I'm about to ditch our existing community TV system and get my own.
I've been quoted for a twin LNB dish and an HD receiver (presumably with two Lnb inputs).

Is the second Lnb input on the HD box just to enable independant recording. If so, can it work with one Lnb input as a basic receiver?

I could then use the other cable for my spare receiver in an adjacent room.

Thanks for any advice.

We get everything HD with just one LNB. It has connections for 4 receivers.

You can use twin LNB to power either two "single feed" receivers, or one twin feed "PVR".The two inputs on the receiver will allow you to watch one channel and record another at the same time - with one feed this is not possible (on most receivers).
If you are getting you own system, best go for a quad, twin cables to your "main room" (in case you go for a PVR box later on, and a single feed to the adjacent room. (so they lay two cables this time and makes it easier rather than trying to do another cable at a later stage.)
But if you are using a Sky+HD box, you will need to tell it you are using a single cable and put the box into single feed mode.Some Freesat boxes also work fine with one cable, and automatically pick up you are using justthe one.

Many thanks.

About the cable. If installing an HD/recorder receiver would they likely use some sort of combined twin cable as opposed to 2 x single cables if I wanted to use my existing 'basic' boxes in seperate rooms?

As I'm only in Spain for holidays I just want basic viewing in two rooms. The Sat company don't seem to like the idea of me using my current (5 year old) boxes - they say that newer boxes are superior. Is that the case or do they just do more?

I find the "twin" cable can be a bit too thin and not hold the signals as well as normal 7mm cable.
Without knowing what boxes you currently have I cannot say.And without knowing what boxes they are offering I cannot say.Some older boxes work fine...some better than some new boxes.

Thanks for your advice.

Just another quick question.
Is it normal to briefly lose the sat signal at about 11.30 AM?
We are near Torrevieja.

At the moment - yes. It is a bi-annual thing, where the sun passes behind the satellites, and swamps out the weaker signals.I have a bit more information Here

Thanks, very informative.

We've now had a dish installed by a reputable company in Quesada (other people have been pleased). All seems to work well.

However, what amazes me is the location of the dish. It's in a convenient corner of our sun terrace, but to my naked eye I can't see how it's got an uninterrupted 'view' of the sky because of our glazed sun room at the other end. Maybe an optical illusion or too much vino on my part!

The dish does not point directly at the satellite as it is an "offset" dish. The LNB is not in the centre of the dish, just a few inches lower. This means that the signal comes into the dish at an angle and is reflected, at an angle, to the LNB.

The actual elevation of the satellite in the sky is about 45º whereas the dish is at a much lower angle.

One of the reasons for doing this is that it makes the footprint a bit smaller and easier to bolt onto a wall.

The biannual solar outage is a good time to see if there are any obstructions to your dish.At 1140ish, when the sun and satellites are aligned, anything that is casting a shadow on (or very close to) the dish at that time of the day, will cause a reduction in signals reaching your dish.So look for shadows of trees bushes etc, and chop them back.Another way to check is to stand in front of the dish an look towards the sun (taking obvious precautions to not look directly at the sun withut protection!) at that time and basically your field of view is what the dish is looking at. , so anything in your field of view will also cause a reduction in signals.Obviously, an offset dish will not point directly at the sun like a prime focus dish does, but the about is a good "generalisation".

Thanks.

The GI box they supplied shows BBC1 signal readings of L90 Q71 (whatever L and Q mean) on a 1.4 dish. Does that seem reasonable in the Torrevieja region?

Also can different make boxes give different readings. My old Octagon pvr box displays just one reading that doesn't seem to correspond with the above.

I have a GI HD Mini box pointing at I907. With a 80cm dish I get the same readings. The Q level (71) is OK under normal conditions, but when it drops below 65 in heavy rain, it starts getting a bit blocky. At 55 there is no signal.

I know you have a different dish and satellite, but I would have thought that the level where the signal goes should be much the same on both.

Different tuners inside different boxes can produce different readings...Most receivers do it on a percentage basis... but a percentage of what?I have various tuners here, some can show 20% quality, some can show 80% quality, using the same cable LNB dish and frequency...
Tuners that give db readings give a more accurate signal level, as the db is an actual measurement.Generally a 6 or 6.5db is required to achieve reception, more stabilises that reception.(eg BBC1 HD on my 80cm dish gives 6.5db, on my 1.8 13.5db - both give reception)

As a Sat novice, I've learnt a lot on this thread - thanks!

Just another question.

When doing a search on the receiver, is it normal to get some 'Failed' entries. Are these frequencies or transponders that are weak?
(most are 'Ok' by the way)

Failed can mean a few things:-Your dish cannot receive the signals (eg it is a weak signal),-The frequency stored in the receiver is old is no longer active*-The frequency has changed settings (FEC or Symbol rate) and your receiver does not have the new settings*-You have asked the receiver to search for free to air (FTA) only, and so failed will show on frequencies that carry encrypted channels.
*for these two make sure your Network Search / NIT search is turned on, as this will update the frequency tables in your receiver with any new frequencies it finds on the satellite)