Keith Posted August 23, 2005 Share Posted August 23, 2005 Dear AllWe have a house in Sarlat in the Dordogne. We have a digital satellite dish that we bought in the UK which I think is too small for this far south since we lose reception whenever it rains.I assume we need a larger dish. I have seen cheap large digital dishes for sale at our local bricolage. Would these work with a british SKY receiver or is the french digital system different s from ours, as is their normal TV. If they would be ok, how large a dish would we need. If not ok where can we get a larger dish in this country.Many thanksKeith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevehudson Posted August 23, 2005 Share Posted August 23, 2005 The 45cm Sky minidish is not really up to the job, you will need a 60cm dish with a universal LNB available at all good brico's. However, it is very important that it is aligned exactly or you may still experience breakup in bad weather.RegardsSteve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard-R Posted August 23, 2005 Share Posted August 23, 2005 Get an 80cm dish and phone the local guy who does canal+ installs. HE WILL KNOW WHAT TO DO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevehudson Posted August 23, 2005 Share Posted August 23, 2005 I fit satellite systems for a living and assure you that in the Dordogne you will only require a 60 cm dish. I live and work in dept 66 (Perpignan) which is about as south as you can get in France and only ever use 60's. However, Richard's right on one point, I would recommend getting it fitted professionally, by a registered installer.Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwynydd Posted August 23, 2005 Share Posted August 23, 2005 [quote]Dear All We have a house in Sarlat in the Dordogne. We have a digital satellite dish that we bought in the UK which I think is too small for this far south since we lose reception whenever it rains. ...[/quote]This may help:http://www.bigdishsat.com/fs12_compare.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Avery Posted August 23, 2005 Share Posted August 23, 2005 "since we lose reception whenever it rains. ..." "it is very important that it is aligned exactly or you may still experience breakup in bad weather"Can I just ask, re the above, In the UK I had my satellite dish professionally installed and also the one here in France, installed by PULSAT. I have never at either location managed to keep a good signal in really heavy rain.So is it anything really to do with the dish setting or the fact that the signal just cannot penetrate the rain, Does anybody really have NO loss of signal quality in heavy rain? If so how and where??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevehudson Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 Without getting into an in depth discussion about rain "heaviness", under "normal" rainy conditions you will notice a signal quality reduction but should still receive a perfect picture with no blocking or breakup. Under "extreme" rainy conditions ie. you wouldn't run from your house to your car parked 10m away, it is normal to lose all signal quality, and therefore you will not receive a picture. To give you an idea we lose picture only once or twice a year for very short periods. Also just because your dish was fitted by Pulsat doesn't mean it is well aligned, I have realigned several dishes installed by French companies who, I presume, don't appreciate the need for exact alignment this far south.RegardsSteve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Avery Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 SteveAs the Pulsat man had all the equipment, meters etc and he signalquality is good and correct according to the installation menu, I assume that he has aligned it properly My experience is similar to yours, in that we lose the signal in storm type rain similar to what you describe, although our heavy rain may be a little more frequent than yours I was just puzzled by the assertions on here from time to time from people saying that they never lose their signal during any sort of rain and wondere if I was the only one in SW France who did!!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevehudson Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 Rain fade is caused by attenuation of signal strength by the refractive qualities of water, therefore the heavier the rain the more signal is refracted away from the dish. I am talking about rain so hard that the digibox will lose satellite lock so quite exceptional, normal heavy rain should not be a problem. If your signal strength and quality are OK (I usually work on 90-100% strength and 75-90% quality) you can try changing your LNB to one with a 0.3dB noise figure (usually the brico dishes are supplied with 0.6dB LNB's) this should help. If you still have problems then you may need a larger dish.Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynarth Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 For someone who is moving out to France at the end of September this is all very useful stuff. Steve as you live and work in 66 I have sent you a PM.regardslynarth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrisdubna Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 [quote]Dear All We have a house in Sarlat in the Dordogne. We have a digital satellite dish that we bought in the UK which I think is too small for this far south since we lose reception whenever it rains. ...[/quote]Hmmm digital dish, not seen one of them. Any dish is capable of receiving analogue or digitial providing it is being pointed at the correct sat. The LNB is the item that you need to take care with but these days even the analogue set ups in France have a universal LNB which will pick up digital / numeric signals with no problem. In Dordogne I would recommend a 90 cms dish.Last one I bought cost me 39€ and came complete with an analogue box which has now joined the other 20+ of them. Free to a good home.CHRIS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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