Hello dear Techies!
I have a Freesat decoder and the corresponding satellite dish that I inherited from the previous owner of my house (bought one year ago). I was happily watching all UK channels (BBC, ITV, etc.) with that setup.
Yesterday, the decoder wouldn’t display any channels (satellite signal quality = 0). After investigation, it seems that the LNB of my dish has packed up. I need a replacement but anything printed on the LNB itself has been bleached by the sun so I don’t have a brand, reference number, etc.
All I know is that it’s a Quad-LNB and only two sockets are connected to the Freesat decoder.
Did anyone had to change the LNB of their setup in France? Or know which model I should look for here?
I have found this one that could to fit the bill (if I remove the UK support brace and use the existing one), but I am not sure:
https://www.amazon.fr/LNB-double-avec-détecteur-signal/dp/B09SVJJZ3X/ref=sr_1_5
Any advice from people who already went there?
Thanks in advance!
Any KU band LNB should do.
Any ku - lnb should slot into your existing dish and restore your service - they are the same for all satellites and services. And they all seem to last a maximum of 6 years!
Some are cheaper than others so I’d suggest reading reviews before committing to as particular brand.
Just make a note of the rotation within the holder of your old LNB.
If it is the LNB that has gone, then I would personally go vor a decent Inverto LNB like the following
https://www.amazon.fr/-/en/Inverto-Premium-Quad-IDLP-QDL413-PREMU-OPN-Filter/dp/B0DG9338W1
There are dual or quad versions available. It may not be the LNB though. Depending upon just how far south and east you are in France and what size dish you have, it may just be something called ‘summer fade’. This happens starting about now and can affect reception significantly. I have seen it the last few days where I’ve had issues with just about all channels (except one) at some point in the day. The one way to tell is Sky News (502). If you can’t get Sky News then something is seriously wrong … like a knackered LNB, misaligned or just too small a dish.
Yes, the LNB ‘skew’ is very important in low signal areas like most of France. If you go to dishpointer.com and select your position on the map and the satellite (Astra 28.2 E} it will tell you what the LNB skew should be. The skew is basically a rotation of the LNB in it’s holder in degrees as a positive (clockwise) or negative (anti-clockwise) value. There are phone apps that can help you to set this angle.
I’m getting that on some FreeSat channels (typically 200 - BBC News Channel) here in Sud-Angleterre - so it is a thing.
Although our LNB is a good ten years old so may be going senile as well.
In Turks & Caicos we used to suffer from “thunderstorm fade” - put a good-sized tropical weather system between us and the DirecTV sat and hey presto no picture.
Thanks a lot @ChrisMann @hairbear @Mat_Davies @_Brian @billybutcher for your sound advice.
I am pretty sure that it’s the LNB and not the summer fade because all the channels disappeared at once and the signal quality is 0 on the decoder. I checked the cables for wear and tear or rat teethmarks and nothing to be seen.
I am very grateful for your advice, especially relating to the skew. I was completely unaware of that (I am a newbie with satellites, I used to live in London with freeview or Sky so no need to tinker).
Thanks to all!
Old Humax box?
No, it’s a very nice Freesat box with a hard drive for PVR. Good stuff it seems…
Sky dishes have two dia of LNB’s if thats a thing
If it’s a 4K Freesat box, you can use a wideband LNB (very handy for when everything you want to record is on at 9pm.
Depending how far south you live, you might want to invest in a bigger dish.
Just check the connections are all ok in the F plugs first (especially the one going into the decoder
If you live further south in France then I wouldn’t really recommend that. The problem with the wideband LNBs is that you get higher co channel interference and generally performs less well than a standard LNB. For most people, they’ll never notice the difference but in very marginal signal areas it can make the difference between getting no channels and most channels. That’s what happens with my 1 m dish here in the summer. I’ll shortly upgrade to a 1.2 or 1.3 m better quality dish.
Wouldn’t expect you to see that in the UK, possibly means your installation isn’t that good. There is another issue that can cause reception problems and that is when the sun passes behind the satellite which it will occasionally.
Just where approximately do you live, and what size is your dish ?
It’s been absolutely fine since installation (probably 10 years ago) - it’s just been noticeable on the one channel (BBC News) during the recent UK warm dry spell (which has now finished - rain has resumed!).
Maybe the Sat-Doobrey is showing its age, or it’s had one too many doses of pigeon droppings. 
I live in Charentes (Lat:45.7 Long:0.5), so not too south.
My dish is 70cm diameter so not too big. 
But I must add that the signal was great before. Never had any issues watching/recording BBC1, for instance.
And now it just a big bowl of nothing (with even the Freesat Box’s LNB diagnostic function unable to return a status). 
That’s as maybe, but my 4K Freesat décoder (Humax died after 5 years mostly flawless service) and wideband LNB combo is proving far more resilient to atmospheric conditions down here in 47.
I’m guessing having a 1.25m dish isn’t hurting.
Indeed 
. Which dish did you go for ? I’m looking at a Cahors SMC120 or a Giberti i 125.
The Metronic 120cm one from Amazon, but it doesn’t appear to be listed anymore.
“Some assembly was required” as the LNB mount wasn’t the usual extruded alloy arm as shown in the product photo, but was a small clamp assembly attached to the dish by 3 metal rods.
Which wasn’t a problem when using a bog standard 2 port universal LNB. It became a big problem when I purchased a GeoSync Wideband LNB to go with my new 4K Freesat decoder as the GeoSync LNB has shorter than normal “neck” between the horn and the main LNB body.
LNB mount clamp came off and had a visit to Mr. Angle Grinder before being painted and refitted.
If I had to do this again, I’d go for a Cahors unit as they seem very popular down my way and the old 75cm dish that came with the house is in excellent condition despite being at least 15 years old.