Astra 2F: Scandinavia & Baltics Discussion

[timo_w2s]

Did You get something from Astra2D in past of course with this 1.8M antenna?
This fan who has 3M antenna received all channels from Astra2D.
I have 2.4M Aerial antenna and received only vertical from Astra2D.
Now I can't lock any freesat channel from Astra1N and 2F, just European beam OK.

Yes, I used to get the 2D verticals, although some where a bit weak and would break up sometimes and there was not much room for rain fade. We were running on the edge of reception and had to have a sensitive receiver too.

 

[Captain Jack]

Timo, sounds like a 2.4m dish might bring some 2F UK beam channels in for you?

 

[timo_w2s]

Timo, sounds like a 2.4m dish might bring some 2F UK beam channels in for you?

I was thinking that too but there is someone in Espoo, just 20 odd km away to the west who is reporting no UK beam signals on a 2.4m. Might need a 2.4m for reliable European beam reception though but won't do anything until 2E is online and/or if Eutelsat get kicked off from 28E.

 

[margusten]

Helsinki is 80 km from Tallinn. Reception must be similar.
Problems with 3M dish, I forget to mention that this 3M dish has white inverto LNB.
Maybe Invacom LNB is little bit better?
But I think 4M antenna needed here to watch normally Freesat.
Is F15 better than others?
As much receivers I've seen, all they have pretty similar sensitivity.

 

[timo_w2s]

The F15 certainly has fans on this forum and I've found it to be very good for weak signals but it is very similar to modern Sky HD boxes which are also pretty good for weak signals. I can't comment on Freesat boxes as I've never owned one.

In the past there has been a lot of talk about the Invacom QDF-031 Quad LNB being particularity good on larger prime focus dishes, which is what I've been using for a number of years and worked better than the MTI LNB it replaced.

 

[archive10]

For what it's worth, I get good results with 2F on my CM180.
I don't have access to the ProMax anymore, but the FoxSat says S = 85%, Q = 100% on channel 5.
(To be honest, I hadn't even noticed that it had moved!)

I have made no adjustments to the dish/LNB setup for about 18 months.
2D was showing S = 80-95% and Q = 60-90% (depending on transponder) back then.

Noth sure where the null has moved to by now, but here reception is still better than 2D.
I could possibly squeeze more out of the setup by fine-tuning to 2F, but to be honest, it's not worth it right now.
Maybe when 2E comes on...

 

[iandoh]

I recently upgraded my motorised dish to a 1.5m Yota dish. At 28e I can lock everything except 1N and 2F which is where things get interesting.

At certain times of the day I can get a lock on 10774 H 22000 depending on how clear and how cold it is outside. Breaks up pretty badly but it does lock enough to get an ID. Just tried to lock now to take a picture but it's snowing. Will try when it stops and post a picture.

EDIT: This is in Pärnu, Estonia

 

[timo_w2s]

With some transponders moving to 2F overnight it's not looking good in Helsinki. I've lost a number of transponders on my 80cm dish but that is to be expected. More worrying is my mum has reported she's lost channels on the 1.8m dish (which was fine tuned to get 2D verticals).

I will have a more detailed look later on and check signal levels on the 1.8m but right now the DrHD F15 is reporting 0dB on my 80cm dish for the new 2F transfers. A couple of transponders are flickering in at about 0.2dB. Previously the north beam channels where receivable on a 45cm sky mini dish here.

 

[timo_w2s]

Well I've been looking at the signal levels on the 1.8m in Helsinki connected to a Dr HD F15 and the results aren't looking good. Reading in brackets was from last week. 20dB is max signal level (100%). Currently light cloud cover.

12.070GHz/H: 0.0dB quality (was 16.7d
12.090GHz/V: 0.0dB quality (was 18.6d
12.148GHz/H: flickering around 4dB, no lock (was 17.1d
12.168GHz/V: 0.0dB quality (was 18.4d
12.188GHz/H: flickering around 2dB, no lock (was 11.3d
12.207GHz/V: flickering around 0.5dB, no lock (was 12.1d
12.226GHz/H: flickering around 0.5dB, no lock (was 17.9d
12.266GHz/H: flickering around 1dB, no lock (was 10.9d
12.324GHz/V: flickering around 4dB, no lock (was 18.7d
12.363GHz/V: 0.0dB quality (was 10.9d

 

[skomedal]

Think they might be on the astra 1N PE1 footprint, good luck

 

[Captain Jack]

Oh dear... Still sounds like your 1.8m is on borderline so a 2.4m one should bring these back in.

 

[timo_w2s]

Whatever beam it is it's certainly got a sharp drop off... I think I'll need to wait until 2E launches and 1N leaves before we think about doing anything.

 

[IrishScandie]

Hi guys, looking for some much needed help.

I know absolutely nothing as far as the technical side of all this stuff goes so please bear with me if the info I need is quite basic.

I live in Stockholm (25km outside city centre) and have had SKY for over 4 years. I've got a SKY receiver that I brought over with me but only a 65cm dish.

I have never received any of the Astra 2D channels such as RTE, BBC etc but was always happy enough as long as I had all the sports channels, which I did.

Recently, my reception of the sports channels (Sky Sports 1, 2, 3 , 4 and News) has become unreliable.

Does this have anything to do with the switch to 2F? Do I now need a bigger dish to even receive those perfectly?

As said, my needs are a lot smaller than most here. All I really care about is having perfect reception on the sports channels mentioned so that I can record. Anything else I am happy to make do with watching via VPN and Sky Go.

Any help/advice much appreciated.

 

[Analoguesat]

Ok we have a new map to populate - lets see what the new beam is looking like.

To begin with we will start with Sky News SD on Sky EPG 501, Freesat epg 202 & frequency 12207V 27500 2/3

Cartoonito or Fox SD Sky UK epgs 619 & 188 (12110H 27500 2/3)

As before we want positive & negative reports, dish sizes receiver &and lnb info

Your location is vital for this - the nearest town to you

An idea of the reception would be very useful - for example

no problems, good signal 24/7
no signal since the move
poor in the evening good in the morning


http://tinyurl.com/b8ufqgy

 

[timo_w2s]

12207V: No signal what so ever, not even a hint. 0.0dB.
12110H: Slight flicker of a couple of dB on the quality reading of the Dr HD F15 but no lock or picture.

In Helsinki, Finland with a 1.8m Aerial Oy quality prime focus dish, Invacom QDF-031 Quad LNB 0.3dB, Dr HD F15 / Pace 2600C1 / Sky DRX595 receivers.

 

[Waveguide]

Sky News 12207 V
12,8 dB, SNR 80%, BER 0

12110 H
14,5 dB, SNR 90%, BER 0

My receiver is OK down to 6,(something small) decibels and then looses lock.
No dropouts what so ever, not even during the last heavy snowfalls.
This is valid for all the uncoded channels at 28,2 E.
Antenna optimised for Astra 1N a year ago and no tweaks since then.

 

[archive10]

12207V: Strong signal (100%), Q = 90% on FoxSat.
12110H: N/A at the mo (Sky box packed away, not allowed to make changes to Freesat box)

Near Allerød, Denmark on a Channel Master type 184 with a Inverto Black Ultra Quad, Humax FoxSat HDR.

 

[timo_w2s]

Here are a few Nordic reports I requested from the Astra2 forum.

12207V and 12110H: 90% Strength, 100% Quality
Just outside Bergen, Norway. Bad weather
Humax Foxsat HDR, Finlux 80cm dish, Inverto LNB

12207V SNR: 13,3 dB 12110H SNR :14,2 dB
100 Km north of Bergen, Norway. Bad weather
Gibertini op 125 Inverto black ultra Lbn Xtrend ET 9500

12.207 V: Signal quality: 81% Signal level: 91%
12.110 H: Signal quality: 82% Signal level: 92%
Copenhagen, Denmark
Dish: 1.5 m Gibertini
LNB: INvacom C120 with Channel Master feedhorn.
Receiver: TBS 9822 DVBS/S2 (PCI card)

12207 comes in at 11.38 db
12110 12 dB
Tommarp, Sweden
1.8 CM titanium quad lnb and 45 m cable run VU + Duo receiver

12207 V, SNR 12,8 dB 80%, BER 0
12110 H, SNR 14,5 dB 90%, BER 0
Linköping, Sweden
Never have had any weather related dropouts.
150 cm, prime focus, Invacom SNF-031 + ADF-120, Dreambox 500HD

12207V SNR 78% dB 12,7 BER 0
12110H SNR 88% dB 14,4 BER0
Mariager, Denmark
Gilbertini Dish 1,25m Lnb inverto Black ultra. Dreambox HD 800SE

 

[Analoguesat]

All the Nordic reports now added to the map

 

[timo_w2s]

Report from Ruka, about 30km north of Kuusamo, Finland near the Russian border.

12207V & 12110H both giving a quality reading of 0.0dB on the Dr HD F15 connected to a 85cm dish. No real surprises there.

Incidentally, all north and majority of south beams from 2A/2B are/where fine even this far north and east, although no room for rain fade on the southern beams.