Question from Berlin

[FlyingChimp]

HI I'm really hoping to get some help with a perplexing SKY installation problem.

I'm trying to set up Sky in Berlin. I am getting some channels and not others. I'm not talking about BBC, ITV etc, I know they moved away a while back. I'm getting some Astra 2E European beam shows quite clearly, but others not at all.

So, I get Universal HD, SyFy HD, Fox HD. I will get these in relatively bad weather [rain, cloud]. When tuned to one of these channels I get an ok signal strength and high quality under Settings.

Sky Atlantic HD, Sky Sports 1HD, Sky 1HD I don't get at all. When tuned to one of these channels there is no signal.

I had presumed you either got a signal for Astra 2E or not. I'm guessing it has something to do with the different frequencies. DO I simply need a bigger dish / better reception to cover all the frequencies?

Can anyone explain what is going on. Any help would be really, really appreciated.

Many thanks,
Alec

 

[Analoguesat]

Hi Alec, welcome to the forum.

What size dish are you using? Astra 2E is parked marginally further away from the other two (28.5E rather than 28.2E) A big dish needs optimising more than a small one, but a very big dish needs to be set up as a trade off beteween 28.2 & 28.5E


The channels you list are also all high band horizontal - have a look here:

http://www.flysat.com/astra28.php

and see if anything else you are missing is also High band horizontal. (High band = above 11700khz)

 

[FlyingChimp]

Many thanks for getting back to me. I very much appreciate it. I'll pass the info on to the German guy who's been up on my building's roof trying to sort things out.
I'm guessing my problem is simply that I don't have a big enough dish. Mine is 90cm, when it probably should be 120cm.
Thanks for the link. Unfortunately, while many of the channels I don't get are in a high band, there are others, like Film 4HD, which is 12363 V, which I do get!
Once again, thanks for your time!
Alec

 

[rolfw]

There can also be a big difference between vertical and horizontal signals in fringe reception, your suspicion that your dish simply isn't big enough is probably right.

 

[hairybadger]

There can also be a big difference between vertical and horizontal signals in fringe reception, your suspicion that your dish simply isn't big enough is probably right.

My reading of the footprint map is that he should be OK with a 90cm for 2E. Berlin is well inside the 90cm contour for the Europe beam. Does this qualify as fringe?

Edit: contour? Is there a suitable "iso-" word to use here? If there is, I can't find it...

 

[timo_w2s]

I'd also be quite surprised if signals from 2E and 2F where difficult to get in Berlin although it is in a bit of a "null" between the main beam and Polish hot spot. SES seem to suggest 80-90cm would be fine and they tend to be a bit pessimistic with their maps. We really need someone local to confirm signal levels.

 

[rolfw]

Well assuming that the dish and LNB are of reasonable quality, the guy who's been working on the dish knows what he's doing and is aware of the importance of skew adjustment, then the reasonable assumption is that the dish isn't big enough, or even perhaps, the Sky box is on its way out.

 

[egghead]

HI I'm really hoping to get some help with a perplexing SKY installation problem.

I'm trying to set up Sky in Berlin. I am getting some channels and not others. I'm not talking about BBC, ITV etc, I know they moved away a while back. I'm getting some Astra 2E European beam shows quite clearly, but others not at all.

So, I get Universal HD, SyFy HD, Fox HD. I will get these in relatively bad weather [rain, cloud]. When tuned to one of these channels I get an ok signal strength and high quality under Settings.

Sky Atlantic HD, Sky Sports 1HD, Sky 1HD I don't get at all. When tuned to one of these channels there is no signal.

I had presumed you either got a signal for Astra 2E or not. I'm guessing it has something to do with the different frequencies. DO I simply need a bigger dish / better reception to cover all the frequencies?

Can anyone explain what is going on. Any help would be really, really appreciated.

Many thanks,
Alec

hi alec

i'm not good with the technicalities but i live slightly to the north of berlin in brandenburg and had a uk sky subscription until the beginning of this year. i lived in friedrichshain until the end of 2012, so can give some indication of what worked for me, if it helps

in friedrichshain, i used an 80cm dish and was able to receive all 2a and 2f european beams 24/7 (2e hadn't arrived by the time i moved out into the sticks). the dish was a no-name brand, and i lived fairly high up in the apartment block where i was, so there was no impediment to the signal through eighbouring buildings, trees etc.

i kept sky when i moved into the sticks, although my new address is surrounded by a multitude of trees, so i upgraded to a 100cm dish (which in retrospect may not have been necessary). when 2e arrived, i barely noticed the effect of any changes to the european beam. when i left sky earlier this year, i was not having any problems with Sky Atlantic HD, Sky Sports 1 HD or Sky1 HD.

the only real reception issues i ever had were with Alibi HD, Universal HD and Dave HD, all of which were unobtainable, but i think this was a systemware problem.

 

[timo_w2s]

the only real reception issues i ever had were with Alibi HD, Universal HD and Dave HD, all of which were unobtainable, but i think this was a systemware problem.

Alibi HD, Watch HD and Dave HD are the few HD channels on the UK spot...