Bigger Jim

[QUOTE=twistedmelon;9086513]Seen them on amazon.de for around 12e, a lot cheaper than amazon uk for some reason.QUOTE]

If it is the model I'm thinking of you could only get them as grey imports from the distributors/manufacturers in Germany and they were always heavily marked up for sale to the UK.

You could get them directly from Germany but they insisted they had a German delivery address which obviously pushed the price up. They were also more expensive in Spain which they would supply to.

The Quad seems to range from £26.00 to £35.00 on Ebay UK.

Jim

robt23

Hi everyone, the Inverto black ultra is the one to go for and the one I will be testing. Do not buy other similar ones. Looking from the rear it is almost a square with , in my case 4 seperate connectors. You can buy the inverto single double or quad feed. I know that the quad is more expensive but I`ve sourced them of the net to a shop in Malaga. Like I said in one of my earlier posts it retails at 41 euros , 50 euros delivered to your door.

The Quad lnbs seem to have better signal seperation and signal quality than the single , even the double, just. You can always fit a rubber F-boot protector on the connections you don`t use. One day you might have another receiver , say in another room , and you can then use a free connector. The F-boot is very important as it prevents the external elements getting into the lnb, don`t forget that !!!!

I will place my order on Monday as hopefully the Spanish holiday has come to an end. It`s good because we can all rest abit. It`s just that if I were back in the UK, I`d be working by know.

Anyway, just enter Inverto Quad black ultra 0.2 in the Spanish google and afew shops should pop up.

In any case I will let you all know how I got on with the Inverto.

twistedmelon

Every time I think I'm getting this
But then that's why you do it for a bizz cos you know what your talking about
That's why you are The Guy and I'm twisted melon

robt23

Hi Everyone,

I just received the Invert quad black ultra about an hour ago but it`s too dark to go and insrall it. I`ll have a go in the morning.

I can give you a first impression of it though. It`s very light and feels flimsy compared to the tough ruggedness of the Invacom. The Invacom is also heavier by around 3 times. The say if it`s heavy then it must be well made , which it is. The Inverto doesn`t have the line markings on it`s horn. Each line is 10 degrees, so here in southern Spain that would be about 3 lines or 30 degrees.

Having said all that , appearances can be deceiving ! If it boosts the low band channels enough to get a stable picture at night then who cares. Ah, It`s made in China to round off !Not sure about Invacom though.

I hope I have some optimistic news in the coming days.

Many Regards.

twistedmelon

Goodluck,
Hopefully good news.Thanks for update.

robt23

Hi People,

Just installed the Inverto Quad black ultra. Well, I see you all on the edge of your pc screens; Yes , it really is the real deal , Brilliant !

The weakest channels which were , in my case, 10758 v itv1 ,2 , 4 and 10429 v , which carries E4 , more4 etc. Those channels have jumped from 39 - 40 % to 47 - 49 % . Might Not be very much , but I can assure you that being in a fringe reception area, that is a significant rise in signal quality. I should have no problem in receiving these channels 24/7.

The BBC channels have jumped from 46 - 47 % to 53 - 59 % .I could see them all 24/7 anyway, but across the whole band width be it high or low this Inverto is pure magic . No need to change your dish. I am so pleased about that.

In my case it`s really worked because of a well aligned dish. Just take Invacom off and replace with Inverto.

When installing the Inverto lnb , make sure that the white cap is fitted flush with the lnb bracket, i.e. pulled all the way back , as seen from the front of the dish and then scew to the left as you had the other lnb before. You might even find that you have to scew alittle more. In either case just stop scewing , turning the lnb when the signal quality reaches it`s peak. Ideally should be 6 - 7 o`clock, at most 7 !!

Good luck and have fun

twistedmelon

robt23,
Ordering one as we speak.
Many thanks for being guinea pig, will save us all from going round in wheel going nowhere.
All the best and thanks again for coming back to us with this solution.

The Guy

When testing signal strengths you need to make sure you take the measurements at the same time of day, on the same channel, and at the same temperatue / weather conditions....otherwise of course the readings will be different, as the signals fluctuates during the day...

(and comparing levels with each others installations will be meaningless unless you have the same make dish, the came cable, the same cable run, the same receiver, as all these things can mean differences when comparing each others signal levels)

however the real test, of course, is later at night when the UK TV signals will be at their weakest...so it may be of more use to post back here the times you were losing the channels, and the times you are now losing the channels, then that will be a better test...

robt23

Hi The Guy,

Yes, you are right but it`s going to be near impossible that everyone is going to have the same installation. The key things are dish size, receiver sensitivity to home in on those weak signals and the best lnb you can get your hands on. I have had the 1.3m H x 1.25m W dish for nearly 10 years now. I know now that I should have bought a 1.5 m dish, but the dish I have now in 2001 was standard around the Costa del Sol then. So I was told by a leading electronics company in Malaga !

My first receiver I had here in Granada was an Amstrad, one of the first to come out with tuner with high sensitivity and to this day still working , but I don`t really use it much now because of what can only be described as the Ferrari of receivers. A Reelbox Avantgarde, which doubles up as a linux full blown pc.

To get back on track with this thread , i will talk about when my picture starts to break up. Always referring to 10729 v and 10758 v. From about 7 pm I start to get the odd streak but due to my receivers ability to home in on those weak signals it just about keeps it in check. 10 pm on-wards , the picture is filled with streaks and from midnight and beyond total break up with audo in squeaks.

The time is 7.41 pm and will be checking in afew minutes how the picture is doing. I will try to give you an update later on in the evening.

I installed the Inverto at 2 pm today. The signal on E4 already had the odd line of break up, but was intermitent and comes and goes quickly. Signal quality was fluctuating between 39-40 % and on Itv 4 it was 42-43 %. I then replaced the Invacom with th Inverto and the signal quality went up to 47-48% on E4 and 48-49 % on itv4. I have a 35 m run of cable with bend of 90 degrees in about 10 places , with the last 2 bends having very small radii. Since it is a Quad it has 4 cables, and all 4 are of different makes. One of the cables is of some quality i.e. Lasa with 1.1 mm copper core and copper shielding.
The others are normal lnb cable, aluminium core and aluminium sheilding , one of which was painted copper, so as to look like copper.

Bytheway people if your going to buy a decent cable there are 2 makes that stant pou from the crowd. Satelite shops down here all say there brand of cable is best, don`t believe a word. Like any business there in it for the money.

In my installation I`m also pretty sure I have different types of cable on the same run, i.e. joined by what is called a splitter. This has 2 threaded barrels on opposite sides to each other so as to connect cables together.

However, the real test is between now and midnight. Fingers crossed that my receiver will pass. It is a high , possibly, no definitely the most sensitve receiver and probably the last receiver I will ever buy; Even though it has pci type tuner cards, 2 at this moment ,which also take the high def signal. I can have a total of 6 independant tuners should I wish.

My receiver is not a sky official as It`s just too much hastle, i.e the subscription. You can buy a good linux receiver like the VU+. This has really good sensitve tuner but I don`t believe the 7 day guide is supported. Dreamboxes are running sky epg , but earlier models weren`t fantastic on tuner sensitivty. The people in the know always say , buy the best piece of tech you can afford at the time. The Holy Grail for me is Reelbox Avantgarde II. Best receiver and hardly any faults of all time !!!!!!!!!

OK people, I see you all later with even better news !!!!!!!!!!

robt23

Hi people.

Forgot to mention the 2 cable types. One is Lasa and the other is Bieffl.

Cheers.

robt23

Hi Guys,

Well, It`s 10.16 pm and no picture break up whatsoever. I will expand on that . From my second to last post which was at 7.35 pm , the signal quality of the weak channels i.e. itv 1,2,4 and the E4 pack was oscillating between 41-42 %. This was constant right up to 10 pm , when the signal quality started to rise 42-43 %.

I expect the SQ to keep on rising. At the moment temp is cold ,around 5 or 6 degrees with fog banks and clear skies.

Keep you posted !

robt23

Hi again,

Update : I said in my last post that the signal quality was rising , well , at 11.20 pm it was 39-40 %. An hour or so before it rose slightly from 41-42 % to 42-43 %. So , I thought the signal was rising. I was wrong about the fog , it was a crystal clear night in Granada last night.

I kept an eye on the SQ reading , and it seemed to bottom out at 39-40 %. No picture break up, pixelation , lines, nothing and good audo. On my Invacom lnb I would have seen nothing or extreme picture break up , with sqeaky audio. The reading on the Invacom was 34-35 %. In afew words that 5 % or so extra signal has made all the difference. However, all this happened with clear and calm conditions with no rain. On the weak channels of Itv1 , 2, 4 and E4, when it starts to rain heavily, there should be a drop in signal of around 10 % . It should hold up ( the signal ) , depending on your receivers sensibility. On the other hand , if it down pours , then you won`t get any picture whatsoever. Fortunately, it doesn`t down pour here all that often.

I am talking mostly about my own setup, as I have a dish size that is very on the fringe and to top it all off, it is a genric make. I guess that I`ve done well to squeeze out that extra signal. The term used to compensate for rain is rain fade. On the weak channels under normal conditions with drizzle, no problems.

On the other channels like BBC, I could possibly have a reasonable amount of signal to compensate for rain fade. My readings on SQ for these have shot up and are now between 53-59 %. These readings coupled with my high sensitive tuners should provide me with a buffer for bad weather.

I went to bed around 00.30 am and got to see the ending of The Bourne Ultmatum, to see if there would be sqeaks or picture break up. I was watching the final 15 or so mins still with 39-40 % SQ and everything was fine. That reading in my case is the limit for getting a stable picture.

Well, that`s it for me, I`m done. I have given you all a reasonable account of how it has all turned out for me. If you have any questions, you can pm .

Good luck.

twistedmelon

Thanks for all your thorough info and time taken.
Have ordered new lnb, should be here next week, shall post results

twistedmelon

LNB arrived this morning (less than 24 hr delivery).
Fitted and.........outstanding! ALL channels back and clear as a bell.
One happy family.
So, many,many thanks to all.

robt23

Hi twistedmelon,

I`m happy for you, glad it went well. Bytheway, what size dish do you have and are you in Granada or just in the southern part of Spain ?

At what time did you install it and what reading did you get on on Itv 2 and E4 ?

The before and after reading is preferable, if you can remember !

Finally, try and monitor your signal quality from now until you go to bed.

This will paint a better picture for everyone as ther are many like us.

All the best !