Satellite Connection Drop offs

Gerb68 · 22-04-2015 10:36pm #1

I am trying to get a Satellite dish aligned to Astra 28.2 E for a family member. I have what I think is the best position with the signal quality at about 70% on Channel 4 but the thing is every 10 seconds or so the signal quality drops to 0 and then shoots back up. This results in some glitching and freezing on the channel. Some distance away there is some shrubbery and trees and these may be in the satellites line of sight.

Could this shrubbery be causing the connection drop offs? I cant understand if the trees and shrubbery are in the way how is the signal quality reaching 70%.

steveon · 22-04-2015 11:08pm

Gerb68 wrote: »

I am trying to get a Satellite dish aligned to Astra 28.2 E for a family member. I have what I think is the best position with the signal quality at about 70% on Channel 4 but the thing is every 10 seconds or so the signal quality drops to 0 and then shoots back up. This results in some glitching and freezing on the channel. Some distance away there is some shrubbery and trees and these may be in the satellites line of sight.

Could this shrubbery be causing the connection drop offs? I cant understand if the trees and shrubbery are in the way how is the signal quality reaching 70%.

Taking a reading from an onscreen sat box is only a guide and noway revelant ...u need a proper meter to properly install it, trees could be moving blocking the signal from time to time...also the lnb skew should be set right by turning it...usually to position 2 if marked..

Gerb68 · 23-04-2015 10:13am

I'm also using a Sat finder and its a Sky dish. The position it is at now appears to be the best that can be achieved. I tried manoeuvring the elevation and the east-west position numerous times but the tone on the Sat finder starts to diminish with best signal achieved on the box reaching between 70 to 71% max and sporadic drop offs to 0%. On my own Sat box (different location) the signal is at a constant 76%.

cornholiooo · 23-04-2015 10:33am

Are you sure you're on the right satellite and not a different one.

Thurston? · 23-04-2015 11:33am

Gerb68 wrote: »

I am trying to get a Satellite dish aligned to Astra 28.2 E for a family member. I have what I think is the best position with the signal quality at about 70% on Channel 4 but the thing is every 10 seconds or so the signal quality drops to 0 and then shoots back up. This results in some glitching and freezing on the channel. Some distance away there is some shrubbery and trees and these may be in the satellites line of sight.

Could this shrubbery be causing the connection drop offs? I cant understand if the trees and shrubbery are in the way how is the signal quality reaching 70%.

Maybe you've used this site before, you can check for obstacles in the LOS: once you've selected the dish location on the map, & satellite from the list, tick the box 'show obstacle (line of sight checker)' & an explanation of what to do will appear.

Is it a zone 1 Sky dish (about 45cm top-to-bottom) you have or, zone 2 (recommended for Ireland, about 60cm top-to-bottom)? Even if you only have a zone 1 Sky dish, it shouldn't be struggling for signal on Channel 4 in good weather so, assuming you've made all your connections properly, what kind of cable are you using &, what length?

lertsnim · 23-04-2015 12:10pm

Gerb68 wrote: »

I'm also using a Sat finder and its a Sky dish. The position it is at now appears to be the best that can be achieved. I tried manoeuvring the elevation and the east-west position numerous times but the tone on the Sat finder starts to diminish with best signal achieved on the box reaching between 70 to 71% max and sporadic drop offs to 0%. On my own Sat box (different location) the signal is at a constant 76%.

Did you try adjusting the lnb skew?

Gerb68 · 23-04-2015 12:56pm

Yeah its the Astra satellite that I am tuned to. Its also a Zone 2 dish and I didn't try adjusting the LNB skew as on the Sky dish its pre-set.

Its a ground floor apartment but I can position the sat anywhere and at any height on the building. At present its roughly 4 metres from the ground. I'm not at the location now but this is an example of the trees and foliage from google maps.

This is the result from dishpointer.com

Tony · 23-04-2015 1:35pm

If you have an andoid phone dishpointer also has a useful app which will show you the position of 28.2 in the sky , that way you can see if any trees or other obstructions are in the way.

Gerb68 · 23-04-2015 2:45pm

That's the thing they are in the way. Just wondering if this would cause the erratic behaviour of the signal. I thought if something was blocking it then there would be no signal at all.

Tony · 23-04-2015 3:02pm

Some signal will get through but as soon as a branch moves you will lose it. Satellite needs clear line of site, there is really no way around this . If you try the phone app at the highest point you can mount the dish you may get lucky.

cornholiooo · 23-04-2015 7:06pm

The sat finder you're using is telling you that you're on the satellite but it's not telling you which one. With a universal LNB it could be a number of sats besides Astra 2

Thurston? · 23-04-2015 7:33pm

The fact he's watching Channel 4 is telling him he's on 28 east.

Those trees seem pretty tall, & close to the wall the dish would be on, so it looks like he'll have to try to find, or make, a gap for the signal to get through.

Gerb68 · 23-04-2015 9:19pm

We're going to position the satellite on the roof. A neighbour has a similar setup on the roof although he is accessing Hotbird. Just going to need more cable and a straight vertical mounting pole for the Sky dish. This is the only way. Thanx everybody for all the help.

Satellite Connection Drop offs

Comments