BBC 1 Yorks Gone

[fincaman]

Hello All, My BBC 1 Yorks has gone overnight, I have checked my free to air boxes that default to London and BBC 1 is fine, has it started ? I have made a rash promise to 'er indoors that no matter what happens we will get our TV back so I am watching for early indications of what size dish I am going to need (near Malaga).In the past when I have had signal problems if there was no signal the "no satellite is being received" came up straight away whereas when the signal just went weak it took a few minutes to come up. BBC 1 Yorks is taking about 2 mins for "no signal" to come up is that an indication that it is finding a weak signal or am I just hoping ?

 

[PaulR]

No indications from anyone else yet that something has changed so it's possible that it's a local problem to you.

Rash promises indeed. When the time comes Malaga and that whole south area are particularly badly hit by the 2F spot beam. Chances are that 2E will be similarly tight. How much is a rash promise worth?

 

[fincaman]

Hello and thanks for your reply, I have checked all my known weak stations and they are all fine so I think things are starting to happen, I have just checked again and BBC 1 yorks is back on but BBC 1 HD is now off so something is happening as all my connections are fine and dish alignment is correct.I have had a few conversations with people who "should know" and they estimated that 10% of Sky's revenue comes from abroad which begs the question are they really going to give up that amount of business ? or are they just making the right noises for the regulating authorities ?

 

[PaulR]

Hello and thanks for your reply, I have checked all my known weak stations and they are all fine so I think things are starting to happen, I have just checked again and BBC 1 yorks is back on but BBC 1 HD is now off so something is happening as all my connections are fine and dish alignment is correct

There's still been no other report so, although it might have been a minor perturbation, I don't think it's the start of anything.

I have had a few conversations with people who "should know" and they estimated that 10% of Sky's revenue comes from abroad which begs the question are they really going to give up that amount of business ? or are they just making the right noises for the regulating authorities?

This has been discussed many times. $ly will almost certainly NOT be using any of the spot beams for this very reason - to protect their grey income stream from ex-pats. The spot beam choice by the Beeb, ITV, etc is absolutely NOTHING to do with $ly. It's a commercial decision taken so that the FTA channels do not have to pay extra for European broadcasting rights. So, in both cases it comes down to money.

 

[Lazarus]

Good summary, that.

 

[fincaman]

Hello again, ITV London has now gone off, it is a beautiful sunny day so unless the weather conditions are different than at any time during the last 8 years I think they are tinkering

 

[Lazarus]

Well, keep the reports coming in - if anything is happening, word will get round soon enough: But as far as we know (or think we do!) the next phase is shifting BSkyB stuff off 2A/B onto 2F Pan-European.

 

[fincaman]

I will monitor the situation closely and let you know, I do understand that there could be lots of technical reasons why this is happening but I can only say this has never happened before and I bought a proper meter to align my dish. I also made little marks on all adjustments in such a way that I can tell at a glance if anything has moved.
I have been looking at China for large dishes (up to 5m) there seem to be plenty around but is there a more local supplier ? I would have to cast a concrete slab on the land and dig trenches for the cables which is why I'm keen to find out what dish I will need

 

[fincaman]

All channels OK now for two days-----Strange. Is There anyone who knows where to buy big dishes ?

 

[davidcmadrid]

Fincaman , its hard to imagine that a 5m dish would not work , but it was hard to imagine a 4m dish would not work in the Algarve ( or according to "rumour" Malaga ) . I cant find the reference now , but somebody did mention they did a spectrum analysis in Malaga and it suggest " at least " a 4m, whether that was in connection with both H and V i cant recall.

 

[fincaman]

Thanks for the information

 

[terryashbyash]

Noticed a few strange signal fluctuations here, signal levels seem worse with clear blue skies than when light clouds, mainly on the channel 4/4+1 transponders and itv2/2+1/4/4+1 signal qualities 50-60% in clear blue skies and 75-90% when cloudy.

The wind has been severe but the dish has not budged as levels go up again when cloudy.

Can high or low atmospheric pressure affect signal levels?

 

[Lazarus]

Yup. But atmospheric factors are perhaps not as significant (other than torrential rain) as tropospheric and ionospheric propagation affecting elements.

One of the related Threads has some links to worthwhile articles about such things.

Can't find it offhand (even though I posted in it!).


Edit: Here's one: hxxp://www.radio-electronics.com/info/satellite/satellite_sig_prop/satellite_signal_propagation.php

 

[terryashbyash]

Yup. But atmospheric factors are perhaps not as significant (other than torrential rain) as tropospheric and ionospheric propagation affecting elements.

One of the related Threads has some links to worthwhile articles about such things.

Can't find it offhand (even though I posted in it!).


Edit: Here's one: hxxp://www.radio-electronics.com/info/satellite/satellite_sig_prop/satellite_signal_propagation.php

Thanks for this link, I am now a bit better informed and now understand the visible state of the sky is not the likely cause of my signal changes.
Nice to keep learning as the last site I found when googling it needed degree level maths and just gave me a headache. Cheers

 

[Lazarus]

You're welcome - the good thing about Satellite propagation is that conventional design allied with usage in the intended coverage area is almost bulletproof (Apart from the aforementioned torrential rain!).

Sadly, it's not so hot for you Fringe types.

Then again, it makes it an interesting hobby.