Newbie in need of help with unscientific setup test

[cable_guy]

I do like this forum as I get some enthusiasm back from you helpful folks after my latest round of disheartening trudging out to my dish and peering through the trees to this illusive bird.

I will go for another attempt at lining it up again tomorrow after work and see if I can persuade the Mrs to watch the signal screen of the sly box instead of Hollyoaks again!!!

 

[Archived-1]

lol c/g your best bet if you can is on a clear day get a portable tv on your decking and have a good play, my wife is no good looking at signals lol :-) but i still love her :-).

 

[cable_guy]

hi guys, I would like to report some good news in that I made a little progress! I got a signal reading on the sly box, attached.

My newxt question is - does the signal quality need to be 100% in order to watch any channels at all? I went to Options > Channels > and pressed the yellow buttons for "find channels" and it said "no signal", but that contradicts the Settings > Signal menu as attached here.

If I can get any sort of viewable picture, I am now thinking about getting a new quote from a pro to come and add some fixtures to my fence and line it up properly.....now I know that my proof of concept is not totally outrageous.

 

[Lazarus]

I've seen S ky boxes produce stable Channels with no discernible value shown!

Seriously, those bars are pretty fickle, but what you have there really should be more than enough.

But the absence of Network ID and Transport Stream is of concern.

I wonder if you are picking up a signal from the wrong Satellite still?

You could mark the current position of the azimuth and elevation adjustments so you can return easily to where you are now, then whack the dish a tiny bit further East again to the next Satellite. You may also need to depress the elevation a tiny bit.



Astra 3B at 23.5E has an active Transponder on 11778 V (Same parameters as BSkyB Default Transponder apart from FEC ........................!), so you could well be seeing that on your Signal Bars. I'd say it was highly likely. You are almost there.



PS: Don't spoil it by getting someone in - finish the job yourself!

 

[Captain Jack]

Totally agree with Tivu. Astra 1 at 19E also has the same transponder active so you could even be on that. Just follow Tivu's advice and you'll get there.

 

[Captain Jack]

Actually - another one... you could go into Sky box's add other channels menu and enter frequency parameters

Freq: 11778V
Symbol Rate (SR): 27500
FEC: 3/4

The above is Astra 1 at 19E. Change FEC to 9/10 if it doesn't scan... let us know what channels scan in and we'll tell you what satellite you're on.

 

[Lazarus]

Good point, CJ - I didn't get as far as looking at 19.2E as I'd assumed he'd already shoved it at least one Satellite further east from the previous time.

This is eminently crackable!

 

[cable_guy]

Actually - another one... you could go into Sky box's add other channels menu and enter frequency parameters

Freq: 11778V
Symbol Rate (SR): 27500
FEC: 3/4

The above is Astra 1 at 19E. Change FEC to 9/10 if it doesn't scan... let us know what channels scan in and we'll tell you what satellite you're on.

Thanks for the suggestion Capn,....Although it says no signal found on any of the FEC values available.....interestingly 9/10 was not one of these though.

Good point, CJ - I didn't get as far as looking at 19.2E as I'd assumed he'd already shoved it at least one Satellite further east from the previous time.

This is eminently crackable!

I thank you all so much for sticking with this!!!! I have renewed optimism today since seeing a signal for the first time. The stats have actually gone UP since it started raining too

 

[Lazarus]

Proof by supposition suggests it must be 23.5E, then: I know S ky boxes can only handle a limited set of Symbol Rates and it would appear they are FEC restricted too!

One 5 degree shove should crack it.

 

[cable_guy]

Wow! Thanks! I suppose I need to knock it slight bit further North then! I have attached a dishpointer estimation for just how tight the margins are we're talking here!

It's just trees in front of me as well, so I've not got much to reference with what I'm pointing at. Remember my sat dish is now screwed into half of a fence which blew away recently!!!

 

[Lazarus]

Not North ................ further Eastwards! ie Further to the right as seen from LNB towards dish, or to the left if looking from behind the dish.

It's precisely because of those margins that people get the wrong Satellite: We are talking very small changes - centimetre or so for azimuth (bearing) and even less for elevation. The hardest trick is to get any Satellite at all >> from now on in you'll find it much easier.


Dishpointer is fine to assess a rough starting point, but I have recently relocated a small dish by a mere five feet horizontally 'cos of tree problems: It was marginal on 28.5E where Dishpointer said I had line of sight, but is rock solid 100% in it's new empirical (Mark One Eyeball) position.

 

[cable_guy]

yes I should say Eastwards.

It's so tricky to do, I was surprised as I'm a fairly scientific and technical guy, and everyone I spoke to told me how easy it would be!

I suppose my heath robinson, unscientific "stand" for the dish is not helping me! If I find the quality of picture acceptable in my proof of concept, I was thinking of getting something like this http://www.systemsat.co.uk/ebayt/images/250mm_wall_mount.jpg but it doesn't support Zone 1 minidishes so i'd have to look for something similar.

 

[cable_guy]

Hi again all.

Am I right in thiking that if I hit 28.2 then my sly plus hd box will immediately read after "locked OK" something other than "Null" for the "network ID" and "transport stream" values?

Or will I need to change some settings on the receiver e.g. 3/4 7/8 etc?

thanks!

 

[Piltdownpaul]

I'm sure the network id should pop up, everytime ive installed a freesat box it comes up within a few seconds of locating 28.2E

 

[cable_guy]

I'm sure the network id should pop up, everytime ive installed a freesat box it comes up within a few seconds of locating 28.2E

ok cheers. cant find this bird for the life of me lol

 

[Channel Hopper]

A Sk y box can take considerably longer than other receivers. Use it in conjunction with the meter (which if you set to register slightly higher than zero with your hand over the LNB, might provide you with some noises/movement whenver you are near a useful satellite).

 

[cable_guy]

A Sk y box can take considerably longer than other receivers. Use it in conjunction with the meter (which if you set to register slightly higher than zero with your hand over the LNB, might provide you with some noises/movement whenver you are near a useful satellite).

thanks, thats a good tip about calibrating the meter

I just wanted to ensure theres nothing obvious I was missing to make the network ID appear like a setting, or like you say a decent pause but I have tried this

 

[cable_guy]

Hi all, thought I'd bump this as I'm no further on in my tests.........would a larger dish make "more certain" that I am getting a signal from the satellite?

 

[Lazarus]

Not really >> small dishes have wider beamwidth so are easier to align on strong Satellites.

 

[Mickha]

Did you ever buy a cheap satellite signal meter?
They only cost £6-£7 and do the job.
This will not only help you to find a satellite, and tune in the strongest signal, but will instantly tell you if your cabling is working, by lighting up.
It saves a lot of time, and trouble.