Astra 2A/B North beam in Portugal

J

jleal

jleal
My Satellite Setup
NACI5700, 800HD, relook 400s, Dream500, SS1, SS2HD with motorised 1.8PF and T90 toroidal
My Location
Portugal
Hi,

I'm having some problems receiving channels from astra 2 north beam here in portugal few km north of lisbon.
I have a 1m OEM dish, humax 5700 and teka lnb 0.7. I can receive all astra 2D but on north beam 2A and 2B channel four only comes with 23% signal quality and 47% signal level. Channel five signal reaches a maximum of 10% signal quality and 47% signal level.

1. Why is it that with the same signal level (47%), signal quality is diferent between those two channels?

2. I know that for optimum results i should upgrade to a bigger dish, would a 120cm be enough to get channel five in good condition?

3. If i stick with the 100cm dish and change the teka lnb 0.7dB for a 0.2dB, will the reception improve to a point where it is possible to get a viewable image on channel five? I know that i need a card and skybox but before jump into that i need to be sure i can get good reception for all transponders.

jleal
 
If Astra 2D reception is good, Then the problems are certainly down to the LNB, and are a result of polarisation and cross- interference issues.
Change to an Invacom.
 
You should at least upgrade to the Invacom LNB I have the TWH-40TL 0.3dB. You will get some improvement but the way to go is a bigger dish. There are 1.20m here in Portugal selling for about 50 Euros, and then you have the Gibertini 1.25m dish for 150 Euros. There are structrual differences in terms of gain so for now if your on a budget, at least get a lower noise figure LNB. The LNB skew is also important, especially for channel Five. With that dish & LNB you will lose channel Five(and Four) at nightfall. I had a Inverto Silver Tech 0.3dB. and it's the best for the whole range of channels that are FTA(BBC, ITV, B4, etc.) but the Invacom gives better gain inthe upper frequencies(channel 4 & Five). This is my experience with the North Beam reception and I'm 30 miles South of Lisbon. I had a Teka dish w/1.20m and struggled to receive the North Beam. With the Gibertini & the Inverto Silver Tech or the Invacom, problem solved! The Grundig GDS2000 has no problem in this fringe area, and my new Humax HDCI-2000 has also a very sensitive tuner. But the best tuner I have to receive the North Beam(i.e. every weak beam!) is the Nokia 9800s! Hope this helps!
 
Could you elaborate on the cross polarisation issue. I can get all channels except 2B North. On 2b North I can only get C5 in the afternoons. I am in Velez Malaga.

Many thanks
 
Astra Interleaves adjacent frequencies: Vertical, horizontal, vertical, etc.
Many LNB's have problems when strong frequencies are next to weak ones, and the result is poor performance, even though the ones you have problems with are not really that weak.
Better LNB's can isolate the interference, most notably the Invacoms, which in my opinion are the best at this. Replacing a cheap (Sharp, etc) LNB with an Invacom almost always clears up problems with Channel 4 and Sky Movies, which disappear late afternoon in central Spain on many smaller (1.2) dishes.
I suspect the reason C4 and 5 are reported to be poor in southern Spain is because so many installers always fit cheap LNB's. Someone correct me on this?
 
Thanks for the further info. Do you have a good signal on Asta 2B 12070 and 12090?
 
I get 60% strength and 90% quality on both, at this time, 1700 CET, 2.6.2006
At the moment getting all Astra 2 channels 24/7. Last month Disney and ITV Meridian were patchy after 11pm but now the signal is stronger. All BBC vertical and horizontal 24 hours at the moment.
Prodelin 1.8m, Invacom Quad C120, ChannelMaster Feed, measured on Pace 2600, (reception on my Pace Sky+ V3 identical to the 2600.)
 
Thanks rato for helping.
I must say that with the current configuration i never loose channel four, but signal quality never raises above 23%. The biggest problem is channel five, only 10% signal quality.
I will try to fit an 0.2 lnb today and i will post the results here.
As for the gibertini, where in portugal do i find one? Is it heavy? I would like to use it with a disecq motor is this possible or maybe i'm asking for trouble?

jleal
 
jleal said:
Thanks rato for helping.
I must say that with the current configuration i never loose channel four, but signal quality never raises above 23%. The biggest problem is channel five, only 10% signal quality.
I will try to fit an 0.2 lnb today and i will post the results here.
As for the gibertini, where in portugal do i find one? Is it heavy? I would like to use it with a disecq motor is this possible or maybe i'm asking for trouble?

jleal
Click to expand...


Teka Electronics sells them. The Gibertini I have is aluminum. The dish is light but bulky to carry around but the dish clamp is sturdy & heavy(see here:http://www.satellites.co.uk/php-bin/forum/showthread.php?t=57554)

I think you can put a motor on it. Ask them by phone(Teka electronics) for advise on what motor is best suited or if an adaptor is needed.
 
I've just finished swaping my 0.7dB teka LNB with a 0.2 dB GT-SAT??? but surprisingly the results were much worse.
With the 0.2 lnb signal quality in channel four dropped to 14%, i got 0% at channel five and ITV london dropped from 55% to 37%:eek:
Teka lnb is again at service and all is normal again.

I'll try a diferent one, maybe an inverto or invacom when i can get my hands on one.

Thanks for all the help given.

jleal
 
Snap - Many thanks for that. I had no problems until an engineer replaced my Sharp dual LNB with an Inverto Quad. He's not been contactable so have fiddled with the dish myself to not much avail. Have checked with a few local expats and they all seem to lose C5 on 2b North in the evenings too!

Everyone seems to have 1.2M dishs as the standard fitting. will try the Invacom before going for a bigger dish.

Thanks for your help
 
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