16E and 28E on one dish - installer saying no

M

markl

Member
My Satellite Setup
Windows Vista Media Center with Freeview tuners - looking to "upgrade" to a satellite setup instead.
My Location
Central London, UK
Hi All,

I'm venturing into the land of satellite TV, and would like to get setup to receive signals from Eutelsat W2 at 16E and Astra 2 at 28.2E.

Based on what I've read here, it sounds like an 80cm dish and LNB focused on 28E, with a 12 degree offset LNB for 16E should be fine. I'm in Central London.

However, a friend has recommended an installer and the installer is saying that this won't work well (e.g. in bad weather) and that I should have two dishes instead. I'd rather avoid the two dishes if I can, but obviously I'd like to retain a decent signal in poor weather too!

Is the installer being overly cautious (or, er, perhaps just wanting to install two dishes!) when really a single dish would be fine, or am I best off going with their advice and having the two dishes?

Many thanks for your help!

Cheers,
Mark
 
It will work if you have 16E as the main focus and Astra 28.2 as the offset, I would use the Raven Gemini 90cm dish with Eastern satellites offset Bracket, or perhaps the Visiosat Bigsat.

For 16E, the dish needs to be of good quality, cheap dishes often struggle on some of the 16E channels.
 
I would not put up an 80cm dish for 16E in the first place, it is the minimum really, and a 1m is better. On an 80cm you will get very little rain fade margin, and if its a poor quality dish, you may struggle for reliable reception in any case.

As for the offset, I suppose the installer is going for the option of least risk. I would expect the costs to be similar for the two options, as it takes a little while to get the offset just right, and you have to buy the bracket.
 
If your installer is worth his salt, he would be able to fit a motor for not much more than the cost of two dishes, two LNBs and a switch.
 
Channel Hopper said:
If your installer is worth his salt, he would be able to fit a motor for not much more than the cost of two dishes, two LNBs and a switch.
Click to expand...
I would have thought the motor route would be cheaper. I just bought a new MOT-SAT3 for 50 Euros. Can you really buy a 90cm dish, LNB and diseqc switch for that much. That said, if it is only for 2 satellites I think I would prefer the 2 dish setup for its switching speed, but that's because I even get impatient flicking from 28ºE to 26ºE with my motorized dish.
 
Huevos said:
I would have thought the motor route would be cheaper. I just bought a new MOT-SAT3 for 50 Euros. Can you really buy a 90cm dish, LNB and diseqc switch for that much.
Click to expand...

You forget the installer hourly charge for setting it up would be more than a fixed system.
 
a triax 1metre dish aligned on 16e with an offset lnb on 28east, would be a good choice.

is it just 16e and 28e you want as it might be best to have a motor installed instead
 
Channel Hopper said:
If your installer is worth his salt, he would be able to fit a motor for not much more than the cost of two dishes, two LNBs and a switch.
Click to expand...

Sorry, should have said in the original post, I need to be able to receive the 16E and the 28.2E signals independently of each other (e.g. to record one whilst watching the other). So in this instance I don't think a motor solution would be the right one.

Thanks for the comments anyway though. :)

Cheers,
Mark
 
Thanks for all the responses.

It sounds like we could get away with the offset (as long as the focus is on 16E and the offset at 28.2E), but in any case we should look at a bigger dish for the 16E. At this point in time 16E and 28.2E are the only things we're interested in.

I'll discuss again with the installer. Thanks again for the comments.

Cheers,
Mark
 
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