HOTBIRD 4 satellite receiver questions

Balood

Dear All

I wish to purchase a satellite system that will enable me to pickup the EWTN Catholic Channel from the Hotbird 4 satellite. I was wondering can anyone give me an idiots guide on how to do it. I am OK to program receivers but I worried if I install the stuff myself that how do I line it up the dish properly.

So I am looking for advice on what to buy and how to/what I need to install it.

Thanks
Balood

Razor

EWTN is FTV at 10719v, 27500. fec 3/4.

Even with a sky dish this would be easy to find.

If you buy a cheep sat finder £25 you could find this sat very easy by moving your sky dish west and with the sat finder when you are anywhere near 13E you will see the meter needle jump. Fine tune to the best spot and with the other channels on your digibox put in as above.

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Don't mind my spelling

easysat

Difficult to give a comprehensive reply in a few words so I'll throw a few things and hope others will add their comments.

The channel you want to watch is free-to-air, i.e. the signal not scrambled to restrict it to paying subscribers. This means anyone in the coverage area (most of Europe), see http://www.eutelsat.com/satellites/13ehb4_popd.html , can pick it up. You will need a 60cm dish as a minimum based on the 50dBW signal strength shown on the map. You also need a clear view in the direction of the satellite from wherever you want to position the dish. The exact direction depends on where you live: east of due south in London or almost due south if you live in Berlin. Any obstructions (trees, buildings) need to be more than twice as far away as they are high, as a general rule of thumb. You can get some free software from http://www.smw.se for calculating the directions.

As for the receivers, any digital satellite receiver will do. The cheapest cost around £60 to £100. The better-known brand names tend to offer more in the way of support and software upgrades although this is less important for a simple free-to-air receiver. Bear in mind there are some distinctly unholy channels broadcasting from Hotbird, so you might want to choose a receiver that can stop the kids watching these.

For installation, I used the Satellite TV book in the Newnes Technical Library series by J Stephenson (I think). This explains what to use to fix the dish and how to install a cable without water getting into the house. Pointing the dish at Hotbird is relatively simple if you can temporarily position the receiver and a TV within sight of the dish. I find the most difficult part of an installation is routing the cable as you have to drill a hole through one of the walls.

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pc::

Ar-Ey

hi easysat!

"Pointing the dish at Hotbird is relatively simple if you can temporarily position the receiver and a TV within sight of the dish."

i've done it and i didn't find any signal quality for the whole day.
i almost didnt get sleep that night.
can u pls. tell me what should i know to set up my dish easily to hotbird 13E
tnx in advance!

misterminibus

as long as you have the correct elevation hotbird is easy to find whether you use a sat finder or your reciever % bar the signal should be very strong, im in the nw of the uk and i get 87% with an 88cm, dont give up its there somewhere...

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easysat

Tell us how you've been trying to do things so far and I am sure someone can give you a few tips.

You need to calculate the azimuth and elevation to get Hotbird (or other satellite) at your location. You need the some software for this and knowledge of your longitude and latitude.

I would use at least a magnetic compass to get the dish pointing in approximately the right direction (azimuth). Then use the scale on the dish mount to get the dish elevation right. If there is no elevation scale to help you, the dish needs to be almost vertical when viewed from the side so set it vertical and then push the top back slightly.

Then loosen the dish mounting on its mounting pole so that the dish can be turned a few degrees east or west. We're talking tiny movements here so don't loosen the bolts too much - just enough so that the dish moves when you tap it gently with your hand. Go one way first and then back the other way to see if you can pick up a signal for a known channel on the satellite. If no luck, change the dish elevation and repeat.

Once you get a signal, check it is a channel on the satellite you want (it's easy to get the wrong satellite just by moving your dish 3 or 4°.) Then maximise the signal strength and quality by very small movements of the dish E and W. When you got the maximum tighten the bolts to stop the dish moving E or W and then optimise the elevation angle. You can repeat this process a couple of times until you think everything is as perfect as possible.

You can then try rotating the LNB in its mount to maximise quality both for a horizontally polarised channel and a vertically polarised channel (but this shouldn't be too critical).

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pc::

Ar-Ey

thanks mate!
i already know the azimuth and elevation of my locaton.
i used smwlink3 at http://www.smw.se/smwlink/smwlink3.zip
my only problem is i don't hava a compass.

i tried to use my Arabsat setup as a reference and...
unfortunately, now i know what i did wrong.
i have rotated the dish counterclockwise instead of clockwise direction.
i'll try to find Hotbird again this weekend.
tnx for the reply and i'll probably come back here anytime.