Newbie needs advice on dish & system

G

gitbash

Member
My Satellite Setup
Simple start-up satellite system, building up.
My Location
Farnborough, Hampshire
Hi,

I've only just joined this forum, having already gleaned much very helpful knowledge from existing threads, so thanks!

I live in Farnborough (down south), and I have a French wife & 3 half-French kids. With the help of this forum I've just entered the world of satellite telly.

My current system (which I bought from Maplins last weekend):
43cm elliptical dish and simple Fortec FS-4000v2 receiver.

I wanted to start simple and build up from there once I knew what I was doing. My target is to have both UK and French digital FTA in several rooms in the house. I understand that I will need 2 separate dishes aligned to different satellites, ASTRA for UK, and Atlantic Bird 3 for French.

So far I have ditched the single LNB for a Quad, and, with the aid of a satellite finder (worth every penny, as you know), managed to get perfect reception for UK channels from Astra 28.2E. Having now got the hang of programming the receiver (I deliberately didn't buy a Freesat one), I am now ready to go to the next stage, which is where I need some advice:

1. I cannot get a signal when aligned with Atlantic Bird 3 @5.0W; The satellite finder has a weak signal, but the signal is not strong enough to convince the receiver. I am not surprised at this result, as I always thought that I would probably need a bigger dish to receive from AB3. If I buy a 90cm dish will this be the answer? Or is there something else I need to do? (I will keep the 43cm dish for ASTRA)

2. I want to be able to watch UK and French on the same telly; What is the most sensible way of mixing the 2 satellite signals? Do I need a separate receiver for ASTRA & AB3, or is there some way of feeding into a single set top box? I had thought about buying a box with 2 x LNB ins, but was advised by the chap in Maplins that the 2 "ins" were necessary for HD, and would not do what I wanted. Bearing in mind that I will have 2 dishes, each with Quad LNBs, I would prefer to buy only 4 receivers (i.e. one for each telly), not 8! (BTW, I know I could probably piggy back from one receiver to each telly, but I want to be able to select different channels in each room).

I did a bit of a search before posting this, but I couldn't find anything quite this specific.

I look forward to your answers and help.

Thanks very much,

Gitbash
 
Hi,

5W can be picked up on a small dish too, the reason why you can't pick anything up with the Elliptical dish is I expect it is a a Sky/Freesat minidish. The skew adjustment range is very limited, and maybe not enough to set the skew for 5w.

To feed two LNBs to one receiver, very simple, use a Diseqc 1.0/2.0 switch, and make the appropriate settings in the receiver.
 
5W is the strongest Satellite receivable in the UK and requires only a smal Dish.

We have a Sky Zone 1 with a standard Sky LNB and although the Skew cannot be set correctly, it receives all Channels at blockbuster strength.

Your problem is almost certainly failure to align correctly.

5W is at the peak of the arc, near enough, so you must raise the Dish Elevation a few degrees compared to that which applies for 28E.

Apart from that, you just cannot miss 5W!
 
Yes AB3 is very strong easily received on a zone1 with minimum skew setting.

Separate dishes, quad LNb's and DiSEqC switches for how ever many receivers you may have :)
 
Thanks for the quick replies, guys.

I will have to do my homework regarding scew.

Will I be able to set up my el-cheapo receiver for use with a Diseqc, or will I need a more upmarket receiver?

Here is the blurb on the Maplins page for my dish:

43cm Elliptical Mesh Mini-Dish
* Zone 1 Mini-dish suitable for SKY
* Oval dish 46 x 53cm
* Replacement dish for existing digital satellite viewers currently found in the majority of homes in the UK
* Suitable for freesat, free-to-air, Sky and other satellite reception
* Comes complete with 0.6NF single LNB and is extremely easy to install (Note I have ditched the LNB)

I will try the dish with more elevation.

I will let you know how I get on.

Thanks again

Gitbash
 
Yes, el cheapo will do the job nicely with a DiSEqC switch.
 
Evenin' all

Good news: Tried again tonight, and BINGO! The 5 French channels I was expecting. I'm not exactly sure what I did differently, but I think I gave the dish more elevation, and maybe previously I wasn't quite far enough west. I adjusted scew, but it didn't seem to make much difference; It worked whether the LNB was vertical, or had about 30-40º scew, so I left it vertical.

Just ordered a £4.95 Diseqc switch from eBay. If it works I will buy some more.

Thanks for your help. I'll keep you posted on progress

Gitbash
 
Update:
Fixed both dishes to the wall at the weekend. used a whole 100m reel of coax in the loft! Diseqc switch arrived from eBay yesterday. Plugged in, learnt to programme the ports on the receiver (easy once you know which buttons to press).

Now have English & French (and more) in the bedroom.

Ordered 3 more Diseqc switches on eBay.

Next stop: 42" plasma in the lounge, and hook up sat in kids bedrooms.
 
Well done, result.:)
 
Splendid stuff.

Well done :)
 
Hello again,

Thanks for all the encouragement.

Well, it's a few weeks on and I feel like an old hand now!

Today my boss kindly gave me his (1 year) old "HUMAX Easy Digital FOXSAT-HD with freesat HD" receiver.

I plugged it in tonight, expecting to be able to select ports 1, 2, etc for different satellites via the DisEqc switch, but there does not appear to be an option for multiple dishes. The menu has various options/settings which I am able to change, but the "Satellite" option says 28.2E (no surprise as it is a freesat box), but the "28.2E" is "greyed-out", as if this option is not able to be modified.(i.e. I cannot change to select any other satellites other than 28.2E)

Is there any way I can unlock the satellite option on this receiver and hook up to my other dish (AB3)?, or am I stuck with only ASTRA because it's freesat? There is no mention of this in the instruction booklet. Interestingly, my "el-cheapo" Fortec receiver allowed this with no problems, yet this more expensive box won't.

As always, your help would be most appreciated.

p.s. Now the proud owners of a 50" LG 1080 telly! this and the sat brings a whole new meaning to televisual entertainment.:)

Cheers,

Gitbash
 
Yes.

You need to carry out a Manual Tune (non-Freesat scan) on 28E before it lets you get access to other Satellites.

Then you can assign DiSEqC Ports, also via the Manual Tune Menu Tree (Red Green Yellow Blue Green Yellow Blue is the entry code).

To use AB3 as well as 28E, you'll need a 2 Port DiSEqC switch (A fiver from fleabay etc.)

As it requires a bit of User familiarity, rather than us take you through it key by key, have a look at _http://foxsat.wikispaces.com/

Give it a go and then come back with any queries.

I do, however, have a feeling you might need to perform a fresh Installation to allow it to go from single LNB mode to DiSEqC but can't rightly remember - But you'll soon find out!
 
Thanks, Gordon.

I tried a non-freesat scan = no luck. (satellite still greyed-out)
I tried factory reset, including keying in my new postcode and a software update, followed by another non-freesat scan = no luck.

The only difference I can make out between freesat and non-freesat settings is the ability to edit channels: There are 3 channel editing options: 1=edit channel list, 2=edit favourite list & 3=edit customisable channels. In freesat mode all 3 edit options are available, but in non-freesat mode the options 2 & 3 are greyed-out.

The only flicker of hope was when, during (or straight after) factory reset, one of the info fields (can't remember exactly which) stated something like "DiSEqC channel A", which made me believe that at least the box had identified that there was a DiSEqC switch in the line.
Also, under setup>software update>manual update there is a "list" of satellites (which NOT greyed out); I can access this list, but the only sat on the list is 28.2E, and there doesn't appear to be any way of adding more. Interestingly the name displayed is "freesat 28.2E", not ASTRA etc, so it makes me think that maybe boxes marketed with the freesat logo are setup to allow only 28.2E

I can't find any other options or settings which will allow access to the satellite option.

It's doin' my 'ed in!!

It won't be the end of the world if I can't get it working, as the box was a freebie and I still have my other 2 Fortec boxes working fine.

Thanks once again

Gitbash
 
No, the Foxsat is perfectly well multi-sat capable: Mine was originally set up for Motor control but is now used with a DiSEqC switch. Fixed Port for 28E and the other Port goes to a feed from one of my Motorised dishes, so it is truly flexible.

I suspect you are just suffering from finger trouble, so I commend a deep breath, a re-read of the linked article and some further fiddling and twiddling.

Regret to say this is one of those issue that we could sort out in one minute flat on site, but is blotty hard to express in words!

Keep trying!!
 
On further consideration, go to Manual Tune and enter the colour key code.

Then go into Antenna Setting: There are then two choices, Antenna Setting and another Manual Tune line (Ignore for now - this is where you go later to start scanning).

In Antenna Setting, there are a further two choices: First go into Antenna Type and select Fixed, then go into Satellite Setting

You access the full Satellite list in there, activating all those of interest and assigning DiSEqC.

When you exit and go back into Manual Tune you should find your list now contains all your desired Satellites. If you inadvertently back up too far, you'll have to enter the colour keys again.

It is just a case of familiarity. Specifically, read this page _http://foxsat.wikispaces.com/Setting+up+DiSEqC again before you start. You must have done a Manual Scan on 28.2E to enable the second DiSEqC feed .
 
Good evening Gordon, or can I call you GOD for short?

You are an absolute star! I did exactly what you said, and got the desired result. I see what you mean about being easy to do, but difficult to explain. Hovering over the relevant field and pressing the colour sequence is a bit of a leap of faith isn't it, as the menu gives you absolutely zero indication that there are any more functions hidden beneath. Where the hell do you learn about the colour sequence? There is absolutely no hint of this in the user manual.

Anyway, once again you have come up trumps.

Just been to Maplins to buy some more F plugs, so hopefully tonight the boys will have sat in their bedroom.

thanks very much

Terry
(gitbash)
 
Very well done!

You're right about the effect of the colour key sequence - but they do things like that to prevent wives and children getting into them bowels and mucking things up ....................

Enjoy playing :)
 
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