Astra 3A, UK Reception and Dish Size Map

[iandoh]

Thought you guys would like to see this, I receieved 11475 and 11515 from 23.5e last night on a 1.1m fortec star dish. This was about 3am and the dish was wet from rain (if it wasnt raining now i'd check again).

Located liverpool north west

 

[Puntosaurus]

Norwich here. 80cm dish, 99% signal most of the time (has so far never dipped below 80%) for Czech, Slovak & Hungarian channels.

 

[A nonymous]

Are you sure thats not the channels that are on the co-located Astra 1E & 1G Birds

I know some of the Skylink and CShlink channels are on the Astra 1 birds

Can't see you getting them that strong on an 80cm if they are off 3A

:-beer

Nano

 

[Ratchet]

Having recently upgraded my dish from 85cm to 1M I decided to give Astra 3A a go. Never ever got a sniff of a signal on the 85cm but to my surprise a blind scan on my TM 6800 using the 1M picked up some of the horizontal transponders with a decent rain fade margin. It also picked up 1 of the verticals but this was right on the limit and breaking up.

Here is a list of the 3A TPs I picked up.

11475 V 27500
11515 H 27500
11555 H 28500
11595 H 28500
11635 H 28500
12565 H 27500

During the blind scan I also picked up a couple of data TPs that I haven't seen listed anywhere. These can be found at 12525 H 28200 DVB-S2 8PSK 5/6 and 12725 H 28200 DVB-S2 8PSK 5/6. These are far too strong to be 3A so must be coming from 3B or 1E (if it's still lurking at this location).

 

[deleted]

STV 1/2/3 80%sig 78% qual keeps dropping every couple of seconds most other channels ok Manchester 1m dish

 

[Ratchet]

Been monitoring performance on 3A over the last couple of days and found that it peaks for me at 06:00 - 08:00 then again in the evening 17:30 - 18:30. Outside of these times the signal begins to breakup. Now I know how ex-pats feel when the try to get Astra 2D !

 

[remlap]

Just got my first ever reception if poor on my Gibby here in South Wales, enough to get ID's before the signal was lost.

Time was around 17:40 BST.

 

[zincrich]

Was getting all Cz channels from here although reception dipped off in the evenings. Now I've lost Astra 3A channels but still getting Astra 3B loud and clear ( 100% strength 50% quality ).

Am using a 1m dish, is a 1.2m gonna do it ?

 

[Analoguesat]

Youn should be getting more than 50% quality from the Astra 3B channels - shes as high power as the Astra 2's. Try tweaking the alignment of the dish.

 

[zincrich]

Thanks for fast response. I've just spent the last couple of hours tweakin but not getting very far. And as the Astra 3A channels were poor in the evenings at the best of times I'm wondering if I need better equipment. I've got an unbranded 1.0m dish and a Skyware SX1019 LNB, do you think it would make a difference if I changed any of these ? and if so would you by chance have any recommendations ?

I guess what is also not helping is the 12m cable from dish to box.

Many thanks

 

[Lazarus]

12m of cable is nothing.

 

[zincrich]

12m of cable is nothing.

And the dish/lnb I'm using ?

 

[Lazarus]

Hard to say (Which is why I didn't ......... !): The fact that the dish is unbranded shouldn't be an issue in itself as long as it is both robust and undamaged. It's always worth trying different LNBs, because going by headline Noise Figures is a very uncertain basis for selection. Practical experience reveals what is "best". That said, there are many favourable reports about the performance of the Inverto Black Ultra, so that might be £20 well spent.

 

[Analoguesat]

Inverto Black lnb's are well regarded - it might be worth investing in one to see if it helps.

 

[hexah]

Once you install the Inverto Black Ultra, fine tune the dish on Astra 3A 12525 V. Astra 3B will then be fine.

The Skyware SX1019 LNB is a $ky LNB, useless for weak signals.

 

[9designs]

When were living down in Chelmsford area had no problems with the SK and CZ channels on Skylink .... Never dropped even in a storm.... With a 1m disc and Invacom LNB (approx 3 years old) The box would read 90% etc.

Now near Rugby, with the exact same kit, and the local installer is having a nightmare getting it working, seems to be able to get either the Vertical or Horizontal but not both.
Often in the evenings it's not watch-able on some channels, and the Quality ready is now at the bottom...

Is the relocation making so much difference or I have failing LNB or just not set up right.

 

[Analoguesat]

Its a tightly focussed beam - the dish is almost certainly too small for your new location

 

[9designs]

Oh, a move that short distance making such a huge change in performance.... Can't have a bigger dish on the house, may have clear line of sight to have a something bigger in the back garden, at ground level.
What would I need, 1.2meter, 1.5 ???

 

[satelliteman]

Oh, a move that short distance making such a huge change in performance.... Can't have a bigger dish on the house, may have clear line of sight to have a something bigger in the back garden, at ground level.
What would I need, 1.2meter, 1.5 ???

You'll need a 120cm minimum for any chance of reliable reception. I'm close to Rugby and can report similar reception on a previous 100cm.

 

[Analoguesat]

Oh, a move that short distance making such a huge change in performance.... Can't have a bigger dish on the house, may have clear line of sight to have a something bigger in the back garden, at ground level.
What would I need, 1.2meter, 1.5 ???

Yup - its common in extreme fringe reception conditions for the received signal to be reasonable in one location and terrible a few miles down the road. Our expats in southern Spain find it all the time with Astra 2D