fortec star

[garyr]

90 cm fortec star

[diapason]

Hi Gary,

Thought this might be helpful. There are some Russian Stations on 13E - Planeta Sport on 12597V - 27500 3/4; Music Box Russia at 10971H - 27500 3/4; Russia Today also on 10971H - 27500 3/4 (That one is often dubbed into English); TBN Russia at 11566H 27500 3/4 If I'm right then you're pointed at the Hotbirds. They also have lots of Italian and Polish channels.

If you swing 6 degrees to the left then you should find 19.2E which carries the German stations and finally another swing to the left (or East) and lower the dish just a little and the English stuff at 28.2E should be found.

But then, I could be totally wrong!! - Hope that gives some clues.

Welcome to the forum - it's a very helpful site.

[garyr]

thanks what i donty understand is that on the screen you get a chioce of sats and the instructions say that you wil only get quality deviation when your on the sat you have chosen? how much signal dfo you need for reception.i also tried it at home in cheshire and got all the FTA stations. doin my head in

[BGonaSTICK]

Is your dish motorised, or does it have multiple LNB's? Just thought I'd get that one out of the way before we go any further

The manual is not right in what it says.

If you have a look at lyngsat.com, all the satellites are listed, and on each satellite there is a range of transponders.

For a given satellite, there is no overlap or duplication of transponder definition. They are unique.

As you move through (up) the frequency range, interference between adjacent frequencies is often minimised by varying (alternating, usually) the polarisation (generally speaking, and on Ku band) between Vertical and Horizontal.

This is to stop similar frequencies from interfering with each other, but you'll notice that there is a pretty even distribution of frequencies listed in ascending order.

Those frequencies are actually quite close together, and indeed it's entirely possible that a completely different satellite (and it sounds like your dish is probably pointing to Hotbird - thanks diapason) WOULD duplicate that frequency and polarisation, even if it isn't an exact match.

You can, therefor get a reading from your receiver for signal strength and/or quality for a channel or transponder on a satellite that your dish isn't even pointing to!

I think this might be your problem. Try the frequency that diapason has provided - 12,597, Vertical, SR=27500, FEC=3/4. If you get some Russian TV (currently showing billiards - cool!) then you are certainly on Hotbird, and your problem is solved.

STICK

[diapason]

Hello again, Gary,

My box is a Fortec Lifetime Classic, bought from Maplins, (non Sky) and I've had great success with it. These boxes come pre-programmed with the frequencies which related to the transponders for a selection of satellites, but the pre-progamming was done at the time the boxes were made.

My first attempts found the satellite I was looking for and scanned, bringing in all sorts of channels, and fortunately I was on 28.2E so I managed to see most English stations, all the BBCs and ITVs, and a host of rubbishy shopping channels.


Here is how I updated my box, using information both from DigitalSat and Lyngsat, if this is any use to you. First of all , the poorly translated instruction book I found almost impossible to understand.

Pressing the "Menu" key on the remote control, I used Manual Scan. That gave a list of transponder frequencies for each satellite and I was able to add (using "Edit"), the desired frequency, polarity and then pressed Exit, which then asked me to confirm the addition. Pressing "Enter" again, confirmed that.

Keep the frequency highlighted that you have just entered, and the next stage is to press the green button on the remote, which scans that frequency. You are then asked for "TP" or "PID". Using the up and down keys on the remote, I select "TP" and press "Enter". The box then scans that transponder and any additional channel it finds is placed at the end of the channel list which is already in your box. So, to find what it has found, go to "Channel 1" and work backwards. The additional channels found will be at the end of the list.

If you then press the blue button on the remote control, "Sort", there is an option on screen to "Move" the selected channel upwards or downwards in the list using the up and down keys. On pressing "Enter again" the selected channel is fixed in the position of the order of channels which you wish.

I don't know if your box is identical to mine, but my package consisted of the box, a dish and all sorts of nuts and bolts (which I've not made up yet, as I had an old dish up on the house, which used to receive analogue TV from Germany, from an old box I bought at a jumble sale for £20 about 5 years ago!!

I have now hundreds of channels from 28.2E (English), 19.2E (German mainly) and 13E (Hotbird) (Italian and others). All I have to do to change satellites is to go up on the garage roof with a spanner!! - Great fun!!

This might be no help at all but wishing you the best - Bill Hutcheson, Paisley, Scotland (diapason)

[Analoguesat]

Hi Bill - your dish is pointing at Hotbird if you are getting those Russians.. Put the lnb settings back to universal (9750 / 10600 MHz) - and leave it there. You are going to confuse yourself totally if you change it as none of the frequencies will match up.

[diapason]

Hi again,

I didn't have to alter anything, just scanned the Hotbird group and that's what I got, as listed on your excellent website. I'm back to 28.2E for a bit and everything is working perfectly. My next venture is when Film on Four goes free on the 23rd.

[BGonaSTICK]

Let's hope that Film4 is FTA and not FTV. I'm not sure that we've been told officially which it's to be

[diapason]

I looked Film Four's Website and have pasted below what was stated:

FilmFour is now FREE
From Sunday 23rd July FilmFour will be free on Cable, Satellite and now Freeview.

Watch our trailer
FilmFour Listings

However, seeing is believing so the 23rd should be interesting.

[fergiz]

They said way back in February that it would be Free-To-Air.....the swines. :spite:


FilmFour to relaunch as UK's only major free-to-air film channel

Channel 4 has today (08-02-2006) confirmed that it is to relaunch FilmFour as the UK’s only major free-to-air film channel, available at no cost to every digital TV home in the country from July.

The channel will launch on Freeview for the first time, but will also be on offer to all cable and satellite viewers without the need to pay a monthly subscription. On digital satellite, the FilmFour channel will be available to freesat viewers as well as Sky digital customers.

The new FilmFour channel will be available in a forecast 18 million homes by the end of 2006, compared to the 300,000 plus subscribers who currently pay up to £7 a month to receive the service.

Andy Duncan, Channel 4 Chief Executive, said: “Channel 4 has a pedigree in film that is second to none amongst British broadcasters – we’ve not only showcased the best films on Channel 4 and FilmFour, we’ve actually funded and produced many of them as well. E4 has shown the ratings gains that can be made by going free-to-air and I’m convinced that a highly distinct and desirable brand like FilmFour can also make an impact on a wider audience.”

From July the new free-to-air FilmFour will screen six films a day, starting at 3pm and coming off air at 3am. Films will typically start every two hours and the channel will offer a broader range of films than any other UK film channel, with classic films earlier in the day giving way to modern Hollywood output and the best of US and UK independent cinema in peak and foreign language and cult cinema late night.

The channel will also premiere key titles financed and co-produced by Channel 4’s film division, Film Four Productions, and will showcase the best of British and European cinema. It will programme seasons, events and short form programming, which were a successful feature of the pay FilmFour service.

The new FilmFour channel will carry advertising breaks within films for the first time.

The FilmFour free-to-air relaunch will involve the closure of FilmFour Weekly, although it is Channel 4’s intention to keep a one-hour time-shifted version of the relaunched channel, FilmFour+1, running on digital satellite and cable platforms.

As well as launching the new free-to-air film channel, Channel 4 is also planning the launch of a FilmFour branded video-on-demand subscription service on various media platforms – including broadband, mobile and cable – to follow later in the year.

Duncan added: “This change will significantly extend our presence in multi-channel homes in advance of digital switchover. It will also strengthen our public service contribution by offering regular showcases for British and European movies, including films financed by Channel 4 itself through its £10m annual production fund.

“Our plans to launch FilmFour On Demand, available on broadband platforms, will enhance viewer choice further and complement the free-to-air offering.

“FilmFour has always been about great films you know and great films you don’t – now all those great films will be absolutely free.”


Source....channel4sales.com (08-02-2006)

_http://www.channel4sales.com/news/news-article.aspx?year=2006&id=21