Astra 28.2 reception problems

[fliss]

We have a house in the Pyrenees and have recently reneged on our pledge to receive only French tv and bought an additional dish to enable us to receive the main English channels (BBC & ITV channels 1,2,3,&4 and a few others). We've had the dish professionally installed (the margins to pick up Astra 28.2 are so narrow, we needed someone with the pro gear to do it) and all is great during the day....BUT come about 6 or 7pm and the ITV channels start to break up until, by mid evening it's impossible to watch those channels. BBC channels are all fine and come the following morning all channels are back and functioning beautifully. When we had the satellite dish installed the guy said he thought it might be a bit small to get a good signal, so we would be willing to buy a bigger one and pay for it to be installed IF that's going to solve the problem- but why is everything ok during the day? Is there anyone out there who can offer an explanation or confirm that buying and installing a bigger dish will solve the problem? Would really appreciate some suggestions

[Robbo]

What size dish do you have?

Often with fringe reception, the signal strength will vary depending on the time of day.

I have read many posts where ex-pats in various parts of the world experience channel loss in the evening on some channels from Astra 2D.

So yes, it would seem that your dish is too small. But it would depend on what size is there already.

From the map I have seen,you need at least a 1m dish.

[gji25]

the reason why you can pick it up during the day is because of the position of the satallite... as it moves across the arc your dish probably is,nt wide enough to keep track of it throughout the evening. i take it your quite near andora ?

[pedro2000uk]

Originally Posted by gji25

the reason why you can pick it up during the day is because of the position of the satellite... as it moves across the arc your dish probably is,nt wide enough to keep track of it throughout the evening. i take it your quite near Andorra ?

Satellites on the arc/ Clarke Belt don't move- in relation to the Earth - they orbit at the same rotation as the Earth so they appear fixed in the sky.


We think the main reason for the signal to increase & decrease on a daily cycle is due to the position of the sun/ direction of the solar stream, the position of the satellite, the position of the antenna on the satellite & it's aim so that the more solar radiation that gets to the TX the lower the signal & visa versa.

..... that is .. the effect of interference caused from the solar stream on the RX & antenna face... on the satellite & whether & how much it is being deflected &/or shielded by the body of the back of the satellite, the back of the antenna, the ionosphere & to a lessor role the body of the Earth....... or if the solar stream is getting at the TX directly & how direct that is .

This satellite is at 28e at 22000 miles above the equator & the TX antenna is aiming west on a tight beam over the UK... if you chart where the sun is at any time of the day & use a smoke tunnel as a model for the solar stream with a sphere representing the ionosphere & If you apply that model to most satellites like the similar situation in the UK with 7W- it works quite well & you can usually predict the good & bad signal times of the day for most satellites with the above variables.

There are other things, local & global, that can effect signals on a daily cycle & some not daily or seasonal, but that seems to be the main single big factor.


& yes you need a bigger dish to get through the weaker times ... but also a decent dish in good condition not just any dish as well as a good installtion, although the installer sounds as though he's done a good job with the dish size.

[gji25]

well, the above answer seems to have cleared that up