dave21478 Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Hi.This is officially beginning to bug me now.I find myself with a little free time today so decided to finally set up for UK tv. I have a Panasonic sat receiver, a Brico Depot universal 80cm dish, cable etc.The dish is mounted, the cable is run, but can I get a signal? no chance.I know 100% that the receiver box works. I took it from a working installation in another house. I went back to double check today, plugged it in and it worked immediately.Here though, using the signal test option on the menu, the strength and quality bars vary between half and 3/4 depending on how i move the dish, the "lock indicator" says OK, but the network ID and Transport stream both say 0000.When I tested it at the old house today, the ID was 0002 and the stream was 07d4. With various wiggling of my dish, it briefly showed these figures, so when I exited the menu, it said "no signal being received, unplug and wait 5 minutes" so I did that and when I plugged it back in, the numbers had reverted to 0000.I am in the Tarn, a every sat direction website I have looked at suggests 28.2 east obviously and an elevation of around 32degrees. I have tried a good 45 degrees either side of this and get no joy.So, what am I doing wrong? 28.2E is 28 degrees eastward of due south, yes? This direction does not tie in fully with the images suggested on the sat finder website maps.How quickly will this box react as I move the dish around? I am going pretty slow, but just can not get it to work at all.If it has cogs, grease nipples, requires welding or needs a large hammer to adjust it then I can fix it, but electronics and modern technology is really, really not my strong point.Please help me.[:(] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 It can be frustrating and yes, 28.2E does mean East of South !34deg elevation may be closer but 32 should get you something. They say it can take up to 30 seconds for a box to update but in my experience it's usually much less say 10, so you just have to be slow and methodical. You can almost forget the signal strength and concentrate on getting a quality reading.Have you looked on http://www.dishpointer.com/ for direction ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave21478 Posted February 24, 2012 Author Share Posted February 24, 2012 pfffff, I post a whine on the internet and it just starts working. I dont know what I did, or how I did it, but with the dish pointing in the same direction at the same elevation that I have tried countless times today it now works fine and gives almost max signal.What that you say? the clutch has failed on your Ford Escort? well, try switching it off then on again, that usually works. - If only! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I use an old signal strength meter, it is a very fine adjustment, you should be working +/- 1 degree from an accurate compass bearing, you wouldnt be timing a dizzy or camshaft with 45 degree swings!I once borrowed a sat beeper or whatever it was called, as I got closer it started to beep finally screaming in my ear when I hot the sweet spot, it was far far better than my meter that looks like it dates back to the days of Marconi.Once you have got is as good as you can then its time to start fine tuning, usually the LNB skew from the signal strength and quality menu.I envy you returning to UK TV, I have another 2 years of self imposed exile to serve [:(] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave21478 Posted February 24, 2012 Author Share Posted February 24, 2012 Thats what I did - I had the compass bearing (my neighbours think im nuts anyway, but standing on the roof with a compass must have tickled them today) and worked a few mm movement at a time in ever increasing swings to one side then the other, waiting for the box to do something before moving on. I went so far to either side just in case I was being dim with the bearing somehow.Anyway, it got me nothing despite several tries. It just started working suddenly after I made the first post for help. I plugged it in again, went back up, pointed it back on the original bearing and it sprang to life. (I have the new telly strapped to the balcony railings so I can see it from the roof - the neighbours think im REALLY nuts) so I gave it a tiny tweak to get the max readings, tightened the bolts and thats it working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyv Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 Hum, there seems to be some confusion here, but maybe it's mine [;-)] Hope I'm not treading on anyone's toes!The satellite is NOT at "28 deg east of south". It is in orbit over longitude 28.2 deg, somewhere over the Congo. This implies that the direction you point the dish is determined by your location. From http://www.dishpointer.com/ for the Tarn area, you need to point the dish to compass bearing 144.7 deg(M), which, of course is a bit different to pointing it at 28 deg east of south! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 Been there done that Dave, telly on the roof etc [:D]I think the problem is the decoder software takes so long to get its ar5e into gear and react to the signal that we have already started swinging the parabole in desperation, finally when you get fed up and go for a cuppa or something stronger to calm the nerves it decides to play ball as you have found.My meter is good but you have to faff around with the gain control, the beeper was excellent.P.S. congrats! What programs are you filling your boots with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachapapa Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 [quote user="tonyv"]Hum, there seems to be some confusion here, but maybe it's mine [;-)] Hope I'm not treading on anyone's toes!The satellite is NOT at "28 deg east of south". It is in orbit over longitude 28.2 deg, somewhere over the Congo. This implies that the direction you point the dish is determined by your location. From http://www.dishpointer.com/ for the Tarn area, you need to point the dish to compass bearing 144.7 deg(M), which, of course is a bit different to pointing it at 28 deg east of south![/quote]Succinct if a little "ironique".Do you mean if you live on the equator the dish faces due east towards the rising sun; and if you live at the north pole it is close to "frigging" south?[:-))] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salty Sam Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 As already mentioned, finding the correct combination of bearing and elevation can be a frustrating exercise. The use of cheap satellite finders can be equally frustrating especially when the seperation between satellites is only a few degrees.The use of the simple "Dish Pointer" software in Tonyv's post certainly makes the job easier in getting the essential settings correct, before fine tuning any further. [IMG]http://i52.tinypic.com/v6q749.jpg[/IMG] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyv Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 [quote user="pachapapa"]Succinct if a little "ironique".Do you mean if you live on the equator the dish faces due east towards the rising sun; and if you live at the north pole it is close to "frigging" south?[:-))][/quote]Well, as for living on the equator, it still depends upon where you are as to whether it points east or west. From Rwanda, it is more-or-less straight up.From the north pole *everything* is south; friggin, or otherwise. More to the point, the satellite is due south from the Ukraine, and Rhodes for example.I would have expected you to understand this 3-d geometry stuff, PPP.Try this:http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http%3A//toolserver.org/~para/cgi-bin/kmlexport?project=en%26article%3D28th_meridian_east Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachapapa Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 [:D]No, I just let the "friggin" sun do the astro-trig correction, just take the local noon to the particular longitude of the geo-stationary satellite and stick a couple of sticks in the ground at that time adjusted to my own longitude in deux- sèvres, the greenwich meridian is about 10 kms east at Chalandray, even a line in the road from Nantes to Poitiers.By the way I dont put the dish on the roof, it makes it difficult for access and uses lots of expensive cable, indeed a piece of pipe from the Comptoir des loges stuck in to some concrete works a treat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Théière Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 Download the APP to your smart phone or i-phone tell it which satellite very simples [:)]https://market.android.com/details?id=zekitez.com.satellitedirector Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave21478 Posted February 25, 2012 Author Share Posted February 25, 2012 [quote user="Théière"]Download the APP to your smart phone or i-phone tell it which satellite very simples [:)]https://market.android.com/details?id=zekitez.com.satellitedirector[/quote]Ha! remember what I said about electronics? I only have a mobile because I have to have one for my work. Its a Nokia with a monochrome screen and the state of the art feature it boasts is a game called "Snake".I-phone [+o(] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 Ditto! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frederick Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 [quote user="dave21478"][quote user="Théière"]Download the APP to your smart phone or i-phone tell it which satellite very simples [:)]https://market.android.com/details?id=zekitez.com.satellitedirector[/quote]Ha! remember what I said about electronics? I only have a mobile because I have to have one for my work. Its a Nokia with a monochrome screen and the state of the art feature it boasts is a game called "Snake".I-phone [+o(][/quote]Find a 15 year old to help you..he or she will have the latest all singing all dancing smart phone there is . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 28.2 = 29.7 from Aberdeen or 30.3 from the Lot, either being near enough for most I would say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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