[paffren]

I bought a Commsat freeview satellite set up from Focus and set the dish up on the wall outside pointing in the direction advised in the instructions, 28��* east of south and the meter reads full strength but the box is on 45% strength and 5% quality. I moved it around very gradually and at one point had 90% strength and 45% quality but could only get foreign broadcasts, the Pope looked good though and when I moved it again only fractionally the signal dropped back to 45% and 5% and I couldn't find it again. I looked round at Sky dishes on nearby houses and they are in a totally different orientation so should I go for their setting or stick with what I am doing ? Looking for Astra 2D and should I also include Hotbird in the list of satellites the box is looking for as I am a complete beginner with satellite although I have installed many terrestrial aerials successfully.

[grahamlthompson]

Originally Posted by paffren

I bought a Commsat freeview satellite set up from Focus and set the dish up on the wall outside pointing in the direction advised in the instructions, 28��* east of south and the meter reads full strength but the box is on 45% strength and 5% quality. I moved it around very gradually and at one point had 90% strength and 45% quality but could only get foreign broadcasts, the Pope looked good though and when I moved it again only fractionally the signal dropped back to 45% and 5% and I couldn't find it again. I looked round at Sky dishes on nearby houses and they are in a totally different orientation so should I go for their setting or stick with what I am doing ? Looking for Astra 2D and should I also include Hotbird in the list of satellites the box is looking for as I am a complete beginner with satellite although I have installed many terrestrial aerials successfully.

28.2degE is the position above the equator of the satellite not the direction you need to point the dish which varies where you are.

Put in your address and select Astra 2 here for a google earth picture of the line from your house and a compass bearing.

Satellite Finder / Dish Pointing Calculator with Google Maps | DishPointer.com

Set the dish elevation to the approx correct figure and read here how to DIY align a dish

satellite for caravans - Google Search

You can't get hotbird without using an offset lnb or motorised dish which need a box with diseqc switching. You should get all the Astra Satellites at 28.2E and Eurobird 1 at 28.5E.

[paffren]

Thanks for replying, I've been out and set it to the directions on dishpointer using a compass and got a signal almost immediately, strength 90% and quality varying between 27% and 45% which is a bit more encouraging but it's only picked up channel 4 in the list so a bit of tweaking needed I think. Any suggestions which bit to move would be highly appreciated. I think Eurobird was the one I meant, I get confused easily these days
Edit to add :- Just turned the LNB and got 90% strength and 74% quality on Eurobird and Astra2D so I'm going through the list now to see what these 500+ channels are.

[grahamlthompson]

Originally Posted by paffren

Thanks for replying, I've been out and set it to the directions on dishpointer using a compass and got a signal almost immediately, strength 90% and quality varying between 27% and 45% which is a bit more encouraging but it's only picked up channel 4 in the list so a bit of tweaking needed I think. Any suggestions which bit to move would be highly appreciated. I think Eurobird was the one I meant, I get confused easily these days

If you read the dish alignment instructions at the link I gave you you should be able to get the quality (the important figure) as near 100% as posible. The key is to make tiny tiny adjustments and wait for the tuner to react in the following order peaking the quality at each stage

Direction, elevation, Skew (twisting the lnb) and focus (it the lnb is adjustanle front to back). Once you have a lock on a satellitte the cheap meters don't help very much.

[paffren]

That's it, cable to clip up tomorrow and channels to sort. Thanks for the advice, looking forward to watching without break up as we live near a busy junction and the terrestrial freeview doesn't like traffic especially mopeds. The dish is on the other side of the house away from it all.

[grahamlthompson]

Originally Posted by paffren

That's it, cable to clip up tomorrow and channels to sort. Thanks for the advice, looking forward to watching without break up as we live near a busy junction and the terrestrial freeview doesn't like traffic especially mopeds. The dish is on the other side of the house away from it all.

Microwave signals don't suffer from that sort of interference anyway. They are such a high frequency they are pretty immune to electromagnetic interference. Once the lnb has stepped the frequency down to the 1-2Ghz range cordless phones and wireless routers can cause problems though