Astra 2F at 28E (at last!)

[dvdfilm]

Hi all, new here. Drawn here by all the fuss on 2F, hope to stick around after the 2F excitement has died down. Here's my reception report from Maranello, NE Italy for 11023H. Readings taken from Foxsat HD box, 1,2m offset dish & Black Ultra quad.

Friday 23/11: 0% Signal 0% Quality
Saturday 24/11: 0% Signal 0% Quality

By this stage was getting a bit dispondant, then suddenly this morning...

Sunday 25/11 80% Signal 60% Quality. Rock Solid, perfect picture.

My set up is working perfectly, and has been all the way through. On all the 1N TP's I'm receiveing 100%/100%. The change is definately at SES end.

Hoping that it stays that way for me right now.

this is very interesting and suggests a move of the beam eastwards.Keep us updated

 

[andrewcrawford]

SES-Astra might be getting flak from the Beeb after seeing reports that reception is covering all of France,eastern Spain
etc etc which I'm sure they thought wouldn't be possible.....I'm sure they won't like that but you can't really "tweak" the beam to stop it that much.

it is possible to tweak it, with slight adjustment of the satollete angle and power transmitted but yes the actually beam shape cant be changed once its in space but there is alwayas ways to improve thing and i am seeing signs they doine that ladt night

ps who is BEEB???

 

[Analoguesat]

Testing has been completed & 2F is in service. Thats from the official SES press release.

-http://www.ses.com/4233325/news/2012/13553882?name=news

That says to me that they are happy with the beams performance.

From the current power levels Id guess SES could easily reduce the downlink power by 10% and here in the UK we wouldnt really notice any difference (although fringe areas might)

 

[andrewcrawford]

this is very interesting and suggests a move of the beam eastwards.Keep us updated

yes and that why im interested there moving the beam the question is why

 

[andrewcrawford]

Testing has been completed & 2F is in service. Thats from the official SES press release.

-http://www.ses.com/4233325/news/2012/13553882?name=news

That says to me that they are happy with the beams performance.

From the current power levels Id guess SES could easily reduce the downlink power by 10% and here in the UK we wouldnt notice any difference (although fringe areas might)

testing the bird function yes but final placement off the beam i think is still being tested the italy reports makes me thin it more

 

[Mr Hoover]

it is possible to tweak it, with slight adjustment of the satollete angle and power transmitted but yes the actually beam shape cant be changed once its in space but there is alwayas ways to improve thing and i am seeing signs they doine that ladt night

ps who is BEEB???

BBC

Yes but the beam is a fixed shape...you can move it around etc but they're stuck with the shape whatever.

 

[woborny]

My dish is 80cm (horizontally) - inverto ultra twin.

On Friday night:
The currently connected Freesat box is showing Strength at 100%, quality at 70% for 11024h
The currently connected Freesat box is showing Strength at 100%, quality at 75% for 10847v.

On Saturday night:
The currently connected Freesat box is showing Strength at 100%, quality at 70% for 11024h
The currently connected Freesat box is showing Strength at 100%, quality at 75% for 10847v.

NOW :
The currently connected Freesat box is showing Strength at 100%, quality at 65% for 11024h
The currently connected Freesat box is showing Strength at 100%, quality at 80% for 10847v.

A small variation between 9pm and 1130am, which may be just "normal daily variation"

 

[andrewcrawford]

BBC

Yes but the beam is a fixed shape...you can move it around etc but they're stuck with the shape whatever.

yes move it around reduce the power and make it as less possiable as they can get but i think they will be happy with steep drop off art the dge off the beam

 

[Analoguesat]

SES-Astra might be getting flak from the Beeb after seeing reports that reception is covering all of France,eastern Spain
etc etc which I'm sure they thought wouldn't be possible.....I'm sure they won't like that but you can't really "tweak" the beam to stop it that much.

It was always going to cover much of France and areas to the south east - you cant tweak the beam shaping that much when the beam path is coming in slantwise from the south east. SES seem to have done a good job of making the beam long & thin along the NW-SE transmission axis

 

[Analoguesat]

this is very interesting and suggests a move of the beam eastwards.Keep us updated

IF the beam is being slewed east then we should get better results in from the Nordic countries.


Can we have the results from the Norwegian jury?

 

[Lazarus]

Grand Bretagne ..................... Nul Points!

 

[Analoguesat]

Grand Bretagne ..................... Nul Points!

Again......

 

[Mr Hoover]

It was always going to cover much of France and areas to the south east - you cant tweak the beam shaping that much when the beam path is coming in slantwise from the south east. SES seem to have done a good job of making the beam long & thin along the NW-SE transmission axis

The original published footrint map showed it dropping off steeply around the middle of France if I remember correctly
which no doubt would have caught the Beeb's eye...Having had some direct dealings with the BBC/Beeb in the past one thing they don't like is out of area viewing it where it can be avoided

They could well be moving it eastwards a fraction,doubt whether power levels from the sat will be dropped though.
Think we will all find the situation "clearer" by the end of the week.

 

[tothbros]

Looks like 27.5W is going to be my future...

as soon as that becomes widely exploited, they're gonna change the encryption (powervu?), so i wouldnt keep my hopes up on that...not on the long run, anyway

 

[Analoguesat]

This is the official SES 2EFG uk footprint - note how carefully they have fictionalised the coverage area - the outer shade is the 60cm dish size area!

 

[tothbros]

IF the beam is being slewed east then we should get better results in from the Nordic countries.

go east? yes, please!

 

[Mr Hoover]

This is the official SES 2EFG uk footprint - note how carefully they have fictionalised the coverage area - the outer shade is the 60cm dish size area!

That's the map the Beeb management eyes would have liked/expected.

Would be interesting to hear of a report from Iceland

 

[dvdfilm]

Testing has been completed & 2F is in service. Thats from the official SES press release.

-http://www.ses.com/4233325/news/2012/13553882?name=news

That says to me that they are happy with the beams performance.

From the current power levels Id guess SES could easily reduce the downlink power by 10% and here in the UK we wouldnt really notice any difference (although fringe areas might)

analoguesat it can't be simply a power reduction because we didn't have reception reports from Italy and now someone just posted to have good signal

 

[park_gate]

Here's a list along with SNR in dB from 90cm, 1.1m, & 1.8m dishes.

Thanks really useful stuff.

Is there a typo for 10729V 1.8m dish?

Should it be 15.7 rather than 13.7?

Look to me like the best frequencies to check for southern Europe after the switch to 2F are:

For SD

10729V E4+1
10773H BBC4

For HD

10847V BBC HD
10921H E! HD

Terry

 

[mbsnr]

My dish is 80cm (horizontally) - inverto ultra twin.

On Friday night:
The currently connected Freesat box is showing Strength at 100%, quality at 70% for 11024h
The currently connected Freesat box is showing Strength at 100%, quality at 75% for 10847v.

On Saturday night:
The currently connected Freesat box is showing Strength at 100%, quality at 70% for 11024h
The currently connected Freesat box is showing Strength at 100%, quality at 75% for 10847v.

NOW :
The currently connected Freesat box is showing Strength at 100%, quality at 65% for 11024h
The currently connected Freesat box is showing Strength at 100%, quality at 80% for 10847v.

A small variation between 9pm and 1130am, which may be just "normal daily variation"

My quality reading for 10847v changed last night around 11pm (as noted by other posters) from 70% to nearly 94%.... It still remains that. 11023H remains as 98%. So either atmospherics are playing a part or something changed...