Completely lost for a solution. Any ideas?

[Liz Jupp]

We have an apartment in the south west of France and for the last fifteen years we have successfully had Freesat from a satellite dish on our balcony. It is literally on the other side of the wall from the TV and encoder and so only a short cable is required. In April of this year we bought a new dish because the other rusted to pieces. New one installed with zero problems. We kept the same encoder. About two weeks ago a strong wind blew a clothes drier onto the dish. It did not seem to do any damage but knocked it out of alignment. We managed to get it all back, using the “up a bit, down a bit” method as well as using the signal finder. I would say that the clarity of signal was a wee bit down and we had to go to another BBC region but apart from that was working well. Until one week later it went completely blank on us telling us that there was 0% signal. Nothing. The television works because we can get french television. We have changed the LNB just in case.we have completely renewed the cables going through the wall. We tried two new cables, one that we made up ourselves with all new pieces and one which we bought, ready made, from a television shop. We have two encoders and two television sets and swapping made no difference. The signal finder tells us that it is peaking in azimuth and elevation. We have unplugged everything and plugged it back after thirty seconds as a last resort. My husband is an engineer but he is stumped and I’m not a total ninny with this type of thing but we are now at a loss. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[ozumo]

Did you adjust the LNB skew - the rotation of the LNB in its holder?

It's possible the dish was damaged but is difficult to see. You could try the string test - run a string left and right across the face of the dish, and one up and down. Where the strings cross they should touch or be very close. There is a photo in this post where they have used many strings, but two should give an indication:

String test on offset dish

Just so I'm sure I've not missed anything obvious, the good old string test for warpage works as well on offset dishes as it does on PF doesn't it? I made the trip to Plymouth last night to collect my £1 Gibby and have it sitting on the lounge floor at the moment with quite a few lengths of...

www.satellites.co.uk

 

[Channel Hopper]

If you have maximum signal from the dish then the issue lies elsewhere.

You can try trying the meter indoors and if you still get the signal then you know it is not the cable run.

 

[ozumo]

When you say you use a "signal finder", is it a phone app?

 

[rodscha]

the signal is very strong at this period,
you should easily pick it up where you are...
you could try up Astra 1 on 19E that is booming,this would tell you whether the dish is warped or not...

 

[La Fargeotte]

It is badly aligned, and the skew perhaps also.
Maybe you need a proper installer to realign.
Where are you in SW France?

 

[Captain Jack]

Strong signal but no quality suggests that while it may be looking at a satellite, it's not looking at the correct one. Also try what others suggested.

 

[femi]

We have an apartment in the south west of France ........

Without seeing the damage, it is sure to remain a speculation. One or more pictures antenna, bracket, LNB recording would certainly be helpful.

Maybe it is
Az / El readjusted, etc.
Which measuring device?
Which maximum level, especially on the right satellite?

 

[rodscha]

you could be looking at ANOTHER sat,Astra 1/Hotbird/23East etc....
Then you have a signal ,but can t watch anything as the frequencies are different!
Try to scan what you get ,until something carries a name,then check Kingofsat ,you ll know what you re getting
Then,re-adjust for 28E

 

[Ferret]

Maybe its the encoder itself as you call it.

 

[Lazarus]

+1 for Wrong Satellite .......

 

[manic01]

I think wrong sat as well

 

[Offtensive]

It did not seem to do any damage but knocked it out of alignment. We managed to get it all back, using the “up a bit, down a bit” method as well as using the signal finder. I would say that the clarity of signal was a wee bit down and we had to go to another BBC region but apart from that was working well. Until one week later it went completely blank on us telling us that there was 0% signal.

From that it looks like something very subtle just knocked it completely out.

If the object hit the dish from the front, it could be that the LNB arm may have been damaged.

If you're using the signal finder on the phone, they can sometimes be thrown off by metal objects.