How difficult are these to align, and how critical is a signal
meter? I have a problem installation, and it might be easier to
do it myself. It will be a flat roof job (i.e. concrete slabs
weighing it down) if I do.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

How difficult are these to align, and how critical is a signal
meter? I have a problem installation, and it might be easier to
do it myself. It will be a flat roof job (i.e. concrete slabs
weighing it down) if I do.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.



Easy to align, so long as your receiver has some kind of integral signal
strength meter.

1. Go to http://www.ses-astra.com/consumer/az...p?locale=en_GB
and input your lat/long

2. Using a compass and common sense work out approximately the heading
you need.

3. On a Sky box dish adjust elevation/azimuth to maximise "signal
strength".

4. Rotate LNB to maximise "signal quality". Job jobbed.

(Of course the above assumes you can set up and see a TV connected to your
receiver). It's even easier with a signal strength meter. Occasionally you
see these in Lidl/Aldo for a fiver.

David

On Mar 5, 3:47 pm, "vortex2"
wrote:
"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message

...



How difficult are these to align, and how critical is a signal
meter? I have a problem installation, and it might be easier to
do it myself. It will be a flat roof job (i.e. concrete slabs
weighing it down) if I do.

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Easy to align, so long as your receiver has some kind of integral signal
strength meter.

1. Go tohttp://www.ses-astra.com/consumer/azimuth/index.php?locale=en_GB
and input your lat/long

2. Using a compass and common sense work out approximately the heading
you need.

3. On a Sky box dish adjust elevation/azimuth to maximise "signal
strength".

4. Rotate LNB to maximise "signal quality". Job jobbed.

(Of course the above assumes you can set up and see a TV connected to your
receiver). It's even easier with a signal strength meter. Occasionally you
see these in Lidl/Aldo for a fiver.

David

I do/did mine by guesswork (and the signka meter on the digibox) from
looking at neighbours' dishes. The Sky astra signal is very strong to
it's quite easy to get somewhere near it then fine tune it.

On 5 Mar 2007 14:33:46 GMT, Nick Maclaren wrote:

How difficult are these to align,

No that hard. The cluster of satellites delivering Sky/BBC is roughly at
the same place in the sky as the sun about 1020 GMT. As we are just
before the equinox they are a little higher ATM.

how critical is a signal meter?

Depends on how easy it is to arrange to see a TV showing the Sat Rx built
in signal strength meter when at the dish.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

How difficult are these to align, and how critical is a signal
meter? I have a problem installation, and it might be easier to
do it myself. It will be a flat roof job (i.e. concrete slabs
weighing it down) if I do.


You can purchase relatively cheap meters that give you an indication of strength
(needle dial) and tone.

The tone is quite useful, as you may find it difficult to watch a meter as you
move the dish.

You could manage just using the strength and quality indicators on a satellite
STB + TV.

Alignment needs to be within about 1 degree, and is a perfectly feasible DIY
job.

--

Michael Chare

Thanks for everyone who responded. I forgot to say that it would be
only free-to-air - my opinion of Sky is such that I won't touch them.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

Thanks for everyone who responded. I forgot to say that it would be
only free-to-air - my opinion of Sky is such that I won't touch them.

In that case you would require a 60 cm dish for BBC channels on Astra 2 at
28 degrees east of south and/or an 80 cm dish for Hotbird at 13 degrees east
of south for a selection of European channels.

A more advanced set up is to add a motor to the dish mount to enable
armchair switching between satellites.

As othes have mentioned 60 cm FTA kits (dish, receiver, and LNB etc) can be
found in Lidl for about 60 pounds (the larger dish costing 14.99) about
twice a year, or in Maplin at anytime for a less well specified reciever at
slightly higher cost around 80 pounds.
Product codes A71GG, and A844GU.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...=99085&DOY=5m3

Roger R

Roger R wrote:

In that case you would require a 60 cm dish for BBC channels on Astra 2 at
28 degrees east of south and/or an 80 cm dish for Hotbird at 13 degrees
east of south for a selection of European channels.

Anyone know if one can pick up BBC TV by satellite in Italy?

--
Timothy Murphy
e-mail (80k only): tim /at/ birdsnest.maths.tcd.ie
tel: +353-86-2336090, +353-1-2842366
s-mail: School of Mathematics, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland

"Timothy Murphy" wrote in message
...
Roger R wrote:

In that case you would require a 60 cm dish for BBC channels on Astra 2
at
28 degrees east of south and/or an 80 cm dish for Hotbird at 13 degrees
east of south for a selection of European channels.

Anyone know if one can pick up BBC TV by satellite in Italy?

only with a very large dish

http://www.ses-astra.com/corpSite/si...ra2d/index.php

tim (used to live on the edge of the green zone which says
we should get it with a 75 cm, we couldn't)

tim..... wrote:
"Timothy Murphy" wrote in message
...
Roger R wrote:

In that case you would require a 60 cm dish for BBC channels on Astra 2
at
28 degrees east of south and/or an 80 cm dish for Hotbird at 13 degrees
east of south for a selection of European channels.
Anyone know if one can pick up BBC TV by satellite in Italy?

only with a very large dish

http://www.ses-astra.com/corpSite/si...ra2d/index.php

tim (used to live on the edge of the green zone which says
we should get it with a 75 cm, we couldn't)





I found the problem was getting the correct satellite. In the end what
I did was place the TV so that it was visible through a roughly South
facing window. I then mounted the dish on a workmate, moved the dish
until I received the satellite required, using the box's in built signal
meter to get the best possible strength with quality. I then used a
compass attached to a long piece of string and got a pretty accurate
direction, then I made a simple elevation instrument with a card, piece
of string and weight. These measurements were made from the arm of the
dish. I then mounted the dish in its final position using these
measurements, this gave me a reasonable signal on the required
satellite. Then it was a case of fine adjustment by help from the good
lady. Remember that the signal strength has a fair delay between moving
the dish and alteration of the signal. I had difficulty first of all as
I picked up the wrong satellite, also I later bought a simple meter,
however (maybe because I have electric pylons running across my garden)
the highest signal strength gives me no quality, which is useless!

In article ,
"Roger R" writes:
|
| Thanks for everyone who responded. I forgot to say that it would be
| only free-to-air - my opinion of Sky is such that I won't touch them.
|
| In that case you would require a 60 cm dish for BBC channels on Astra 2 at
| 28 degrees east of south and/or an 80 cm dish for Hotbird at 13 degrees east
| of south for a selection of European channels.
|
| A more advanced set up is to add a motor to the dish mount to enable
| armchair switching between satellites.

Thanks very much. I was hoping to get away with a fixed installation;
I shall have to recheck.

I was told by an installer that the receiver had to be next to the
television. Is that the case with all of them, or can they be installed
in the roof (power, but not easily accessible)?


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 6 Mar, 09:39, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:
In article ,"Roger R" writes:

|
| Thanks for everyone who responded. I forgot to say that it would be
| only free-to-air - my opinion of Sky is such that I won't touch them.
|
| In that case you would require a 60 cm dish for BBC channels on Astra 2 at
| 28 degrees east of south and/or an 80 cm dish for Hotbird at 13 degrees east
| of south for a selection of European channels.
|
| A more advanced set up is to add a motor to the dish mount to enable
| armchair switching between satellites.

Thanks very much. I was hoping to get away with a fixed installation;
I shall have to recheck.

I was told by an installer that the receiver had to be next to the
television. Is that the case with all of them, or can they be installed
in the roof (power, but not easily accessible)?

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I would recommend getting a Sky Digibox (not a Sky+ box!) and (if you
like watching C4 or C5, it's the only way to get them via satellite at
present) a Freesat from Sky card.

This will enable you to use Sky's EPG which makes things very easy.

As others have said, for setting up purposes, you can use the built in
meter, if you can see the output from the box and control it via the
remote.

With regard to locating the box, you can put it in the loft (though
check your loft doesn't get too hot), you will either need to use the
RF out (only gives Mono sound and not such a good picture) or you will
need to run multiple cables for either composite + stereo, or RGB +
stereo.

Again, if you use a genuine Sky Digibox, you can use the RF2 out and a
cheap nTV Link (remote control extender) to control the digibox from
the TV room.

You could get a second hand Box Dish and card for approx £60-80 or
less. You then have to DIY, and take the risk that the box may or may
not last the course (this is the route I took, mail me if you like and
i'll give you the details of my supplier).

Alternatively, you could get Sky to install the whole thing for £150
and then you are covered for a year or so if it goes wrong (I don't
know if they offer such a guarantee, but if you pay by credit card,
you could always take one or both of them to the small claims court).
It would suck giving money to Murdoch, but then they can't really make
anything on this :=))

On Mar 5, 11:19 pm, Timothy Murphy
wrote:
Roger R wrote:
In that case you would require a 60 cm dish for BBC channels on Astra 2 at
28 degrees east of south and/or an 80 cm dish for Hotbird at 13 degrees
east of south for a selection of European channels.

Anyone know if one can pick up BBC TV by satellite in Italy?


I'm in the London area and can pick up Astra and Hotbird no problem
with my nearly 60cm wide/40cm high sky dish even in the rain. ...not
at the same time though with the single LNB.

BBC used to be on an astra sat with wider coverage but they switched
to one with more of a focus on the UK so for italy one would need a
massive dish.

Some sky boxes will pick up and store non-SKY fta channels but the
interface isn't very good so a regular satellite receiver would be
better.

On 6 Mar 2007 02:10:18 -0800, wrote:

On 6 Mar, 09:39, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:
In article ,"Roger R" writes:

|
| Thanks for everyone who responded. I forgot to say that it would be
| only free-to-air - my opinion of Sky is such that I won't touch them.
|
| In that case you would require a 60 cm dish for BBC channels on Astra 2 at
| 28 degrees east of south and/or an 80 cm dish for Hotbird at 13 degrees east
| of south for a selection of European channels.
|
| A more advanced set up is to add a motor to the dish mount to enable
| armchair switching between satellites.

Thanks very much. I was hoping to get away with a fixed installation;
I shall have to recheck.

I was told by an installer that the receiver had to be next to the
television. Is that the case with all of them, or can they be installed
in the roof (power, but not easily accessible)?

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I would recommend getting a Sky Digibox (not a Sky+ box!) and (if you
like watching C4 or C5, it's the only way to get them via satellite at
present) a Freesat from Sky card.

This will enable you to use Sky's EPG which makes things very easy.

As others have said, for setting up purposes, you can use the built in
meter, if you can see the output from the box and control it via the
remote.

With regard to locating the box, you can put it in the loft (though
check your loft doesn't get too hot), you will either need to use the
RF out (only gives Mono sound and not such a good picture) or you will
need to run multiple cables for either composite + stereo, or RGB +
stereo.

Again, if you use a genuine Sky Digibox, you can use the RF2 out and a
cheap nTV Link (remote control extender) to control the digibox from
the TV room.

You could get a second hand Box Dish and card for approx £60-80 or
less. You then have to DIY, and take the risk that the box may or may
not last the course (this is the route I took, mail me if you like and
i'll give you the details of my supplier).

Alternatively, you could get Sky to install the whole thing for £150
and then you are covered for a year or so if it goes wrong (I don't
know if they offer such a guarantee, but if you pay by credit card,
you could always take one or both of them to the small claims court).
It would suck giving money to Murdoch, but then they can't really make
anything on this :=))
Ask around friends and colleagues , good chance someone will have a
redundant SKY digibox and possibly an old viewing card.

You can buy a Free to View card from SKY for £20 and get ITV, but I
understand that old subscription cards even if they have expired will
still allow you to see FTV channels.

As for dish alignment I found starting from the east the first strong
signal you come to is the right one. A cheap tone signal detector
works fine. Other tip is start with the dish vertical dont tilt it up
( as I did) .
Robert

On Mar 6, 1:00 pm, wrote:
On 6 Mar 2007 02:10:18 -0800, wrote:





On 6 Mar, 09:39, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:
In article ,"Roger R" writes:

|
| Thanks for everyone who responded. I forgot to say that it would be
| only free-to-air - my opinion of Sky is such that I won't touch them.
|
| In that case you would require a 60 cm dish for BBC channels on Astra 2 at
| 28 degrees east of south and/or an 80 cm dish for Hotbird at 13 degrees east
| of south for a selection of European channels.
|
| A more advanced set up is to add a motor to the dish mount to enable
| armchair switching between satellites.

Thanks very much. I was hoping to get away with a fixed installation;
I shall have to recheck.

I was told by an installer that the receiver had to be next to the
television. Is that the case with all of them, or can they be installed
in the roof (power, but not easily accessible)?

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I would recommend getting a Sky Digibox (not a Sky+ box!) and (if you
like watching C4 or C5, it's the only way to get them via satellite at
present) a Freesat from Sky card.

This will enable you to use Sky's EPG which makes things very easy.

As others have said, for setting up purposes, you can use the built in
meter, if you can see the output from the box and control it via the
remote.

With regard to locating the box, you can put it in the loft (though
check your loft doesn't get too hot), you will either need to use the
RF out (only gives Mono sound and not such a good picture) or you will
need to run multiple cables for either composite + stereo, or RGB +
stereo.

Again, if you use a genuine Sky Digibox, you can use the RF2 out and a
cheap nTV Link (remote control extender) to control the digibox from
the TV room.

You could get a second hand Box Dish and card for approx £60-80 or
less. You then have to DIY, and take the risk that the box may or may
not last the course (this is the route I took, mail me if you like and
i'll give you the details of my supplier).

Alternatively, you could get Sky to install the whole thing for £150
and then you are covered for a year or so if it goes wrong (I don't
know if they offer such a guarantee, but if you pay by credit card,
you could always take one or both of them to the small claims court).
It would suck giving money to Murdoch, but then they can't really make
anything on this :=))

Ask around friends and colleagues , good chance someone will have a
redundant SKY digibox and possibly an old viewing card.

You can buy a Free to View card from SKY for £20 and get ITV, but I
understand that old subscription cards even if they have expired will
still allow you to see FTV channels.


I get all BBC and ITV without any card but I think you need one for C4
and Five.

"Timothy Murphy" wrote in message
...
Roger R wrote:

In that case you would require a 60 cm dish for BBC channels on Astra 2 at
28 degrees east of south and/or an 80 cm dish for Hotbird at 13 degrees
east of south for a selection of European channels.

Anyone know if one can pick up BBC TV by satellite in Italy?


No doubt it depends which part, as the country extends quite a long way to the
south,

alt.satellite.tv.europe is a better ng for such questions.

--

Michael Chare

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

In article ,
"Roger R" writes:
|
| Thanks for everyone who responded. I forgot to say that it would be
| only free-to-air - my opinion of Sky is such that I won't touch them.
|
| In that case you would require a 60 cm dish for BBC channels on Astra 2 at
| 28 degrees east of south and/or an 80 cm dish for Hotbird at 13 degrees
east
| of south for a selection of European channels.
|
| A more advanced set up is to add a motor to the dish mount to enable
| armchair switching between satellites.

Thanks very much. I was hoping to get away with a fixed installation;
I shall have to recheck.

I was told by an installer that the receiver had to be next to the
television. Is that the case with all of them, or can they be installed
in the roof (power, but not easily accessible)?

Why don't you want the STB near the TV? 30m of cable from the LNB to the STB
should not be a problem, and normally TV's give a better picture if a Scart lead
is used rather than RF over coax.

If the STB is not next to the TV you would need some sort of remote extender.

--

Michael Chare

wrote in message
oups.com...

I would recommend getting a Sky Digibox (not a Sky+ box!) and (if you
like watching C4 or C5, it's the only way to get them via satellite at
present) a Freesat from Sky card.

This will enable you to use Sky's EPG which makes things very easy.

When the BBC/ITV launch Freesat later this near there will be a non proprietary
EPG. When that happens it will be worth considering a non Sky satellite PVR, -
though at the moment they are expensive.

--

Michael Chare

On Tue, 6 Mar 2007 17:44:17 -0000, "Michael Chare"
wrote:

|!"Timothy Murphy" wrote in message
...
|! Roger R wrote:
|!
|! In that case you would require a 60 cm dish for BBC channels on Astra 2 at
|! 28 degrees east of south and/or an 80 cm dish for Hotbird at 13 degrees
|! east of south for a selection of European channels.
|!
|! Anyone know if one can pick up BBC TV by satellite in Italy?
|!
|!
|!No doubt it depends which part, as the country extends quite a long way to the
|!south,
|!
|!alt.satellite.tv.europe is a better ng for such questions.

It is all in http://homepage.ntlworld.com/de.sullivan/
The information is also good for static dishes.
--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk Compare and contrast
Sharia Law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharia
European Convention on Human Rights http://www.hri.org/docs/ECHR50.html
Then sign this petition http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Ban-Sharia

On Tue, 6 Mar 2007 17:58:46 -0000, "Michael Chare"
wrote:

wrote in message
groups.com...
|!
|! I would recommend getting a Sky Digibox (not a Sky+ box!) and (if you
|! like watching C4 or C5, it's the only way to get them via satellite at
|! present) a Freesat from Sky card.
|!
|! This will enable you to use Sky's EPG which makes things very easy.
|!
|!When the BBC/ITV launch Freesat later this near there will be a non proprietary
|!EPG. When that happens it will be worth considering a non Sky satellite PVR, -
|!though at the moment they are expensive.

The only important channels which are not Free To Air and require a $ky
box are Ch4, Ch5, and Sky3. all Beeb and ITV Channels are Free To Air and
can be received with generic boxes. See http://www.wickonline.com/fta.htm
for channel information.

See sig
--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk Sat Ch4, Ch5, only GBP20
http://www.freesatfromsky.com - "what is freesat?" - "view T&C" -
What will I receive "?20 ... one Viewing Card". You will also need
$ky box and dish. List of Channels at http://www.wickonline.com/fta.htm
All BBC & ITV Channels are now FTA and do not need this card,
alternatively hey are receivable with a generic dish and STB.

In article ,
"Michael Chare" writes:
|
| Why don't you want the STB near the TV? 30m of cable from the LNB to the STB
| should not be a problem, and normally TV's give a better picture if a Scart lead
| is used rather than RF over coax.

Which room? We have televisions the way that some people have mice.

| If the STB is not next to the TV you would need some sort of remote extender.

Yes.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.