Sattelite dish size
 

Hi all

I have a question that Im sure CE residents can help with. Its not for CE as we have all we need, but for another reason.

I have been told that the freeview channels need a bigger dish outside the UK where the signal strength is lower. Where a small dish is OK in the UK - one needs a much bigger one - 2metres- to get the channels as far out as Spain. Subscription services like Sky broadcast at much higher power and so you can get away with a smaller dish. Free ones are more stingy with their power output... understandably, I suppose.

Sticking with Freeview - is it true that you need a big dish? What can you 'get away' with please?

Im sure I heard somewhere that mobile homes still can get the freeview with a small dish on the roof. However the need is for a friends appartment complex - perhaps you need a big dish.... or perhaps just a big enough amplifier to send the received signal to the appartments. I dont know.

Anyone knows how this works, please??

Thanks in advance
Jon

Re: Sattelite dish size
 

You cannot get Freeview outside the UK as it is a terrestrial broadcast system. You may be thinking of "Freesat" - which is a commercial branding for UK "free-to-air" satelite services bundle. I don't know what the footprint of the satelite they use is but I'msure you couldprobably google it. Nearly all their freesat channels are also available on "Freesat-from-Sky" service bundle which can be received using the normal dish for the astra satelite that Sky uses and a Sky box or similar, although you may need a separate "Freesat-from-Sky" smartcard if you want to get all the Ch4 and CH5 channels.

Re: Sattelite dish size
 

Hi Mike in CE we have what I thought was called Freeview.... maybe Freesat is the name I should have used.

We bought a cheap decoder - connected it to our community sattelite dish in CE and we have all the BBC's ITV's CNN Bloomberg CNBC Food channel etc etc.... and its free. And no problems about the quality either....

I'm wondering how that can be replicated in a appartment block using the smallest dish possible... and if necessary a amplifier.


Thanks
Jon

Re: Sattelite dish size
 

hi
there are 2 ways with this, first go round and have a look at what other people have and secondly try it, you can only fail :eek:

however, I would not advocate using an amplifier unless desperate. you are better ensuring you have a quality signal at the lnb by mix of dish size and accurate location. most maps show 1.2m dish as the min from Spain unless up in the Barcelona area
if you have a poor signal on a radio turning up the volume doesn't improve the signal. just makes it louder.
also ensure a single run of cable from lnb to receiver with good connections. a joint can cause up to 3db loss in what is already a low level signal.
hope this helps
regards

Re: Sattelite dish size
 

Thanks Domino... interesting. Do you have a website please that shows these 'maps' vs dish size?

I understand the volume/poor signal thing - but when you are distributing a 'good' signal to many appartments.... maybe an amplifier is what you need to give everybody a good signal.?? Especially as you say, connections, joints etc can reduce the power. :confused:

So it looks like to get a 'good signal' were talking about a 1.2m dish minimum..... and there might be a requirement for an amp to 'spread it around' the other flats..

Agreed?

Thanks Jon

PS what do mobile homes do to get this?

Re: Sattelite dish size
 

An amplifier is only used on very long cable runs - it cannot make a weak signal stronger.

Most of the dishes in the south of Spain are 1.3m.

The Freesat main channels (BBC ITV etc) are probably going to move to a new satellite within a few months and that could change the situation - probably for the worse!

Re: Sattelite dish size
 

first maps - google for Freesat Footprint (Maps) and Astra 2D Footprint (Maps) and take your pick, they seem at times to be conservative so as not to upset people who do have problems
sri to teach granny but - satellite is a torch shining down on to a large football, the further away from the centre the lower the light level. the larger the dish the greater the signal catch.

dish size - the greatest size you can get in the space available (subject to any planning approvals)

amplifier - once the signal is a good stonking one then feed out to amplifier\splitter\booster with a good steady mains power supply and then distribute around the flat to each room

cables\connectors - always use good quality, ensure each termination is good and cables are to normal max single run (40m IIRC) to ensure minimum of line and connection losses.

sources - most of us can see names we know on google.co.uk, however there are many also in Spain, google.es, they are not backward in these things.
my policy is always use good quality products from reputable suppliers,

hth

Re: Sattelite dish size
 

It's not quite as simple as that. Satellites are designed to focus on specific areas. They could easily cover a large area with no extra power.

The "Sky" encrypted satellites are on fairly wide beams, especially the 2A south beam. You can often receive them on an 80cm dish.

Freesat channels are mainly on Astra 2D which was designed to be highly focused on the UK but for some unexplained reason has a lobe which covers western and southern Spain much better than it does further north. A 2.8m dish is needed in Alicante.

A lot of channels are also on Eurobird 1 and that seems to be slightly more difficult to get than Astra 2D.

The new satellite that is being launched soon (Astra 1N) will probably carry the main Freesat channels which will move from Astra 2D and as yet, no one really knows how that will affect reception.

Re: Sattelite dish size
 

Hi jon

Try the following :- http://www.dishpointer.com/

Put your location into the Google map, decide which satellite you want and it will give you direction and elevation.

On the left below the map you will see :- Satellites & Dish Sizes

Self explanatory

Re: Sattelite dish size
 

Unfortunately it comes up with "Outside footprint" for Astra 2D.:(

Re: Sattelite dish size
 

I think that equates to a BIG DISH :unsure:

Re: Sattelite dish size
 

You cannot get freeview south of about Calais you mean Freesat via a dish. We have a 1.4 m dish and get all the freesat channels just fine we use the same dish and LNB for Sky and it is not as good. Depends on the quality of the tuner in the box and the signal strngth of the channel. Our HD set pulls in BBC1, BBC CH 4 HD channels just fine so 1.4 m and up will work fine in Ayamonte.

Re: Sattelite dish size
 

No it doesn't.

It just means that the "official" coverage maps owe nothing to the reality down here in Southern Spain!

Astra 2D was supposed to be a tightly focused beam on the UK but something went wrong as it does have coverage that was not expected - thank God for that! Maybe they dropped it before launch!

Astra 1N is designed to do what Astra 2D did not - restrict access outside the UK. Hopefully it will also fail to do that and some initial "forecast" coverage maps suggest that it will be OK in Southern Spain but we will not know for a few months.

The launch was supposed to be last week but they had a problem and it has been postponed for 20 days. It could be up and working as early as 6 weeks from launch.

If it performs as designed then we will all need to get some really big dishes!

Re: Sattelite dish size
 

further to my earlier posting, you should really ensure you have a multi-way lnb providing a feed to each of the receivers in the apartment.
rgds

Re: Sattelite dish size
 

I remember hanging a Sketchley metal coat hanger out of a porthole and watching terrestial televison perfect signal. The metal hull of the grey painted war canoe acted as a reflecter, even though the coat hanger was only about 10ft above sea level.