At last, after changing the old single LNB for a new standard twin LNB, getting all connections connected between the dish and the new Freesat box, checking the skew of the LNB, the elevation of the dish, and climbing up and down the ladder multiple times, I can now record one programme while watching another.
Was born into a monarchy so shall probably watch the crowning of Charles live as it’s a unique historical event. Might record it, though I don’t see myself watching it again, but it may be useful for reference.
I think earlier in this thread I mentioned that strange things started to happen immediately after BBC channel 106 transferred to 101 on Freesat.
Whenever I switch to an HD channel the picture fails after a couple of minutes but if I go to the next channel, which is almost always working and then back again, it is ok from then on.
I could live with that because I never record but in the last few days this trick no longer works with Channel 4, and only Channel 4, and now it receives no signal at all on that channel.
Already gone! We have 1.2m dish in Haute Pyrenees, Lost just about everything. Now need to find someone to look at possibility of installing 1.5 or 2m dish to overcome our terrible reception. Currently get 12meg which means on a good day we get channel 4/5 the restis a nightmare. Any ideas?
There are several things that can affect you’re reception and figuring out how to fix it can be very tricky. I would think that a 1.2m dish should be OK for the HP, and it’s worth investigating a few other things first. The most likely issues that can be fixed easily are alignment of the dish, wrong LNB skew angle (see my earlier post in this thread), and LNB not at correct focal point. It’s easy to play around with these using one of the cheap satellite reception meters to see what happens. Other things can be cheap cable especially with long cable runs. The cheap foil wrapped cable used for terrestrial TV installations is not suitable for satellite and what you should have is proper satellite grade cable. I’ve just bought some ‘WF100’ cable to rewire my dish which was still using the old cable from the previous owners. The other thing may just be a cheap or old LNB. They don’t last forever and performance can degrade over time. Unless your dish is battered or bent, it would be the last thing that I would consider replacing although a bigger dish should always help.
Thanks for the good advice. Now I need to find someone to put it into practice. I’d get hung if I even suggested going up a ladder! Anybody know anyone in the hautes Pyrenees capable?
The Freesat channels I receive are via Freesat’s default London postal address. I have had 3 former London homes & postal addresses, and not one of these does Freesat recognise, so I’m stuck with W1T(…) default, wherever that is.
Regarding reception, this seems to vary, presumably due to atmospherics. Sound also varies. I thought my hearing was going for a burton until I realised otherwise.
These are the Freesat channels I receive, haven’t counted but get most of them I think, but reception becomes a nuisance sometimes, but not too often.
Am I right in thinking my old (inherited with house) 75cm dish needs replacing for the HD channels now on Astra 2 E/F/G on 28.2° East?
Also, the satellite cable connectors readily available in the local stores don’t fill me with much confidence. I guess that’s my decades of torquing down SMA connectors to ensure proper mechanical and electrical connections.
SatLex seems to quote 2 difference LNB skew figures which has me slightly confused…
Yes, I was also confused as to what was the correct skew. Dishpointer says -18 ish degrees for me, whereas some other sites say to subtract 7 degrees from that figure for Astra 2EFG, giving -25 ish degrees. I solved this by going straight to the horses mouth. SES, operators and commissioners of the satellites have an online calculator very similar to Dishpointer et al and this says skew is -25 ish degrees for me. I gave a link to the SES site in another thread.
The link is https://extranet.ses.com/AntennaPointingCalculator/
I’ll have to check how mine’s set as I kind of “eyeballed” it using the Measurement app on my iPhone as a spirit level.
I was using a signal meter with my Freesat box tuned to 4HD, the channel that was giving the most problems and tweaked both dish azimuth and elevation to get the best signal.
I would also be surprised if they are available in large sizes - their gain is useless so they are only any use in strong signal areas, where a smaller, easy to mount “dish” has some tangible advantages (i.e being relatively small and easy to mount).
I think they are completely out of favour for new installations anyway.
I bought one for a quick repair after Mums aerial was brought down in a storm. Tried it in lots of different places good and poor reception areas and they are total crap.
Just checking - the original BSB “Squarial” died when the satellite was decommissioned though there are modern ones that can be bought - presumably more general purpose.
