Is it possible to get German TV on Sky setup?

paddym1

Hi, I'm hoping someone can help me. I have a Sky set-up that was installed new last December. I plan to change the twin-LNB for a quad, so I can have free-to-air satellite on 2 other boxes in the house. That will leave me with a spare twin-LNB (the one that's currently being used).
Is it possible to get a bracket that I could mount this on, along with the quad LNB, so that I can use the twin to pick up Astra 1 (19.8) and use a different box to get German free-to-air satellite channels (from what I can see, this is the satellite that most of the German channels use)?
Any help would be appreciated, but please note that I have very limited knowledge (and funds), so changing the dish itself is probably not an option.
Thanks in advance, Paddy

swoofer

Yes you can do it but you will need some patience. Its all been done before so look at this thread and the pics. You should be able to get away with using good plastic ties.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=66290773

paddym1

Thanks for that information. I've had a look, and at least I can see that it's possible.
If anyone knows of a bracket that might be available I'd be grateful.
Thanks, Paddy

codar

This one may help:
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/2-LNB-Multi-Feed-Holder-METAL-Design-Adjustable-40mm-Twin-Bracket-2-WAY-/261057278358?hash=item3cc839f196
But if it is a newer sky lnb (which is now 37mm i think) you may have to bulk it up to 40mm (bit of an old bicycle tube may do it) to use this bracket.
You may be better off getting a larger dish though to be guaranteed good reception in poor weather.

paddym1

Thank Codar - I'll have a look at the prices Ican get an 80cm dish for.

STB.

Those ones with the metal bar are rubbish. Any bit of wind and they are gone - the bar shifts too easily. Unfortunately they are the best of a bad lot if you want to continue using your Sky Quad LNB, because they are the only one with a holder slim enough to squeeze behind the gap left behind the Sky quad lnb when the Sky LNB is attached to its existing holder. The gap is molded.

One of these below would be better, but you would have to stick a universal quad on the dish (as far as I recall the existing sky quad doesnt have enough space at the back to anchor the multi holder).

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Universal-Multi-feed-Mount-2-fold-LNB-Mount-Plastic-Astra-and-Hotbird-/151664456319?hash=item234fe7f27f

paddym1

Thanks for all the information so far. I set up as per the previous thread, and I now seem to be getting some channels from Astra 1. However, I am not getting any of the German channels. Could this be because I am not properly lined up, or will I have to bite the bullet and go for a bigger dish?
Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks, Paddy

swoofer

not properly lined up, here is a list of all the channels you should get.

http://en.kingofsat.net/pos-19.2E-fta.php

but you have to be sure you are actually receiving a channel that is on 19east not just a signal meter reading. see sky news and use that. twist lnb for skew and move in and out to get focal lenghth. say what channels you got and I can check if they are 19east.

Thurston?

paddym1 wrote: »

I set up as per the previous thread, and I now seem to be getting some channels from Astra 1. However, I am not getting any of the German channels. Could this be because I am not properly lined up, or will I have to bite the bullet and go for a bigger dish?

What size dish do you have? I'm not aware of twin LNBs (as per your OP) being available for Sky-type dishes.

paddym1

Thurston, it's a 6o cm dish, and when I got up to it I discovered that what I thought was a twin LNB was actually a quad.

paddym1

swoofer wrote: »

not properly lined up, here is a list of all the channels you should get.

http://en.kingofsat.net/pos-19.2E-fta.php

but you have to be sure you are actually receiving a channel that is on 19east not just a signal meter reading. see sky news and use that. twist lnb for skew and move in and out to get focal lenghth. say what channels you got and I can check if they are 19east.

Swoofer, thanks for the info - I strongly suspect it is an alignment problem. I assumed they were on 19E because the box I am using (an old Ferguson Ariva 120 combo) says they are.... I will get a list later and post it here - I'd be grateful if you'd have a look. Thanks.

Thurston?

paddym1 wrote: »

... when I got up to it I discovered that what I thought was a twin LNB was actually a quad.

Suspected that might be the case. Yeah, a zone 2 Sky dish is about 60cm top-to-bottom, something like 70 wide.

I have 1 myself with a 2nd LNB for 19 east (homemade job, lashed together from what was lying around). If you don't have any success with reception, a pic or 2 of what you've done might be useful here.

paddym1

swoofer wrote: »

not properly lined up, here is a list of all the channels you should get.

http://en.kingofsat.net/pos-19.2E-fta.php

but you have to be sure you are actually receiving a channel that is on 19east not just a signal meter reading. see sky news and use that. twist lnb for skew and move in and out to get focal lenghth. say what channels you got and I can check if they are 19east.

Attached now are a few screenshots, showng the first few channels (1-8), a couple of random shots, and the last few channels (142-149)

paddym1

Thurston? wrote: »

Suspected that might be the case. Yeah, a zone 2 Sky dish is about 60cm top-to-bottom, something like 70 wide.

I have 1 myself with a 2nd LNB for 19 east (homemade job, lashed together from what was lying around). If you don't have any success with reception, a pic or 2 of what you've done might be useful here.

Thurston, it sounds like you've done pretty much what I'm trying to do. I'll get some pics as soon as I can (later today). Thanks again, Paddy

Thurston?

Those channels you've found are all from 28 east. If the receiver is tuning them in under 19 east, it's just because they share frequencies etc. with 19 east.

If you haven't moved the dish, & you're getting 28 east on the offset LNB, I'm assuming you have both LNBs connected via a DiSEqC switch, & you mustn't have set up the DiSEqC switch in the relevant menu.

greasepalm

i wondered in doing the same a long while ago with my old sky dish now fitted with an octo lnb and decided easier to add another dish as i had room on my flat roof for hotbird.
or how many have gone for a wave 90cm toroidal dish.?

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSKLF7CVZoV1CKOincwFxadOVsiSCj9Gwp0545t7rX8vQNpIaxQAQ

paddym1

Thurston? wrote: »

Those channels you've found are all from 28 east. If the receiver is tuning them in under 19 east, it's just because they share frequencies etc. with 19 east.

If you haven't moved the dish, & you're getting 28 east on the offset LNB, I'm assuming you have both LNBs connected via a DiSEqC switch, & you mustn't have set up the DiSEqC switch in the relevant menu.

I think you may be right and I have a problem with the DiSEqC seetings in the receiver.

The attached pictures show my screen options - can you tell me how I need to set them up? Thanks, Paddy

paddym1

Thurston? wrote: »

Suspected that might be the case. Yeah, a zone 2 Sky dish is about 60cm top-to-bottom, something like 70 wide.

I have 1 myself with a 2nd LNB for 19 east (homemade job, lashed together from what was lying around). If you don't have any success with reception, a pic or 2 of what you've done might be useful here.

Thurston, attached are some pics of what I've done so far.

Very Bored

Sorry for hijacking a thread, but I can see that it is possible to get German TV via a normal Sky system. Am I right in thinking though that getting Italian tv in this way would be impossible?

Thurston?

paddym1 wrote: »

I think you may be right and I have a problem with the DiSEqC seetings in the receiver.

The attached pictures show my screen options - can you tell me how I need to set them up?

Assuming you're using a 2 or 4 port switch, it should just be a matter of setting the relevant port for each LNB, in the 'DiSEqC 1.0' option.

Presumably you have 28 east connected to port 1, & that's why it's coming through, despite being marked disabled & 19 east showing as port 1?

And in your pics of the dish, the offset LNB shouldn't be skewed like that, should be much the same as the other 1.

Gerry Wicklow

Very Bored wrote: »

Sorry for hijacking a thread, but I can see that it is possible to get German TV via a normal Sky system. Am I right in thinking though that getting Italian tv in this way would be impossible?

According to this the only Italian channels on 19E are RAI HD but they are encrypted. This lists the Italian channels on 13E but the sky dish lash-up shown above wouldn't cover such a big angle difference.

Very Bored

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

According to this the only Italian channels on 19E are RAI HD but they are encrypted. This lists the Italian channels on 13E but the sky dish lash-up shown above wouldn't cover such a big angle difference.

OK, thanks.

Thurston?

Very Bored wrote: »

... I can see that it is possible to get German TV via a normal Sky system. Am I right in thinking though that getting Italian tv in this way would be impossible?

You should be able to get some channels anyway from 13 east.

I'd imagine the dish would be better moved to somewhere in between 13 & 28, but the signal from 28 should remain reliable. (Assuming you're in Ireland or UK.)

paddym1

Thurston? wrote: »

Assuming you're using a 2 or 4 port switch, it should just be a matter of setting the relevant port for each LNB, in the 'DiSEqC 1.0' option.

Presumably you have 28 east connected to port 1, & that's why it's coming through, despite being marked disabled & 19 east showing as port 1?

And in your pics of the dish, the offset LNB shouldn't be skewed like that, should be much the same as the other 1.

Thurston, thanks for your suggestions. I changed the LNB alignment as you said, and with the help of a €12 satellite finder I was successfully able to align with Astra 1. Disecq settings were also changed, and now everything is working perfectly.
Thanks again for all the help, Paddy

STB.

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

According to this the only Italian channels on 19E are RAI HD but they are encrypted. This lists the Italian channels on 13E but the sky dish lash-up shown above wouldn't cover such a big angle difference.

Of course it would Gerry. You'd easily do it. I have in the past, the spacing is like this. The dish is centred on 19E.

Gerry Wicklow

Proper brackets and realigning the dish would. I was refering to the cable tied lash-up. Would a 60cm dish still give decent levels for rain fade? I would have thought you'd need a bit bigger for comfort.