Astra 2E: Testing at 43.5E

[sonnetpete]

I've just looked through the old 2F testing thread and it was about a month........

 

[Lazarus]

Ta.

I suppose I could have looked it up myself!

 

[mar-val]

12382 H.

 

[DX Excalibur]

12460 H, low signal

 

[Satellite74]

Yep, you never know!! They must definitely be reading it and taking notes!

...and if SES aren't reading and taking notes, the rights holders definitely will, and if they feel that beam overspill undermines their market segmentation efforts, then they are going to tell SES to adjust the beam.

Meanwhile, 2F is having a few good days here. Hanover, where I am, is right on the outer edge of the beam and I normally have a few hours of signal loss at night, but I've just read on digitalfernsehen.de that somebody who also lives in Hanover had 24 hour reception yesterday, also with a 100cm dish. Being that 2E's UK spot beam aerial probably is a carbon copy of that on 2F, it appears that at least we won't be in for bad surprises, and who knows, maybe fringe reception will even be a tad better with 2E.

 

[joddle]

Its all very interestng and so far it seems like 2E is going to be pretty like 2F. However, the main issue I am waiting to see answered is if 2E will still deliver the same blank spot over North East Spain as 2F. To me that dull spot seems very odd especially as further north and even south the signal rises again quite steeply. Is that null area due to something physical on the transmitting antenna - such as a small imperfection or a mark or spot of space dust - or even by design? From the published footprints it seemed that the signal should have gained strength as you move north from southern Spain - which it does through the Costa Blanca and north of Valencia but then suddenly drops off towards Barcelona beore picking up again towards the French border! Of course there were also dull and bright spots in pre 1N days but not quite like this one from 2F! Once 2E is up and running at the final position maybe we will know more.

 

[mickwig]

Hi, I have been following this thread for a while now and now I registered to give you some input.

My misses is british and therefore I have been chasing british satellite TV for over 20 years now. Since the start of 2F I have been trying out things with more or less success. Here - about 200 km due north of Munich - the situation is as follows:

120 cm Kathrein prime focus: very few hours a day reception.
180 cm Raven offset: It works, but there are times, especially in the evening where it does not.
240 cm Raven offset: Almost full reception 24/7, with some amount of wheather reserve.

I know that this is not the right thread, but I have personally contacts in Betzdorf and I have been told for a fact in writing that:

Astra 2E will be exactly like Astra 2F ("The customer (freesat) wants it like that")

I have a map from SES and an email stating that in my area for 24/7 reception with full weather reserve a 300 cm dish is necessary as it will be for 2E and 2G once they are operational. SES does not give a damn about who watches what, they do what the "Customer" wants them to do. And once the satellite is in place they are not really intersted in changing position or anything else since it shortens the life span of the vehicle.

Looks like size is eveything

 

[Huevos]

it was about a month........

Yes but this time testing is evenings and weekends too so probably will be over a lot quicker. I'd say about 3 weeks and we'll see this active at 28E. Maybe switch-over during Sunday night 2013-11-10.

 

[solly]

signal it same at morning

 

[Lazarus]

Yes but this time testing is evenings and weekends too so probably will be over a lot quicker. I'd say about 3 weeks and we'll see this active at 28E. Maybe switch-over during Sunday night 2013-11-10.

Hope so.

Got a few little jobs to do sorting out By-Area Topics, so want to be ahead of the game (But not too early, either!).

 

[solly]

ses much to tests all frequency include pe beam spot beam and me beam
before it finish ses maybe uplink signal without muxliplex only to view how reception snr

 

[Satellite74]

well again, if 2E is going to be the same as 2F, then that means at least there won't be any additional bad surprises compared to the shock when 2F brought us a tight spot beam and then some.

There are alternatives... I've got XBMC with the FilmOn addon on my notebook PC to carry me over the nightly signal loss, and also, I have been thinking about buying a Humax satellite receiver with built-in Freetime, the on-demand service by Freesat so that I could watch stuff off the BBC iPlayer library or 4oD or Demand5 while the satellite is gone.

 

[Satellite74]

I have a map from SES and an email stating that in my area for 24/7 reception with full weather reserve a 300 cm dish is necessary

IF that is really going to be enough for 24/7 reception, with or without good or bad weather. If you're "out of area", even for just a few hours of the day, no size dish will be enough. Like I wrote before, I know of somebody who lives 35 km east of Hanover and has a 2.6m dish, which actually puts him right on the same EIRP signal strength line as the Nuremberg/Bayreuth area where you live... (see here) and even he has signal loss at night.

 

[dvdfilm]

Astra 2E is very similar to 2F but I don't think reception in fringe areas will be exactly the same,there might be some small differences i.e. regarding hot or cold spots

 

[mickwig]

IF that is really going to be enough for 24/7 reception, with or without good or bad weather. If you're "out of area", even for just a few hours of the day, no size dish will be enough. Like I wrote before, I know of somebody who lives 35 km east of Hanover and has a 2.6m dish, which actually puts him right on the same EIRP signal strength line as the Nuremberg/Bayreuth area where you live... (see here) and even he has signal loss at night.

According to my information, the further towards Paris/Cologne you get, the better the reception. All I can say is that I do have 24/7 reception on 2F with 240 cm on all transponders except for really bad wheather, although at night the signal quality drops. I will, pnce 2E is in position, get the meter on again, because I think I will get a bit better signal when the dish is set properly at MidBox. (See www.ses.lu, go to Fleet & Coverage select technichal data and there Centre of Box)

 

[Lazarus]

I think that is inevitable that there will be differences in hot and cold spots, despite the theoretical maps by SES.

 

[Acuario]

Its all very interestng and so far it seems like 2E is going to be pretty like 2F. However, the main issue I am waiting to see answered is if 2E will still deliver the same blank spot over North East Spain as 2F. To me that dull spot seems very odd especially as further north and even south the signal rises again quite steeply. Is that null area due to something physical on the transmitting antenna - such as a small imperfection or a mark or spot of space dust - or even by design? From the published footprints it seemed that the signal should have gained strength as you move north from southern Spain - which it does through the Costa Blanca and north of Valencia but then suddenly drops off towards Barcelona beore picking up again towards the French border! Of course there were also dull and bright spots in pre 1N days but not quite like this one from 2F! Once 2E is up and running at the final position maybe we will know more.

I live right on the fringe of this black spot - near Tortosa. Today for the first time I packed my 1.9m dish and did some testing around the área with a view to finding out posible dish sizes should the footprint be the same.

Some interesting results as this really is fringe territory and a few km makes the difference between singal and no signal.

The results with a 1.9M Famaval prime focus dish and Invacom C120 LNB, tests on a Promax sathunter and Horizon TC8:
Mora la Nova - extremely weak signal - not enough to lock the Sathunter
Tivissa - as Mora
Half way between Rasquera and El Perello - 2 transponders locked, 1 locked about 50% of the time
El Perello - 3 transponders locked
L'Ampolla - 4 transponders locked
Tortosa - 5 transponders locked.

Transponders tested: 11023 (only locked in Tortosa), 10964 (50% lock), 10994 (only locked in L'Ampolla and Tortosa), 11053, 11126.

 

[zorbua]

2F Testing duration.

10/10/2012 Starting testing at 43.5E
11/11/2012 Started it's move to 28.2E
20/11/2012 at 28.2E
30/11/2012 transferring of Tps to 2F

 

[joddle]

It is indeed very interesting - and we await the final testing of 2E to see what changes.

 

[solly]

today it start 12382h amd 12460h
I not check signal mid days
it new tp of old 2a
so now we know 2a,1n,2f will be move to 2e