astra 2d receiving problems !

bunchy62 · 06-08-2003

hi my name is Tony,
I live in Sicily about 50 kms north of Catania on the east coast..
I am trying to get back bbc channels and irish channels as well
Can anybody tell me what dish size i need to be able to get astra 2d channels?
Someone told me that a 3 mt dish should be enough..
ty for your help...
Tony

**rolfw** · 06-08-2003

On looking at a couple of footprints, it would appear that a 3m dish should be OK at the NW of the island, but further East you may struggle. Having said that, I can find no reports of reception on the island to confirm this. You can see these footprints by going to http://www.astra2d.co.uk/ and following the footprints link.

Likvid · 06-08-2003

Too bad that Astra doesn't publish the sidelobes of Astra 2D, i am sure they have the information but doesn't publish it.

bunchy62 · 07-08-2003

Originally Posted by rolfw

On looking at a couple of footprints, it would appear that a 3m dish should be OK at the NW of the island, but further East you may struggle. Having said that, I can find no reports of reception on the island to confirm this. You can see these footprints by going to http://www.astra2d.co.uk/ and following the footprints link.

For what i know in cyprus they receive astra 2 d with a 3mt dish..and cyprus is much more south of sicily....for what i saw on the footprints on the www.astra2d.co.uk it seems that 3 mt is more then enough
If they get astra 2d on cyprus dont u think i should have no problems in sicily??
anyway thank u for your help
i really appreciated it....dont u know any link where i could see how many db we can receive on te heast coast of sicily??
Tony

**rolfw** · 07-08-2003

Unfortunately I have seen no reports whatsoever for Sicily Tony, so can only give you what I consider to be relatively safe figures. Is there a satellite company there who have a 2.4 metre steerable dish perhaps?

It is not always successful to look at the reception equipment for another location and make assumptions based on their location relative to yours.

Bobben · 07-08-2003

I am sure that Astra do NOT know where the sidelobes exist. It is extremely complex to calculate as the satellite has multi feeds illuminating the shaped antenna onboard the satellite. For a normal parabolic antenna it is more easy to calculate sidelobes but it will be wery complex for spin stabilised satellites like Astra 2D where no normal parabolic antenna is used and probably 10-15 feeds is directed to the reflector in order to shape the footprint.

You will not find a absolute null somewhere or a clear defined sidelobe. The footprint consists of several small beams and a null of one beam could be on a sidelobe of another - as you can imagine it is wery complex.

Astra do not need this information as the satellites mainlobe is whats supposed to give the official coverage aerea where Astra can provide high link availability (probably 99.998% if the right antenna size is used). Astra cant sell services based on sidelobe reception.

07-08-2003

Originally Posted by Bobben

I am sure that Astra do NOT know where the sidelobes exist.

I did a search and found this footprint that looks a bit more realistic:
http://www.the-plumber.net/2d/fprint.htm

**barney** · 07-08-2003

Originally Posted by bunchy62

hi my name is Tony,
I live in Sicily about 50 kms north of Catania on the east coast..
I am trying to get back bbc channels and irish channels as well
Can anybody tell me what dish size i need to be able to get astra 2d channels?
Someone told me that a 3 mt dish should be enough..
ty for your help...
Tony

I live in Abruzzo, and 3mt dish+invacom0.3 are not good for astra 2D.
I now that in Basilicata is the same. 3mt dish not is good.
Bye
Barney

bunchy62 · 07-08-2003

Originally Posted by rolfw

Unfortunately I have seen no reports whatsoever for Sicily Tony, so can only give you what I consider to be relatively safe figures. Is there a satellite company there who have a 2.4 metre steerable dish perhaps?

It is not always successful to look at the reception equipment for another location and make assumtions based on their location relative to yours.

i have a 1,2 mt dish and lnb 0.6 and i can get all the channels on 2 astra A and astra B. can this help to find out if i can get astra 2 D with a 3 mt dish? if i can find the 2.4 metre steerable dish what do i have to look for?

bunchy62 · 07-08-2003

Originally Posted by barney

I live in Abruzzo, and 3mt dish+invacom0.3 are not good for astra 2D.
I now that in Basilicata is the same. 3mt dish not is good.
Bye
Barney

Hi barney first of all thank u for your help....what dish size do u have for receiving astra 2 A and astra 2 B? do u receive channel 4 and channel 5?
i receive everything with my 1,2 metre dish..so maybe abruzzo is not a good area
Tony

bunchy62 · 07-08-2003

Originally Posted by Old Fred

I did a search and found this footprint that looks a bit more realistic:
http://www.the-plumber.net/2d/fprint.htm

i looked at the website..for what u know do u think i should be able to receive astra 2 D on a 3 mt dish? i live on sicily east coast 50 kms north of catania airport
ty
Tony

**rolfw** · 07-08-2003

Originally Posted by bunchy62

i have a 1,2 mt dish and lnb 0.6 and i can get all the channels on 2 astra A and astra B. can this help to find out if i can get astra 2 D with a 3 mt dish? if i can find the 2.4 metre steerable dish what do i have to look for?

Reception of 2A and 2B unfortunately has little bearing on 2D reception, for your purposes, you may as well discount them. If you can find a sat shop with a 2.4 metre, then you can ask them to check out reception of 2D for you.

**barney** · 08-08-2003

Originally Posted by bunchy62

Hi barney first of all thank u for your help....what dish size do u have for receiving astra 2 A and astra 2 B? do u receive channel 4 and channel 5?
i receive everything with my 1,2 metre dish..so maybe abruzzo is not a good area
Tony

Yes, we are very unlucky in our area. Now i receive c4 for all day with a minimun signal in the morning. Any problem with C5.
Ciao

bunchy62 · 09-08-2003

Originally Posted by barney

Yes, we are very unlucky in our area. Now i receive c4 for all day with a minimun signal in the morning. Any problem with C5.
Ciao

Do u know anyone who can supply a 3 mt dish? i cant find anybody in Italy who is able to sell me a 3 mt dish !!!!!
Grazie
Tony

Coviello · 09-08-2003

Originally Posted by bunchy62

Do u know anyone who can supply a 3 mt dish? i cant find anybody in Italy who is able to sell me a 3 mt dish !!!!!
Grazie
Tony

In Potenza (Southern Italy) it used to be a parabolic antenna
manufacturer. As far as I know, some 3 meter prime focus antennas
are still available.
My 3 meter antenna is from that factory; it works fine, even if I do not receive ASTRA2d. I hope I will be able to do in the next future. By the way, I have all datas concerning the signal levels of Astra2d transponders in Basilicata.
It would be a good idea to check the reliance of the various footprints
of Astra 2d you have found. We should measure the signal levels at different places (for instance, in Abruzzo, in Basilicata in Sicily). I have got the necessary instrument.
Perhaps, Barney will be able to organise the job.
So, do not purchase any big dish meantime!
Coviello

bunchy62 · 09-08-2003

Originally Posted by Coviello

In Potenza (Southern Italy) it used to be a parabolic antenna
manufacturer. As far as I know, some 3 meter prime focus antennas
are still available.
My 3 meter antenna is from that factory; it works fine, even if I do not receive ASTRA2d. I hope I will be able to do in the next future. By the way, I have all datas concerning the signal levels of Astra2d transponders in Basilicata.
It would be a good idea to check the reliance of the various footprints
of Astra 2d you have found. We should measure the signal levels at different places (for instance, in Abruzzo, in Basilicata in Sicily). I have got the necessary instrument.
Perhaps, Barney will be able to organise the job.
So, do not purchase any big dish meantime!
Coviello

ty Coviello for your help..
the fact that u have a 3 mt dish and u are not able to get astra 2d is worring me a bit, thats why i am trying to find a shop here next to my town where i can check the signal before i am going to buy the 3 mt dish..
I know that my area is quite good for receiving the astra signals..but till i wont check myself unfortunally i wont be sure...i just know that with my 1.2 mt dish i get all the signals from astra 2a and 2b..except the ones they are on 2 astra north b...do u have any problems to get the all channels on astra 2 a and 2 b? maybe basilicata is not a good area..dont know
ok
thats all for now
Ciao
Tony

Likvid · 09-08-2003

Originally Posted by bunchy62

Do u know anyone who can supply a 3 mt dish? i cant find anybody in Italy who is able to sell me a 3 mt dish !!!!!
Grazie
Tony

Actually you have IRTE in Italy that makes big dishes.

Call them up.

http://www.irte.it

**BLUEPLATINUM** · 04-09-2003

One thing to bear in mind is that dish size isn't everything!

When some sky channels moved to 2D even people in the south of the UK lost them. This was because the skew (which I think means the rotation angle of the LNB) was slightly out (some SkY installer here are cowboys who can't be bothered doing a good job).

The lesson is, that before investing in bigger and bigger dishes, always make sure other things - especially the scew, are tweaked to perfection in order to receive 2D.

Good luck.

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