How to receive French channel from Atlantic Bird 3, help i'm a newbie

[alain34]

Well, say it all in the title.
I'm in south london and would like to receive french channel like FRANCE 2,3,4,5 and also TNT if possible.
I had a look at this address http://www.flysat.com/abird3.php and it seems that this satellite send the signal.
I assume it is a digital signal for all (also I'm not sure at 100%).
My first issue is that I don't know which equipment to buy i.e, size of the dish, I assume that I need a single LNB and a digital receiver.
Can somebody give me advise (clear if possible because I'm a total newbie without any experience with satellite equipment) on what is the most cost effective equipment to purchase for solely receive French Channel from this satellite.
Do you reckon that I should also be able to receive TNT through this satellite?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Alain

[frikoriko]

Get down to Lidl on Monday and get their satellite pack.

Go home, unpack the set.

Point the dish towards AB3 (5 deg West) - check http://www.satsig.net/ssazelm.htm for more details on angle, elevation etc..
There should be a signal strength meter telling you if you are pointing it in the right direction in the settings menu of the set top box. Make sure you get the best possible signal by moving it about before locking your dish into position.

Enter the transponder details (11591,Vertical, 20000,2/3). Search for channels and it should see all the France, Arte, LCP channels.

You can also get TF1 and M6 if you plug an analogue box (instead of the digital one from Lidl) to the dish

[alain34]

Thank you for the prompt answer.
I will be at Lidl on monday first thing.
Cheers,
Alain

[frikoriko]

Thank you for the prompt answer.
I will be at Lidl on monday first thing.
Cheers,
Alain

You're welcome. I was in your situation too. Wanted to get french TV but didn't know where to start looking. I bought the LIDL satellite camping kit and installed it at home. I've been using it ever since.

It can be a bit annoying at first when you're trying to align the dish correctly but don't despair.

You can also get the satellite finder for £3.99 at Lidl (for sale on Monday as well), it's a great and helpful piece of kit if you are outside and can't check the signal meter on your TV.
http://www.lidl.co.uk/uk/home.nsf/pa...0828.index.ar8

[alain34]

frikoriko,

I followed your advice and did get a system from Lidl.
I have tried to use this URL http://www.satsig.net/ssazelm.htm and I'm a little bit lost to be honest.
I hqve no ideq how to use this site or how to calculate how to set the dish in relqtion to my location.
I have found my position using google earth, but I don't know how to use this position and use it on the site.
Do you have any advice to easily derive the dish inclanison and angle in relation to my location.

thanks in advance for your help

Alain

[frikoriko]

Hi Alain,
here's what you should put in the site I gave you:
Satellite orbit (deg E): -5
Site latitude (degN+, S-): Your house's latitude
Site longitude (deg E): Your house's longitude

Calculate Results

It will give you the "Dish Azimuth". Basically that's the degree of rotation from the north for your dish. If it's say 175 degrees, it means that you need to turn the dish "5 degrees left" from south. Or another example, if it's 191 degrees, you'll need to rotate your dish 11 "degrees right" from south.

The "Dish elevation" will tell you the angle you need to rotate your dish from the flat surface.

If you still don't understand, post back here.

[alain34]

Thank you.
I understand your clear instruction.
I did use the following value :
Satellite orbit (deg E): -5
Site latitude (degN+, S-): 51.4260
Site longitude (deg E): -0.1548
I'm in SW17.
Does it sound right to you?
giving me a dish azimut of 186.19 and a dish elevation of 30.96.

I put the dish in this position however, the receiver still give me :
link intesensity of 38%
link quality of 11%

These are the same value that I did get when the dish elevation was (wrongly) set at 40 this afternoon.
What could be wrong?

Cheers,

Alain

[rolfw]

What transponder do you have set on the receiver?

[alain34]

Also, do you feel that post is relevant to my issue.
Being the lidl kit with the cheepo cable....
I'm using the full 20 metres of the RG-59 cable provided!

[alain34]

Rolf,
As you may guess, I'm extremely new to Satellite reception.

I assumed that your question is related to the setting of 'TP scan' that I'm using. Well at least, it is the name of the screen that I used to give me the link quality and intensity

The settings of this screen were already set on the receiver as follow:
Satellite : A\BIRD3\5WEST
TP Frequency : 12642 Mhz
Symbol Rate : 3092 Ks/s
Polarity : H
Scan Mode : All (as opposed to Free)

Hopefully, it is the answer to your question.

thank you anyway to take the time to look into my problem

Cheers,

Alain

[frikoriko]

Thank you.
I understand your clear instruction.
I did use the following value :
Satellite orbit (deg E): -5
Site latitude (degN+, S-): 51.4260
Site longitude (deg E): -0.1548
I'm in SW17.
Does it sound right to you?
giving me a dish azimut of 186.19 and a dish elevation of 30.96.

I put the dish in this position however, the receiver still give me :
link intesensity of 38%
link quality of 11%

These are the same value that I did get when the dish elevation was (wrongly) set at 40 this afternoon.
What could be wrong?

Cheers,

Alain

Hi Alain,

Change to this in your box settings:
TP Frequency : 11591
Symbol Rate : 20000 (or 20001 if 20000 doesn't work)
Polarity : V

note that the orientation can be very very sensitive and a slight move might make a difference in the signal strength. Have you used the signal meter to ensure that you are pointing at the best possible angle? It will beep louder when the signal is stronger. Try playing around gently with the orientation. I remember it took me a good 15 mins to get the best signal (which was about 70-75%) before I could lock the dish in place. Also try tilting it by a few degrees.
You can definitely get a good signal in London if there's no obstruction.
It's all about patience and not giving up.

[alain34]

Thanks for your time.
I changed the transpoder to your setting and now the intensity dropped to 30 and the quality down to 10.
I need to be out there and play around as you say.
Do you reckon that a better cable may improve the quality of the reception?

[alain34]

Also, the dish is not really high, just at the level between the ground floor and the first floor.
Should the dish be higher and could it have an impact?

Thanks again for your time

[frikoriko]

The height should be okay.
Once your transponder settings are set, you just need to be outside as you figured out
Get the wife or gf or neighbour to have a look at the screen and shout up when the signal strength goes up.

[alain34]

I know what I'm doing tomorrow...
Thank you very much

[2cvbloke]

You can also get TF1 and M6 if you plug an analogue box (instead of the digital one from Lidl) to the dish

Just noticed this and thought I should point out that the Lidl box (Silvercrest SL-65, no, not a Mercedes as some people keep asking!!!) has an "LNB Passthough" which means you can attatch an analogue box (or another Digital box) to the same LNB as the SL-65, that's if you wanted the Analogue channels too of course.

[frikoriko]

Just noticed this and thought I should point out that the Lidl box (Silvercrest SL-65, no, not a Mercedes as some people keep asking!!!) has an "LNB Passthough" which means you can attatch an analogue box (or another Digital box) to the same LNB as the SL-65, that's if you wanted the Analogue channels too of course.

Good you pointed that out
Have both analogue and digital boxes plugged in without having to unplug/replug the cable or split the signal.