Receiving Hotbird with a Zone 2 dish - Techwatch Support Forums: Digital & Satellite TV, FTA, Cable, Computers, Mobile Phones, Apple and General Tech Forums

first attempter · 13-01-10, 02:30 PM

I will be grateful for advice from those in the know about whether Hotbird (13 degrees E) can be successfully received in Lincolnshire using a Zone 2 dish. I want to receive Italian TV. According to Dishpointer.com I can "see without obstruction" the satellite OK from here and it has given me the elevation, azimuth and skew figures but I'm uncertain about the capability of a Zone 2 dish. I've seen Zone 2 dishes and quad LNB packages on ebay which look like a good deal but no point going for one of these if the dish is not up to the job. I found a Hotbird footprint map on the web and this suggests that Lincolnshire is in a "strong" reception area. I've already got a Zone 1 dish receiving Astra OK at 28.2 degrees which was here when I bought the house. I would mount the new dish for Hotbird (whatever type is required) on the same wall next to the Zone 1 dish. Thanks for any advice which you can offer.

Analoguesat · 13-01-10, 02:42 PM

It will work fine once its correctly aligned.

Happy hunting!

lincsat · 13-01-10, 02:55 PM

Hotbird works fine with a Zone 1 dish in Lincolnshire.

kerrywez · 13-01-10, 08:35 PM

Hotbird works fine with a zone 2 dish here in south west Ireland, at 9 degrees west.

Regards Wez

first attempter · 19-01-10, 08:30 PM

Thanks for the replies. Lincsat's reply set me thinking about using a Zone 1 dish so I did a bit of experimenting, re-aligning my existing dish which was here when I moved in. Using dishpointer.com I worked out the differences in elevation, azimuth and LNB skew between Astra 28.2 and Hotbird 13. I have a Fortec Star Beta FTA receiver which because I don't use the "installation" type menus often (I only scanned Astra once before) I may not have operated correctly. Anyway I did find Hotbird but not the channels I'm interested in which according to Lyngsat.com are on 11766V tp52 (Italian RAI FTA TV). However the receiver did find some channels on 11766H and after a bit of digging on Lyngsat it looks as if these are German channels from a sat at 19deg. This was after I had manually added the tp into the tp list on the receiver so I may have inadvertently left the polarization field as horizontal by mistake. I was receiving channels from Hotbird OK, just not the ones I wanted. I also manually entered the tp details again with vertical polarization selected but no channels were found when I rescanned. My question for you experts is why would the dish receive 19 and 13 deg sats. Does a dish have a reception arc which is that wide? Suspecting I was pointing too far east, that is nearer to 19, I moved the dish further west but then lost all the other Hotbird channels. I've put it all back to 28.2 for now. Sorry this is long and garbled, I'm a newcomer, should I have started a new thread?

Rick · 19-01-10, 08:48 PM

A zone 1 is too small to recieve more than 1 sat position. The LNB's would have to be too close together. A Zone 2 will do a very good job on 13e, 19e and 28e. Focus the dish on 19e then set 28e and 13e as the offset lnb's. It's possible to get the offset signal levels as good as if they were focal's.

Robbo · 19-01-10, 09:02 PM

A simple explanation. You had the dish pointed at 19E because you received the german channels. You werent receiving from Hotbird. You needed to move the dish a bit further westward.

The receiver will often show a good signal strength when completely on the wrong satellite as the same frequencies are often used on different sats.

To get Hotbird, pick a transponder from it, align the dish until you get a good signal on it. Scan the transponder, if you get the right channels, that's it, you are done. If not, look up the channels and the transponder they are on on Lyngsat or kingofsat, and find out where the dish was pointing. Try again to align based on this new information.

first attempter · 20-01-10, 03:01 PM

Thanks to both of you for this info and advice. I'm waiting for my new Zone 2 dish and LNB to arrive then I'll have another go following your advice

Caravan72 · 20-01-10, 04:24 PM

Hi there, I take it a zone 2 dish is a sky type dish?

Cheers

SAT-WORLD · 20-01-10, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caravan72

Hi there, I take it a zone 2 dish is a sky type dish?

Cheers

Yes,its just a bigger version of the standard Sky minidish.
Zone 1:43cm
Zone 2:73cm
Though it has a pole mount,rather than the bracket mount that comes with the zone 1 Sky minidish.

13-01-10, 02:30 PM	#1 (permalink)
first attempter Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 19 Thanks: 10 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Receiving Hotbird with a Zone 2 dish I will be grateful for advice from those in the know about whether Hotbird (13 degrees E) can be successfully received in Lincolnshire using a Zone 2 dish. I want to receive Italian TV. According to Dishpointer.com I can "see without obstruction" the satellite OK from here and it has given me the elevation, azimuth and skew figures but I'm uncertain about the capability of a Zone 2 dish. I've seen Zone 2 dishes and quad LNB packages on ebay which look like a good deal but no point going for one of these if the dish is not up to the job. I found a Hotbird footprint map on the web and this suggests that Lincolnshire is in a "strong" reception area. I've already got a Zone 1 dish receiving Astra OK at 28.2 degrees which was here when I bought the house. I would mount the new dish for Hotbird (whatever type is required) on the same wall next to the Zone 1 dish. Thanks for any advice which you can offer.

13-01-10, 02:42 PM	#2 (permalink)
Analoguesat manic midlander retired mod Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Scottish Borders Posts: 11,668 Thanks: 21 Thanked 1,334 Times in 985 Posts	Re: Receiving Hotbird with a Zone 2 dish It will work fine once its correctly aligned. Happy hunting! __________________ Basic forum rules for both satellite & cable: no keys no patches no offering or asking for card shares Anyone pm'ing me for details of card sharing or anything to do with hacking cable will be banned immediately Analogue forever!!

13-01-10, 02:55 PM	#3 (permalink)
lincsat Super-Dooper Moderator Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: In front of the PC Posts: 5,913 Thanks: 8 Thanked 2,575 Times in 663 Posts	Re: Receiving Hotbird with a Zone 2 dish Hotbird works fine with a Zone 1 dish in Lincolnshire. __________________ Blade7000 & Vu+ Duo in Stock, Linux Sat boxes from £52.25. Kryptview £123.50 & SV7 under £93 with Members Discount - Lincsat's Nick-Nacks (Shop) Drivers Protest Union

13-01-10, 08:35 PM	#4 (permalink)
kerrywez Grumpy Old Sat Man Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Co. Kerry, Ireland Posts: 2,471 Thanks: 2,973 Thanked 639 Times in 505 Posts	Re: Receiving Hotbird with a Zone 2 dish Hotbird works fine with a zone 2 dish here in south west Ireland, at 9 degrees west. Regards Wez __________________ Dreambox 7025, 250HDD, Dreambox 500s, 110 X 90Cm Hirschmann on Clarketech rotor, 1.2 Mtr. Channel Master. AZBox HD Running on E2. TM6900 super combo.

19-01-10, 08:30 PM	#5 (permalink)
first attempter Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 19 Thanks: 10 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Receiving Hotbird with a Zone 2 dish Thanks for the replies. Lincsat's reply set me thinking about using a Zone 1 dish so I did a bit of experimenting, re-aligning my existing dish which was here when I moved in. Using dishpointer.com I worked out the differences in elevation, azimuth and LNB skew between Astra 28.2 and Hotbird 13. I have a Fortec Star Beta FTA receiver which because I don't use the "installation" type menus often (I only scanned Astra once before) I may not have operated correctly. Anyway I did find Hotbird but not the channels I'm interested in which according to Lyngsat.com are on 11766V tp52 (Italian RAI FTA TV). However the receiver did find some channels on 11766H and after a bit of digging on Lyngsat it looks as if these are German channels from a sat at 19deg. This was after I had manually added the tp into the tp list on the receiver so I may have inadvertently left the polarization field as horizontal by mistake. I was receiving channels from Hotbird OK, just not the ones I wanted. I also manually entered the tp details again with vertical polarization selected but no channels were found when I rescanned. My question for you experts is why would the dish receive 19 and 13 deg sats. Does a dish have a reception arc which is that wide? Suspecting I was pointing too far east, that is nearer to 19, I moved the dish further west but then lost all the other Hotbird channels. I've put it all back to 28.2 for now. Sorry this is long and garbled, I'm a newcomer, should I have started a new thread?

19-01-10, 08:48 PM	#6 (permalink)
Rick Super Moderator Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Blackburn, UK Posts: 2,597 Thanks: 300 Thanked 1,029 Times in 669 Posts	Re: Receiving Hotbird with a Zone 2 dish A zone 1 is too small to recieve more than 1 sat position. The LNB's would have to be too close together. A Zone 2 will do a very good job on 13e, 19e and 28e. Focus the dish on 19e then set 28e and 13e as the offset lnb's. It's possible to get the offset signal levels as good as if they were focal's. __________________ Fibo 1.2m HH, Wavefield T90. AzBox HD Premium, Vu+ Duo Plumber and Satellite Installer North West Satellite Systems

19-01-10, 09:02 PM	#7 (permalink)
Robbo Satellite mad Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Kent Posts: 9,231 Thanks: 93 Thanked 1,967 Times in 1,590 Posts	Re: Receiving Hotbird with a Zone 2 dish A simple explanation. You had the dish pointed at 19E because you received the german channels. You werent receiving from Hotbird. You needed to move the dish a bit further westward. The receiver will often show a good signal strength when completely on the wrong satellite as the same frequencies are often used on different sats. To get Hotbird, pick a transponder from it, align the dish until you get a good signal on it. Scan the transponder, if you get the right channels, that's it, you are done. If not, look up the channels and the transponder they are on on Lyngsat or kingofsat, and find out where the dish was pointing. Try again to align based on this new information. __________________ القمر الصناعي هو أفضل TM600 linux,TM6800HD,TM5200,TM1000,TM2200 motor, Triax TD110 dish. Electronics Engineer and satellite installer.MBC Satellites Last edited by Robbo; 19-01-10 at 09:06 PM.

20-01-10, 03:01 PM	#8 (permalink)
first attempter Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 19 Thanks: 10 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Receiving Hotbird with a Zone 2 dish Thanks to both of you for this info and advice. I'm waiting for my new Zone 2 dish and LNB to arrive then I'll have another go following your advice

20-01-10, 04:24 PM	#9 (permalink)
Caravan72 Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 282 Thanks: 26 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts	Re: Receiving Hotbird with a Zone 2 dish Hi there, I take it a zone 2 dish is a sky type dish? Cheers

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