Old Lidl/Aldi Sat box info

tooler1

regarding firmware update
i just updated the firmware from astra at 19.2 deg
it takes about half an hour,but works fine

TM

tooler1 wrote:

i just installed this system,and its really good
i can pick up hotbird at 13 deg,and astra at 19 deg wit the supplied dish,

Are you sure about that? Hotbird 13E and Astra1 19E with a single dish/LNB? 6 degrees separation seems a bit much for a single LNB.

i also have a sky box and can pick up astra at 28 deg wit a seperate dish
so i really recommend this system,wit all the features it leaves sky way behind

In what way(s) exactly does it leave Sky behind? Surely it's a case of horses for courses?

Puggy

TM

I thought as well that I could pick up more than one satellite. But as you said if you point at Asrta 19 and go to the Hotbird 13 page and do a blind scan, the box will just pick up the Astra 19 channels and you think your getting two satellities but your not really.

To prove this go to the Hotbird page and do a scan of pre-sets and you will get nothing if your actually pointing at Astra 19.

The exception to this is Astra 28 and EuroBird 1, they are so close that if you do a blind scan on Astra 28 you get the Eurobird 1 channels as well.

TM

Puggy wrote:

I thought as well that I could pick up more than one satellite. But as you said if you point at Asrta 19 and go to the Hotbird 13 page and do a blind scan, the box will just pick up the Astra 19 channels and you think your getting two satellities but your not really.

Yeah - sounds like it here too. Seems to be something that hits a lot of people when setting things up.

The exception to this is Astra 28 and EuroBird 1, they are so close that if you do a blind scan on Astra 28 you get the Eurobird 1 channels as well.

That's my understanding too.

clansman

does anyone know where i could get this system. i am near clonmel and they dont have any left, waterford or cork would be next... any know if there is any left?

Our man in Havana

They will be back in store in due course. Aldi may have them sooner.

clansman

how do ya know?

TM

Past performance! The Lidl/Aldi FTA satellite package offers have come around fairly regularly and more and more frequently in recent years it seems. I think Lidl did them twice within the space of a month or two most recently. I think Aldi may have done them at least once already this year.

clansman

phoned lidi - sold out nation wide. no date for set for more satpaks

byte

There would be other shops offering similar, if not better deals.

For example, Maplin (who have shop in Cork and Dublin) have a FortecStar receiver and 85cm dish for £70stg until end of month, which presumably will be around 100-110eur here.

Freesat.ie in Dublin 3 have a dish and fta box on offer too for 99euro.

TM

byte wrote:

There would be other shops offering similar, if not better deals.

For example, Maplin (who have shop in Cork and Dublin) have a FortecStar receiver and 85cm dish for £70stg until end of month, which presumably will be around 100-110eur here.

Freesat.ie in Dublin 3 have a dish and fta box on offer too for 99euro.

Not sure about the Maplin kit but the latter requires you to also purchase the installation kit for an extra €29 to be comparable with what Lidl (and Aldi?) give you as far as I can see? On the other hand the dish (and mounting kit?) may be sturdier albeit 60cm versus Lidl's 80cm in case that matters?

In relation to my Lidl kit I need to mount it on the back garden wall (management company rules and personal choice means that I don't want it on the front of the house etc.) but may need to life it higher than the standard bracket will allow. Anybody got any suggestions/links for "higher" mounting poles for such purposes or what issues there might be (e.g. how to account for wind loading and ensure that it doesn't cause any problems/damage!)?

clansman

hey TM when you say "Not sure about the Maplin kit" what you mean, thats its no good or that the price is different,
thanks for the post byte,

might get this one http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=221295&doy=10m10#overview (i also have a old sky dish and receiver, iam guessing that all i would have to do is get a new receiver,,, or maybe not... not really sure..)

anyho some say that u can pick up the english league. would this pak work? (not to good at comms)
/me thinks that a new thread on sat systems might be needed?

TM

clansman wrote:

hey TM when you say "Not sure about the Maplin kit" what you mean, thats its no good or that the price is different

Sorry - the latter - i.e. that the € price may be different and, like the other kit mentioned, you may need to buy additional stuff (e.g. fixing kit) to make it comparable with the Lidl (and Aldi?) kits. Apologies for any confusion caused.

might get this one http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=221295&doy=10m10#overview (i also have a old sky dish and receiver, iam guessing that all i would have to do is get a new receiver,,, or maybe not... not really sure..)

Will your existing Sky kit not work as a FTA setup perhaps with one of those "Yellow House" cards? How old is it? Do you know if it's pointing at Astra1 19.2E or Astra2 28.2E/Eurobird1 28.5E?

anyho some say that u can pick up the english league. would this pak work? (not to good at comms)

Not sure but I doubt it - other than where some matches are broadcast free I don't think that there's any legitimate way to get English footie (Premier League at least) for free.

clansman

TM wrote:

How old is it? Do you know if it's pointing at Astra1 19.2E or Astra2 28.2E/Eurobird1 28.5E?

got it 2003 and its been pointing at the shed wall since 2004/5, as it was taken down when i move house, i dont know what state its in, i'll check tomorrow and i'll get back to ya.
was thinking that the dish might be all right just get a box and away i go,....

TM

clansman wrote:

got it 2003 and its been pointing at the shed wall since 2004/5

I guess it's worth trying out the dish and LNB to see if they are OK. Maybe you could borrow a FTA receiver to do this so that you can find out if just a new FTA box will suffice. Otherwise you might need a full kit and it might be cheaper to buy this in one go rather than bit by bit...?

BowWow

clansman wrote: »

phoned lidi - sold out nation wide. no date for set for more satpaks

At 7pm this evening there were 7 of these in Lidl in Coolock. (Not the camping models!).

TM

As mentioned earlier there are similar offers - not as cheap but possible better quality gear (especially a sturdier dish) - on offer elsewhere. Maplin have a range of kits on offer at the moment starting at about €130 if I recall correctly (think this includes everything although maybe mounting bracket and sat finder are not included). You can probably get an idea from their (UK) website.

Ger Roe

The Lidl kits got me in to satellite TV and I am still using the original dish supplied, over three years later -but now motorised.

The one big advantage of the lidl kits is that they have everything in the box, including cable and mounting brackets and bolts etc. They are the only kit that i have found you can bring home and set up straight out of the box - without having to buy various additional bits.

For the money, they are a great introduction to a facinating hobby - add a motor and you will enter a whole new world of choice.

Apart from a slightly flimsy wall bracket, I wouldn't hear a bad word against them - they get you up and running for next to nothing.

TM

Ger Roe wrote: »

Apart from a slightly flimsy wall bracket

Do you mean the post that goes on the wall, the fixing screws, the clamp that attaches the dish to the post or part of the dish? Just curious since I've seen this issue (and the one about the dish perhaps being a bit thin/flimsy) mentioned a few times here and elsewhere...

liamtech

Hi folks. Im a newbie to satellite systems. I purchased one a couple of weeks ago after doing some homework on what to expect. I have to admit i was astonished by the wealth of stations available. However im having difficulties with the signal strength and quality along with polarities H&V. My questions are in relation to drops in signal iv been having. When i do a tp scan it says my quality is between 73-80% fluctuating slightly. My signal strength never drops below 93%.
However this is only with the H polarity. When i check V its signal is way lower sometimes dropping to 15%.
I have a clear view of the sky and used a sat finder for optimal position. Most of the time all 500 stations(unencrypted ones ) are perfect. But i get a weak signal from time to time. Some stations which are supposidly in the V polarity (http://www.lyngsat.com/freetv/index.html) such as film 4 show perfect despite the poor v rating in my tp scan.
Sorry for going off on a rant guys but any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Ger Roe

I mean the actual wall bracket (plate and mounting arm). The original one supplied three years ago was a bit weak at the central weld joint and tended to bend in the wind. It would however be fine if it was mounted in a sheltered spot. I had it low down on a wall at first and only had problems when I moved it to a more exposed spot in preparation for the use of a motor.
I noticed that the wall bracket suppled with the most recent SL65 are of a new design (smaller plate) and may be stronger.

I have an original Lidl 80cm dish on a pole mount with motor for over two years now and have never had a problem with it.

TM

Thanks for the info.

Speaking of poles/mounts - I want to mount the dish on our back garden wall but may need to raise it up more than the arm that comes with the dish allows. Can anybody recommend any outlet for sourcing additional mounting kits that might facilitate this? I think I need something like this (if people can make sense of my picture!):

Wall  Mount
  |   |
  v   v
  
      | 
      | 
|---| | 
 | |  | 
 | |--|
 | |  | 
 | |--|
 | |  | 
 | |
 | |
 | |
 | | 
 | |

petronius

I bought a Lidl Satellite pack there €80 on October 1st. Installed it in no time, once holes were drilled connections made it worked straight off. I aligned it at roughly 19degrees manually and then fine tuned it with the ear-piece - got german channels no probs - I then dug out a compass and fixed it to Eurobird/Astra2D at 28.5/28.2. Did a scan for channels and ordered them and presto - all the freesat BBC/ITV & Regionals(I believe C4 will join next year when its deal with sky lapses), some film channels but for a news junkie for me CNN/France24/Euronews/Al Jazeera/Russia Today is the real treat, I am gonna let my NTL analog subs lapse since the reception of BBC2/C4/TG4 is abysmal but crystal on the Sat Dish, and just add a UHF Ariel for the Irish Channels.
The fact the LNB has 2 connections, I am tempted to get a 2nd receiver for the 2nd TV.

liamtech

Thanks mate. I thought i had it spot on. Can rain really have that kind of effect

fat-tony

A very heavy rain shower (or snow) can knock out your reception if it's marginal to begin with - small(er) dish, not aligned properly. The TV picture doesn't degrade particularly (you might get some odd colours, frozen screen) - one second it's perfect, next second no reception! As I say, this mostly happens only if your signal is marginal to begin with.

byte

liamtech wrote: »

Hi folks. Im a newbie to satellite systems. I purchased one a couple of weeks ago after doing some homework on what to expect. I have to admit i was astonished by the wealth of stations available. However im having difficulties with the signal strength and quality along with polarities H&V. My questions are in relation to drops in signal iv been having. When i do a tp scan it says my quality is between 73-80% fluctuating slightly. My signal strength never drops below 93%.
However this is only with the H polarity. When i check V its signal is way lower sometimes dropping to 15%.
I have a clear view of the sky and used a sat finder for optimal position. Most of the time all 500 stations(unencrypted ones ) are perfect. But i get a weak signal from time to time. Some stations which are supposidly in the V polarity (http://www.lyngsat.com/freetv/index.html) such as film 4 show perfect despite the poor v rating in my tp scan.
Sorry for going off on a rant guys but any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Your thread merged with the existing Lidl satsystem sticky thread.

liamtech

Just wondering if anyone could tell me what signal strength there getting with the silvercrest 65 on 28.2. trying to work out if im receiving enough signal.
im at 93% strength and 78 quality.

Also im receiving the same quality and strength on 19.2. is there any way to get these stations using one lnb as my current setup is getting great signal strength

Probably sounds stupid to those experienced sat viewers. Im new to this but very experienced with TV cards and other computer equipment so anyone need any help with that im your man!

TM

liamtech wrote: »

Just wondering if anyone could tell me what signal strength there getting with the silvercrest 65 on 28.2. trying to work out if im receiving enough signal.
im at 93% strength and 78 quality.

Also im receiving the same quality and strength on 19.2. is there any way to get these stations using one lnb as my current setup is getting great signal strength

Are you saying that you are ostensibly receiving Astra1/19.2E and Astra2/28.2E channels at the same time on a single LNB? I don't think that this is possible and the 9 degree separation is simply too much for a single LNB to receive both at the same time. To do that you need two separate LNBs one receiving from each satellite and a way to switch between them (DiSEqC).

xocal

liamtech wrote: »

Just wondering if anyone could tell me what signal strength there getting with the silvercrest 65 on 28.2. trying to work out if im receiving enough signal.
im at 93% strength and 78 quality.

Also im receiving the same quality and strength on 19.2. is there any way to get these stations using one lnb as my current setup is getting great signal strength

Probably sounds stupid to those experienced sat viewers. Im new to this but very experienced with TV cards and other computer equipment so anyone need any help with that im your man!

Lucky you! I'm in the Carlow area and only getting at most 70% on both quality and reception on 28.2 Northeast! but cannot get the BBC's or the ITV's or the Golf channels! whereas I have a similar unit 65 at a mobile home in Wexford and with 70% reception am getting everything going, including 6 Stream channels which are brilliant.
I have checked direction with a compass and with a sat finder and am spot on 28.2 with 20 degree inclination.
See screen shots, and please comment if you can see anything wrong with the settings.

TM

As mentioned before here and in other threads, have you made sure to adjust the skew of the LNB (i.e. rotated it slightly as appropriate to ensure best reception)? This is another part of the "tuning" process along with getting the inclination and azimuth right.