Loss of Channels at Night

B

beckers

Member
My Satellite Setup
Freesat Bush on a 2.4 mtr dish and quad LNB. Also running old Sky Grundig box off one of the feeds.
My Location
Costa Blanca North
I am new to this and would very much appreciate any help anyone could provide. I have a 1.9m Portuguese dish with a quad LNB. I have hanging off this a Bush HD freesat box and in another room a Grundig Sky box. I get much better reception on the newer Bush box but the the Grundig has a much longer cable run. The problem I have had over the last few months particularly in the night time (after 9pm) loss of all BBC channels. I have tried all UK postcodes and found that my strongest signal is from a Liverpool postcode which enables me to access ITV HD which only breaks up near midnight. I have lost all sight of ITV 2 after 6pm. I have recently added a Signal cable strength booster to one of the cable runs that boosts the signal strength from 70 to near 100%.

I am based on the Costa Blanca near Javea in Spain. I have invested in a digital sat meter and set the dish to focus on the strongest signal for Freesat. I can see there were some recent changes to channels and transponders and I suspect these changes are the cause of my frustration. Has anybody any suggestions which may enable me to watch the BBC channels until later in the evening?
 
First point - unless your cable run exceeds 40m or so, take it out: It's Signal Quality that is important, not Strength and a "Booster" amplifies noise as well as wanted signal so will degrade your Signal to Noise Ratio.

Second point - Your User Profile mentions 2.4m dish yet your post says 1.9m. Please clarify - and also state what LNB you are using.

Third point - aligning to the strongest signal is ok as a first step, but you then need to fine tune the alignment on a weak signal.
 
The Costa Blanca is about the worst place in Spain for reception of the BBC & ITV channels that are carried on Astra 2D.

To be honest theres not much you can do about it apart from put up a MUCH bigger dish, or wait for the channels to migrate off Astra 2D as she comes to the end of her life at 28E - and hope the situation gets better for you..
 
Well thanks for the info. I have a 2.4m dish. I have what I believe to be, a Invacom c120 quad LNB. I have removed the amplifier and my BBC1 signal quality (BBC West Midlands) has gone from 30 to 50% so fingers crossed! Thanks for your prompt responses.
 
Just an update. I carried out some pretty extensive fine tuning using a digital sat finder meter and a portable tv. I then established that the best TV signal on Freesat in Costa Blanca comes using the Granada TV region postcode. I can now get ITV 1 HD all night. BBC1 (BBC1 HD is the strongest region I receive) is much better but starts breaking up around 11pm. I have noticed that the angle of the end of the feedhorn is not exactly central to the middle of the dish, its a couple of degrees off centre, so I am wondering if I re align so its exactly straight if that will enable my viewing of BBC1 to continue through the night?
One other interesting point C4 HD is giving a 100% signal quality at all times!
 
The rotational angle of the feedhorn is the "skew" and should be optimised to enable best reception of both H and V polarised signals: Unfortunately, doing it by calculation is a bit of a waste of time for 28E as, unlike all other Satellite positions, some "pre-skew" is applied up there in space!

So the thing to do is try it by experiment - mark the current position so you can return to it, then see what results you get with it a couple of degrees first one way then the other.

The "fore and aft" position of the feedhorn can also be adjusted, should you feel brave.
 
beckers said:
Just an update. I carried out some pretty extensive fine tuning using a digital sat finder meter and a portable tv. I then established that the best TV signal on Freesat in Costa Blanca comes using the Granada TV region postcode. I can now get ITV 1 HD all night. BBC1 (BBC1 HD is the strongest region I receive) is much better but starts breaking up around 11pm. I have noticed that the angle of the end of the feedhorn is not exactly central to the middle of the dish, its a couple of degrees off centre, so I am wondering if I re align so its exactly straight if that will enable my viewing of BBC1 to continue through the night?
One other interesting point C4 HD is giving a 100% signal quality at all times!
Click to expand...

C4HD is transmitting off Astra 1N not 2D.
 
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