Bigger Dish Worse Reception ?

W

werdna

Member
My Satellite Setup
Amstrad DRX 200
Dish: Solid (Orange) TELEVES 1.1mtr
Cable: Lazsa FC-75 08494m
LNB: Manhattan Blue AP8 T2B 0.6dB/55dB
My Location
Cella,Teruel, Aragon,Spain
Hello,
I live in Cella, Teruel, Aragon, Spain which is in the North East approx (160kms north of Valencia) and 170kms south of Zaragoza
I have just changed my Dish from a 80cm to a 1.1mtr and the reception has gone worse. I cannot get it to lock. Before with the 80cm dish at least I could lock it and I could see BBC 1 & 2 and ITV until about 18:00hrs. They would then return around midnight. Channel 4 was lost at 15:00hrs and returned at 18:30hrs, channel 5 is 24/7.
When I say it won't lock, I can still receive channel 5 24/7 and Men & Motors, Sky News CNN and a few others but not the BBC or ITV.
The signal strenght is 90% but the quality fluctuates now betwen 10% & Zero. Before, the signal strenght was the same (90%) and the quality was about 30% which was good enough until early evening then was lost until midnight.
I first did the set up with the TV next to the dish but, after losing what little signal I had I used the meter which gave all the relevant beeps for side to side alignment and elevation but no lock.
The only thing I have changed is the dish even so, I have tried different cable and another LNB with no joy.
I was led to believe that when reception starts to deteriorate it's usually the dish.
My new dish is a light orange colour which I thought would be better for Spain as I was advised that using a white dish in a hot climate like Spain can fry the LNB. Please don't tell me the problem is the colour.
How can putting a bigger dish make things worse ?


Any help is appreciated
Androo


System used for the above before dish change :
Amstrad DRX 200
Dish: Solid (White) FCE 80cm
Cable: Lazsa FC-75 08494m
LNB: Manhattan Blue AP8 T2B 0.6dB/55dB

After change of dish

Amstrad DRX 200
Dish: Solid (Orange) TELEVES 1.1mtr
Cable: Lazsa FC-75 08494m
LNB: Manhattan Blue AP8 T2B 0.6dB/55dB
 
Have you adjusted the skew of the LNB to see if you can improve the quality? You should have much better reception with the 1.1m.
 
I have tried adjusting the skew but no joy.
 
you sure the dish is aligned correctly as bigger dishes need to be aligned accuratly as they have a tighter focus on the satellite
 
Re-align the dish, satellite dishes in spain for english tv have about 5mm accuracy level. Be 5mm out, and you dont get all channels all day!
 
Are both dishes the same type, ie centre feed or offset?

If you have replaced an offset dish with a centre feed type they need a different type of LNB as the focal distance is different.
 
I have tried the warp test with the string and there was a gap of about 2mm between the strings. I have managed to remove the 2mm by placing a small wooden wedge (crude as it sounds but it seems to work) between the bottom edge of the dish and the LNB arm and, up to now I can receive the BBC and ITV. Usually at this time in the evening (18:00hrs) it was impossible.
I also raised the dish a foot higher (my wife suggested that, I love her) because she thought that the bottom edge of the dish due to being larger was possibly impeaded by the edge of the roof which is approx 10ft infront of the dish.

Regards the dish surface area. In my case the roof was covering the lower part of the dish. Would this reflect in nil reception or would I still get some reception on the top part of the dish?.
What I am asking, does all the dish surface need to be free from obstacles to receive transmission or can part be obstructed ?
I'm quite green on the subject and I am sorry if my question seems ridiculous to you experts out there.

I'm a tad cheesed off being sold a warped dish though. Is it a common thing that dishes bought from new can be warped?

Many thanks,
werdna
 
Yes, it is quite common for dish faces to be warped on delivery, but as you now know, it is not impossible to rectify. :)

You reall need clear line of sight for the whole dish face for full benefit of the dish size.
 
make sure you try the trick of twisting the LNB as well. That ups the signal about 10% if you get it in the right spot.
 
I have now gone through a full 24hr cycle and everything seems to be holding well.

I tuned in the BBC 2 Transponder and the results are now the following

10.773, H, 22, 5/6
Signal Strenght 75%
Signal Quality Between 40 & 60% (Better in morning)

Before changing the dish I had
Signal Strenght 80%
Signal Quality 30% which became unlocked and fell to 0 in evening

I also skewed the LNB which pushed up the signal a bit.

I'm happy with the new results so I'll leave it at that.
I must say that when I lived in Valderrobres, Teruel, Aragon (200Km north east from where I am now) the reception was 24/7 on my 85cm dish. Must have been a Hotspot area.

Many thanks for all your help especially the warp problem.

werdna
 
No problem, remember to thank the people that helped you!
 
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