Can't get one transponder in Seville - a real headpecker and driving me mad!!!

MikeinSevilla

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Hi to all and first of all thanks for a great forum. It makes such a difference for novices like me...

I moved to just outside Seville from Barcelona two months ago. I brought down with my my Pace Sky+HD box from there, where I'd had Sky without any problems for ten years, registered at my sister's in the UK. I couldn't find an English installer down here until it was too late and what a headache it's been. First a local guy couldn't get a signal, the signal kept coming and going and then the second guy only could after I changed the default transponder through the installation menu to one I'd found on lnygsat.com: 10.744, H, 22.0 & 5/6 (fluke) with exactly the same setup. Then only on one input but after looking around on the internet I managed to solve that too. (Record on one channel, change channels and it 're-activated' input 2).

The problem now is that I still can't get some channels ("No Satellite Signal being Received" message). What's really baffling me is that my input 1 and 2 signal strengths are 100% and both signal qualities 90%. I wasn't getting that up in Barcelona even, and I never had any reception problems there at all on any channels. The LNB is a twin 'Shop' make, 0.1. Dish is 1.35cms.

Has anyone idea what it might be or anything I could try? is there another default transponder that would work? The crazy thing is when I select the channels I can't get (Sky Sports News, Extra, UK Eurosport 2 and others all on the same transponder: 12148 H) the input 1 signal and quality shows nothing, but the input 2 is still 100%/90%!

All the UK installers are based over two hours away in Málaga, so it would cost a lot to get them up here when I've already paid a lot for the setup - plus I imagine it would only take 15 minutes to sort, or less...

Any help would be really appreciated. Thank you very much in advance to anyone who replies!

Mike.
 

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MikeinSevilla said:
I can't get (Sky Sports News, Extra, UK Eurosport 2 and others all on the same transponder: 12148 H)
That's a North beam transponder.
_http://www.lyngsat-maps.com/maps/astra2a_north.html
I guess it could be alignment too but I'm closer to the footprint here and I can't raise that transponder on the 1.5m. In Cataluña you could probably get it on a 50cm dish, but not in Sevilla.
 

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MikeinSevilla said:
Has anyone idea what it might be or anything I could try? is there another default transponder that would work? .

Changing the default transponder does not help in getting channels.

In SPain it is only used for "helping" the box boot up by getting certian information, that is normally on 11778, from another frequency.
Once you have some channels forget about the default transponder.

This can be prooved by the fact that if you go to sky news your sky box iwll look at 12207, the sky news frequency, totally overridering whatever frequency uyoou have manually input into your default transponder.


MikeinSevilla said:
The crazy thing is when I select the channels I can't get (Sky Sports News, Extra, UK Eurosport 2 and others all on the same transponder: 12148 H) the input 1 signal and quality shows nothing, but the input 2 is still 100%/90%!.

(You can add Hallmark (150) or SciFi+1, some of the movies channels, and some of the UKTV+1 services - they are all on the "north beam")

I would assume that its because input 1 is looking for the Sky Sports news Frequency - a north beam "tricky to get in spain" and cannot receive it. Input 2 will be looking at a channel you are recording or your last konwn channel.

These north beams can even be troublesome on a 2.4m dish...they require a accurate LNB skew (rotation), and good alignment. - even then they may not be available all day.

Half of the Sky HD channels are on these north beams, and half are on south beams, the latter being excellent to receive even on an 80cm dish!
 

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woborny said:
These north beams can even be troublesome on a 2.4m dish.
I put up an 80cm dish in Calpe today and that got 12480 and 12402 without any problem. Here I have terrible trouble even on the 1.5m.
 

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Even I have got them in calpe on 80cm dishes recently, but thats since their "transponder issues and swap" earlier this year....before then nada.

But still applies for the other dozen or so north beam frequencies.
 

MikeinSevilla

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Hi to all,

First of all thanks for the replies people. It really is appreciated and if it wasn't for forums like this, then I wouldn't have even got this far!

So, I suppose that if the signal strength is off the scale, that's because it is reading the default transponder very well, but struggles on the highest north beam frequencies. It just seems odd as signal strength here is marking much higher than what I was getting in Barcelona.

I've had all sorts of suggestions from installers on the south coast. From the infamous capacitor problem, to one guy saying it was the LNB and that although it was 0.1 he'd had problems if it wasn't Invacom or Televés. Don't know if any others have found this.

I suppose that's the only thing left for me to try. Problem is there seem to be no installers near Seville, so by the time they've come out, they've already charged 100-200 euros. Boo!

Any more suggestions gratefully received also.
 

MikeinSevilla

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One small thing I'd add is that the signal is going to be stronger round here than say Calpe guys, due to the coldspot there (Barcelona is bathed in a glorious 80cm-dish hotspot which I sorely miss!). All south coast installers say with a 1.35 dish I should be able to get the lot...

I'm going to play around with the LNB skew. I'm terrified of knocking the dish alignment out so will leave that for now. Second installer used the usual professional scanning equipment and said the signal was fine.
 

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I'm a tiny bit confused: The Thread title says you "can't get one Transponder".

Just to cut a swathe through the rest of it, are you actually successfully receiving any UK Channels at all. Do you mean there is one particular TP you can't get or do you mean you can't get any TPs?

You see, all this mega signal strength but no actual channels business normally points to the dish being on the wrong satellite, but I do appreciate that it has been assumed you actually are on 28E - although I appear to have missed the incontrovertible evidence for that.

If you can tell me you have resolved a UK Channel, I'll go back to bed!

Edit: Just seen your later comment about "professional scanning equipment", so I'll definitely go back to bed ...................
 

MikeinSevilla

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Hi Tivu,

I can get almost every channel - thankfully. But can't get Sky Sports Extra (Spanish footy and Champions League multi-match is on there, so I miss that one), Sky Sports News, Eurosport UK 2 amongst others. All those channels are on the same transponder I mention above.

Signal strength and quality are both of the scale....so I don't get it. An ideas?
 

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Well I certainly don't blame you for spreading the quest for enlightenment further (to Digital Spy) but most of those who have the faintest idea what they are talking about on there are here too ....... !

Let's hope I'm wrong and you get the missing "eureka!" bit of the jigsaw there, though, as we seem to have run out of steam :)
 

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MikeinSevilla said:
One small thing I'd add is that the signal is going to be stronger round here than say Calpe guys, due to the coldspot there (Barcelona is bathed in a glorious 80cm-dish hotspot which I sorely miss!). All south coast installers say with a 1.35 dish I should be able to get the lot...
Mate you are confusing 2 different things. The "cold" spot on the Costa Blanca must be due to a null in the pattern transmitted from Astra 2D. That has absolutely nothing to do with the footprint of Astra 2A North. BTW what are you using as a default transponder? If you are using a South beam transponder, that would show more signal than the Barcelona setup because the dish has almost 3x the capture area.
 

MikeinSevilla

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Aha! Sorry for my lack of knowledge Huevos... :)

Default Transponder is: 10.774 H / 22.0 / 5-6.

The only channels I can't get are the ones emitting from the transponder I mentioned in my first post.

Any suggestions? The LNB?

Thanks for the help.
 

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MikeinSevilla said:
Aha! Sorry for my lack of knowledge Huevos... :)

Default Transponder is: 10.774 H / 22.0 / 5-6.

The only channels I can't get are the ones emitting from the transponder I mentioned in my first post.

Any suggestions? The LNB?

Thanks for the help.

Well someone will eventually mention it, so why not me?

Do you have an "noisy" electronic devices close to the cable run that could be operating in L Band (Roughly 1-2GHz and corresponding to the Intermediate Frequency used to convey signals from LNB to Receiver)?

In the UK, DECT phones and Wireless Internet Hubs are key sources, but I have no knowledge of the equivalents where you are.

It would be something with a fundamental or strong harmonic at or close to 1548 MHz.

Do you have any joints, kinks or wallplates in your cable run, as these are the areas exploited by L Band emitters.
 

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Hi again Tivu,

Cable is fine. Cordless phone other end of house. No internet connection at all (that's another story!). So all those ruled out....
 

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MikeinSevilla said:
Hi again Tivu,

Cable is fine. Cordless phone other end of house. No internet connection at all (that's another story!). So all those ruled out....

Ok, but well worth mentioning.

Just to be absolutely sure, remove power from Cordless phone base and handsets ...........

Internet: Not the dreaded Telefonica "Sometime, maybe, never" ??
 

MikeinSevilla

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Having another look around. It's definitely the north beams that are the problem. 2A North & 2B north - can't get any of those channels. I think it's something to do with my setup. Installers on the south coast said with a 1.35cm dish I would be able to get the lot.

Looks like it's shell out another 200 euros or not have Sky Sports Xtra (sniff).
 

MikeinSevilla

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Having another look around. It's definitely the north beams that are the problem. 2A North & 2B north - can't get any of those channels. I think it's something to do with my setup. Installers on the south coast said with a 1.35cm dish I would be able to get the lot.

Looks like it's shell out another 200 euros or not have Sky Sports Xtra (sniff).
 

MikeinSevilla

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I unplugged the cordless and no joy....

Living down here is great. However getting things sorted isn't: telephone, internet...even water!!

But anyway, we digress. The telly's the most important anyway! (Well, maybe not as much as water). :)
 

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I live in Almeria not far from the border with Mercia.

My local installer tells me that North beam signals are very weak here and present problems with 1.3m dishes.

I have just upgraded to Sky HD and he was surprised to see that I could receive Discovery HD which I assume is a North beam channel.

I am using a 1.5m dish, 1.3m is the standard here, with a bog standard quad LNB. A larger dish may be your solution. See attached footprints, we are well outside the North beam footprint .
_http://www.onastra.co.uk/how-to-receive-astra/footprints/index.php

I would seek out other ex-pats to see what they are using / receiving.

Rsdw.
 

MikeinSevilla

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Thanks rsdw.

I contacted some installers nearer here over the weekend. Both say they have installed many in the Seville area, that the reception in this area is excellent. They say that with my set-up the dish size is fine, and that I should be able to get the lot.

It's probably a poor LNB, or the skew. So....I'm gonna try the skew tonight and if not bite the bullet or have a go at changing the LNB myself. We shall see.....
 
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