ITV / C4 & possible beam changes affecting fringe reception areas

[Analoguesat]

Hi.

I have just been reading through the thread and there are so many observations and theories that it is a bit confusing.

Is there any chance that one of the "techies" (like AnalogueSat) could post a summary of what the known facts are so far?

Thanks in advance.

Well to be honest we dont have any firm answers yet but a possible explanation has been put forward:

It seems that at least one of the transponders on Astra 2A was failing or was on the point of failure. To avoid problems if it/they blew during the day action was taken to protect the services by moving two frequencies onto the Astra 2B north beam.

2B north is known to be poor in the Canary Islands and surrounding areas, but favours Italy and the Central Mediterranean

 

[BLUEPLATINUM]

Well to be honest we dont have any firm answers yet but a possible explanation has been put forward:

It seems that at least one of the transponders on Astra 2A was failing or was on the point of failure. To avoid problems if it/they blew during the day action was taken to protect the services by moving two frequencies onto the Astra 2B north beam.

2B north is known to be poor in the Canary Islands and surrounding areas, but favours Italy and the Central Mediterranean

I thought 12402 & 12480 had always been on 2B North. That is certainly the info given on FlySat and LyngSat. The Flysat info has not been updated since 19 Feb 2009.

 

[deepbluesky]

I read the PDF and I don´t see where it says the footprint can be changed. Would you expect that it can be?

The footprint in the pdf shows as it was from 19.2E. Now at 31.5E it's like this: _http://www.ses-astra.com/business/en/satellite-fleet/satellite-list/astra2c/index.php
Maybe not the shape can be changed but for sure the region that it covers.

 

[Huevos]

I read the PDF and I don´t see where it says the footprint can be changed. Would you expect that it can be?

That satellite has worked from 3 orbital positions (19.2, 28.2 & 31.5). If the satellite antennas were aimed at the same point on the ground from each position they would produce a different footprint in each case just because of the different angle of attack. This is not the case here though. At 19.2 the beams were superimposed, at 28.2 they were arranged north/south, and at 31.5 they have been orientated east/west.

 

[Analoguesat]

I thought 12402 & 12480 had always been on 2B North. That is certainly the info given on FlySat and LyngSat. The Flysat info has not been updated since 19 Feb 2009.

Dunno - maybe I got them round the wrong way

 

[Zorba]

how it looks in cypress at the moment,on this freqency?
same strenth then bbc?

here everything okay,signal very strong!

Here in Cyprus 12.402 and 12.480 have doubled in strength . ITV (12.402)works on a 1.8m offset now and on a 1.5m it breaks up daytime but better in the evening. CH4 (12.480) is a bit weaker but I think will work okay on a 1.8/2m.
We could always get a lot of the sky package on a 1.5m like sky sports,the documentaries,the cartoons,the music video channels ,sky 1 and the entertainments.
2.4m for movies,sky sports extra/news/eurosport2.
2.7/3/3.8/4.2 for 2D from west to east in that order.
The only other problem in some situations is interference from Arabsat 26E on a couple of frequencies.

 

[ralphmagno]

hello to all,

too bad astra 2 d didn't get a little stronger in out area
ralph

 

[BLUEPLATINUM]

OK. I guess that it looks like these frquencies will not be returning to their original footprints.

Time for me "move house" I guess - as at present I have no ITV1 on 103 (and hence no recording). Luckily I can get ITV1 on 2D (horizontal) although not as reliably as the FTV versions on 2B North were.

We have also lost most of the C4 stable here because we relied on the Irish versions.

A very bad week for fringe reception in the West.

Good luck to those of you in the East for whom things have improved .... ENJOY!

 

[Ragnarok]

Umm thats not right - 2C was on air around 10960 at 28E! My list is wrong!

It was backup for 2d as well. joked some time ago that ex-pats outside the 2d beam should shoot 2d down so all the channels get backed up onto 2c.

 

[ladybug]

so if these frequencies don't return to their original footprints, and it looks as if they won't............. what can be done?

preferably with out moving house or Country etc

 

[Analoguesat]

Stick a bigger dish up!

 

[zorbua]

Stick a bigger dish up!

Pricisely so!... With my 1.2 Dish I can barely hang on to 12402 (The Itv channels, btw...Agatha Christie just came in now) the 12480 is ok no freezing...but I suppose now for the ITVs one needs a 1.5 Dish here in Malta.

 

[skyblueboy]

i have a 1.8 dish and am struggling to get a picture for more than a few hours
maybe my dish needs tweaking?

 

[Analoguesat]

String it - putfishing line across the face in three of four places. If there is more than a couple of mm difference in the middle the dish is warped & wont be performing very well.

 

[trigger]

Just a point about dishes and alignment. If you are getting 2D then your dish is probably peaked up on 2D. We are using 3.1M dishes for 2D here and because they are peaked for 2D then we still get nothing on 12402 etc. I´m sure if I realigned for 12402 then the 3.1M would be fine.

Must admit not tried yet but will do tomorrow

 

[zorbua]

i have a 1.8 dish and am struggling to get a picture for more than a few hours
maybe my dish needs tweaking?

Bet it does, If there is no physical damage to it and the lnb and cabling are ok....then it definetely needs alignment....and with a 1.8 m Dish in Malta not even the sky will be the limit... No seriously have a look at your Pole...make sure its a plumb line with a spirt level (very important) and then check the motor Latitude settings (if its motorised)
also check Dish Elevation.

 

[BombedOne]

Are these channels worth to watch?

2B North beam is only one which I can get here using 1.5m dish, but now my dish is aligned to 40E, so, does it worth rotating?

 

[Huevos]

Just a point about dishes and alignment. If you are getting 2D then your dish is probably peaked up on 2D. We are using 3.1M dishes for 2D here and because they are peaked for 2D then we still get nothing on 12402 etc. I´m sure if I realigned for 12402 then the 3.1M would be fine.

I don't buy this. The current positions (at 12:45 UTC) are 2A: 0.05N, 28.31E; 2B: 0.03S, 28.28E; 2D: 0.00N, 28.24E. When the thread got started 2A and 2B were about 0.10 further west and 2D was at 28.21E so they are all exactly where they should be. On a 3 metre dish those satellites are all within 1 dB of maximum signal if the dish is aligned on 28.2E.

A quick question, what size dish do you need there to receive 2A/B south beams? For me the north beams are about are nearly 12 dB down on the south beams. My theory is if the south beams were turned off the north beam would be easy.

 

[43JTA]

Just a point about dishes and alignment. If you are getting 2D then your dish is probably peaked up on 2D. We are using 3.1M dishes for 2D here and because they are peaked for 2D then we still get nothing on 12402 etc. I´m sure if I realigned for 12402 then the 3.1M would be fine.

Must admit not tried yet but will do tomorrow

Let me know how you get on Trigger.... oe better still try it on mine;)

 

[geoffreys]

OK. I guess that it looks like these frquencies will not be returning to their original footprints.

Time for me "move house" I guess - as at present I have no ITV1 on 103 (and hence no recording). Luckily I can get ITV1 on 2D (horizontal) although not as reliably as the FTV versions on 2B North were.

We have also lost most of the C4 stable here because we relied on the Irish versions.

A very bad week for fringe reception in the West.

Good luck to those of you in the East for whom things have improved .... ENJOY!

ENJOY - We ARE! Nice to see Heartbeat and other stuff on ITV1, and Deal or No Deal etc on Ch4. Not to mention Big Brother. As I said in an earlier contribution, about time Cypress had a break; Thanks Astra SES and SKY.