erratic satellite signal - new cable?

markyd23

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Hi guys, had an afternoon of re-doing and renewing! have 2 dishes about 100m away through the woods. Had problems with the 'invalid postcode' and lack of channels on freesat (is also sky dish) but after a wee adjustment and clean of the dish is better.

However, I put the meter on my sadly neglected motor dish (the one I have never been able to set up!) and picked sirius on the meter, got it locked and got a pic. All seemed fine but when back in the house on the technomate, nothing locked on sirius and strength and quality going madder by the minute, fluctuating from 20% to 70% and all points in between. As the meter worked fine by the dish, would this suggest the cable is on its way out? I used to get some success with my old silvercrest receiver but nothing with the technomate. Could the cable have been the problem all along? the meter would suggest motor, lnb & dish are all ok?
 

A nonymous

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As the meter worked fine by the dish, would this suggest the cable is on its way out?
No it suggests their isn't enough signal strength at the end of a 100m run. What sort of cable is it. Please don't say its RG6 or the cheap steel core aluminum wrapped crap that Sky use.

If signal strength is the issue try placing an inline sat amplifier in the cable. 100m is one hell of a run. Its probably low signal that could be causing the issue.

Stands a chance that the old Silvercrest had a slightly more sensitive tuner. I would also check all the connections just in case you have got a small bit of the outer braiding touching the inner part of the cable.

Nano
 

markyd23

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Yes, I have inline boosters for all the cables coming from the dishes, all the rest are fine and I get decent strength & quality with the boosters even with 100m. I would have imagined that any part of the outer braiding touching would result in no signal at all? I might try a replacement cable tomorrow
 

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Fluctuating from 20% to 70% would suggest a possible connection problem. Check connector terminations either end.
For a 100m run, would certainly recommend 1.25mm coaxial.
 

rolfw

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Possibly a line amp drawing too much power or failing as well.
 

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Can you post videos on here? might be useful to see how the signal is reacting
 

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Not really, the files will be too big, youtube it and link to it.
 

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Narrowed down the problems, just swapped the humax cable to the technomate, stable signal, scanned and full Astra 28 channels, so now to swap the cable at the dish end tomorrow and hopefully, finally get the motor dish set up at last. What's the current best satellite to start the arc from (bearing in mind I cannot get anything West because of the edge of the woodland)
 

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markyd23 said:
What's the current best satellite to start the arc from (bearing in mind I cannot get anything West because of the edge of the woodland)
5°W ideally for location but try either 1W or 5E. Don't forget the drive the motor to it's calculated position before alignment.
 

markyd23

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satelliteman said:
5°W ideally for location but try either 1W or 5E. Don't forget the drive the motor to it's calculated position before alignment.
Great, I think 5E is the furthest I will get but will try to get the others. Fingers crossed.........
 

markyd23

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Got thor on the meter but back to erratic in the house, I think new inline boosters & length of cable may be in order
 

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If you're putting new cables in try that without the amplifiers to start off with. The amplifiers will introduce a small amount of noise to the wanted signal and if you can do without them, so much the better.
 

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It might be worth looking at fibreoptic alternatives
 

markyd23

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Fibreoptic? how does that work?
 

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The coax is replaced with fibre-optic, so no loss over anything up to multi-km length runs.

You can also split the signal with optical splitters almost indefinitely.
 

rolfw

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The kit isn't cheap, but great for distances. You do need to maintain one coax for the LNB power.
 

markyd23

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Think am going to give up with the motor, am only really wanting 23E for the Czech channels and where the dish is is like a bloody wind tunnel! with no alternative. Had it ok then lost it later in the evening. Am going to cut my losses, remove the motor and put another fixed dish in for 23E. If I used a twin LNB what would I get with the 23E?
 

markyd23

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Any ideas if I would get another satellite with 23E if I used a twin LNB?
 

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By "Twin LNB" I assume you mean a Monoblock?

If so, these come in various types nowadays: Most common is the 6 degree version generally used for 13E and 19E, but there are 4.5 degree ones (introduced for 19E and 23.5E use) and even an adjustable one with maximum separation of 12 degrees.

So, the world is your lobster!

PS: At one time I used a 6 degree Monoblock quite successfully for 23.5E and 28.2E, on an 80cm dish.
 

markyd23

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Hi, yes it is a monoblock, I used to use it for 19E & 13E, would it be any use for another with 23E? (other than sky as I already have that and freesat)

Thanks
 
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