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Satellite dish alignment

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 11:59am
14 replies579 views7 members subscribed
Classic man

Classic man

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I have been meaning to ask this for ages. I get my TV using UK Freesat via a 1.8m dish. Some months ago Freesat in their wisdom changed the frequency of some chanels and moved the footprint further North. This is fine if you choose to live in Greenland, but not so good for us this far South.

The upshot of this is I have lost a number of chanels which include the Quest chanels except HD, Yesterday, Drama, Dave and Really to name a few. There are others but I would not need those. Some still just come in but are unwatchable.

So, the question is, has anyone else had the same problem and what did you do to overcome it?  Would realigning the dish to greater accuracy help and who could do it?

All help welcome since the problem of finding something decent to watch is not getting any better.

The Sat and PC Guy

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 6:40pm

The Sat and PC Guy

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Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 6:40pm

"Some months ago Freesat in their wisdom changed the frequency of some chanels" - the channel owners and operators determine frequencies, Freesat have no say over what frequencies channels are put on.

"and moved the footprint further North. This is fine if you choose to live in Greenland, but not so good for us this far South." - the UK TV satellites are exactly where they have been since the launch of digital satellite TV back in 1998. The current satellite footprints have not changed since this new batch up satellites were launched some 5+ years ago. No "footprints have moved further north".

"The upshot of this is I have lost a number of chanels which include the Quest chanels except HD, Yesterday, Drama, Dave and Really to name a few. There are others but I would not need those. Some still just come in but are unwatchable." - Quest and Discovery SD channels moved from the Euro beam to the UK beam back in Sept 2017. The UKTV channels moved from the Euro beam to the UK beam in July 2017. As the UK beam is harder to receive than the Euro beam, if your system is not up to scratch then you will lose these channels.

"So, the question is, has anyone else had the same problem and what did you do to overcome it?  Would realigning the dish to greater accuracy help and who could do it?" - To get the channels that you mention back you simply need to have your system checked out and your dish realigned, LNB skew aligned to maximum signal, and may be maybe a better LNB.

Classic man

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 7:00pm

Classic man

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Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 7:00pm

Thanks for the reply. Sadly it seems I have been mis-informed. So, in short, it looks like a re-alignment job would the first thing to try.

I changed the LNB a year or two ago because I needed a second tapping, but I don't know where it fits on the quality scale.

Thanks

The Sat and PC Guy

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 7:58pm

The Sat and PC Guy

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Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 7:58pm

I would suggest an LNB skew adjustment...small movements in skew may bring the channels back in more than an actual dish realignment, as the dish alignment may be fine, but the LNB skew is almost as important. a few millimeters off and you will not get certain channels, inc those you mention and itv 1 HD... maybe when you changed LNB you did not get the skew as good as what it needs to be...

Classic man

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 8:18pm

Classic man

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Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 8:18pm

Any way to set it up without a meter? ie freehand.

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The Sat and PC Guy

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2018 7:42am

The Sat and PC Guy

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Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2018 7:42am

You can do it without a meter, but it will be hit and miss, and may take time to get it spot on, and could be worse if you do it all wrong.

Mickymouse

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2018 9:41am

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Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2018 9:41am

Hi, before the expense of having it re-aligned have you tried to do a re- scan?, I lost a few channels a couple of months ago but after a rescan got them back.

Classic man

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2018 3:44pm

Classic man

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Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2018 3:44pm

I think I'll leave that one to The Sat and PC Guy.

I think you go into your Sat box via the Menu. I need the same advice. I just don't want to delete all my current settings accidentally.

I am never easy going into electronic spaces that I don't know much about!!  If you can't put a spanner on it I'm a bit lost.

Mickymouse

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2018 5:19pm

Mickymouse

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Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2018 5:19pm

This post that was quoted has been deleted.

Hi there is plenty of info on how to carry out a re scan online

How to perform a simple rescan (generic instructions – check your box’s manual for specifics

  1. How do you do a re-scan?

    Go into your box’s settings/menu.

  2. Find an Installation option and select it.
  3. Within Installation, select TP Scan/TP Setup or similar. (TP is short for transponder.)
  4. Select the Search option.
  5. Sit back and watch the progress bar till the re-scan is complete, then go check out your new channel list and see if you’ve got your channel back, either in its original location, or in the new channels at the end of the list.
The Sat and PC Guy

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2018 5:34pm

The Sat and PC Guy

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Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2018 5:34pm

Sky and Freesat boxes automatically update - sky almost instantly and every reboot, Freesat over night during "housekeeping"... so usually a rescan is not required. 

But as you say you are using Freesat, you just do a new Freesat install from the Freesat box system menu, input the uk postcode for whichever bbc itv and c4 regions you want on 101, 102, 103, and 104, and off it goes, done in under a minute.

If you still have problems, then that is when you need your dish / lnb realigning...but my guess is LNB realignment...especially since some of the channels you say you have lost have not changed frequencies since they have been on Freesat (Dave for example).

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