Replacement for old Sky Minidish

[Burnham Beech]

For a 15 year old dish/LNB I suggest you change the LNB, You can buy a modern 4 output Ѕky LNB for £5 or £6 delivered from Εbay

If you can fit the LNB yourself that's what I would try first, it's cheap enough.

 

[Analoguesat]

Assuming it is DECT interference just moving the base a few feet may make all the difference. Power received drops by the square of the distance so if you double the distance the power received drops by 4 times.

 

[xer0w]

Since turning off the DECT base station it has improved, but as the problem is intermittent I'll give it a few days before concluding that's the source.

Unfortunately I'm not good with heights and the dish is up very high, so I'd have to get a specialist to fit a new LNB.

 

[xer0w]

I'd just like to report back that the problem is caused by my DECT base station, I can now consistently fix the picture breakup by turning it off when I see the issue. Turning it back on usually results in a complete signal drop on BT HD or ESPN HD.
I have fitted a new ftype connector correctly now but this hasn't helped.
So I'm now investigating other options, although given the cause, I can only really think that a complete cable replacement with WF100 would be of any benefit.

 

[Lazarus]

Well the simple answer is to find another location for your DECT Base Station: Generally the coupling into the Satellite cabling system only occurs when they are pretty close.

Some years ago, when I first got ADSL, I got masses of drop-outs and even lower speeds than the dire 0.72Mps expected: It turned out that my DS430N BSkyB box was chucking out so much interference mush that is was destroying the Broadband signal!

 

[xer0w]

Hi again..
The base station is currently located In a downstairs front room, with one of my sky boxes upstairs at the back of the house, so I can't really move them much further apart.
I'm at the point now where I'm going to start upgrading bits (starting with the cable), I'll report the progress back here for reference and to assist anyone else having similar issues.
T.

 

[archive10]

Hi again..
The base station is currently located In a downstairs front room, with one of my sky boxes upstairs at the back of the house, so I can't really move them much further apart.
I'm at the point now where I'm going to start upgrading bits (starting with the cable), I'll report the progress back here for reference and to assist anyone else having similar issues.
T.

Does any of the sat cable run near base station?
Much better - ditch the DECT phone (at least its yours, not the neighbour's), and use mobiles instead.
You can also have triple and quad-shielded cable, but I do not know if they shiled more effectdively from a very close high-power RF source.

In any case, it is often a combination of things that brings your above the waterline - DECT phone + cabling + new LNB (15 years is a bit old) + possibly new dish with higher gain (get an 80 or 90 mm - or even a 1.2m channel master (nawh, just kidding)). It all adds up, and you may never have to worry again. (But that's a may, not a will).

 

[xer0w]

None of the cabling runs close to the base station, the front room box (and cable) is about 12ft away from the BS, the upstairs one, well it's upstairs and two rooms back.
I understand it's very likely to be a combination of factors, and as I don't have the means to analyse all possible causes, it's going to require some trial and error, although at least 'one' of, if not 'the' source of interference, has been identified (with the help of the good people on this forum).
So I think I'll just dive in and start replacing stuff ;)

 

[Lazarus]

Tinfoil Wallpaper?

 

[xer0w]

Tinfoil Wallpaper?

I think that might be overkill, given that I already wear a tinfoil hat.

 

[timo_w2s]

It's odd how a DECT phone is causing problems even though it's quite far away. Could the phone be faulty? Anyone know if the newer EcoDECT phones cause less interference?

 

[xer0w]

FYI It's a Panasonic DECT phone set, not a cheapo import, so I would think a fault would = dead; rather than a high gain leaky thing.
I am however a sat/rf newbie so I may be wrong.
On the interference front, a wise man once said "Power received drops by the square of the distance" (cough.. analoguesat).
A calculator says this is still enough distance to cause a problem.
I've also been reading about signal bounce. Now my head hertz.