Astra 2E: Western Europe Reports

It's gonna be one of those days...
Weather forecast: heavy and persistent rain from 9.00H to 21.00H, yellow warning and flooding alerts.

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In Javea using a 1.2PF dish I have lost the HD channels but SD coming in fine. Not sure when this happened as I am not there all the time but certainly was the case 5 weeks ago when I was last there.. Using Humax Freesat box which normally pulls in anything. In Valencia all remains OK on HD and SD but I do have a much larger dish there even when using a cheapo Manhattan sat box.
 
Just been down to our villa in Javea to adjust the dish but realised after reading this thread that if I reset the tuner to factory default and let it retune it may then get the correct signal info for the HD channels - and yes it worked fine - All HD channels now coming in nice and strong from the Tagra 1.2m PF dish and old Humax Foxsat box. My elderly neighbour was really miffed when he leaned what I had done as he was given a largish bill from some iffy installer for "adjusting" his system to get the HD channels - and he has a really nice 2.4m dish and a much better LNB then me! Just shows there are some real sharks out here! So beware - read the forum first!!!!
 
joddle said:
My elderly neighbour was really miffed when he leaned what I had done as he was given a largish bill from some iffy installer for "adjusting" his system to get the HD channels - and he has a really nice 2.4m dish and a much better LNB then me! Just shows there are some real sharks out here! So beware - read the forum first!!!!
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I wonder if that is the same shark that i have heard about, who claimed a clients Freesat HD receiver was faulty as it was not getting the BBC HD channels, and so sold the person a new Freesat HD box...when all that was needed was a new Freesat scan...
 
Just shows how useful this forum is - Should have thought about the retune myself as I have had a similar issue in the past. Will let my neighbour know he was not the only one scammed!
 
During some recent moderately high winds I lost ITV 1 and 3,thinking the bracket might have been loosened I went to the roof terrace and tightened the bolts as much as I could,but that just ended up with me losing the BBC channels.My Sky HD box is of the older variety that won't get the BBC and ITV HD channels.I could just pay for a re-tune,but given that my dish is in a very exposed position that might end up being an ongoing problem every time a North wind picks up this Winter. I've read that the DRX895WL model will pick up BBC and ITV much easier here in Valencia in HD than the standard BBC and ITV transmissions.I know that the signal indicator on the Sky boxes isn't a good guide but the HD signal is showing 100% signal and quality on both.Is the DRX895WL likely to work or just a waste of time?
 
the frenchman said:
During some recent moderately high winds I lost ITV 1 and 3,thinking the bracket might have been loosened I went to the roof terrace and tightened the bolts as much as I could,but that just ended up with me losing the BBC channels.My Sky HD box is of the older variety that won't get the BBC and ITV HD channels.I could just pay for a re-tune,but given that my dish is in a very exposed position that might end up being an ongoing problem every time a North wind picks up this Winter. I've read that the DRX895WL model will pick up BBC and ITV much easier here in Valencia in HD than the standard BBC and ITV transmissions.I know that the signal indicator on the Sky boxes isn't a good guide but the HD signal is showing 100% signal and quality on both.Is the DRX895WL likely to work or just a waste of time?
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Signals for all channels, SD and HD, are good in the Valencia area...as long as you have the right sized dish and it is aligned correctly., and in which case any satellite receiver, inc (newer) Sky and Freesat receivers, will get the HD channels. I personally have found very little difference in the signal levels between BBC SD and HD channels, but there is a big difference in ITV SD and ITV HD channels. But even if you get the new receiver, if the dish is blown out of alignment again, it will not make any difference.
 
woborny said:
Signals for all channels, SD and HD, are good in the Valencia area...as long as you have the right sized dish and it is aligned correctly., and in which case any satellite receiver, inc (newer) Sky and Freesat receivers, will get the HD channels. I personally have found very little difference in the signal levels between BBC SD and HD channels, but there is a big difference in ITV SD and ITV HD channels. But even if you get the new receiver, if the dish is blown out of alignment again, it will not make any difference.
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Funny thing was,I plugged in an old Pace Sky plus Box and ITV1 had a good picture.From trawling the internet the Thomson box gets very bad reviews so maybe the newer box might improve matters if not I'll have to buy a decent meter
Digital Satellite Finder V8 finder Signal Search Meter DVB-S2 MPEG-2/4 | eBay ?
and learn how to use it.
 
the frenchman said:
Funny thing was,I plugged in an old Pace Sky plus Box and ITV1 had a good picture.From trawling the internet the Thomson box gets very bad reviews so maybe the newer box might improve matters if not I'll have to buy a decent meter
Digital Satellite Finder V8 finder Signal Search Meter DVB-S2 MPEG-2/4 | eBay ?
and learn how to use it.
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Having a satellite finder always comes in handy. I have got the same one and is good enough to fine tune a dish. If you can access easily to the dish it is worthy to buy it and you will enjoy learning...
 
the frenchman said:
Funny thing was,I plugged in an old Pace Sky plus Box and ITV1 had a good picture.From trawling the internet the Thomson box gets very bad reviews so maybe the newer box might improve matters
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Thomson boxes are so poor that Sky did a swapout on them a few years ago to get them out of service. They have an appalling reputation for capacitor failure in the power supply subsystems which lead to all sorts of odd issues with them.
 
superpascu2 said:
Having a satellite finder always comes in handy. I have got the same one and is good enough to fine tune a dish. If you can access easily to the dish it is worthy to buy it and you will enjoy learning...
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Thanks,it'll be cheaper than the 75 euro minimum charge call out fees that I'll probably have to pay every couple of months until April...maybe.
 
Analoguesat said:
Thomson boxes are so poor that Sky did a swapout on them a few years ago to get them out of service. They have an appalling reputation for capacitor failure in the power supply subsystems which lead to all sorts of odd issues with them.
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It was only when I lost the ITV signal that I looked around on the internet and read about their reputation.This one has been fine for 3 years + so I must have been lucky.
 
the frenchman said:
Thanks,it'll be cheaper than the 75 euro minimum charge call out fees that I'll probably have to pay every couple of months until April...maybe.
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75 euros min call out.... wow...where is that? looks like i shall have to double mine to get that if you let me know which area that is in!!!
 
I can't see why the Frenachman is having problems here in Valencia with any Freesat channels - It is a very good area for reception and all boxes seem to work well - including my old Pace 2600, Manhatten and Humax units all of which are now getting on in years. What size dish is the Frenchman using? Anything over 1M should be fine In Valencia city area and anything over 1.2 should be near on perfect. Further south in Javea I still get all SD and HD channels with a 1.2M dish and that area is not as good as here in Valencia city.
 
joddle said:
I can't see why the Frenachman is having problems here in Valencia with any Freesat channels - It is a very good area for reception and all boxes seem to work well - including my old Pace 2600, Manhatten and Humax units all of which are now getting on in years. What size dish is the Frenchman using? Anything over 1M should be fine In Valencia city area and anything over 1.2 should be near on perfect. Further south in Javea I still get all SD and HD channels with a 1.2M dish and that area is not as good as here in Valencia city.
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Wasn't having anything but good reception for months then lost ITV as stated earlier then BBC channels.Just having a later version Sky HD box sent out,the HD signals appear stronger than the SD,so maybe that'll solve it.
 
the frenchman said:
Round the Gandia area,not much competition so you can virtually name your price.
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I am in Gandia, and my standard call out is about half of that!!!! Obviously I am undercharging!!! (or way to honest!)
Drop me a PM if you want me to pop around and have a look sometime
 
antrabe said:
its possible to get this beam near to malaga south of spain?
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Not a chance! Maybe if you have a MASSIVE dish but no it is not possible to pick up the UK beam. The Europe beam is of course accessible.
 
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