Brano77

I live in NW Galicia and am fortunate to still receive all the Freesat channels with my 1.8m dish. The signal strength is of course weaker from the new UK beams, which is particularly noticeable when it rains, and it does here occasionally!

I intend to call in my installer to check the set up and maximise the potential performance. I note that Astra 2E is now at 28.5E which may explain a reduction in quality of in particular Channel 5 and Film 4. Any advice in what to tell my installer as I presume there is some form of compromise between the two main satellites 2E and 2G at 28.2E and 28.5E respectively? Thanks.

snikpoh

Yes - how much for a larger dish?

Brano77

To be more specific then - maximising performance without changing dish size!

VFR

PM the Guy as he will no doubt be able to give you some good info in what to tell the installer.

The Guy

In fact the larger the dish the harder it gets to receive a single beam from a satellite, which is why you try to compromise to get the best signal from the two satellite positions.

But I know in Galicia a 1.8m dish operates almost on its limit anyway, so if you fine tune to 28.5 you may lose reception of 28.2...that is how fine it is up there.

C4 and Fives are on 2G, which is at 28.5.
So if you are losing reception of these,then your dish may just be right on thelimit of reception

Brano77

Thanks. My dish is a 1.8 Prodelin Offfset and I understand I may see an increase in performance if I change the existing quatro lnb to an Inverto Black Ultra Quad which is good for fringe reception áreas? Would you actually align to 28.35º for 2E and 2G or is life not that simple! Many thanks for your advice.

VFR

Nice dish that.

The Guy

Personally I have found some other LNBs to perform better than the Inverto Black Ultra Quad... the single version is great, the quad version not so great. It could be a trial and error to see if it improves or not, but I have found the GI Quad, and a Technomate Quad performs better than the IUBQ.

Brano77

Many thanks for the advice. I will suggest the three LNB models to my local installer and leave the decisión to him before he comes to clean the dish and check the alignment etc.

astera

Guys, which Freesay decoder is the best for overseas use in terms of picking up weaker signals? I see that there are a few to choose from: Get Freesat - buy a Freesat box or Freesat HDTV online

The Guy

Humax, Manhattan and Bush - all tend to work well here in Spain.
As long as the dish is large enough for where you are in Spain to receive the signals in the first place...

astera

Thanks. Is any of them more capable of tuning into a weak signal though?

I remember the days when there were lots of Sky boxes made by various manufacturers but the Panasonic model was recommended as it could squeeze out a picture when others started dropping reception.

The Guy

The Panasonics were good, until they started failing. That was about 2010. But there were better models of Sky box than those. But the freesat boxes I mention all perform about the same - again, it is more to do with location, dish size and LNB rather than receiver, as if the dish is too small to receive the signals in the first place, then no receiver will get a picture

astera

That's true, they did have a habit of breaking down sooner than others. I remember them getting really, really hot too.

Looking at the Humax/Manhattan/Bush trio, does any one of them stand out in the following area:

1) picture quality
2) speed (the swiftness of the interface, quick changing of channels, etc.).

The Guy

Picture quality and audio - all about the same.
Bush and Manhattan (well the current manhattan models) have a very easy simply interface. Quick to change channels etc.

The Humax, with Freetime, has a lot of info and a lot of options and can be tricky to navigate and find the option you want, but you get the hang of it after a while.


One thing to consider, is if you are thinking of using it with a VPN for BBC Iplayer, you will need a Humax Freesat with Freetime box, as come September this year, non Freetime boxes will no longer function with iplayer - simply as it has moved to a new version that will not be supported on older boxes.