Update for all living south of Florence in Italy

ynot62

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Hi to everyone who still try to have new datas about receiving Astra 2 D in South of Italy.
Probably someone will remember me, I have been here long time to get the chance to have some news about receiving Astra 2 D in Sicily,
well I decided to buy a Patriot 3.8 mt dish and see if we really get the BBC here in Sicily.
Nobody has been able to give me any proper infos so I got the gamblering to buy the dish and risk on my own skin.
I will set the antenna in the next 2 weeks and let you know how it goes.
I really hope it will work, if in the mean time anybody is able to give me updates about reception of Astra 2 D , it will be appreciated.
Ciao for now
Finger cross
Tony
 

rolfw

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Hey Tony, that is what I call a gamble. :)

All credit to you, we await with interest, your findings. :)
 

ynot62

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I know it is a gamble, but it seems that a lot of people in cyprus, canarian islands, egypt, nord africa, greece are receiving Astra 2D and with a smaller dish and they all are more far way from Uk then I am.
What do you think R ?
Dont you think I can have some chances?

ciao
Tony
 

PaulR

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Tony, have you looked on te Astra 2 website (www.astra2d.co.uk) to see what reports are already in? My geography of Italy is abysmal but I picked this one out-

Pistoia - near Florence
Grundig 2.41
1.4m dish
LNB Stark T1
Posted 20-09-03

Using a Grundig 2.41 old digibox and a 1.4 metre dish with a stark cheapo T1 LNB. Astra 2D variable - doesn't seem to depend on the weather. Evenings seems to be slightly worse. Watchable most of the time, but occasional break-ups. BBC1 (East) is usually viewable when others are not. In bad weather digibox cant find a signal at all.
Clive


Notice that his posting is after the move to 2D by the Beeb so should should be relevent still. There may be other places closer to you - as I say I don't know Italy very well.

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denis1501

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ynot62,
I wish you the best of luck in your project and look forward to hearing positive news coming soon from you!!!
Was the dish very expensive???
In bocca al lupo,
denis.
 

ynot62

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PaulR,
thank you for your link, but believe me there is no one on this forum who knows more then me about receiving Astra 2D from Florence down to Sicily.
The problem is that I cant get in touch with these two Irish people who wrote that they receive BBC just south of Rome.
They never reply to any questions and I really dont know how to get in touch with them.
Honestly everything you read on here is virtual till you dont see by yourself.
I think I have the best equipment to try and get BBC.
I have a panasonic 30, Invacom C120 and a 3.8 mt patriot dish.
If I wont get the bloody BBC I will destroy everything with an hammer....LOL
Ciao for now
Tony
 

ynot62

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Denis,
where do you live?
Yes dish was quite expensive but less then everybody could pay for teh same dish, I cant tell you the price on here cause I promissed to someone who helped me to buy the dish.
Dont you any news about the two Irish Guys who posted they receive BBC just south of Rome?
Ciao for now
Tony
 

ynot62

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To Rolfw,
Do you have any idea about my success percentage to get the BBC in Sicily?
I have patriot dish 3.8 mt, Panasonic 30 and invacom twin C120.
Surely I will find it out very soon..hope less then 2 weeks but it would be nice if I could find some encuragement by someone on here.
Everythins seems that I should have no problem as in all the locations much more South then sicily it seems they get BBC using a smaller dish or same size then mine.
I Know it could be a black hole, but could I be so damn unlucky?
Ciao for now
Tony
 

denis1501

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Hi Tony,
I'm in Frosinone province in a small town near Sora. Using a 1.25m offset Fracarro dish with Pace2600 and 0.3 Invacom lnb. Some problems with Astra 2A North beam and absolutely no Astra 2D......no surprise there!
Those Irish guys are supposed to be in Casellatico (may be spelled incorrectly) which is not far from here. That area is full of people who ran fish & chips shops in Ireland, made their money and then came back! Could be that they're not Irish at all but Italians who fell in love with Coronation Street! There was a guy nicknamed 'Meatball' ,from Dublin I believe,who I think installed the dish.....he used to post here, I remember him writing that he was going back again but then heard and saw no more.
I find it incredible that months have passed without any news of Astra 2D in the Rome area...I'm sure people must have tried wth big dishes....come on guys, post your results here!!! help us out!!
regards
Denis.
 

rolfw

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Hi Tony, my guess would be yes, but it is only a guess.
 

meatball

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hi all,
meatball here, I did not install the so call antennas to receive astra 2d south of Rome, have also tryed to contact the people who say they have received the above Bird, with no response.
I've been to the irish/italian town mentioned a number of time, and nobody knows of anybody reveiving the astra2d bird.
Talking to one customer, very interested in buying patriot 3.8 direct from America, but very expensive. Dish only $2120.00 Antenna only, plus delivert $665.00, plus extras.
Will be going back with Televes FSM 100 analyser to receive signal levels etc, on other dishes 1.8m channel master.

As asked before, if someone has received astra 2d south of Rome? why not share the information, no point telling us of your so called success, if you won't return out emails.

Good luck,
to the Sicaily Job.

regard meatball.
 

dave branson

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I live 50 klms south of Florence,with 2.0 meter prime focus,API LNB and various FTA
receivers,BBC is at the moment is viewable from 08-00 till approx 20-00 pm.but this varies throughout the year(one year since i had it installed) due to weather conditions and Astra 2D moving around.
I would like to hear if anybody further south can receive anything,
I may try an upgrade shortly,ie change the LNB for the MTI AW8.
 

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Hi all,
no good news from Abruzzo.
3 mt dish, Panasonic 30, Invacom 0.3 twin. NO ASTRA D
During this day also lot a problems with Astra North beam especially from 10 am to 15 pm
Regards
Barney
 

Joe50

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I'm no expert but from the research that I have done on the subject it is certain to me that the Astra2D beam has Hot and Cold areas. I know for certain that reception is OK in Cyprus with a 3.0meter and I have also seen a report (uncomfirmed) that someone in Israel has recieved the BBC with a 4.8 meter. As for Italy south of Rome all I know is that it's hit and miss a bit like the Alacante area of Spain which is a known cold spot. I wish you the best of luck Tony.
Best Wishes
Joe50
 

Old Satellite

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The Patriot 3.8 dish should work fine in florence I believe, I know of a Patriot 3.8 mtr with dual tracking system with a 0.5 db lnb actually at one of our offices that has no such problems at a close to Rome location.
During a recent visit the recieved signal on a old Grundig GSD 300 the signal was around 65 -85 % the side lobe performance on Astra 2D does however result in quite a large differnace in reception strength as seen above.

Please do not forget to ensure that you support "5-6.5 inch pole is vertical, you have a very small beamwidth on a 3.8mtr satellite dish, and consequently it takes some additional effort to align correctly.

Be patent during the installation and ensure equally to align the panels very carefully, it is possible to loose 3 db of signal very easy on a large dish during the installation, the 3db or so makes a very big differnace at your location when seaching for Astra 2D

regards

Old Satellite
 

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PS there is a large distrubuter of Patriot dishes based in Europe, and generally they carry the whole range of dishes in stock, and every year have a clear out of last years stock only recently they had 3.1 mtr dishes for a 1100 Euros and 2.4 mtr for around 600 Euro 1.8 were around 450 euro
Trade prices


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Rua da Praia, 640
4485 - 495 Mindelo (Portugal)
Tel.: +351 252 670040
Fax: +351 252 670049
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hans@satcab.pt

regards

Old Satellite
 

dave branson

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barney said:
Hi all,
no good news from Abruzzo.
3 mt dish, Panasonic 30, Invacom 0.3 twin. NO ASTRA D
During this day also lot a problems with Astra North beam especially from 10 am to 15 pm
Regards
Barney

Barney
Have you tried with a normal FTA receiver?why i ask is that my SONY digibox
will not work with 2 meter Dish at all,not even SKY news, but it works fine with a 1 meter dish for chan4/5
 

barney

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Yes, i have tried more receiver, but of Astra2d nothing...
I think the installation is very critical, old satellite said "3 db are very important for a 3 mt dish". Just a little little change of lnb focus and i lose north beam.....
 
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