has the 21.6E Eutelsat satellite position been changed?

RolandIRL

hi all,
i've noticed this problem for the past 2/3 weeks where the channels on Eutelsat 21.6E have been getting a crap signal. almost of the british channels - ITV,C4,E4 are flickering like mad whenever we turn on the telly. i'm using a technomate 1500-CI and i tried rescanning the channels in hope of getting a better signal, but to no avail. the BBC channels have also been on and off since before christmas. we bought our own satellite dish a few years ago, with 3 LNBs for Astra, Hotbird, and Eutelsat. would the dish need realignment or replacing? our neighbour had the same problem in her old house, but since she moved into her new house with a new satellite dish, all the channels have been working.
any suggestions would be helpful.

byte

Sounds like a dish misalignment problem, as it's affecting more than one satellite position.

recyclebin

are you sure its 21.6E? The ITV's, E4 etc are on astra 28.2E.

snaps

Multi lnb dishes go out of line very easily due to their extra weight.

RolandIRL

channels from other satellites have been working perfectly. for example, we pick up MTV germany and there's no problems. it's only been happening in the last 2/3 weeks. also the BBCs have been getting no signal sometimes and then other times are working perfectly. typically, it seems when we need to watch something, the channels seem to go. they work okay during the afternoon. then in the evening the signal jumps between 70% (which is when they work) and <50%. anything below 70% doesn't work.
what would i need to realign the dish? i don't think we have a signal tester, so where would i get one of those? i don't know much about satellites so i'd need someone to give me a step-by-step tutorial on how to realign the dish.
thanks

EDIT: btw the satellite has been working for the past few years since 2004, i think, with no problems. could it be a satellite problem and would it be time to replace it? if i were to replace it, what would be the best free-to-air provider? i don't want a pay monthly provider but rather a once-off payment for the satellite and the option to have two boxes in two rooms.

St Senan

After reading your post's it Appears you have got your satellites mixed up what it seems you have is Astra 28.2 east Mostly english channels = BBC and Itv , Astra 19.2 mostly German = Mtv what you mentioned and Hotbird 13 east mostly Polish Arabic and Italian.
Now your problem could be either the LNb for Astra 28.2 is Knocked out of line slightly or is on the way out. or their could be a problem with your Disecq Switch or water in the cable from lnb to Disecq switch. Here is the channels on 21.6east http://www.flysat.com/eutelsatw6.php

snaps

scaller wrote: »

After reading your post's it Appears you have got your satellites mixed up what it seems you have is Astra 28.2 east Mostly english channels = BBC and Itv , Astra 19.2 mostly German = Mtv what you mentioned and Hotbird 13 east mostly Polish Arabic and Italian.
Now your problem could be either the LNb for Astra 28.2 is Knocked out of line slightly or is on the way out. or their could be a problem with your Disecq Switch or water in the cable from lnb to Disecq switch. Here is the channels on 21.6east http://www.flysat.com/eutelsatw6.php

sounds more like a switch problem.

RolandIRL

we've got two boxes, and the one in the kitchen registers the sat as astra. the one in the sitting room just reads it as eutelsat. moved the dish around until we got a good signal, but the bbcs are still on again, off again. any solutions this time?

ISAA

I would suggest getting a real satellite installer to resolve your problem,

1) he knows what he,s doing,
2) has the right equipment,
3) not using the rx for satellite id,
4) has PL insurance,

Good luck

RolandIRL

realigned the dish again, and the bbcs are working again. ocassional flicker but it's no bother. thanks for your help