Sat Meter, better LNB, better dish?

fincaman · 26-09-2009

Hello all, I am in southern Spain near Malaga I have a 1.3m dish with a 4 way lnb I have two brand new pace boxes and a brand new pace HD Sky+ box.The cable runs to the two normal Sky boxes are a bit longer than I would like so everything has to be "spot on".I tend to do a lot of "tweaking" from time to time and I often help people to adjust their dishes.I have always used a sky box and television set on "signal" to do the final adjusting but the bars seem to be very course.I have seen satellite meters that have satellites programmed in them and seem to have very precise signal strength and quality meters would one of these make life easier.Are there "top grade" LNB's available,is there special cable,I would be glad of any suggestions.I know that a bigger dish is probably the best option but the cost is massive compared with the standard 1.3m

**satelliteman** · 26-09-2009

A few questions there.

Using a professional alignment meter would certainly give you more accurate results. The digibox's signal screen only looks at one transponder on the North beam, not ideal, where a decent meter will allow look up of any transponder on any satellite. Take a look here, might be of some interest > Emitor Satlook Micro+G2 NIT - Demo

fincaman · 28-09-2009

Hello and thanks for your reply,I really think I ought to know more, I simply don't know enough about the diference between the satellites "North south etc" and what are "transponders" is it possible I am on the wrong beam?can you point me to this information?

**Robbo** · 28-09-2009

Yes, if you go to _http://www.lyngsat.com and select 28E you will see all the details of the satellites used at that position and the transponder frequencies used.

***Huevos*** · 28-09-2009

Originally Posted by fincaman

Hello and thanks for your reply,I really think I ought to know more, I simply don't know enough about the diference between the satellites "North south etc" and what are "transponders" is it possible I am on the wrong beam?can you point me to this information?

What do you mean are you on the wrong beam? A beam from a satellite is like the beam of a torch. If you are not under the beam there is nothing you can do bar carrying your house until you are under it.

The output of a transponder (in the case of digital TV) is one data stream. Astra 2 has 56 of them and each one carries several channels.

If you are trying to align the satellite dish using a TV and Digibox you are wasting your time as this method will never get it right. In the old days of analogue you just aligned for best picture. Now there is digital you either have a perfect picture or nothing. On the threshold between the two there is pixelization. When you have a picture there is no way to know how much above the threshold you are so you can never maximize the dish. To do things properly you need a professional meter that at least displays signal to noise ratio and BER (like the one Satelliteman posted about above).

fincaman · 28-09-2009

Thanks I am hanging on every word but I have heard people I think on this forum and certainly here in Spain talking about "the North beam" and "the South beam" is this all rubbish? I am going to the site recommended by Robbo now but please tell me more if you can

**satelliteman** · 28-09-2009

Also take a look at the beams and their coverage from the 28e slot.

_http://www.flysat.com/astra28-beam.php
_http://www.flysat.com/ebird1-beam.php

fincaman · 28-09-2009

Hello again,I have just looked at the footprints and apparently I should have a 50cm dish on the south beam,how do I know which beam I am on? and why does everyone have a 1.3m dish here ? I also seem to remember the south beam being switched off a few years ago,all very confusing!!!

**satelliteman** · 28-09-2009

Getting too confused.

The weaker UK beam will require the larger 130cm dish in that region. South beams can be received on smaller dishes. Lots of info regarding dish sizes required and received beams in this section.

***Huevos*** · 29-09-2009

Originally Posted by fincaman

Hello again,I have just looked at the footprints and apparently I should have a 50cm dish on the south beam,how do I know which beam I am on? and why does everyone have a 1.3m dish here ? I also seem to remember the south beam being switched off a few years ago,all very confusing!!!

Forget about beams. Yes, there is a north beam and south beam (and a UK/Eire beam, and 2 EB1 beams), but you can't switch between beams. Each beam carries a number of channels and if your dish is not big enough to receive that beam you just lose those channels. The Digibox knows what transponder each channel should be on and switches to it automatically. There's nothing more you can do about beams bar getting a bigger dish or moving house.

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Sat Meter, better LNB, better dish? Sky digital support forum at Sats UK, Everything involved on the hardware and software side of reception of the channels from 28.2/28.5 East BskyB, special focus on fringe reception of Astra 2D for UK free to air channels

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