What size dish to ask for

[andyh4]

Hi Lori

if you haven't yet decided, we use a 60cm mesh dish high up on the other side of the Rhone valley.  Reception is very good in all but the worst thunderstorms when we do loose the signal - but then we loose the signal in Germany as well in similar conditions.

regards

[Lori]

Electrician still hasn't called me back.  I know he will get around to it one of these days.  He is always overworked and stretched thin. 

Andy - you say you are "high up on the other side of the Rhone Valley."  Would the high up help your signal?  I'm figuring it would.

We are at the foot of Mt. Ventoux ( 2000 meters high).  I realize we are talking about a satellite, but wouldn't my location at the foot of the mountain and being an hour from the Mediteranean sea and smack dab in mistral (wind) country make a larger dish more suitable?

I'm still leaning towards the mesh 80 cm dish. 

[Gyn_Paul]

[quote user="Lori"]

Electrician still hasn't called me back.  I know he will get around to it one of these days.  He is always overworked and stretched thin. 

Andy - you say you are "high up on the other side of the Rhone Valley."  Would the high up help your signal?  I'm figuring it would.

We are at the foot of Mt. Ventoux ( 2000 meters high).  I realize we are talking about a satellite, but wouldn't my location at the foot of the mountain and being an hour from the Mediteranean sea and smack dab in mistral (wind) country make a larger dish more suitable?

I'm still leaning towards the mesh 80 cm dish. 

[/quote]

Given that the satellite's 35,786 kms away, I can't see that being 2000 metres nearer is going to make a hell of a lot of difference frankly.

Go for a mesh 80. It'll be fine.

p

[Lori]

I didn't mean we were at 2000 meters.  The mountain is 2000 meters.  We are at 400 meters, at the foot of the mountain and when Andy said he was high up on the other side of the Rhone Valley, I thought our location at the foot of the Mountain and with the winds here, MIGHT hinder our reception.

Guess I stand corrected.

I'll stick to the 80 cm mesh dish.

 

 

[TWINKLE]

We got our estimation of the electrician - 600euro!

This includes the 90 cm dish and new modulator and the maual work.  The price is a bit steep but I'm especially hesitant about the size of the dish and what it will look like slapped on my lovely house which already has a 60 cm dish that needs to stay as we are keeping Canalsat.

[andyh4]

High Lori

as Paul said being high up does not help the signal - the point I was trying to make is being high up we are exposed to high winds probably more than you - except in the worst of the Mistral perhaps.  The only benefit we get is that there are no hills or mountains between us and the satelite.

 

[Lori]

Twinks - that seems very high to me.  My electrician charged me 110 euros to install the Canal Dish.  He still hasn't called me back, so I don't have an estimate for this request, but I can't imagine why it would be so much higher.  The dishes are cheap these days.  Did he break down that devis for you?  If so, what is what in the pricing?

I plan to have this second dish installed NOT on the roof as it is next to impossible to get up there if adjustments are needed.  I recently asked my electrician - he is our plumber and pool man too (really quite good at all) whether I HAD to keep the dish on the roof and he said no.

I'm not sure I would pay 600 euros..

 

 

[Gyn_Paul]

[quote user="Lori"]

Twinks - that seems very high to me.  My electrician charged me 110 euros to install the Canal Dish.  He still hasn't called me back, so I don't have an estimate for this request, but I can't imagine why it would be so much higher.  The dishes are cheap these days.  Did he break down that devis for you?  If so, what is what in the pricing?

I plan to have this second dish installed NOT on the roof as it is next to impossible to get up there if adjustments are needed.  I recently asked my electrician - he is our plumber and pool man too (really quite good at all) whether I HAD to keep the dish on the roof and he said no.

I'm not sure I would pay 600 euros..

 

 

[/quote]

TV aerials go on the roof because the signal is being transmitted to them horizontally from a mast hopefully not too far over the horizon, so the higher the better. A satellite dish needs only a clear view of the sky some 30 degrees round in an easterly direction from due south, and about 35 degrees up from the horizon. the lower and more sheltered the better, so if you have an out-of-the-way corner on the ground which fulfills these few criteria then you should get a perfect signal, with easy access  to align and adjust.

p

[TWINKLE]

Here's the estimation I got  broken down:

 

Call out fee - 20.00

Wall fixation D50 Deport 45 - 36.30

Scellement Chimique (Glue?) - 25.80

Satelite dish 90 cm - 189.20

Coupler  -  18.00

Digital box with card reader (Aston Simba)  -  160.00

Labour  -  120.00

Total  569.30

TVA  5.50 % 

Total TTC  600.61

[Wils]

Twinkle

He's having a laugh. 189€ for a satellite dish, you could get exclusive use of Jodrel bank for that! As I stated in my last reply buy the kit from Casto for €69 this includes digibox and dish. When I do installations I normally charge around 250€ for the kit and installation.

 

 

[TWINKLE]

My husband has read about a satelite dish called the G3 - does anyone know if this one will suffice for Canalsat AND the free BBC channels?  I really want to avoid lots of dishes on my house.

If not then I think we will go for Wils suggestion of the 69 euro deal at Castorama.  I've had a look at Earnie Ys Astra link and we are okay with an 80cm dish - no need for the 90 cm dish suggested by the electrician.

[Gyn_Paul]

You're looking for a dish + pair of LNBs to look at both astra 1 and astra 2. this is a spread of some 9 degrees.

What are the chances,  anyone ?

G3 ???   Isn't that something to do with GPS satellites ?

Also further to Wils' astonishment at your devi, you don't need a receiver with a card reader for free-to-air channels on Sky,  a cheap-and-cheerful one from a Brico will do just fine. If you want the non-Sky encoded channels (Ch 4,5 etc.) you'll need a Sky box and a £20 card from a UK address. Nothing available in the shops outside the UK will do.

p

If I received a devi like that I'd tend to think the artisan doesn't actually want the job.

[cooperlola]

Paul, will a card picked up in the UK get me More 4?

I took the two dishes route to get Canal Plus and Fee-Sat.  9 degrees sounds a bit of a push to me..  However, you can get a motor for your dish to move it about at will.  However this prevents you from watching one whilst recording from another.

[Tim]

Sorry - I'm not Paul, but if I may I will answer on his behalf - the answer is no, More 4 and E4 are still part of a Sky subscription, so unless you have one of those, you will not get those channels.

There are rumours that the Channel 4 people may change the way they encript their signals to more like the BBC at then end of this year or early next year - but this time they remain just rumours.

[Anton Redman]

Reference the G3 every reason why it should work, dish is advertisied as for BBC, also as it had three LNB's independantly adjustable then it will be possible to use a numerique decoder for the French channelss and keep the a Sky Digibox  for BBC etc

Link below shows 'photo of one.  The have been arround since shortly after BBC went FTA as opposed to FTV but I have never spotted one actually installed.

 

http://www.bctech.fr/satellite/bisatg3.html