"Steve" wrote in message
...
Hi. I'm new to satellites and am doing a DIY installation.



I'm having problems aligning my new dish and wondered if anyone can
advise. I get very strong signals from Astra 1F at 19.2E and Astra 1E at
23.5E with the same dish position - loads of channels. Signal strength
and quality are about 80% for both 1F and 1E.



But I want 'Astra 2' at 28.2E and can't find it. My satellite-finder
meter give a very strong signal for the Astra 1s but reducing the
elevation and going east a few degrees gives only a weak signal the
receiver doesn't recognise.



A couple of questions occur to me:



1. When I point the dish at the Astra 1s, the dish is vertical, as the
offset angle equals the elevation (about 24deg). Astra 2 has a smaller
elevation so I have to point the dish downwards and I get a lot background
radiation from the garage roof when the dish is pointing downwards. Could
this mask Astra 2? If so I'd have to raise the dish's height or change it
for one with a smaller offset angle. Aargh.



2 Is Astra 2's signal strength a lot weaker than Astra 1s? So should I be
looking for a much weaker signal than my meter gives for the Astra 1s?
With the Astra1s, the signal is so strong that the meter is off the scale
even with the sensitivity fully down.



The signal strengths should certainly be comparable.

I am a little surprised that you can receive from 19.2E and 23.5 at the same
time. Maybe you need to site the dish higher so that it has a clear view
over your garage roof.

The off set angle makes no difference to the location of the dish. i.e.
changing the dish won't help. The radio waves from the satellite just need
an unimpeded path to the dish surface.
Think of the radio waves as a beam of light which has to be able to shine on
the dish.

The digitalspy forums are a good source of technical info.
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/f...splay.php?f=11

--
Michael Chare