New member in the Czech Republic (Ostrava) with Sky

[Pezkuv 2012]

Holy thread resurrection Batman :-)

I started this thread a few years ago and have been enjoying most of the channels ever since, however, I just upgraded my Sky account to include some more channels and the upgrade hasn't worked. Is it possible that the upgrade didn't work because I am out of range, or could there be another reason? I wanted Sky Movies. Is it possible that the upgrade signal wasn't received?

All the best,

Paul.

Hi Paul et al,

I've recently bought a holiday home south of Ceske Budejovice - looks like it's becoming popular having read through some of these threads! i've brought over a 85cm dish (non perforated) with a Sharp BS1R8EL200A Twin Universal LNB and a PACE 6.3.18 Sky Plus decoder (Version 97225) and connected it up using 75 Ohm coax. I've pointed it at the Astra satellite stack and the Signal test on the Sky Settings screen is showing nothing - not a flicker. i realise i'm using budget kit, but I would have expected at least something :-(

I'm a ex-military signaller (scaley) and so I'm not a complete muppet when it comes to Satcom and I'm happy the azimuth/elevation are good enough for a signal without a bit of kit plugged in it to check the reception - so I'm wondering, if it can't see Astra 2D because the dish is too small and we're out of the fringe realistically, does this mean I need a new generic decoder because this one is set up only for the UK & won't register any other satellite signal?

Your valuable advice is welcome gents, many thanks in advance!

Paul C

 

[Captain Jack]

I'm happy the azimuth/elevation are good enough for a signal without a bit of kit plugged in it to check the reception

How do you know if you have nothing to tell you that you have signal? 1cm out in either direction and the signal is lost. Not sure about your dish size for 2D reception - might be a little optimistic at best but you should get other sats at the same location with decent strength. But you need to make sure you are a) getting a signal and b) getting a signal from 28.2E...

 

[Pezkuv 2012]

Hi Captain Jack,

Many thanks for responding. I understand that the 2D is certainly optimistic, however as you say i was expecting to see at least some sort of signal from another satellite. I'm using the System Setup signal test page to determine whether I'm receiving anything as i'm assuming (and we all know where that can get us!) that anything coming into the decoder will show here?

Will this Sky issued decoder lock onto any signal or just 2D?

Warm Regards

Paul

 

[Captain Jack]

Sky's box looks on frequency 11778V for signal, which is on Astra 2A and has plentiful signal in CZ. If you're not getting any signal, you dish is either misaligned, aligned on a wrong satellite, LNB fault or cabling fault. Get a cheap signal beeper - it will help immensely in alignment.

 

[Lazarus]

The Signal Test on Sky Boxes is very crude indeed - I've come across boxes where the bars bear no relationship to what a proper meter would show and they can therefore mislead. Also, the bars are slow to respond so every movement of the dish must be in small increments and time allowed for any indication to show itself.

In any event, the criteria for dish alignment for digital reception are very tight indeed.

Whilst an azimuth error of a few tenths of a degree might be tolerable where the EIRP is otherwise adequate, a similar error in elevation can mean a total "miss".

Extrapolate the error over a distance of 24000 miles and you can imagine there will be significant undershoot or overshoot.

Then there is the matter of LNB skew ...............

 

[Pezkuv 2012]

Legend - thanks Captain Jack, will let you know how I get on!

Best regards

Paul

 

[Pezkuv 2012]

Thanks Tivu, appreciated - will let you know how I get on.

Cheers!

 

[Pezkuv 2012]

Dear All,

I just wanted to add this info to the thread now we're up and working thanks to all of your collective input - appreciated thank you.

To recap our setup: We're located south of Ceske Budejovice using an 85cm dish (non perforated) with a Sharp BS1R8EL200A Twin Universal LNB and a PACE 6.3.18 Sky Plus decoder (Version 97225) and connected it up using 75 Ohm coax. Dish is mounted 3 feet off the floor on a metal stake facing 28.2 East, 4 degree Skew (anti clockwise as you look at the dish), 34 degrees elevation.

We've got 85% signal strength and are receiving all the BBC & Freeview channels on Astra 2D with crystal reception - a complete list of channels we receive can be found here:

=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_free-to-air_channels_at_28°E

Sadly, no Discovery or Dave, but you can't have everything :-)

Should any forum members require a bit of help, we'd thoroughly recommend TA Service sro based in Ceske Budejovice. You can get them on Czech mobile 602 475 685 and although English is limited he's a good chap and is very good value for money - not like the rip off merchants up in Prague we've come across previously.

Good luck & thanks again,

Paul

 

[MoneyBagger]

Astra 2D is redundant now, everything has moved over to 1N. This is why you can receive the BBC/Freeview channels on an 85cm dish. Previously you needed a 1.8m dish in Prague to get the BBC/ITV channels 24/7 on Astra 2D. You can now pick up everything on a 80cm dish 24/7 in Prague.

Enjoy it while it lasts though! Once 1N moves back to its originally intended spot of 19.2e after 2F is launched and operational in the later stages of 2012, the footprint for the BBC/ITV channels is not expected to be as strong over Europe as it is now. Will be a guessing game over what size dish you'll need then....