What the tuner saw at 28E ..

[BigDutchStrikesBack]

Earlier today i got this trial version of 'fastsatfinder' software running on my laptop, plugged it into the USB tuner and ran it on '28E', it sat and went through its pre-configured .ini file for 20-30 minutes and the following is what came out with a signal. The % is labelled as 'quality' but i haven't managed to find out how it is measured, so not very 'scientific' i know.

ASTRA 2A South / 11817 / 47%
ASTRA 2A South / 12129 / 34%
ASTRA 2A South / 12188 / 44%
ASTRA 2A South / 12207 / 36%
ASTRA 2A South / 12285 / 62%
ASTRA 2A South / 12422 / 49%

ASTRA 2B South / 11739 / 43%
ASTRA 2B South / 11876 / 64%
ASTRA 2B South / 11895 / 62%
ASTRA 2B South / 11954 / 59%
ASTRA 2B South / 11973 / 46%
ASTRA 2B South / 11992 / 42%
ASTRA 2B South / 12032 / 57%
ASTRA 2B South / 12051 / 33%
ASTRA 2B South / 12110 / 66%
ASTRA 2B North / 12304 / 50%
ASTRA 2B North / 12402 / 26%
ASTRA 2B South / 12441 / 28%
ASTRA 2B North / 12480 / 20%

ASTRA 2D / 10714 / 40%
ASTRA 2D / 10744 / 40%
ASTRA 2D / 10773 / 30%
ASTRA 2D / 10803 / 36%
ASTRA 2D / 10832 / 36%
ASTRA 2D / 10862 / 33%
ASTRA 2D / 10891 / 31%
ASTRA 2D / 10921 / 26%

EUROBIRD1 S1 / 11469 / 61%
EUROBIRD1 S1 / 11508 / 61%
EUROBIRD1 S1 / 11527 / 58%
EUROBIRD1 S1 / 11546 / 56%
EUROBIRD1 S1 / 11565 / 51%
EUROBIRD1 S1 / 11585 / 54%
EUROBIRD1 S1 / 11604 / 46%
EUROBIRD1 S1 / 11623 / 55%
EUROBIRD1 S1 / 11642 / 52%
EUROBIRD1 S1 / 11662 / 50%
EUROBIRD1 S1 / 11681 / 55%

Anyway, question is, with the Astra 2D 'quality' level seems to be considerably lower than the rest (note 10773!), does this mean that my dish is not entirely focused on 2D or is 2D generally the weaker of the signals coming from that direction ? Or was it an interesting but ultimately meaningless exercise ?

 

[Zorba]

That is a very interesting chart, most of it is what is to be expected eg 12.110H one of the strongest ,but your 12.402V/12.480V seems too weak. Maybe the tuner is not comparable to a digibox tuner. The percentage difference on the 2D transponders proves the problem with BBC London. You should run it now and see the differences. Your dish seems aligned okay as 2D is always the weakest, but a tweak will always improve it and maybe a wide flange feedhorn will improve your 2D results.

 

[Robbo]

2D will be the weakest outside the footprint than all the others, as its footprint basically is designed for reception in the UK/EIRE only, wheras the others cover larger areas. Not a pointless exercise as it gives you an indication of where you stand. The crux though is, what those percentages mean in terms or reception (i.e being able to watch TV) on those transponders and when.

 

[BigDutchStrikesBack]

Ran the 'scan' again and checked a few channels, so obvious that 30% just isn't enough but 36% is.

ASTRA 2A South / 12422 / 49% Channel 5 - perfect
ASTRA 2B South / 11954 / 59% BBC News - perfect
ASTRA 2D / 10714 / 40% Channel 4 - perfect
ASTRA 2D / 10773 / 30% BC1 London, Channel 5 - unable able to produce a full picture, no sound or in frequent crackles
ASTRA 2D / 10803 / 36% BBC1 South East, BBC2 Scotland - perfect


... just need have a day at home to sit and do it every hour for 24 hrs lol

 

[BigDutchStrikesBack]

ok so i was checking on/off during the last 2 days and the only theme i can see from (granted) amateur 'quality measurements' is that 2D signal across all H polarity frequencies is stable until 6pm, by 7pm is dropping down, 8+9pm at it the lowest and recovers by 10pm, which considering (a) the time that me & the family want to watch the TV and (b) all the 'key' channels of interest are fta on Astra 2D this is now a PITA (not the local bread variant ) !

weakest .. 10773 & 10921
strongest .. 10714,10744,10803,10832

Its probably been like this for weeks to be honest ... does this match with anyone else in the area or is my system particularly suspect ?

@ zorba, i opened another thread on the feedhorn as i bought one but haven't seen any benefit yet, however i screwed it on myself so no professional measuring or know-how involved, just watching the quality % on the aforementioned software and usb tuner

 

[Analoguesat]

Not surprised you are having problems with 10773 - thats the one getting nailed by interference from Badr 5 at 26E.

 

[BigDutchStrikesBack]

The '#10773 issue' certainly making that specific frequency notably 'down' against the others all day, just wondering why ALL of 2D drops down for a few hours each evening.

And generally wondering this '2D dip' is my reception gear or a signal thing

 

[Lazarus]

Several factors - here are a couple for starters:

1. Illumination of Solar Panels varies during the day, affecting Power

2. Birds are not totally static and both their position and attitude change within a box

 

[Zorba]

ok so i was checking on/off during the last 2 days and the only theme i can see from (granted) amateur 'quality measurements' is that 2D signal across all H polarity frequencies is stable until 6pm, by 7pm is dropping down, 8+9pm at it the lowest and recovers by 10pm, which considering (a) the time that me & the family want to watch the TV and (b) all the 'key' channels of interest are fta on Astra 2D this is now a PITA (not the local bread variant ) !

weakest .. 10773 & 10921
strongest .. 10714,10744,10803,10832

Its probably been like this for weeks to be honest ... does this match with anyone else in the area or is my system particularly suspect ?

@ zorba, i opened another thread on the feedhorn as i bought one but haven't seen any benefit yet, however i screwed it on myself so no professional measuring or know-how involved, just watching the quality % on the aforementioned software and usb tuner

Its been like this ,like,forever. Pre BADR 10.714 was the strongest aand as you go "up" the frequency scale,10.921 the weakest.Stiull the same,except 10.773 getting jammed,followed by 10.714(CH4) and 10.803(scotland bbc).
As for the feedhorn,we found out a couple of years ago that the wide ones improve the low frequencies that bbc/CH4 use,but you discovered this too late as BADR is cancelling that out.But as you have installed it yourself there is room for improvement. You cab't align it 100 per cent without a good sat meter. Skew,focal distance,aspect ratio are very critical alignments,and on that bracket its tricky getting the LNB to point direct to the centre of the dish.
Not rocket science but needs experience,and patience.
Just the other day I had a customer call.He bought his own quad lnb and fitted it but the dish needed aligning also. When I got there he had a cable going from the LNB to an old Grundig digibox connected to a portable tv on a table in the garden.He was trying to get BBC back.He would never have got it because as soon as you get i front of the dish,you lose BBC anyway,but you can get a reading on a meter.
By the way we could not get BBC London but got a weak Scotland.Tried with foil ,tried bending,twisting the dish to try and defect BADR but no luck. But 131(ITV2+1 /10.891H) was working fine and I use that as a reference that the dish is spot on.
Now, his neighbour across the road with same dish(which I installed) was picking up BBC perfectly. The only difference was that a fence was erected very close to that dish (to the left as you face it) and a bit higher than the dish. I actually used to blame that dish when his BBC broke up in the evening in the hot summer.