ASTRA 2D BBC & ITV RECEPTION

[Expat]

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IMPORTANT!
PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR EXACT LOCATION, DISH SIZE, LNB TYPE
& RECEIVER MODEL. THIS INFORMATION IS VERY IMPORTANT, IF WE ARE
WE TO HELP OTHERS WITH THEIR RECEPTION PROBLEMS!
IF YOU POST INFORMATION ABOUT RECEPTION OF THE OTHER ASTRA BIRDS,
PLEASE STATE IF ASTRA 2D IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCATION!
THANKS
EXPAT
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NEWS
PETER SATORI IN ITALY WRITES:
"I have been contacted by 4 of my friends who live in Italy who have
purchased Sky Digiboxes in the UK and who have had them installed in
Northern Italy, for less than 125 Euros.
They can recieve all the FTA Channels, on Astra 2A & 2B and
especialy those on Astra 2D, Inc ITV1 London Region.
The Location is 40Km West or Parma, in the Appenine Mountains,
and 80Km East of the Ligurian cost of Sestri Levante.
The equipment used, is as specified by `ItaliaSat4`
2x Panasonic 30 Digiboxs & 2x Grundig 310/2 Digiboxes
88Cm Triax solid Satellite Dishes
0.6DB Universal LNB`s
RT100 CABLE
I stronly suggest that a compitent Installer is used, if the installation
is only slightly out, this will especialy restrict the reception of
Astra 2B & 2D!"



TAMAS IN BUDAPEST, HUNGARY WRITES:
"Hi there, just made a little survey on Astra 2D reception in Hungary,
while ITV2 was FTA in the last couple of days.
Vertical transponders on 2D can picked up fine with a 1.4m dish in
Budapest when the weather is good. Someone with a 1.8m dish reported
good reception even in bad weather.
On the other hand none so far, have managed to pick up the horizontal
transponders, not even with 2m+ dishes."



RICHARD IN REYKAVIK, ICELAND WRITES:
"Equipment
Grundig 210
80 cm mesh offset feed dish
Standard 0.7(?) LNB, not sure of the manufacturer

I get all the channels I am entitled to with my BBC/ITV viewing card, with
the box showing 100% signal and 50% quality. I should be getting card from
Sky soon, so I'll see how the rest come in.

I have noticed that extreme sports Ch. is the most sensitive, and sometimes
breaks up, but the other channels on the same transponder/freq (travel shop
etc) seems ok, so I am a little confused...

From what I can tell, there are 3 general footprints from the sky digibox
channels, and so far I can certainly get the 2A south beam, and the 2D, but
I am not sure about the footprint as seen for transponder 19 (sky one) for
example, and so far I can't find a channel to test this on...

Ah well, I'm still very pleased to get the basics here."



ALL IN THE LNB? (SYNTEC 2000 0.3DB LN
It is claimed that the expensive Syntec 2000 can greatly improve reception with its
low noise level of 0.3db. I have read & received reports that do NOT backup
this claim. The improvement in signal gain is marginal, the only real way to improve
signal gain is to increase dish size.
Which LNB is best in fringe areas? Let me know your views on the many LNB's
on the market!
The Invacom LNB is receiving excellent reports, particularly the Quad, which would appear to have a better noise figure.
The MTI also carries a lot of recommendations.



CHANNEL HOPPER WRITES:
"Theoretically the lowest noise figure obtainable from any device is limited by any
components in the signal chain with the highest thermal noise. The first component
in the chain would be the detector circuit and on a Universal LNB this would be a
pin diode At Ku band the detectors are rated at manufacture to about 40K which
converts to a figure of 0.5 dB.
Presently the LNB market is active by those selling what appears to be an extraordinarily
good device (and good luck to them).
Some use the best of the component batch - and end up with good performance overall (rare).
Some modify existing LNBs by the use of fancy smoothing circuits to eliminate any further
incoming noise from the power supply - there are definite improvements when used with
cheaper receivers, especially those with switch mode supplies (few )
Some simply take the lowest noise figure during tests at a particular frequency, and then
claim that this is the figure of the LNB (so you could have a 0.5dB LNB at 10.8GHz
which has a 1.1dB noise figure at 11.6GHz, but it will be rated at 0.5 (depressingly common)
Most however will blatantly lie about the noise figure to increase sales, and to hell
with the consequences.
Rolf is right that the better solution is to look at other components in the system, starting
with the dish and its alignment."

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PREVIOUSLY REPORTED:


RECEPTION PATTERN?

Valb in Denmark writes,
"After fitting my new 0,4 LNB (Genesis) there hasn't been a clear sky -
cloudy and misty every day - which makes it hard to compare
the result of the new LNB compared to the old one when the weather was better,
but I have started to notice a pattern as to when 2D is available.
It seems to go in a four hour cycle 'though I haven't got up in the
middle of the night to measure the results.

OK from 2pm to 6pm
OK from soon after 10pm
OK at 6am
All times GMT

A report I read recently about tests done in Spain with different dish sizes
also mentioned fixed time slots where the signal from 2A and B north beams got weaker.
It would be interesting to hear the "scientific" explanation for this.
Although I know that the satellites move around a bit I don't think they have
a fixed path that they follow each day.
Are there any scientists out there who can explain what is going on?"
(from Valb in Denmark)
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ITALIAN SIDESLOBE?

From posts, it would seem that Astra 2 D's footprint seems to like
the boot of Italy! Suprisingly small dish sizes for the north, 85cm!
No positive reports from Rome or further south....yet!
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SIDELOBE IN SWEDEN?

There is a 3dB difference in strength between Horizontal
and Vertical (Vertical weaker).
There seems to be a sidelobe in Sweden. PUFFIN WRITES,
"I remember on Astra 1 there was a sidelobe in South America somewhwere,
so it was actually possible to watch Sky in Argentina when Sky was analouge.
I seem also to remember another guy in the south of Sweden not
being able to pick up anything from 2D with a 1,8m dish.
On the other hand almost all the people I have heard
about in Stockholm get ITV with 85cm-1m dishes."
(From Puffin in Börlange, Sweden)


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RECEIVERS FOR GOOD FRINGE RECEPTION
Panasonic TU-DSB 20
Panasonic TU-DSB 30
Amstrad DRX 100
Amstrad DRX 200 (newer model, same tuner as the Panasonic 30)
Grundig 310/2
Pace 2200 (anyone using this model?)
Pace mini box

NO GOOD IN FRINGE AREAS
Pace 2500s
Panasonic TUD 31
Sony Receivers
KNOW OF ANY OTHERS?
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Croatia

Baska, Island of Krk,
Latitude 44.97 Longitude 14.75

Dish: Channel Master 1.8m
digibox: Panasonic TU-DSB20
also tested with Humax 5400
LNB: Samsung 0.6dB

No 2D at all


CYPRUS (Eastern)

Area unknown
4.2 Metre All 2D

AYAIA NAPA area

Panasonic TUDSB30
2.8metre solid dish
Genesis 3 prime focus LNB
25 metres cabling.
Subscribed to SKY family package.
Most channels recieved except ITV 1 & 2/Ch4/E4.

PAPHOS

1.9 Metre Solid Dish
Twin LNB (0.7db) feeding two apartments.
Pace 2200 FTV BBC etc
Amstrad DRX100 giving slightly better signal than the Pace running Sky World
No 2D but some Channel 4 during the early evening - disappears at about 10pm BST. Most Sports Channels all day (on Southern Beams) and some Movies Channels. E4 is tuned seperately to the 28.5 Bird !!

No weather interference yet


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DENMARK

Aarhus
85 cm Dish

Copenhagen (NO ASTRA 2D)
1.0m Solid offset dish
LNB Digistar 0.6db
Panasonic 30 (Silver).

Hillerød (No ITV 2 or Disney)
1.2 Offset dish
LNB Genesis 0.4db

Odense Good reception (BBC, ITV etc)
120cm parabolic dish (i.e. no off-set),
Grundig GDS300 box and AP8-T2 Manhattan MTI LNB

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EGYPT

Cairo,
Panasonic TUDSB30
3.1 meter mesh dish.
Most channels but no ITV or channell 4 etc

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FRANCE

Montpellier
60cm Dish
Pace 2500b OK on 2D

Montpelier Area
60cm
New Thompson receiver
All 2D

Chartre
60cm
Amstrad 100
All Channels including 2D 80x80 percent

Perpignan
close to the border with Spain. 80cm
All BBC channels absolutely fine.

Pau
South West, Nr Pyrenees
60cm dish/Sedea Universal LNB (no model number)
AMSTRAD DRX 200
Astra 2D available- reception good no problems.

Toulouse
Panasonic 30
Channel master 85cm
Alps 0.7 lnb
All channels fine

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GERMANY
Aachen
80 cm Dish
Signal strength 50/60 (10.891), 80/90 for 10.832 & 10906.

Husum, North Germany appr. 50Km from danish border.
1 Metre dish, Invacom .03db LNB
Alll BBC and ITV channels 24/7 and also during bad weather.

Herford in Nordrhine Westfalia
85cm
Panasonic TUDSB31 All Channels

Berlin
1.2m Dish
LNB 0.6dB
Signal 30% quality reading

Brunsbüttel (Western Schleswig Holstein)
80 cm Dish

Dortmund & Cologne (Köln)
85cm Dish
Panasonic 30
LNB 0.6db.

Frankfurt am Main
60cm Dish

Frankfurt am Main
90cm Dish

Kaiserslautern
60cm Dish
LNB Technisat
Thomson DSR330TA (in pc: Hauppauge DVB-sat)
Signal 60-65%


Lower Rhine
60cm & 75cm Dish
No recpetion during rain or snow, with 75cm dish
even with heavy rain/snow perfect reception.

Munich (München) just north of (All 2D)
1 m Dish
Genesis 0.4db

Munich, Holzkirchen, (40 kms south east of)
1M Gilbertini
Invacom LNB
All 2d, good strong signal

Munich (München)
90cm Philips Gregorian
Amstrad receiver
65-70% signal (measured on a Echostar AD 3000 IPVA)

Salzburg (70 miles east of) .
1 meter Dish, Invacom 0.3 db lnb.
I can recieve BBC1 most of the time but it becomes a bit blocky in the Evenings.Same with ITV

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HUNGARY

Budapest
1.4m - 1.8m
No H transpoders, which is very unusual, ITV2 can be picked up in good weather.
Someone with a 1.8m dish has reported good reception even in bad weather.
On the other, nobody has managed to pick up the horizontal transponders,
not even with 2m+ dishes. This is the opposite to western & southern
Europe, where H transponders seem to be around 3db stronger
than V transponders.

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ICELAND

Reykjavik
80cm mesh offset feed dish
Grundig 210
LNB 0.7db
100% signal and 50% quality
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ITALY

Abruzzo (NO ASTRA 2D)
1.2m Dish
Panasonic 30
LNB Mti 0.6db Blue Line
Also problems with Astra 2A North Beam.

Bologna
1.2m Dish
Amstrad DRX 100
LNB Sharp 0.7db & Syntec 2000 0.3db.
25 metres of cable between receiver and dish. ITV London and South good all the
time, ITV central areas, Disney, Hallmark watchable most of the time, ITV
north areas and ITV 2, problems most of the time.
The Syntec 2000 LNB performed better with the 85 cm dish!
(From L.L. Ugania)

Cassino, Lazio region (NO ASTRA 2D)
1.2m Dish
Pace receiver

Milan (Milano)
85cm Dish
Some 2D Lose, Anglia transponder.

Parma Area
80cm Dish
Panasonic 20
Astra 2D in good weather.

Parma Area, 40km west of, in the Appenine Mountains -
88cm Triax dish
Panasonic 30
LNB 0.6db Universal
Cable RT 100

80km East of the Ligurian cost of Sestri Levante
88cm Triax dish
Grundig 310/2
LNB 0.6db Universal
Cable RT 100

Rome (Roma) (NO ASTRA 2D)
1.2m Dish

Rome Area - 100 km South of Rome
Nokia Mediamaster 9200 with DVB 200
Prodeline 240CM offset VSAT professional uplink/downlink dish
(With built-in autoskew and anti-ice features) - F/D 0.8
LNB: MTI 0.6 (C120 flange).
FEEDHORN: Dedicated Prodeline 4 inch diameter 39° feedhorn (F/D 0.8)
Posted 23-09-03
All Astra 2D - ALL BBC + 60-70% signal on ITV, 4, 5 & RTE (I don't have a card), but signals are constant 24 hrs/day.
A Dubliner near Rome

Sondrio, 70 miles N.E.of Milan
60cm Dish
LNB 0.7db.

Vasto, Chieti, 50km south of Pescara (NO ASTRA 2D)
2.4m Dish
Panasonic 30
LNB MTI 0.6db,
Also problems with Astra 2A.

Verona
90cm Dish

Dish Sizes:
Northern Italy, down as far as Parma: 90cm Dish ( 1.0CM) best).

(NO VARIFICATION FOR ASTRA 2D SIGNALS, MAY HAVE TO BE LARGER!)
Central Italy down as far as Rome: 1.2m Dish ( 1.5m) best.
Southern Italy, down as far as R / Calabria: 1.8m (2.0m) best.

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NORWAY

Oslo
1.2 m - 1.8m Dishes
The Horisontal transponders are about 3dB stronger as compared to
the Vertical ones. A 1.8m dish should bring in all transponders.

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POLAND

Krakow By Iggy


I dont know what is the manufacturer of my 1.8m dish, but it seems to be very good of quality, LNB iis Grundig C-120 0,6 db, not the best one, but does the job.

Good news guys, i receive all V transponders with signal strenght of 75%. It's 22 20 cet and picture is still perfect, it appears that V signals can be watched 24/7.
With regard to H transponders, unfortunately nothing can be picked - shame


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PORTUGAL
Albufeira, Algarve
1.3m Dish
Panasonic 30 & Grundig 310
LNB 0.7db.

Silves
1.2m Dish
Panasonic 31
LNB Televes 0.7db
Signal strength 90%,
Signal quality 20-30%

Silves
1.3m Dish
Panasonic 30
Signal quality 50%

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SPAIN

Alicante (NO ASTRA 2D)
1.2 m Dish
Panasonic 30
LNB 0.7db

Alicante
1.2m Channel Master dish
LNB Cambridge 0.7db
Astra 2A north beam lose in the afternoon.

Ibiza
1.3m Dish
Lose of Astra 2D from 7pm til morning.

Astepona Costa Del Sol


1.2 Metre Dish, LNB unknown, Panasonic DSB30 , All 2D channels

Malaga (70K East of)
1.2 Metre Dish, Panasonic DSB30, All 2D channels

Salou spain
receiver panasonic db30
80cm dish
Can confirm that sky full package north beam (full 2d) is easily available
in la pineda near salou spain.
80cm dish on top of motorhome.
99% signal on meter 50% quality

San Pedro, West of Mabella
1.3m Dish, Panasonic 30 (Silver), LNB 0.7db
In normal weather 2D is there with no problems, signal strenghth and quality
are both in the 65-80 region and lock indicator is not locked.
(Not quite sure why this is!)
In medium rain, cloud and wind things are still fine, no loss of picture and sound.
In heavy rain and wind there is some blocking, but that also happens on non 2d channels.

Mallorca, Eastside of the island
1.8m Dish

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SWEDEN

Börlange (WNW of Stockholm)
1.0 m Lenson Heath dish
Panasonic TU-DSB 30
LNB 0.5db
Lose of Astra 2D in bad weather, no V transponders.

Lund
ITV1, all the other H transponders, between approx 05.00 and 18.30 (CET) with a very good, stable picture (quality 90%, sig. strength 80%).

At about 18.30 (depending on the weather conditions) the signal starts to fade and by about 19.00 it's gone completely. For the last couple of nights, it's made a reappearance at about 23.00 and has then lasted until about 02.00.
Eqpt:
Panasonic TUDSB30
Gibertini 1.5 dish (OP150)
Eurostar 0.5 LNB
12 m cable run (basic quality coax)

Stockholm
1.0m Gilbertini dish
Interstar 0.3 LNB
All Channels, slight fade on BBC in rainy weather.


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SWITZERLAND
Basle
45cm Digidish.

Geneva
50cm glass optical dish
Sky+ receiver

Zürich
53cm Arcon Sweetey dish
Lose of Astra 2D in really bad weather.

Zürich
60cm Dish
Panasonic 31
LNB 0.7db
Signal strength and quality 90%

Zurich
Sky+ V2 with Invacom Quad connected to Gilbertini 100cm dish
Normal Strength/Quality
90%/90% & 90%/90%
Manual tune to BBC transponder
80%/70% & 90%/80%

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PLEASE INCLUDE LOCATION & THE EQUIPMENT BEING USED!
THANKS TO ALL OF YOU FOR THE INFORMATION, KEEP IT COMING!
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[koolclub]

Eastern Cyprus-Ayia Napa area
Panasonic TUDSB30
2.8metre solid dish
Genesis 3 prime focus LNB
25 metres cabling.
Subscribed to SKY family package.
Most channels recieved except ITV 1 & 2/Ch4/E4.
Iv'e been told by an installer here that the Strong .6db LNB would work better although the Genesis is reportedly a .4db LNB.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Ta very much.

Glad you like the club Rolf.

 

[sgar]

Ok guys i need a bit of an help here. Ok south Sweden (Helsinborg), minidish and altrough the bbc signal its only about 40%,the signal from C4,C5 is about 70% but of course i don't get any Itv signal. i am thinking of buying a bigger dish (80-100cm). if anyone could please let me know if that would be enough, otherwise i might as well live the minidish there. thanks

 

[puffin]

>Ok guys i need a bit of an help here. Ok south Sweden
>(Helsinborg), minidish and altrough the bbc signal its only
>about 40%,the signal from C4,C5 is about 70% but of course i
>don't get any Itv signal. i am thinking of buying a bigger
>dish (80-100cm). if anyone could please let me know if that
>would be enough, otherwise i might as well live the minidish
>there. thanks
Hi
In that case I think you might have to live with the minidish. 100 cm is far from enough. Further north in Sweden it would do but at your location even 180cm is not enough to pick up 2D :-(
Cheers
Puffin

 

[sgar]

thanks a lot m8, i think i'll live it then, its not worth it. cheers

 

[baruffaldi]

Hi,

noted the responses re. Astra 2D reception in Europe and in particular the entry for Montpellier in France where signals have been received with a Pace box and 60 cm dish. I have a system in Montpellier BUT fail to receive any 2D signals on a 60cm dish with a Panasonic TU-DBS30 and Alps LNB. The CT100 cable run is about 10m.

Cheers
Baruffaldi

 

[rolfw]

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 01-Jul-02 AT 09:50 PM (GMT)]Must confess Baruffaldi that I was a little surprised, but I guess with perfect alignment and a following wind the reception should be possible and also they may have managed to further restrict the footprint in recent months.

Rolf

 

[Robbiewright]

Egypt, Cairo,
Panasonic TUDSB30
3.1 meter mesh dish.
Most channels but no ITV or channel 4 ect.

 

[rolfw]

Hi Robbie, sorry I missed the post when you initially posted, feel free to attach your photo if you can get it down to 90KB or so.

Rolf

 

[baruffaldi]

Since my last posting I received the following email from Martin Pickering of Satcure .....

"Recently, I've had several reports of LNBs being "allergic" to certain receivers for Astra 2D - especially Panasonic. Low band Astra 2D programmes are simply reported as "No signal...". It seems to me that the receiver is probably sending interference at a frequency of about 22kHz up the LNB cable. The "Alps" LNB does seem prone to this.

It may be more sensitive to a low-level 22kHz signal or it might
accept a wider frequency range up to, say, 30kHz.

This might be fixable by connecting a 100uF/35v electrolytic across
the LNB voltage supply where it leaves the power supply. You'd have
to locate the correct pin by measurement. It will have the 13v/18v
supply on it.

But you'd also have to make sure that the 22kHz tone generator is
*not* incorporated in the power supply (as it is in Grundigs)
otherwise you'll cut that out, too!"


I was in Montpellier on hols over the last two weeks and I have replaced the Alps LNB with a Phillips LNB. Now, I can receive all 2D channels without any problems. I was well pleased since this "upgrade" has proven to be less hassle and less cost than replacing the dish with a 80cm or greater.

Baruffaldi

 

[DonOne]

I have a 1.9 Metre Solid Dish (Yes only One point Nine metres !!)
Twin LNB (0.7db) feeding two apartments.
One with FTA BBC etc on Pace 2200 (refurbished) and the other currently running full Sky World on Amstrad DRX100 ( due to be changed soon). However the Amstrad gives a slightly better signal than the Pace

No 2D but some Channel 4 during the early evening - disappears at about 10pm BST. Most Sports Channels all day (on Southern Beams) and some Movies Channels. E4 is tuned seperately to the 28.5 Bird !!

No weather interference yet (only just installed and clear sky's nearly every day)

Don

 

[KeithW]

Hello

I am moving to Crete next year, does any one know what size dish is required to receive Sky Digital / LNB.

Thanks

Keith

 

[rolfw]

Hi Keith,

Geography has never been my best subject, but i would guess that you are further out of the footprints than Cyprus and possibly better placed than Egypt, both of which have listings in the main post.

I can't remember hearing from any members that live in that part of the world, but perhaps a couple will come out of the woodwork.

You can always go to the www.lyngsat.com site and check out the footprints, but they will only give you a rough guide.

 

[ugania]

I wrote to you some time ago,that I had big problems with ITV2,Hallmark and Disney here in Bologna,Italy, now I was able to improve the signal replacing the old sharp LNB with a New (and still cheap,about £ 15) Sharp LNB,of different shape but apparently the same specifications,but now I can watch ITV2 and the others weak channels pratically all round the clock,I had problems only during summertime after 9'o clock at night ,due to a slight movement of the satellite when the sun goes down..true?Bye L.L. Ugania

 

[rolfw]

Thanks Ugania, I will add that information to the main post.

rolf

 

[worth2]

Location: Malta … well Gozo actually

Dish Size: 1.2m Channel Master fixed dish

LNB: Syntec 3

Digibox: Panasonic TUDSB30

Signal strength about 66%
Signal quality 50-60%

Most channels received except ITV1 ie All Sky Sports and Movie channels
Use a Satook alignment meter to keep it tuned in

W2

 

[sayireand]

I wrote to you some time ago,that I had big problems with ITV2,Hallmark and Disney here in Bologna,Italy, now I was able to improve the signal replacing the old sharp LNB with a New (and still cheap,about £ 15) Sharp LNB,of different shape but apparently the same specifications,but now I can watch ITV2 and the others weak channels pratically all round the clock,I had problems only during summertime after 9'o clock at night ,due to a slight movement of the satellite when the sun goes down..true?Bye L.L. Ugania



Do you mind me asking what model of Sharp are you using??

 

[ugania]

I had the possibility to try 4 different lnb on my 125 cm offset dish here in bologna,italy (apparently out of the official sky 2d footprint),at the end, the sharp universal lnb,freq 10.7-12,75 ; L.O . 9,75-10,60 , type BS1R5EL100A ,gave me the best results, now i can watch even itv2, and itv north areas. sometimes i have to clean drops of rain when is very humid and they don't slip away from the surface of the lnb by themselves. Bye.

 

[Corrigapp]

As an addendum to the main thread (I'm listed under Lund, Sweden - no Astra 2D) I'd like to add the following to this thread:

After replacing my Funke 99 cm dish with a Gibertini 1.5 m dish, I can now receive ITV1, together with channels on all the other H transponders, between approx 05.00 and 18.30 (CET) with a very good, stable picture (quality 90%, sig. strength 80%).

At about 18.30 (depending on the weather conditions) the signal starts to fade and by about 19.00 it's gone completely. For the last couple of nights, it's made a reappearance at about 23.00 and has then lasted until about 02.00.

I understand this to be due to the satellite realigning itself for the benefit of its photovoltaic cells, thus altering the footprint slightly. Confirmation, or otherwise, of this would be appreciated.

My next step is a better LNB and a replacement cable, preferably CT125. I doubt if I'll achieve round the clock reception, but if I can extend the present hours of reception then I don't mind the outlay.

Has anyone read the Jan 2003 issue of Wotsat? It contains an article on the Invacom LNBs. I can't get hold of a copy here so if anyone has read this article and has any comments on it (or LNBs in general), I'd be very interested to hear them.

Peter

Eqpt:
Panasonic TUDSB30
Gibertini 1.5 dish (OP150)
Eurostar 0.5 LNB
12 m cable run (basic quality coax)

 

[valb]

Just north of Copenhagen I haven't been able to see anything on 2D since 1st. January. I don't know if it's because of the temperature outside -15C causing my 1.5m Triax to change shape or because the signal has been reduced. As it's so cold outside I haven't done a lot to control the alignment. Mind you I'm not missing much.
By the way according to the Wotsat website their distribution centre caught fire so the January mag. is only available at UK newsagents and is in short supply.