Astra 2E/2F Technical Thread

[Martin963]

Interesting spanner in the works for the launch of Astra 2G.....:

http://advanced-television.com/2014/04/28/us-bans-ses-satellite-launch-by-russia/

[Jako]

Or not:

http://advanced-television.com/2014/04/29/confusion-over-banned-satellite-launches/

[Quillan]

I don't think anything will stop. The satellites have been built and tested just waiting to be launched, they may already be 'on site' for all we know. It's only the US anyway so who cares. [;-)]

[Pierre ZFP]

But isn't SES half US owned?  I would think they might have some say in it?

Oh no, silly me, too much money tied up in it of course.

[joidevie]

..... Does anyone know what might be going on - many channels have now either disappeared or are heavily pixelated??

I get 'regional' BBC1 & 2 (NI and East Midlands etc) but no London.. ITV ok, but none of the channel 4 suite..

Dish is fine (72% quality as it was before).. I have read on another (Languedoc) forum that others are having issues?

Any insider knowledge would be much appreciated  :o)

Cheers.

[Wils]

Hi Joidevie

I have had exactly the same experience here in The Languedoc. I spent 2 hours on a roof today trying to get a strong signal without success even though I have fitted about 6 similar dishes over the last few weeks and they normally took about 10 minutes or less to find signal. At our gaf we have lost BBC on 101 and 102 etc as well as HD. We still get the regional BBC though and that is with a 115cm dish Something is going on and it's not just the strong wind.

[Patf]

Same here in SW Gers.

The signals strength and quality haven't been affected, but broken up or no picture.

[Quillan]

Rumor has it that they have moved the beam because people in some parts of Scotland have had problems and East Anglia.

Everyone than I know round me lost theirs about two days ago, all we can get is CBS etc on the wide beam.

I would like to have some offical confirmed information if they have moved the beam.

[Gardian]

No problems here in the Gard.

115cm dish.

[joidevie]

Hmmmm... Not so far from us (100cm Gibertini)...

Thanks for the feedback.. Anyone else?

Cheers.

[HoneySuckleDreams]

it may be coincidence for us as we had a massive storm last night. We only have CH5 at the moment (150cm) dish

 

 

Edit: Lots of channels have come back but no HD. It seems that things are wobbling a bit at the moment

 

[Chrissie]

All main channels, i.e. BBC, ITV, CH5 etc lost here in southern Tarn since last Friday (9th May), despite perfect signal before that (85cm dish).  Can only get CBS etc and dish needs frequent rebooting. [:(]

Chrissie (81)

[joidevie]

I'm reading all kinds of strange stuff like ice crystals in the air or sandstorms in Egypt! Read here..

I do hope this is all, as I'm getting quite fed up with fiddling with the whole system..

Please post any updates  ;o)

[osie]

I am sure this thread will be read in the near future and think what archaic times we live where egyption ice crystals effect the tv and you cant watch eastenders 24/7 because of the ip police.

[joidevie]

I just found this:

This taken from skyinmadrid.com, posted today:

ASTRA 2E SIGNAL WEAKENS

We have received many reports of weaker signals from the Astra 2E UK spot beam, which carries BBC & ITV.

In S.E. France, a local English language radio station was "swamped with complaints" according to our correspondent in Frejus.

The

deterioration has affected southern France and Spain. It's likely that

the satellite has been the subject of "station keeping", which can

result in a slight movement of the beam. This happens every 4-6 weeks,

resulting in loss of signal if the receiving dish is right at the margin

of a viewable signal. All geostationary satellites need to be kept on

station, which is achieved by firing tiny jets on the spacecraft.

Digital

broadcasting is normally either received perfectly or not at all.

Analogue systems in the past would just become more grainy.

Hot weather and humidity can also weaken faint satellite signals.

The solutions to push the signal back over the threshold for breakup are:

better LNB

adjustment of the dish

bigger dish

more sensitive receiver.

The signal should improve again in June or July.

[Jako]

Yet another proton launch failure, this will have an impact on the Astra2G launch date:

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2014/05/russian-proton-m-launches-with-ekspress-am4r/

[Tarrot]

I have an oldish Pace Sky box (3.0.58) and had been having problems losing BBC etc with a 1m dish in the garden.  I installed the new 1.2m dish on the same mount and have a strong signal and 90 percent quality. But I still don't have BBC or Film4 etc. The only things I watch (sad old man syndrome).  I get SKY News etc fine. I bought a little sat finder (WS 6906) thinking I could do a better job lining things up, but ASTRA 2e is not in its memory and it appears absolutely impossibe to update it (having wasted a day trying to get tthe software). I lined the new dish up using the TV and the Pace box. I am obviously doing something wrong. It boils down to two questions. First I am maybe misunderstanding how things work.  I have found the satellite (I think!). But are the various "beams" in different physical locations? Microscopic distances apart.  In which case the dish is too big for me to tweak and I'd better get a professional in.

The second question is has anybody discovered how to add astra 2e to the WS-6909 satfinder? It's not much use if the answer's no - and I can post this as a beware! The device arrives with a lot of satellites loaded, but NOT Astra 2E.

[Quillan]

Has it got the old satellites on it i.e. Astra 1N, 2B and 2D?

For the software see the link below.

http://sat-link.com.au/satLink-software-support.htm

 

[Tarrot]

Gosh, that was a swift reply! Thanks.

The satfinder has Astra 2B and 2D loaded.  It has some Astra files with the prefix "1" but not 1N.  (they are not at 28 degrees either).

I ploughed through that upgrade link yesterday, but failed every time at the last step.  The download is a RAR file.  I unpacked that and end up with a BIN file.  I don't know much about BIN files but I know they are used upgrading router firmware so it sounded promising.  I have a porgram that allegedly unpacks BIN files, but it simply says "unrecognised content". 

I actually paid up yesterday to get the update from China.  The instructions to pay are in English - the rest is in Chinese, which I can't read.  I think they should have mentioned that before taking my 5 dollars.

[Quillan]

A BIN file is a binary file i.e. full of 1's and 0's so nothing to see really and of course it's format will depend on the operating system used by the device. I will have a look at it later for you. You could try contacting them via email or better still phone.

[Tarrot]

Your previous comment re 2B and 2D sort of implied I could line up using them - is that right?.  The device has 2A 2B 2D loaded - all at 28.2 degrees.  So is Astra 2E in a different physical location in the sky? I'm sorry for such a banal question - I had assumed they were all effectively in one place and that the differences related to power, frequency and all that stuff.

I'll do a bit of research on the upgrade BIN file. I think you need to convert it to another format (ISO is mentioned).  It's that I can't do. 

[Wils]

I have a Satlink 6908. To locate Astra 2e I use 'Quick Search' and go to Astra 2B/2D. Then scroll down to TP num and set that to 78 which is the transponder for 2e. It automatically changes frequency and symbol rate. That has worked fine for me, hope this helps.

[Quillan]

OK forget all the other stuff.

Now you have downloaded the software update file you will need something like WinZip (free edition) to look inside it. There you will find a manual PDF file. If you open that and look at Para 2.4.2 it will tell you how to install the update. You will need a USB memory stick to put the update on, I think you choose the Europe file. Place the memory stick into the USB port on your meter then go to the menu on the device and select Update and it will copy the file across to the device for you. If you have a problem i.e. it does not work then contact them direct, details on their website.

[Tarrot]

Thanks you both.  I confess I had not bothered with the pdf manual, assuming it was simply an electronic copy of the manual that came with the device, (very pooly translated - as all the AMAZON reviews  say).  I'll read it!

[Tarrot]

The 6906 doesn't let you change the TP number.  It is preset for (e.g.)2D as 1/18, 2/18 and so on. But do have the option "ADD TP" - setting the frequency and symbol rate manually.  I'll give that a go if you could tell me the values.  I wish I understood this better!