I have european beam but not UK beam ?

[jhalliday45]

am in south west France 50 mils to Pyrenees) so 120cm dish , I have previously had Freesat but dish has moved slightly . I have it I think well aligned again, I am receiving ~90% signal strength on Astra 28.2E european beam channels - but not getting UK beam, I assume it is just a case of tweaking direction slightly as UK beam here is weaker and the european beam is more forgiving ? Any tips or thoughts please cause am struggling right now.

 

[ozumo]

Yes the UK beam will be much weaker at your location. Use signal quality when aligning the dish, not signal strength. Many of the Freesat channels are on Astra 2E which is at 28.5°E, so try peaking the dish on one of these transponders:

Astra 2E at 28.5°E - LyngSat

 

[rodscha]

i am in Carcassonne this should be not too far from you.
Now ,UK beam available mainly SD (standard definition) ,no HD likely,as this is low season for propagation
will grow in strength in 1 or2 months
I also have 120cm
EDIT reception picks up around 6pm
it s minimal...now at midday,I now get no bbc even SD but Forces tv or PBS get through
Wait for tea time!

 

[jhalliday45]

"low season for propagation" atmospheric conditions ? a summer thing ? - am currently frustrated because seemed fine in April, but I cannot for the life of me get core UK channels, ie BBC, ITV etc - I have Smithsonian and Sky Arts etc though

 

[4wd]

Set the receiver to itv1, itv3 etc on 10906 V, in my experience good, strong uk transponder for testing. Then try at different times of day over some days to see if you get something relatively stable. Remember it's a millimeter job. Assuming all basics are fine, free line of sight etc.

If nothing stable possible on 10906 (with a few db's weather \normal dayly & seasons fluctuations margin), even after lots of fine adjutments attempts, then it's larger dish imo. I believe there is some 'null zone' for the uk's somewhere in that region, weak\changing signals. btw, getting a satisfying balance between 2E\2F\2G is another millimeter job.

The dish, a real 120 (prime, or offset 130x120) ? or is it actually 110 (120x110).

And you probably looked at my topic > 28e levels in south france and other France related posts, the south needs work\money one way or another if one wants all channels (incl HD's) with predictible reliability.

 

[dmaavrigdo]

"low season for propagation" atmospheric conditions ? a summer thing ? - am currently frustrated because seemed fine in April, but I cannot for the life of me get core UK channels, ie BBC, ITV etc - I have Smithsonian and Sky Arts etc though

A movement of a centimetre at the lnb can make a difference. I wouldn't get much if my dish wasn't so easily accessible for tweaking.

 

[a33]

btw, getting a satisfying balance between 2E\2F\2G is another millimeter job.

+1.
The "BTW", I think, is kind of an understatement here.
Finding the best compromise between the 28.2E and 28.5E spotbeams I think is very important.

Greetz,
A33

 

[dmaavrigdo]

Mentioned this before but here is my remote controlled "tweaker"

 

[rodscha]

as said,bbc 1,2,4 comes back around 5pm..tea time in france & is much better at 6pm UK teatime
it "vanishes" between 10 am and 3 pm more or less;
usually improves with high pressure,and after Bastille Day (july 14th)
now just fine in SD including red button ...c4HdD will soon turn up...wait & see!
Have a good evening!

 

[rodscha]

bbc 1,2,4, and itv both SD,have been fine this morning,,now just diced into cubes right now... will be back 5pm
this seems to be the june routine!
12 to 5pm cubic view (or black screen)

 

[4wd]

Rodscha:
12 to 5pm cubic view (or black screen)

Around that time is when I have the best levels at my position in the beam (lobe), both in Norway & France. Levels starts to go downwards from around 18.00 and are creeping back up again around 23.00. So the complete opposite of your situation, shows how special the uk's are when outside of the main beam.

 

[jhalliday45]

Thank you all, I nearly bought a 90cm dish cause read that was large enough, but went for 120cm, hence I thought just point it right direction etc and all will be fine. now I see far more subtleties in this, it's a veritable hobby in its own right aligning the dish.

Excuse me going slightly off topic here then, but if Satellite is unreliable, is there a favoured IPTV provider or something that works well ? or do you VPN to iplayer etc ?

 

[jhalliday45]

The dish, a real 120 (prime, or offset 130x120) ? or is it actually 110 (120x110).

It says 120cm diameter but without getting out there and measuring it I canot be sure, obviously it makes a difference else you would not have raised it, but is there something in particular I should be aware of in terms of how that effects things ?

 

[4wd]

I nearly bought a 90cm dish cause read that was large enough, but went for 120cm, hence I thought just point it right direction

It says 120cm diameter but without getting out there and measuring it I canot be sure, obviously it makes a difference else you would not have raised it, but is there something in particular I should be aware of in terms of how that effects things ?

Some sells 110's (110x120) as 120's. Measure horizontally = dish size as seen by the lnb. For our use, a sat absolutely not meant for our reception, correct dish area (w x h) for the job (+ location) matters a lot. If it's a prime (round dish, lnb in the center of dish) a 120 will be a 120.

And funny as it is, the larger the dish, the more sensitive and difficult it is to align properly. Next implication is weight, need to think about solid, 100% stable pole support + wind conditions chimes in, possible destructions.

To somehow describe it, a 90 cm could be ok 75 km north or 75 km south while one may need a 150 in the middle ...or get nothing with a 2,5 meter. Or get strong signals daytime and nothing nighttime etc. That's how some sat signal may behave when way out of it's intended footprint. So the job will be to domesticate it with whatever means and time needed at one's exact location, can take weeks of testing, planning, research ...and turn out practically impossible ...or work fine quite immediately :O)

 

[dmaavrigdo]

Thank you all, I nearly bought a 90cm dish cause read that was large enough, but went for 120cm, hence I thought just point it right direction etc and all will be fine. now I see far more subtleties in this, it's a veritable hobby in its own right aligning the dish.

Excuse me going slightly off topic here then, but if Satellite is unreliable, is there a favoured IPTV provider or something that works well ? or do you VPN to iplayer etc ?

UKTVLAND is useful if you can't receive something yourself.

 

[jhalliday45]

getting a satisfying balance between 2E\2F\2G is another millimeter job

Yes I am experiencing that - I now have a much better signal thanks to you all, however I seem to have 2E really well but poor 2F, at present not too much of an issue because I have ITV4 with great picture which I want (ironically for tour de France in English) but will need to re-balance at some point.

Is there anything that describes the relative positions of the 28.2E satellites, all I can find seem to just say 28.2, eg. something that says move slightly east for 2F or higher elevation or opposite etc ?

 

[Channel Hopper]

Yes I am experiencing that - I now have a much better signal thanks to you all, however I seem to have 2E really well but poor 2F, at present not too much of an issue because I have ITV4 with great picture which I want (ironically for tour de France in English) but will need to re-balance at some point.

Is there anything that describes the relative positions of the 28.2E satellites, all I can find seem to just say 28.2, eg. something that says move slightly east for 2F or higher elevation or opposite etc ?

Astra 2G - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Satfaca]

Astra 2G - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

That is (unfortunately again) very wrong info on Wiki, it is of course Astra 2E at 28.5E and not 2G. Astra 2G & 2F are at 28.2E.

 

[Channel Hopper]

That is (unfortunately again) very wrong info on Wiki, it is of course Astra 2E at 28.5E and not 2G. Astra 2G & 2F are at 28.2E.

Yes but it is easier to provide a single 0.3 degree step across the equator, than to point out orbital slots of 28.16, 28.19 and 28.47 East.

Real time satellite tracking for: ASTRA 2G ASTRA 2F ASTRA 2E

Track satellite(s) ASTRA 2G ASTRA 2F ASTRA 2E and see where are they located now. Check when there will be the next pass over your location

www.n2yo.com

 

[Satfaca]

Yes but it is easier to provide a single 0.3 degree step across the equator, than to point out orbital slots of 28.16, 28.19 and 28.47 East.

Real time satellite tracking for: ASTRA 2G ASTRA 2F ASTRA 2E

Track satellite(s) ASTRA 2G ASTRA 2F ASTRA 2E and see where are they located now. Check when there will be the next pass over your location

www.n2yo.com

No problem at all ... except that Wiki names wrong satellite being at 28.5E. It is anyway more or less irrelevant for an average satellite user with small antennas, especially offsets which have big aperture angles.
For bigger antennas the position is in fact very critical, every single satellite needs to be pin-pointed with a motor (or two - incl.), even station-keeping can be noticed with PFAs biger than 2.4m.
An image for better illustation.