Astra 2E: Western Europe Reports

The Opticum LQP quad arrived two days ago. Better results than the "twin dish"quad. Today with clear sky daytime all BBC/ITV/CH5 SD ok and most HD ok... no way to get that with the "twindish", but early evening loss of most HD. Yesterday (v overcast) almost no signal on any ITV/BBC/CH5 with either Opticum or "twin dish" - much worse than last few weeks. Think I'll stick with the Opticum for now..... and rethink dish upgrade to 130cm.... also thinking about a Q-Box 5922 & CrazyScan / EBSpro...
 
StephenG......I guess thats a thumbs up for the Opticum Quad then...?......Glad your pleased with it.. :-) ....

RichardInSpain.... The signal here is So up and down at the moment.....Its very difficult to Judge between the Opticum and Octagon.........both very good....Maybe The Optimum is slightly better on Channel 5.....Ive noticed the Octagon seems to be very good On BBC 2 HD .......But Its early days ....I'll keep you posted....
 
I finally have measurements from the first sidelobe just 160km to the east. (Thanks to lnb123 @forum.digitalfernsehen.de) The result is pretty amazing and shows how the east/west wobble works.



in the top graph you see my measurements here on the east end of the mainlobe. The bottom one shows the SNR measured in Rostock. Astra 2F is in blue/pink, Astra 2E in red/green.
As you can see 2F is in Rostock already nearly saturated. That means the center of the sidelobe is nearer to Rostock, while 2E still shows the whole snr variation. This can be seen better when i transform the rostock values and merge them with mine. (the Rostock value is multiplicated with 18.74 and inverted)

the two 2e graphs almost merge.


2F is different



I didn't expect that 2e would be that symmetrical.
 
Steve Steve said:
I'm very very impressed....

Huevos,,,,What LNB do you use on Big dishes......Invacom C120 / feedhorn ...Or.... IBU..? ...
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On the Gibertini 1.5m I found the BU Single worked best. Tried feedhorn, and other LNBs but nothing as good. On my 1.8m Famaval PF I'm using a matched feed and 4 port C120 Invacom. Tried other things but nothing else so far has worked as well. But SNR is down on 8PSK transponders on this setup, while with offset dishes and BU Single there is no notable difference in SNR between QPSK and 8PSK. Not sure why this is; maybe the Invacom LNB produces a bit of phase-noise. Strange because can't see any difference in gross strength between QPSK and 8PSK on the spectrum so it must be related to the modulation.
 
Huevos said:
On the Gibertini 1.5m I found the BU Single worked best. Tried feedhorn, and other LNBs but nothing as good. On my 1.8m Famaval PF I'm using a matched feed and 4 port C120 Invacom. Tried other things but nothing else so far has worked as well. But SNR is down on 8PSK transponders on this setup, while with offset dishes and BU Single there is no notable difference in SNR between QPSK and 8PSK. Not sure why this is; maybe the Invacom LNB produces a bit of phase-noise. Strange because can't see any difference in gross strength between QPSK and 8PSK on the spectrum so it must be related to the modulation.
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How would you rate the 1.8m Famaval compared with the gib150 ? How much improvement in SNR could one expect ?
 
cazhh said:
How would you rate the 1.8m Famaval compared with the gib150 ? How much improvement in SNR could one expect ?
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Black and white difference. In 2D days my Gibertini would lose several transponders every evening, whereas the Famaval 1.8m PF (with the proper matched Famaval late model feedhorn) would hold at least 9dB on everything.

Can't compare anymore though because I've taken the Gibertini down now.
 
Huevos...Cheers for the info..........On My Gibby 150.....I tried almost everything......Raven FH & Gibby feedhorn, Invercom quattro c120..Inverto black pro c120 Quattro...IBU Quattro ,IBU Quattro converted to C120.....All Good....But Only my DIY c120 optimum / gibby FH and standard 40mm Optimum..,would hold onto Ch5 and ITV HD in the evening ..?......I don't get it ?...why... IBU don't / didn't work for me....... A single IBU..is out of the question to try ...i need a min of 8 outputs...

Good signal here today ..at lunch time ....All 2E 100 Q...2F 90 Q...(Humax & currently on test Octagon PLL LNB )
 
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Steve Steve said:
StephenG......I guess thats a thumbs up for the Opticum Quad then...?......Glad your pleased with it.. :) ....

RichardInSpain.... The signal here is So up and down at the moment.....Its very difficult to Judge between the Opticum and Octagon.........both very good....Maybe The Optimum is slightly better on Channel 5.....Ive noticed the Octagon seems to be very good On BBC 2 HD .......But Its early days ....I'll keep you posted....
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Yes the Opticum is a definte improvement on the "twin dish" LNB, but doesn't fully solve the problem, only a bigger dish will do that. I can upgrade to a 130cm for not too much cost (and likey will), however for how long would that do..? So my gut tells me a Gibby 150 is more like it; but much more cost, plus I don't fancy strapping a dish that size around my chimney and there is knowhere else I can put it...

Signal is good here today too.
 
Anybody have rough idea of spotbeam dish size in Marseilles ?

I may have to go down there in a few days.
 
Channel Hopper said:
Anybody have rough idea of spotbeam dish size in Marseilles ?

I may have to go down there in a few days.
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120km to the east 110cm not enough for reliable rection, maybe 130cm for me but no rain margin. Hope it helps.
 
Seventy miles to the NNW of Marseille an 85cm dish (TD88) gives the spot beams but only just. HD channels start burping in light rain whilst moderate rain sees off the SD channels. I'm hoping that the 100cmdish I brought down will do the job but have run out of time this trip so it looks like it'll be a summer holiday job now.

We know that the signal drops away sharpish as you go south and east so a 120cm dish may do the job in Marseille given that Grasse is further east again.
 
Thanks. I'll suggest a 1.8m then, with a 2.4m as better to cover any 'raining cats and frogs' syndrome.
 
A few pics off my latest..C120 LNB convertion...Its the Octagon PLL Quattro......It works great.....much better on 2E "V" channels....But slightly down on H channels ....(compared to the Invacom C120 Quattro)...But my Opticum Quattro conversion is the best for CH5 ...but a bit down on BBC SD's...........I'm not sure what LNB to try next......Any Ideas...?
 

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Thanks for the Suggestion ....Pete ......Ive already tried the Inverto BU Quattro...It Didn't Work for me......But I think you already know that...................
 
Hi Steve
How about a B.E.S.T lnb
 
Huevos...A upgrade to Raven 180 or 240....is out of he question at the moment ....................And Cheers Richard ...I'lL have a look at B.E.S.T lnb's........Tho i Think B.E.S.T is Identical To Opticum.....well my octo's are identical.....
 
By the time you will have tried all LNB's available you might just as well upgrade to a bigger dish.
 
mickwig said:
By the time you will have tried all LNB's available you might just as well upgrade to a bigger dish.
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Not always possible or practicable and, sometimes, alternative LNB's and/or receivers do actually give some fringe users that little bit more to achieve a satisfactory signal. I guess it all depends on where you are starting out from.
 
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