aligning dish

[tanguera]

Can anyone help? Our sat dish was pixellating later on so we bought a 1.9m.
Fitted it up and am trying to align it. Managed to get it roughly positioned so that the Network ID is showing 0002 which means it's pointing at the Astra satellites. Managed to get the sky box to download the epg but whenever I try to select a programme it still comes up as no signal. I've got the default transponder set for Sky news which is why it managed to download the epg I presume and I've been faffing about with left/right and elevation for hours now. Having got so close to receiving I'd like to finish the job off. Am I missing something? The signal strength meter on the box will intermittently show as signal locked and about 25% signal strength but will then revert to Not Locked and no strength.
I'll probably call someone to finish it off but just wanted to ask if there's anyone with an idea.
Thanks.

[costakid]

I presume you know all the UK channels have gone now.

[tanguera]

Yes I realise that is the situation down south, but we're in Murcia. I know the site is called Andalucia.com but it's a source of excellent info and expertise. We have a 1.4 dish which works OK apart from pixellation at times. Nearby Brits with 1.9 dishes are receiving all channels...thus the upgrade to larger dish. I'll probably have to call an engineer in but I'm so close. It's extremely frustrating!

[El Cid]

UKTV reception in Murcia is marginal and, yes, you may get it with a dish that size, but it does need a decent installer to align it properly.

It's probably only going to cost you €50 but it will be better than trying to do it yourself without the proper equipment.

Sid

[satandpcguy]

Well if the sky box has downloaded the EPG then you are on the correct satellites - and you should have some channels available....

But if your signal testscreen on the sky box goes from locked to unlocked, then it is not aligned accurately enough -

And since the recent changes you should have no problems using 11778 - the correct default transponder frequency - to help boot up the sky box.... it is of similar strength to 12207 that you are using! And remember that is only using the sky box test screen it takes a few seconds for that to update after you have adjusted the dish....so do not rush things. And we are talking very small /minute changes in the dish to maximise siganls here...

So first make sure you can get the "easy" channels - like Sky News. Should not be a problem if you have used 12207 as the DT top download the channel list.

Then use a weaker channel like BBC to fine tune the dish. Fine tune means minute adjustments.

If you do not have a proper / decent signal meter (a beeper is not ideal!) then it will take time and patience.

and a decent meter will also allow you to fine tune the LNB skew and LNB focal distance.

[tanguera]

Thanks to all. Much appreciated. We've found that being in Spain encourages you to try to be self sufficient and to try new things which is usually fairly easy if you know how to use the internet. We'll give it another go today and if no luck then we'll call in the professionals.
Our 1.4 was OK for parts of the day so we figured we were on the cusp of reception and a reasonably priced 1.9 came up so we thought we'd give it a go.
Thanks again.

[peteroldracer]

The clever thing is to recognise when an expert is needed - if you can align a dish and LNB accurately on a satellite 22,000 miles away without any training and proper equipment you have missed your way in life

[swerve]

As usual great advice peter. Op keep us posted as to how you get on. I'm a firm belliever of doing stuff yourself if possible. Just be careful on that roof. Remember what happened to rod hull.

[knowal]

As usual great advice peter. Op keep us posted as to how you get on. I'm a firm belliever of doing stuff yourself if possible. Just be careful on that roof. Remember what happened to rod hull.

I also believe in DIY if one is capable. I've installed and re-aimed dishes for years just using my knowledge gained as a radio ham and common sense.

To tanguera - did you miss the point in satandpcguy's post about the LNB skew. This is extremely important to align the polarisation with that of the satellite. You didn't mention turning the LNB in your original post.

[eazbak]

I´ve always installed my own satellite dishes and LNB and aligned it myself, a bit of patience and logic is all that is needed, no need for any "training" nor "proper equipment" apart from a drill !

Most projects in the home can be DIY if you are prepared to have a go.

[tanguera]

I thought I'd give an update on our adventure to align the dish. Also, in case anyone's wondering it's not because we're tight with money or anything else - we picked it up on Sunday and as it's a quiet day thought we'd give it a go and now we're hooked on learning as much as we can before we give up and call in the professionals. Kinda like a desert island scenario...
We presumed the three variables were azimuth (left/right) elevation and skew.
We set it to a rough bearing from dishpointer.com and presumed the elevation was probably set roughly correct as we bought it from someone nearby. We took skew from the web as being roughly "twenty to two" with the cable hanging down facing you. Using default transmitter 12207, two hours of moving the dish about in fractions of a millimeter got us nowhere - no Sky news.
We then decided to take pcsatguy's advice re default transmitter 11778 and set it back to our original marked position - again no joy. We then decided to ignore the advice on the web and change the skew. With the skew set at "twenty past ten" Bingo! satellite locked on with signal strength and a strong Sky news.

[tanguera]

Apologies. Post went off before finishing.
One final point - We've got the epg and Sky news with sat locked and about 25% signal strength.
To see if we can tune in any other channels do we just select say BBC1 and move the dish until it comes up or do we have to select another default transmitter first? Or should we try fine adjustments to elevation and skew to boost the signal strength first before we try to find other channels?
When we worked we wouldn't have dreamed of doing any of this - we'd just get someone in but retirement does funny things to your mindset don't you think?

[knowal]

Apologies. Post went off before finishing.
One final point - We've got the epg and Sky news with sat locked and about 25% signal strength.
To see if we can tune in any other channels do we just select say BBC1 and move the dish until it comes up or do we have to select another default transmitter first?

Don't mess with the default transponder now you have got it. Leave it on 11.778.

Or should we try fine adjustments to elevation and skew to boost the signal strength first before we try to find other channels?

Yes, do that first, then switch to BBC and start doing the tiniest adjustments.

When we worked we wouldn't have dreamed of doing any of this - we'd just get someone in but retirement does funny things to your mindset don't you think?

Good on you! I've learnt many practical skills since coming to Spain, which people certainly don't learn by "getting someone in".

[tanguera]

Hi
A final update on aligning the 1.9m dish.
By patiently tweaking left/right, elevation and lnb skew we now have all the channels we had before the satellite changeover. Locked on, signal strength 60% and signal quality 80%.
Quite a palaver but worth it for the learning .
Thanks to all who contributed, especially as it's probably an issue that is not high on most people's priorities.

[swerve]

Well done glad you got it sorted. When you say all Channels do you mean bbc itv and such.

[biribiri]

Congratulations

Now don't forget to mark everything with a couple of spots of paint. Then if anything moves in the future due to high winds etc, you can be back viewing within minutes without having to start all over again

[peteroldracer]

Congratulations on acquiring a skill which is no use to anyone living in Andalucia!

[tanguera]

By all channels I mean all non-subscription fta channels ie BBC,ITV, C4, C5 etc
I hope everything works out for you all down south re solutions to TV.
Regards and thanks

[satandpcguy]

With the skew set at "twenty past ten" Bingo! satellite locked on with signal strength and a strong Sky news.

Erm - it is at twenty to two - if you look at the LNB from in from of the dish!!!

So the advice on the web was correct - if you look at the dish the correct way!

[knowal]

Congratulations on acquiring a skill which is no use to anyone living in Andalucia!

What do you mean?
1.9 metre dishes are being used very successfully in Almería, which, when I last looked was in Andalucía.