Satellite alignment. Got Astra 1 but want Astra 2

[Steve]

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.

For information I'm in the UK (Devon) which is Zone 1. I have a new 60cm dish and a new Labgear DV3 receiver.

Suggestions gratefully received.

Steve

[Graham.]

Are you sute Astra 2 isn't behind the roof from the POV of the dish or at least its lower half?

[tony sayer]

Indeed!, ASTRA 28.2 is about the brightest thing in the Sky, normally can align it without a meter just using the built in one in the Sky box!....

[Steve]

Thans Graham. Yes - I worked out the elevation/azimuth carefully and made sure I had a clear lline of sight before mounting the dish. It's only a few degrees from Astra 1 which is compltely in the clear and gives a very strong signal. Steve

[PeterK]

I'm no expert and I had a lot of trouble aligning my motorised dish that was resolved after a lot of googling established that the Fortec Star LNB was non standard and the setting angle was wrong. The two links below may help with basic alignment

[Michael Chare]

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.

[Graham.]

It ts certinly possible to have perfect 19.2E reception and zilch from

28.2E due to an obstruction

How much elevation have you got to spare between the rooftop and Astra 2? It must be quite close if you are worried about thermal radiation; could you have miscalculated I wonder?

Finally, if you are using a Sky box as a meter, it can help to power cycle it, if it accidentally locks onto the wrong bird.

[Steve]

Thanks for the replies all. To answer some of the points, I have plenty elevation (over 20deg over the garage roof) from the dish to where I believe Astra2 is - the line of site is unobstructed,. My suspicion about the 'thermal radiation' from the garage roof arises because of the LNB offset: the LNB is well below the dish's axis, so the line of site is well above the dish's axis, but the dish's axis points towards the garage roof. I'm using a hand-held satellite finder with a built-in meter and audible signal, the thing 'screams' when pointing at Astra 1 but nothing for where I believe Astra 2 is. And I do get both Astra1s (19.2 and 23.5) strongly from the same dish position! Oh well, will try again tomorrow. Thanks again. Steve

[tony sayer]

In article , Steve scribeth thus

What's this ASTRA 1 at 23.5 then?...

[Harry Bloomfield]

Steve brought next idea :

So far as I am aware there is no Astra at 23.5 - only the 19.2 and 28.?

[Graham.]

The garage is not an issue. Can you get Hotbird 11E on the other side of Astra 1?

[Michael Chare]

See

[tony sayer]

In article , Michael Chare scribeth thus

Seems very very odd that the OP can see that but not 28.2 tho. Any chance of borrowing a working Sky box to hang on the LNB there to see if its not something odd in the receiver?..

[Steve]

.

19.2 and Astra 1E at 23.5 as two different satellites. And I get good signals from both. Also a Google search for Astra 23.5 give loads of stuff. Steve

[Michael Chare]

Well my satellite receiver thinks that 23.5E is Astra3.

You really need to check a partiular channel by looking at the Dog / programme material to find out what channel it is. Armed with this information and the frequency, symbol rate and polarity from the receiver you can then use websites such as SatcoDx, Lyngsat to work out what satellite you are receiving from.

[tony sayer]

In article , Michael Chare scribeth thus

And of course there are that many anti dog people around;!...

[Steve]

. .

Thanks to everyone. If anyone is still reading this thread, the problem is now solved. When I got the receiver it was pre-loaded with the transponder data (frequencies etc.) for a wide range of satellites. But some were completely wrong - the pre-loaded Astra 1 transponder data (for both 19.2E and 23.5E) were in fact the Astra 2 data!!! This is how I apparently could pick up 2 satellites at once - I was actually picking up the Astra 2 transponmders all along, but the receiver falsely identified some as Astra1F (23.5) and some as Astra 1F(19.2). The Astra 2 data was all wrong. With the correct transponder data against the correct satellite description, it now works a treat. Thanks again. Steve

[tony sayer]

In article , Steve scribeth thus

Thats not that clever of the makers ASTRA 2 has been around for quite sometime now even the old Echostar's we had there have that in them, 'tho not all the latest transponders;!...