New Dish and Cable questions.

[Quillan]

I want to replace my existing satellite cable as it has several joints in it, one of which is done on a pieces of 'chocolate block' as I am told the more joints you have the worse the signal, certainly true with regards to data cable anyway. I am also moving the dish because there is a tree in the way.

I am looking at UK websites and French websites, do they measure cable differently? I ask this because several UK suppliers say that Webro WF100 (which means nothing to me) is the preferred cable but the figures range from 4.9db for 100mhz up to 24.8db for 2150mhz (per 100M). The French equivalent says it is 100db for 100M with no mention of frequency!

Perhaps it is better to explain that the cable I want to replace will be replaced by two new cables run in parallel, each one about 25 to 30M long so whats the most cost effective cable make and part number for that length of run? I would particularly be interested if the cable I can use can be bought from the following guy as it is him I want to buy my new dish from and another forum member has used him with no problems.

http://stores.ebay.fr/bfsat-shop?_trksid=p4340.l2563

I was thinking about using the same dish to receive UK and French TV. Reading the Orange website French TV is broadcast from an Astra satellite at 19.2 deg E. Do I have to get a special dual LNB that points specifically at these angles or is one of the LNB's adjustable i.e. you point one at Astra 2F then adjust the other mechanically (even though it appears to be part of the same unit) to 19.2 deg. Basically can this be achieved and how is it done and what specifically do I buy and what is the best make?

[HoneySuckleDreams]

I'm not sure about the cable, but will need a special arm thingy to fit the two LNB's onto if you want to point to the 2 satellites. The angle between them is too great to have one of those double-lnb's

http://cgi.ebay.fr/SUPPORT-4-LNB-TRIAX-ASTRA-HOTBIRD-ALTLANTIC-BIRD-/300458914456?pt=FR_Image_son_Autres&hash=item45f4bf3298

 

[PaulT]

Just looked at the site that Q has provided the link to. They do a snow and rain umbrella for the LNB - do these work or is the interruption caused by the signal on its way to the dish.

[Danny]

They also do a simple 3 LNB version which works fine.

http://cgi.ebay.fr/Multi-Feed-3-hotbird-astra-eutelsat-MULTI-TETES-/290377964730?pt=FR_Image_son_Autres&hash=item439be01cba

The middle bit of the bracket clamps around a standard 40mm LNB and the other LNB goes on one side. Not too hard for two different sats but very fiddly to set up for three sats.

Quillan, you will need LNBs for each sat, so two in your case. Each simple decoder needs one cable. Decoders with two tuners - freesat+, sky+ and others need two cables each.

You need to make sure that your LNBs have as many cable outlets - single, quad or octo - as you need.

With this kind of set up of two sats on one dish, only one will have proper reception. The secondary sat will not get as good reception because it is not optimally positioned on the dish. This should be no problem though to get a pretty good signal for French TV

You should set up the main LNB for UK channels to achieve maximun reception first, then add the second LNB for 19.0E.

Danny

[Danny]

[quote user="HoneySuckleDreams"]

I'm not sure about the cable, but will need a special arm thingy to fit the two LNB's onto if you want to point to the 2 satellites. The angle between them is too great to have one of those double-lnb's

http://cgi.ebay.fr/SUPPORT-4-LNB-TRIAX-ASTRA-HOTBIRD-ALTLANTIC-BIRD-/300458914456?pt=FR_Image_son_Autres&hash=item45f4bf3298

 

[/quote]

 be aware this bracket is designed for Triax brand dishes. It gets more and more complicated.[:D][;-)]

and also these brackets are made to be used with 40mm LNBs, not smaller diameter LNBs

Danny

[Quillan]

Danny, can you put the signal from two LNB's down one cable (by using some form of device) and is there any disadvantages?

[Danny]

Not for your set up.

Danny

[Ian]

Quillan, late to the topic, sorry, been away.

About 5 years ago, I bought a bent sat dish from a french supplier - oval-ish in shape but with a kink in the middle - designed to point at the two satellites (27° and 19°). I think it must have come with a special dual LNB holder. It works well.

If receiving a good signal from both satellites is important, this is one answer. If you're interested, let me know and I'll dig out out the name.

Cheers

[Quillan]

Many thanks Ian for the offer but I have ground to a halt because of cables, I don't know what to order (could still do with some help guys). I have decided to buy a new bigger dish and mount it higher up the house and use the existing one for French TV.

[Pierre ZFP]

You might need a shotgun coax cable like THIS no connection to this supplier, just searched for 'shotgun coaxial cable'  on ebay and got loads of hits

I'm about to wire up a quad LNB and I want 2 feeds to the front of my house and 2 to the back.  Shotgun cable will make my life a lot simpler.  Why 'shotgun'? because the cable looks like a double barreled shotgun and it's apparently cooler than saying 'twin'

[Quillan]

Unfortunatly they don't diliver to France but I get the point about the type of cable.

What I am trying to find out is should the cable have a lower or higher db rating, which is best when you want to ensure you get minimum signal loss which nobody seems to know the answer to. Also they seem to have different ways of showing the db signal, some give a variety of numbers for the same cable with different frequencies while others give just a stock figure and no frequency?

[sid]

The shotgun cable is good for upgrading a single cable to a double one, for example when using a Humax or Sky+ box which needs 2 separate feeds to make full use of the "watch one channel while recording another" facility; the cable can be pulled through exisiting holes in walls or window frames as it's about the same size, so a neat solution with 2 feeds for the size of one. It's good for up to about 20 metres in length, so if your installation is longer than this you may need to just run an extra cable.