Dish install location - Advice before i do the install - Pictures attached

[techmob]

i will try tring now and let you know..

i think i should be seeing more signal on 16e. deffo need more signal as the footy is on 16e.

sky uk is also quite low on 75% , i would of thought 100% myself

 

[techmob]

on tring sport news 11282

i get 64% signal.. what should i be getting?

thanks

 

[techmob]

question regarding USALS

i have used my sat nav to get my correct long and lat

however i need to adjust the long and lat on the dreambox different to what the sat nav is to get a good signal on the sats.

is it important to use the correct long and lat and instead move the rig to accomplish the signal or can you just alter the long and lat to get the better signal?

thanks

 

[Lazarus]

Altering Lat and Long (the Longitude is more critical) only works if the misalignment is small (a degree or so) - many of us alter Long a bit to cater for backlash, wind disruption etc, but it's a palliative only.

The proper solution is to enter the correct Lat/Long and go shove the assembly around the pole.


BTW, it isn't uncommon for folk in UK to fail to ensure West (or Minus) is applied for Long. Do check!

 

[techmob]

yea it is applied as west.

what sort of signal % should i be seeing on satellites with a 1m dish?

i am seeing the following (only tested up to now, after tweaking the longitude)

0.8w BBC World = 89%
4e AL Jazeera children = 75%
4.8e Channel 5 (Ukraine) = 96%
7e Al Jazera Eng = 58%
9e AFN Atlantic = 84%
10e UP10foxtrot = 64%
13e AXN = 84%
16e My music = 57%
19.2e Barca TV = 91%
28.2e BBC 1 London = 81%

i do not seem to get 26e (should i be able to?)

i have not tried further west than 0.8w yet

what other sats should i be seeing or what sort of signal should i be getting, do the above look right?

thanks

 

[Lazarus]

Not possible to say, as there is simply no means of properly comparing Strength readings from one system to another due to all sorts of factors such as the metering characteristics of your receiver and other variables such as the type and length of cable connected, the LNB etc. etc.

The only value in Strength readings is for optimisation of your own system ie They are, for all practical purposes, relative rather than absolute.

As for 26E, the answer is "yes" and "no".

The reason is that it is difficult to prevent 26E reception being "swamped" by 28E with dishes up to about 1m. Above that, it's easier as the beamwidth is narrower.

A trick is to enter the position as (say) 25.6 deg rather than 26 ........... just play around and you might get lucky.

 

[techmob]

ok but there must be a general figure for example 28.2e. i would of thought i should hit 100% on a 1m dish considering i can get a really good signal on a small sky dish.

thanks

 

[Lazarus]

As implied, 100% of what, exactly ................ ?

Relative readings are

a. All that matters

b. All you'll get

Also, some Receivers have marked AGC characteristics that actually result in an unfeasibly low apparent Strength reading if you use a big Dish on a strong Satellite.

Part of the hobby is finding out all this stuff for yourself, by experiment!

And I've already told you you cannot compare boxes, so Sky readings are entirely irrelevant. Yours may well say 100%, but my neighbours says Zero and mine says 75%. So what?

 

[sonnetpete]

Just to underline what my learned friend has said, 28.2°E produces figures in the high 80-90% range on my VU+. Hooking up the DrHD, (same dish and LN it displays 70 -80%, so don't take too much notice of readings from differing setups and receivers.

I can receive most of the stronger 26°E transponders on my TD88 multisat, though using an Inverto Black Ultra. You might struggle to get anything in North Wales but I'm sure someone from that neck of the woods will confirm or disprove my theory.

When you've familiarised yourself with and refined your setup you'll no doubt feel the need to tinker. (don't worry, it comes to us all) I'd be tempted to realign the setup using 5°W as your due south sat. I think North Wales lies between 3°W and 4°W longtitude so that sat may be nearer to South than 0.8°W. Just a passing thought, so please don't try it when you've just got it working and undo everything!!!

 

[TJExcalibur]

ok but there must be a general figure for example 28.2e. i would of thought i should hit 100% on a 1m dish considering i can get a really good signal on a small sky dish.

thanks

I am on the south coast and have spent hours refining my dish alingment and don't get anywhere near 100% on any sat. Does anyone?

 

[techmob]

ok fair enough.

i just didn't know at what point would be the best signal to stop at. as sometimes you can tweak to much and then end up worse off than before.


i suppose time will tell

 

[Lazarus]

Exactly so


All part of the fun.

 

[satelliteman]

Slight tweaking maybe in order for 26e.

 

[techmob]

would you say i am bang on the arc if i am getting the following?

0.8w BBC World = 89%
4e AL Jazeera children = 75%
4.8e Channel 5 (Ukraine) = 96%
7e Al Jazera Eng = 58%
9e AFN Atlantic = 84%
10e UP10foxtrot = 64%
13e AXN = 84%
16e My music = 57%
19.2e Barca TV = 91%
28.2e BBC 1 London = 81%

and only minor tweaking needed from this point?

 

[satelliteman]

I personally never use a receiver for signal confirmation for the reasons stated above. Only a satellite meter giving dBuV measurements will give you an accurate account of how well your system is aligned.

You could plug in another identical receiver and have a completely different result.

 

[aceb]

Yes, some of the signals on 4, 5, 8W often hit 100/100 on clear days but as has been mentioned already it's generally meaningless, useful for comparing signals from time to time to see if anything has changed but little else.

On my 1m Gibertini and Inverto BU the BBC World Middle East signal on 26E is about 90/80% on my 7301 but the back/forward adjustment of the LNB in the clamp is critical for best signal on 26E. The old Best LNB doesn't get anything on 26E as it's swamped from 28E. You could try the radio stations on 25.5E they are very strong here and more in the clear being another 0.5° away from Astra, once you've peaked that one try nudging round and look for 26E. 12245V is the strongest transponder I have on 26E. Bare in mind with all this I'm on the southeast coast and that will make a huge difference to some of these signals at the edge of their footprints.

 

[techmob]

cool. well i don't see 26e yet but from what you and others have said there is more involved getting this sat and it seems i am not just going to hit it like the others.

you have a good signal on 26e with the same dish and lnb, i would like to think i could at least see it (i take it south is stronger than north?)

Yes, some of the signals on 4, 5, 8W often hit 100/100 on clear days but as has been mentioned already it's generally meaningless, useful for comparing signals from time to time to see if anything has changed but little else.

On my 1m Gibertini and Inverto BU the BBC World Middle East signal on 26E is about 90/80% on my 7301 but the back/forward adjustment of the LNB in the clamp is critical for best signal on 26E. The old Best LNB doesn't get anything on 26E as it's swamped from 28E. You could try the radio stations on 25.5E they are very strong here and more in the clear being another 0.5° away from Astra, once you've peaked that one try nudging round and look for 26E. 12245V is the strongest transponder I have on 26E. Bare in mind with all this I'm on the southeast coast and that will make a huge difference to some of these signals at the edge of their footprints.

 

[wod]

sounds like the dish is aligned up ok, you need to check the west satellites as the dish could be pointing up too high or too low and double check the motor elevation setting could have slipped when you tighten the bolts up etc.

good job you wasn't installing a polar mount and 36v actuator on that dish, you would have had some fun doing that

 

[Mickha]

You might want to alter 16E to 15.8E, just to see if you improve the signal.

 

[techmob]

Silly question but how would I do that?