Dish set up

[chando]

HI, i have a FTA set from lidl years ago that i never really got around to installing. As i cant afford to afford to upgrade to sky nows the time use it. On the side of the house there is already a Free Sat dish pointing at Astra 28 with a quad LNB. If i plug my receiver into this i get Astra 28 and some channels on Astra 19. Annoyingly one of the channels i cant recieve is German Eurosport It comes up with a strong signal but low quality.

If i plug in the dish that came with the set i still cant get high quality. I have tried adjusting the skew, alignment and elevation but just cant seem to increase it. Its got a good line of sight so i assume i am missing something simple.

Any help would be appriceated

Thanks

Matt

 

[Lazarus]

Well you cannot get Channels from 19E on a dish pointing to 28E ............

I imagine you've fallen into the common trap of scanning a "Satellite" labelled 19E and assumed that any Channels detected are actually from 19E. They are not. They're Channels from 28E that share similar parameters like frequency and symbol rate.

It's actually because of the very narrow beamwidth that Satellite TV has that even adjacent Satellite positions can use similar parameters - a boon for optimising capacity.

 

[chando]

True, but i did plug in a separate dish and point it at 19E and still couldn't receive the channels.

 

[Lazarus]

As for using the dish that came with the kit, I imagine it's only about 40cm or so.

Should be ample for 19E, but alignment is a precise art and a small error in either Azimuth or elevation will mean a complete miss.

Also remember that Elevation must take account of the offset angle of the LNB arm, so eg a dish with a 24 deg offset used for a Satellite requiring an elevation of 26 deg (for example) will need the dish face to be pointing 2 degrees up from vertical, not 26 degrees.

 

[Lazarus]

True, but i did plug in a separate dish and point it at 19E and still couldn't receive the channels.

How do you know it was pointing at 19E ??

 

[chando]

Thanks. So in principle i am doing everything right i just need to fine tune the alignment?

 

[Lazarus]

Probably!

Be aware that you will get quiescent Signal Strength and Quality indications even if you point the dish at the ground - it just means the LNB is connected, powered up and illustrating noise.

It's upwards swings you are looking for. Then finish off by optimising Quality.


PS: Most punters chooisng not to get "Sky" and wanting 19E as well as Freesat right now are after FTA Formula 1.

If so, that's on RTL, not Eurosport. But your problem is the same, either way!

 

[chando]

Im using a Compass?

 

[Lazarus]

No benefit in that at all. Inaccurate, affected by metal (dish) and masonry etc.

Also, 19E is NOT at a bearing of 180 -19 = 161 deg .............. It depends on your location, geomagnetic factors etc. etc.

Sooooo ......................


Use Dishpointer (qv our Site Links at the top of the page)

 

[chando]

Ah i see. So its actually at 156. Whats the best way to align the dish without a compass then?

 

[Lazarus]

As stated, use Dishpointer then you can see exactly where to point it in the first instance, after which simply use small movements until you get something.

You can move the line of sight indicator on Dishpointer to the exact location of your mount. Also, you can use Dishpointer to check for obstructions in line of sight etc.

It sounds tricky, but once you've done it once, it starts to become instinctive.

 

[chando]

Thanks for the advice. I will give it all a try tomorrow

 

[chando]

Right i tried it all again today. Used all the tools mentioned to work out where the satellite is. Then using sat finder i tried to fully align the dish. I still only get 14% quality but high intesnsity. Could this be a sign that the LNB is duff?

 

[Mickha]

If the LNB was duff you probably wouldn't get any readings.
Are you sure you've done the cable connections correctly, with sufficient brading to allow contact to the F connector?
If you tilt the dish slightly does your signal quality go up?
Ignore the signal strength and concentrate on the quality, once you get to around 50% try a scan to check which satellite you're aligned to.

 

[chando]

The cable is fine as i have checked it on another dish with another LNB. I can not get above 14% at all. I can get some 19.2E channels on the other dish etc but not with this LNB

 

[Lazarus]

Please upload a selection of pictures ----- this often helps us resolve otherwise seemingly intractable installation problems.

Also, please remind us what LNB you are using.

 

[chando]

just a cheap universal one. Its just sat on a pole in the garden atm. But i did try putting it by the other one on the side of the house but no luck either

 

[Lazarus]

Yes, but what brand?

Some types eg Icecrypt and FSUKVN have an unusual construction which makes skew adjustment somewhat peculiar ..... thought I'd expect you to at least get some resluts even with nonsensical skew, if you are actually using one of those.

 

[chando]

It is a Comag i believe

 

[Lazarus]

Ah, yes - an old Lidl jobbie.

Running out of ideas now!