Will a Technomatic receiver work with a Sky minidish?

patmartin008

I am new to all this so I've been reading through all the posts and other articles on the net over the past few days to get an idea of what equipment I'll need to get started.

My situation is that I want to get Spanish FTA channels (with a view to subscribing to others in future if I can afford it). I am looking to buy a TechnoMate receiver and at the moment I have a Sky minidish. Eventually I will get a bigger dish but in the meantime will a Technomate be able to work if hooked up to a Sky dish?

I've heard it's possible but I just wanted to pick a few brains first in case this is a non-starter.

Thanks for any feedback.

Regards

Patrick

Robbo

Yes it will. I'm in North Kent and can get satellites at 28E, 19.2E and 13E no problem with a Sky Zone1 minidish. I'm not sure about Hispasat (30W) as I don't have a clear view that way.

I have motorised mine:-http://www.satellites.co.uk/satellite/picture-members-setups-general-satellite-installations/95640-my-motorised-zone1-minidish.html
Don't laugh.

In order to subscribe you will need a receiver with a CI slot, or an embedded card reader, depending on which channels you want, but there is a selection of FTA channels available.

patmartin008

Thanks for the reply. That's good to know. I am going to get a Technomate 1500 later today and play with it over the weekend.

I was tempted to get a bigger dish aswell but I think I'll hold off and do some more research as I have a feeling it may be a bit more technical than just sticking it up and hoping for the best!

Regards

Patrixk

Robbo

Assuming that your minidish is already installed and pointing at 28.2E, in order to get any Spanish FTA channels you will need to re-align your dish to another sat. For example if you wanted the Astra1 sats, then you would need to swivel your dish to the
left (looking at dish from front) and also tweak the elevation up a tad.
I did this to start with and then decided to install a motor as it gives much more flexibility.

patmartin008

to start with i will try to point to hotbird or astra.

my minidish is not motorised so i am hoping to work out the angle (e.g. astra 19.2) with a meter and by manually re-aligning the dish. i can get to it fairly easily so this is not a problem but does anyone have any advice (or warnings) before i get stuck in?

should it be possible to re-align it manually??

thanks for any feedback.

patrick

Robbo

If you are already aligned to 28.2E it is very easy to re-align to 19.2E.

The use of a sat finder meter makes life a bit easier but you can use the receiver's signal strength and quality readings.

When using the Sat meter, slowly swivel your dish towards due south until you find a peak. With a minidish this will probably be Astra1 cluster. Then tweak the elevation up a little to maximise the level on the sat finder. To use the meter you should follow its instructions and you are looking for changes in signal strength rather that absolute levels.

Then by using you receiver you will be able to check whether you are in fact on the correct satellite, this can be done by scanning a tp and seeing what channels come up on that tp and checking them against the list on lyngsat.com.
You can also use the receiver's signal quality meter to further fine tune you dish alignment.

The procedure for Hotbird is the same except that its a bit further round and the elevation will need tweaking up a bit more.

patmartin008

once again thanks for all the information robbo.

i will play around with the system this weekend. if i get it going my next step would be to buy a nagravision cam and try to access spanish channels via digial + etc. not sure if the minidish would handle that or if i'd need a bigger one.

apparently that's also available on astra...

we'll see

Robbo

De nada.
A minidish is plenty big enough for Astra1 in our location. Good luck.

patmartin008

Thanks for the feedback.

I had a go at the weekend and found that the dish would not move sufficiently (to the left as I look at it) due to the bay window next to it!

Back to the drawing board for now. I think I'll have to re-locate the dish or maybe find a new mount than will allow me to have the dish hanging further away from the wall so it can turn to the left without hitting the wall.

Meanwhile I'll try to find a meter too as I'm sure that relocating the dish will be a lot more effort than just re-aligning it.

Thanks for your help so far!

Patrick

Robbo

Can you upload a photo of your setup?

There are many mounts available that would give a larger standoff.

As for meters, Maplin do a cheap one for approx £10, I expect you could pick one a bit cheaper on Ebay though.

patmartin008

Woohoo!

Had another re-jig of the equipment this evening and switched the dish around from left to right. Lots of drilling and mess but after fixing the dish and a few minor adjustments the signal started coming through.

Currently watching the Simpsons in Spanish. Excellent.

Thanks for all your help Robbo. Much appreciated.

Gracias.

Robbo

What channel are the Simpsons on?

patmartin008

I think it was 'Cuatro'. Will look out for them and let you know.

Norm

Is your Technomate "patched"? That would make quite a difference to the number of available Spanish channels - to check out whether a subscription was worthwhile!!

patmartin008

Yes it's patched and currently getting around 40 channels in Spanish.