French TV using French Receiver

[stuart.ingwell]

I want to receive free-to-air French TV channels in my home in UK. I have a dish, receiver (Cherokee Maestro 9100 NG4) and LNB which I recently bought as a kit in France. I have set-up the dish to point at Hotbird (I think) using the LNB that came with the kit, and the satellite registers a signal strength of about 75%. However this seems only to apply to the (preset) transponder which is labelled TPNIT (12543 MHz SR 27500H) and which allows me to view a Test Card and to receive a handful of radio programmes but nothing else! Whenever I try to tune another channel ( eg BBC World 11334 MHz SR27500H) the signal quality drops to zero. I am a complete novice at satellite stuff - can anyone advise what I am doing wrong or suggest what I should try next?

[robbo71]

Hi,
Welcome to the forum,

This is my theory:-

Your dish is not pointing at Hotbird, it is pointing at 5W.

The 12543H transponder exists on there, and is showing as having a lot of radio stations and not much else.
According to here:-
http://www.lyngsat.com/ab3.html

12543H does not exist on Hotbird,

BBC world on 11334 does however exist on Hotbird, but since you are not pointing there you can't get it.

Maybe do a scan and see what other channels you are receiving?

Robbo

[BGonaSTICK]

Sounds like a good diagnosis Dr Robbo :clap:

[stuart.ingwell]

Thanks - two replies in full agreement seems like the good advice.
I cannot get to adjust the dish until tomorrow but can anyone tell me where Hotbird is in relation to 5W (I am 30 mls East of London) - so that I know where to try pointing the dish. I have already fished around the sky quite a lot trying to find either Astra or Hotbird but the only hit I've scored is the 5W satellite (we think). It would help if I knew whether to keep the same elevation angle and whether to try moving the axis East or West and by how much.

I must say that from a point of depression I am now beginning to enjoy the challenge - I am just glad there are knowledgeable people out there willing to chip in with some help. Many thanks.

[robbo71]

Originally Posted by stuart.ingwell

Thanks - two replies in full agreement seems like the good advice.
I cannot get to adjust the dish until tomorrow but can anyone tell me where Hotbird is in relation to 5W (I am 30 mls East of London) - so that I know where to try pointing the dish. I have already fished around the sky quite a lot trying to find either Astra or Hotbird but the only hit I've scored is the 5W satellite (we think). It would help if I knew whether to keep the same elevation angle and whether to try moving the axis East or West and by how much.

I must say that from a point of depression I am now beginning to enjoy the challenge - I am just glad there are knowledgeable people out there willing to chip in with some help. Many thanks.

It sounds like you are very close to me , Gillingham perhaps?

Right, the first thing you want to do is look at the satellite arc.

http://www.satellitehelp.co.uk/forum...ic,1353.0.html

You will see that the sats near to your due south are at the top of it, for us it is rougly 0 degrees longitude.

To go from 5W to 13E you will need to swing it left by about 18 degrees and down just a touch. ( looking from behind)

Also the LNB skew might need adjustment, leave the LNB vertical for the moment, that can be optimised later.
The calculator will give the correct theoretical rotation required for the LNB.
( Sat, East of south, rotate anticlockwise from behind, west- clockwise)

Accurate figures can be got from a calculator such as this one:-

http://www.satlex.de/en/azel_calc.html

Another way of getting it, is to see where a local SKY dish is pointing (28.2E), try and find that, then swivel it right and up a bit.


And remember, whichever satellite you are trying to find, the receiver needs to be told which one it is, so that it can use the correct transponder list.
Robbo

P.S You might find a sat finder meter helps,as you get an instantaneous reading of signal strength. Maplin do 'em for £11.99. There's one in Chatham I think. ( you need a short length of sat cable F-F as well.

[BGonaSTICK]

If you have Google Earth, Hotbird can be found directly over the equator at longitude 13E.

[solunauk]

... and you'll get a good idea of the general direction from www.dishpointer.com

[stuart.ingwell]

Thanks for the helpful tips on dish pointing - I will try tomorrow using my TV receiver as the detector - I would rather not buy a meter if I can get away without one. I thought the graphics on www. dishpointer.com were really cool and they helped me loads in trying to visualise the angles. I just hope that the big tree at the bottom of my garden doesn't get in the way. I will report progress tomorrow pm.

[stuart.ingwell]

I now have good reception of the French TV channels I wanted but I decided to stay with the Atlantic Bird Satellite since it seems to have more french language FTA programmes than the others. Unfortunately that is all it has but I am happy with that. Thanks for all the help with dish pointing etc. Bye

[robbo71]

Originally Posted by stuart.ingwell

I now have good reception of the French TV channels I wanted but I decided to stay with the Atlantic Bird Satellite since it seems to have more french language FTA programmes than the others. Unfortunately that is all it has but I am happy with that. Thanks for all the help with dish pointing etc. Bye

Yes, Hot bird has a few, but also has the TPS package, but it is encrypted.