It’s 8PSK so going to need a “cleaner” signal than the QPSK transponders - but I guess the literal hardest would be 12363V which is not only 8PSK but almost at the top of the band. It carries ITV London HD, ITV Meridian HD and a couple of encrypted channels.
Yeah but RG11 is a bitch to install and get into F connectors, or so I hear; I’m strictly a keyboard warrier as far as satellite installation is concerned - to my eternal gratitude to the gods I inherited a perfectly good system (which just needed pointing at the right part of the sky - for which I engaged the services of a local antenniste) and it has worked perfectly ever since.
Yes, it’s a real pain to install as it’s much thicker and doesn’t bend so easily. We used it at work when installing satellite distribution systems around the site. When you have runs of hundreds of metres it makes a difference, but it’s really expensive. You have to use special F connectors for RG11.
Hi I think the cables are standard co-ax they were there when we bought the house eight years ago. Except for one cable that started leaking water. I found that it had been chewed by rats on the outside run and I replaced it with a piece of coax with no markings on it.
Can I ask why RG11 is harder to install and connect.
Our cables runs are 2X28m and 2x15m so am I right to say RG6 should be OK.
Would it make a lot of difference to connect the RG6 to the existing coax where it goes through the wall into the house. That was quite a job when I replaced the one coax I put in.
@hairbear - your comments on reception are interesting, we’re about 60kms south of Albi, and west of Castres and have a similar set-up. Over the past six months we’ve gradually lost the signal, even the radio but I put it down to a pine tree that has prospered despite the drought. Our dish is bolted to our large chimney so should be ok, and I’ll be cutting the tree down when the weather is cooler. We aren’t watching tv at the moment, preferring to sit on our terrace most evenings playing Scrabble but that will change when the weather changes!
I’ve looked at your location and according the footprint maps a 90cm dish is sufficient so I doubt you need to change the 100cm dish. It should be more than adequate. You write that you have checked the cables. I always cut them back at the LNB end by 10 or 20 cms and re-make the connectors. Water can get in and cause them to deteriorate. Then look at the LNB, a physical examination to ensure it is not cracked.
2/3rds bar should produce a sufficient signal for HD. I have an octal LNBs with a twin cable to my Humax Box and they both produce different signal levels, one of which is barel 2.3rds.
Before re-aligning the dish I always swap the LNB to see if that is the cause because simply the last thing I want to do is climb a ladder and mess with the dish.
Finally with a good meter test the alignment and adjust as necessary.
Depends on the state of that coax and how much margin you have to play with in terms of signal level - connections lose signal, how much will depend on the quality of the connector itself and how well the connection is made, but could be equivalent to 10’s of metres of cable.
The tree in question is some sort of fir. The top of the tree initially grows out sideways, almost as if it’s half broken, for about 1-2 metres. It then decides to straighten up, slowly, until it’s upright. As said, this has taken about 6 months, until now it is directly in line with the satellite, and is about 15-20 metres tall. I’m reluctant to cut it down, but I have nowhere else that I can put my dish. We have a large old farmhouse, and the fir is now about 3 metres above a line of other, much slower-growing, trees.
Asking for a friend…moved to new place; has a freesat box, but will buy dish etc. Electrician will install but she’s buying parts needed. Dordogne 24. Wants to know what she needs to buy :
a new dish - 100 cm, 130cm?? but what else?
LNB? is that what one would ask for?
cabling (RG6? just read that above)
brackets for dish install
Could one of you expert techies provide specs and is there anything else? Is it better to buy from a shop (say Leroy) or can buy online (Amazon)?
As always your expertise (whoever you are) much appreciated.
The UK beam is relatively France friendly - a 60cm dish should be OK north of an arc roughly from La Rochelle to Metz, for 24 you’ll need something a bit bigger - 80 or 90cm should do but a local antenniste will be able to advise.
LNB “low noise block” - the bit that goes on the satellite dish to convert the signal to send to a decoder, if you want satellite in more than one room you need an LNB with multiple outputs.
RG6 - yes, for very short runs you might get away with RG59, WF100 is the better cable for long runs/long term reliability, but it’s expensive.
Yes, you’ll need brackets (well, an azimuth mount)
For Dordogne, I would recommend an 80cm dish, now that all the BBC channels are HD as you may suffer from dropout in the summer with a 60cm dish. As for cabling, I would definitely go for WF100 cable and do get good twist on connectors. Farnell France are the best people to get them from here, they are a lot cheaper and you can get free delivery over €75 (used to be €50 ) . Don’t get them from Amazon as you’ll pay a lot more.
The Humax freesat boxes are quite good. Is it the newer HDR1000/HDR1100 recordable box, or an older FOXSAT box ? It’s a shame Farnel don’t sell dishes, but there are plenty of online places in Europe that do. I should go for a good quality dish, such as a Gibertini (go for the 85cm version for this one)
Don’t go for one with a plastic LNB holder on it though, as these can break. Go for a metal one like the one above. Of course, you can get much cheaper dishes that could work just as well, and it does depend upon your budget.
I assume that’s why they’re pushing things like Sky Q and Sky Glass. They can move the service off of satellite or, at least, present that as a possibility when negotiating with Astra.
) . Don’t get them from Amazon as you’ll pay a lot more.