ever made

OK what's the smallest functional dish that one can buy these days? The idea is to fit one in my man cave, partially as an ornament and partially as an actual receiving dish from a nearby HackRF. The smallest dish I see is a Technisat Digidish, which is 33cm er... wide? It's square and pretty...

www.satellites.co.uk

 

[Lazarus]

Well this is a classic turnaround. I thought “why not give it one more go” I did the worlds smallest adjustment to the west which made a small difference and then adjusted the lnb skew back to more centre. Using a weaker signal transponder and like that I have good signal across the board! Now I have a brand new unopened 65cm dish and an impatient mind… we’ll see how the bad weather goes but thanks all!

There is a palpable sense of relief that we were not talking complete bollox

Well done!