Astra 2E: Western Europe Reports

[stephend2017]

You're contradicting yourself there. It's probably possible with very big dish (I bet no less than 3m).

From experience living there, everyone just uses IPTV. I know of a 3m and 3.2m dish failing to receive the UK beam so anything bigger would be a bit unrealistic. Maybe it is possible with a huge dish but I have not heard of any success so therefore I think it is not possible.

 

[superpascu2]

Another option is the satback, Intelsat 907 27,5W

 

[stephend2017]

Another option is the satback, Intelsat 907 27,5W

As long as that satellite is in use which may be not for much longer!

 

[the frenchman]

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.

Even luckier,while waiting for the more up to date Sky + box to arrive I was just flicking through the channels and even though up to that point there had been no more winds that might have moved the dish BBC channels were back.Maybe a Thomson box that healed itself. Even stranger Quest HD that is as clear as a bell on the Thomson,pixels on the new box??

 

[Pierangelo]

Dears,
is 12129 V lower than usual?
espacially during late evening and night?

thanks

 

[RimaNTSS]

@Pierangelo I think this is very much depends on your location. Some time ago I have monitored another transponder from Astra 2E, and signal variations were ~2dB during the day. More or less the same is probably happening with 12129V. Enjoy fringe reception.

 

[rodscha]

i just checked and,yes ,at midday BST or 1pm CET,12129 is 40%
when PBS stands at 70% ,
BBC 1&2SD at 73%
but BBC HD falls behind watchability at 18%
so,yes,much weaker wihin the SD group
Then the weather is more seasonal greyish & colder,would that put propagation down somewhat?

 

[Sleepingwiththefish]

Dears,
is 12129 V lower than usual?
espacially during late evening and night?

thanks

Maybe a tiny bit, I have ~9dB, drops for me are generally around 0.5dB and less than 1dB (clear sky, uk beam).
12129V is DVB-S/QPSK/FEC 2/3 gives room for drops.
But the 12382 is 'fading' away, almost impossible to get here, if they would drop FEC to 2/3 or even 3/4 that would be the day!

 

[Alistair_]

Yes I'm also experiencing lower than usual reception.

 

[4wd]

Norway, lower levels (uk) than usual, losing more channels \ for longer period in the evenings.

But no problem, blaze (eu) 'forged in fire' shows up fine :O)

 

[woborny]

Dont forget we are in "eclipse" season, and so you may get some loss during the day during the biannual solar outage, and again later at night, when the satellites are in the earths shadow and on battery power....

 

[rodscha]

we hope the satellites ,when in the shade, carry Duracell... and the rabbits are well-fed!

 

[Stevenvc19]

Maybe a tiny bit, I have ~9dB, drops for me are generally around 0.5dB and less than 1dB (clear sky, uk beam).
12129V is DVB-S/QPSK/FEC 2/3 gives room for drops.
But the 12382 is 'fading' away, almost impossible to get here, if they would drop FEC to 2/3 or even 3/4 that would be the day!

12382H gives me 100% SQ in Belgium but the 12129V keeps dropping. I first thought my dish was slightly twisted. but it hasn't. two weeks ago I noticed the SQ dropping from 100% to 92%, last week I saw it drop to 90% and now i'm only getting 87%!

All the other transponders on Astra 2 give me 100%, even in bad weather...

I guess the reception of 12129V will recover to its full 100% in a couple of weeks, or could I be wrong?

 

[Sleepingwiththefish]

12382H gives me 100% SQ in Belgium but the 12129V keeps dropping. I first thought my dish was slightly twisted. but it hasn't. two weeks ago I noticed the SQ dropping from 100% to 92%, last week I saw it drop to 90% and now i'm only getting 87%!

Signal figures in percentage are always merely indicative and most times unreliable, a receiver can show 30% signal and another one shows 70% for the same sat setup and transponder/channel.

 

[stephan94]

this is how I get ASTRA 2 (E, F, G) with a motorized antenna of 1.20 m from the north of Bavaria.
These results are dependent on the time at which these measurements are made.

 

[wallycharlo]

I've noticed a considerable signal drop on Astra 2E UK beam for about at least a week or so. E.g. BBC ONE & TWO HD are now breaking up in the evening, was fine before. We had strong winds recently I had thought that perhaps my dish had shifted, which sent me out into the cold last night trying to remedy the situation ...

 

[Nalleman]

12 129 V has been weaker than usual for a couple of weeks at my place in southern parts of Sweden but since FEC is 2/3 - no problems. 12 382 H is hopeless to get due to FEC 5/6. Earlier this year it was pretty strong (being that transponder) but now it's completely gone.
Noticed that 12 304 H is in use again! Used to be on a UK beam of 2F and almost as weak as 12 382 H. Now it comes in very strong so it can't be on a UK beam this time around. Could it be that 2G or 2E (don't think 2E) has European transponder at 12 304 H?

 

[4wd]

At time of posting, 120cm in Norway, 12382 H 8.5 dB, lost in the evenings. 12304 H 16 dB, definitely EU.

 

[Nalleman]

12 129 V has been weaker than usual for a couple of weeks at my place in southern parts of Sweden but since FEC is 2/3 - no problems. 12 382 H is hopeless to get due to FEC 5/6. Earlier this year it was pretty strong (being that transponder) but now it's completely gone.
Noticed that 12 304 H is in use again! Used to be on a UK beam of 2F and almost as weak as 12 382 H. Now it comes in very strong so it can't be on a UK beam this time around. Could it be that 2G or 2E (don't think 2E) has European transponder at 12 304 H?

Reply to my own message. 12 304 H can't be on 2G since 2G European is much much stronger at my place.
So my guess is that it's on 2F based on the signal level which is weaker on 2F European than on 2E and 2G. Meaning 2F can do 12 304 H on both UK AND European beam but not on the same time of course. Very strange I must say.

 

[RimaNTSS]

Most of you guys living in UK probably do not see any changes in reception of channels from Astra2E (UK beam). But we, who have to enjoy fringe reception feel that something is going on with satellite. Firstly, the levels of signal are increased, and daily variations as well. I have recorded signal levels from 10714H for 24 hours (each 13 seconds) and from data built this graph. If you compare this graph to the same graphs which I made 2 years ago it is possible to see some similarities and maybe also tendencies.