New here - need help please!!

[Johniboi]

Hi there guys, I am new to satellite tv and I badly need some advice and sorry this is so long!

I have a HD TV and decided to buy the Fortec Star Passion HD receiver kit which is on offer at Maplins for £160. The kit includes a 24.62 degrees offset dish which I mounted the south facing wall of my house. I put it where I had an old dish years ago that I used to watch Eurosport on so I thought the location would be ok. I used a satellite finder from Maplins to get the strongest signal I could at what I thought was the correct elevation and azimuth. I used a compass to find North as well as I could and worked from there to find the Astra 2 satellite using coordinates calculated on the UK satellite dish alignment tool.

On switching on, the receiver scanned (I think) over 140 tv channels and loads of radio channels but there was no signal for the BBC and ITV regional programs or for BBC HD (which I particularly wanted). I did get some cool music channels including NME, Scuzz etc though. Anyway, thinking that maybe I was pointing at the wrong satellite, I tried repositioning the dish. This time I drew a north/south line in chalk on the ground and drew other lines at 10, 20, 30, 40 degrees to the east of the first line. By looking down from above I could line up the LNB arm with the lines on the ground to get an approximate angle and then I used the finder to get the strongest signal.

My problem then was that I could only get the receiver to scan about13 to 21 TV channels instead of the many which I had on my first attempt. I have just spent all day trying every adjustment I can think of but have made no progress at all.

Possible causes may be as follows: -

• Can the dish see the satellite properly? - I live at the bottom of a steep hillside but when I look from the bottom of the dish along the top of the LNB I can see a few degrees above the horizon so I think that’s ok (the dish has to point down slightly to get an elevation angle of 22.6). There is a tree which may be causing a problem but since I can get Luxe HD to a very good quality, is the tree is making much difference? Should I move the dish?
• Am I pointed at the correct satellite and how do i know? – The receiver seems to get a good signal and quality but will only get a few channels now. If I can get some channels, why not all of the rest?
• Have I damaged the receiver tuner by accidentally removing or connecting a cable when it was switched on? - I tried to be careful but it is possible I did this at some point whilst I was losing my mind!

So do I: -

• Get a professional to come and align the dish and/or tell me if its position is ok?
• Contact the help people at Maplins?
• Contact the technical people at Fortec?
• All three of the above/ none of the above/ sit down and hope for a miracle?

As you can see, I have gone as far as my expertise will allow. I have learned a lot in the last few days but now I am well and truly stuck!! Can anyone help please?

[robbo71]

Hi there johniboi,

Welcome to Techwatch.


In order to get all the channels from a satellite, four main things are required:-

1. Point the dish the right direction.

2. Make sure it has an unobstructed view.

3. Be inside the satellite's footprint ( In the UK, we ARE for all satellites around 28E)

4. Have an up to date transponder list.


1. Your dish was roughly right when you started as you got scuzz, which is only on Eurobird1 at 28.5E, not ony any other satellites.
You need to put the dish back there and tweak it for max signal quality.

2. if you use Satellite Dish Pointer / Alignment Calculator with Google Maps it tells you the required elevation for whatever satellite you want. You just need to make sure that an imaginary line from the bottom of the dish to any obstructions is less than the required elevation angle.

4. Go to LyngSat - Lyngemark Satellite find 28E, and then check that you have all the listed transponders. If not add them in, then do a rescan of the satellite.


If at any time you want to check what satellite you are pointing at, pick a few channels you are getting a signal on, and look them up on here Channel Search - KingOfSat
Then compare transponder frequencies with what you have the channels on. You can then deduce what satellite it is.

Robbo

[Johniboi]

Many thanks for that Barry,

Yes, i used the Dishpointer/Google maps and according to that my dish should see over the top of the hill ok!

I found Lyngsat, which looks really useful. It would appear that i had found Eurobird 1 before but i don't know what i am on now. I understand what you are saying about checking all the transponders against a list to see if i can work out what satellite i am presently on but my head is hurting with all those numbers! I think i need to think about something else for while but i hate not succeeding, especially when i have just spent money on a new toy...

Would the tree branches make much difference? Maybe more so in summer when in leaf? Should i consider moving it to the other end of the house (which would involve quite some difficulty in routing the cable)?

I have to turn the knob on my sat finder down so that i don't get a response from it wherever i move the dish - i think it is a question of turning the sensitivity down so that you can get a break in between satellites and just play with the level and adjust the dish until an isolated signal is at its max - is that correct? It seems difficult to find a break in the signal between satellites, which is perhaps confusing me so that i cant tell one satellite from another...

Am i right in thinking that the receiver/tuner is not at fault so long as it is finding some channels? In which case my problems would therefore be to do with dish alignment and nothing else? Maybe a cup of tea would help.

Cheers Johniboi.

[Johniboi]

Aplogies Robbo - why did i call you Barry?? I told you it was getting to me!!

[robbo71]

Yeah, it can be a bit confusing at first, but you'll soon get the hang of it.

Each satellite just has a list of frequencies that it transmits on, your receiver also has to have this list, so that it can scan through it and find some channels. If it doesn't have the full list and you do a normal satellite scan,you won't get all the available channels, simple as that.

You don't have to remember all the frequencies,that's the receiver's job.

It doesn't mean the receiver is faulty, you just need to make sure it has the right info, to do its job properly.

Yes tree branches screw things up, chop them off, or move the dish if they're in the way.

I used to use a satfinder, but the stupid thing stopped working, I now use my receiver's signal quality indicator, and actually find it a lot easier than the little meter I had, and the gaps between the sats are so much more obvious.

With the meter you turn the knob down until the needle is half way, then try to make it deflect more by adjusting the dish. If the needle starts getting too high, turn the knob down a bit more.

I have been out today, adjusting my fixed dish, as it blew over, 28E is very easy to find, I often use that as a reference point for finding any others.

I think you had the dish right in the first place, maybe a tiny bit out, but a little tweak would have cured that.

Barry

[Johniboi]

Yeah "Robbo" ! the penny is beginning to drop although i still haven't worked out what satellite i am aimed at now. I have seen how to add and edit satellites and TP's (TP meant only toilet paper to me 48 hours ago)!

I can't do owt with the tree as its not mine and i like trees. I will consider moving the dish i have so carefully put in an inadvisable position but maybe i should see what happens by persevering where it is now for starters as the cabling route required to an alternative position would cause problems.

I will sleep on it and try again tomorrow if the rain doesn't stop me going up ladders. Many thanks for all your help - until i bug you again Johniboi

[robbo71]

I like trees, but I like satellites better

( not really, I have plenty of trees in my garden, but none in the way of my dish, now)


If you have branches in the way of your dish, honestly you are wasting your time. When it rains and the branches get wet, and especially when there are leaves on the tree, it will bu99er up your signal.

[Johniboi]

I will move the critter then and extend the cable along the wall from whence it emerges for now, until i work out how i can get a more direct route to it through a roof space and a 2 foot stone wall. I understand the shorter the cable run the better but i can't do much better at present.

I will let you know how i get on . John

[robbo71]

The cable length can be fairly long without a problem, up to 30m to 40m,
especially if you use decentish properly approved satellite cable such as wf100 or similar for example. For longer runs you can use 1.25mm or even 1.65mm core diameter cable for lower loss.

It is surprising how long the cable can be and how much attenuation it can have before it causes problems. I have a join in mine (3dB) a motor (4dB probably) and a switch ( another few dB), and then the dish is at the bottom of my garden, so probably about 20m of cable ( 6 dB).

You need a 2.5 foot long drill bit.

[Johniboi]

hi again Robbo

well i have moved the dish and when scanning for Astra 2 i seem to be picking up a few channels on Eurobird 1 @28.5 degrees - just how much of a gnats pubic hair do i move the dish to get to 28.2? My meter just doesn't seem to discriminate to such a precise degree and i seem to be getting nowhere.......

Johniboi