Reception problems in Nuernberg, Germany

nick6470

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Hi Everyone,

I am having problems with BBC 1, BBC2 ITV and Ch 4, recently i am getting no signal on these channels, they always were a bit weak, ie pixalisation on rainy days but now there are pretty much gone completley.

I currently have a Triax 88cm dish with sky HD box, all sky channels are being received ok, so my question is will upgrading the dish to a Triax 110 cm dish enable me to receive the BBC channels, ITV and CH 4 again ?

Any help appreciated.....

Thx Nick
 

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I think that is pretty much definite: As you are on the cusp, even the slightest increase in Dish Size should get you full lock. Bigger still and the rain margin will dramatically improve.

In terms of Dish area, upgrading from 88cm to 110 cm is a big step and the extra gain well worthwhile.

TD88 38.8 dBi

TD110 40.2 dBi

So that's +1.4dBi if my maths is right (Not been having a good day today !)

Of course, that all depends upon there being no other faults or inefficiencies and the upgraded dish being well installed.
 

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Several possibilities. Failing LNb, cable water ingress or slight dish mis-alignment. Upgrading the dish would certainly improve what you have.
 

nick6470

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Thanks very much for the replys, so it sounds like a bigger dish is the order of the day, just one question , the triax 110 does not seem that much bigger than the triax 88 that i have at the moment ( 5cm taller and 15 cm wider), so i was thinking i might go even bigger say 125cm.

Does it really matter what make i buy ? Is a dish just a dish ? Is Gibertini a good brand ?

Thanks again......
 

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Yes the Gibertini dishes perform well.
 

nick6470

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Thanks very much for the replies a Gibertini it will be!!

One more thing, when the sat man comes to setup the dish can i ask him to align the dish specifcly to the 2D beam to get the strongest signal or is this not possible?

TIA
 

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nick6470 said:
One more thing, when the sat man comes to setup the dish can i ask him to align the dish specifcly to the 2D beam to get the strongest signal or is this not possible?

TIA


That really depends upon what equipment 'the installer' has at his disposal, something only he can answer
 

nick6470

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Hi Again,

Just being checking my sat dish location and going up to a 125cm dish would cause a few problems so it looks like it will be the triax 110.

At the moment with a Triax 88 i get signal quality on BBC 1 of about 25% ( using a Thomson sky HD box), what kind of a improvement can i expect in signal quality on BBC 1 if i jump up to the 110 cm dish?

Also what is the minimum signal quality needed to have a stable picture ? On SS1 i get about 75% and never have any problems with the picture.

Do you think my 2D channels will jump up to this level with my proposed sat dish increase?

Thanks again for any help....
 

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Unfortunately exact figures are impossible to give you. The tuners vary in sensitivity between boxes , and much depends on just how well the dish is set up in the first place. However, a well set up 1.1m will perform better than a well set up 88cm.
 

nick6470

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Thanks for all the help so far, just being looking on a German sat forum and some guy has said that if i have a 1.2 metre dish then i will get a great reception for astra 28.2 but it will make picking up the signal from astra 28.5 more difficult, so he's recommending staying at about 1m dish size.

Is there any truth in this that the bigger the dish the more problems i will have with astra 28.5 reception ?

Thanks again...
 

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nick6470 said:
Thanks for all the help so far, just being looking on a German sat forum and some guy has said that if i have a 1.2 metre dish then i will get a great reception for astra 28.2 but it will make picking up the signal from astra 28.5 more difficult, so he's recommending staying at about 1m dish size.

Is there any truth in this that the bigger the dish the more problems i will have with astra 28.5 reception ?

Thanks again...

Yes, a little.

The issue is the 0.3 degree difference in Azimuth between Eurobird 1 and the Astra 2 cluster.

This matters little for smaller dishes as the beamwidth of the smaller dishes is suitable. however, as one increases dish size, yes you get more Gain, but the Beamwidth becomes narrower. The exact point at which this causes difficulty (If it does at all) is difficult to determine other than by local knowledge. So go with the local knowledge!
 

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SO went for the dish upgrade, a 35 Euro 110 cm dish from Goldenstar, sky channels are ok similar signal levels as before ( according to sky HD box), 2D channels are worse than before!!!

So my dish sized has increased but my signal on 2D has got worse which of course should not be the case. Two things have crossed my mind.

Firstly the guy who came to do the installation (his first astra 28 alignment) used a Kathrein sat signal detector device for the installation, but only used the peeping signal to align the dish. He never once referred to the frequency signals on the small screen to do the installation. Is this a accurate way to align the dish ?

The second thing is the dish itself, is the cheapness of the dish an issue, should i have gone for a more expensive, known brand ? or is a dish just a dish ?

Any answers greatly appreciated....

Merry Christmas!!
 

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The fact that the installer has not done a 28E install before, and that you have bought a 35 euro 110cm dish does not inspire me with confidence.

Dish quality and the installation quality will both have an effect on how well it performs. It's impossible to say which one is the cause, it may be a combination of both.

On balance, yes, I think a known good quality dish would have been a better idea, but also getting someone who has experience with 28E a good idea too. As said above, local knowledge is useful.
 

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I agree with Robbo entirely.

But if the dish is accessible, can you not do a bit of tweaking yourself?

Did the installer adjust the LNB skew, which might well be critical? Again, something you might play with yourself.
 

nick6470

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Thanks for the reply's, have a played with the skew and sig quality on bbc is about 25 % compared with about 40 % which i was getting with the ssmaller dish!!

Is it possible to align the dish accuratley enough just by using the peeping tone from the sat meter or do you have to use the frequency spectrum on the small display on the sat meter to get the best results ?

This is important for me to know because the installer did not know how to use the frequency spectrum to align the dish, he only used the peeping noise. If you need the frequency spectrum then i need to use a different installer ( no point getting the same guy back !!)

Thx again!!!
 

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It is a fact that the greater the diameter of the dish the more precisely aligned the dish has to be.

I would get someone to help you and have a go yourself, just flexing the dish from all four quadrants will show you if it is possible to improve the signal quality
 

nick6470

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Thanks for the replies, being out and messed about with the skew and got it about as good as i could get it

What i cant understand about the whole thing is that i am receiving sky channels ok with about 90 % signal strength and quality, but my 2D channels are worse than with the smaller dish size, surely i must have correct alignment otherwise i wouldnt get the sky channels ?

Back to the installer is it worth calling him back again if he cant use the spectrum analyzer on his sat meter correctly?

Thanks again for the replies guys...!!
 

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The transponders have different strengths, and 2D ones especially will be weaker there. For strong tps the dish can be non-optimal and still work fine, but for weaker tps, the dish may need to be aligned perfectly.( and the dish may need to a good one too)
 

nick6470

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Thanks again for your replies, the installer will come back again this week to do some fine tuning on the dish.

I am assuming to improve reception on my 2D channels he needs to input the frequency for a 2D transponder into his satmeter and align according to this frequency, is that correct ? If thats the case which 2D transponder should he use, or doesnt this really matter ?

Thanks again for any info.....
 

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Whichever is the weakest/weaker ones.

There are a number transponders (frequencies) on 2D.


_http://www.lyngsat.com/astra2d.html
 
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