Problem with the LIDL dish

JoyPad

Hi,

I've got the new LIDL dish setup for Sirius (5E). I've been using the receiver as a Sat finder, worked a lot better for me than the actual product. I can see the TV from where the dish is, and I've used the INFO page to see signal quality/strength.
I've been fiddling a lot with the position, but all I could muster was about 70% quality. That works fine until the wind picks up or the rain starts to fall. Then the quality drops and the reception is gone.
Can anyone tell me if I should be able to achieve better reception of this satellite in Galway? Astra1, Astra2 and Hotbird can be locked on with 90% quality. However, I didn't stay on them long enough to see what happens in bad weather.

Thanks,
JP

Ronan|Raven

Sirius is a cruel mistress! What channels are you looking at when the signal drops so much? Cant check atm as if I go moving the dish at this hour im in for it but I usually get a strength of 50-60 in rain and at night time on most channels such as Enter - Film tbh its a satellite I dont look at much.

Should also have mentioned im using a 1m dish and .3db LNB

JoyPad

I'm looking at ProTV-Intl, the reason I bought the thing in the first place. Not much on it, but better than TVRi, the only other romanian channel available in Ireland on a low budget.
Right now it's even funnier: when the wind calms down, the quality goes back in the 70s, but I still don't get the picture back.
BTW, I noticed that the dish trembles a lot in the wind, especially the LNB arm. However, it seems to return to its original position when the wind calms down.

snaps

The mounting bracket of those lidl dishes are nothing to be desired. I read somewhere that the other day a local guy had his blown straight of the wall!

Ronan|Raven

While these have been severe winds it may be worth it in the long run to move the dish is possible to a more sheltered location, might also be worth making a "cap" for the lnb to keep the water/rain off it. Unsure if this will make much difference buy may.

snaps

All my LNB's have homemade caps on them made out of soda bottles that have been cut in half then taped around the LNB. You have to be carefull not to obstruct the LNB cap to much other wise this will effect the signal. I have 2 dishes up and both are in a very sheltered position, fairly low to the ground. This not only makes it easy to maintain them but like you say, keeps them sheltered form the elements.

emaherx

those lidl brackets are definitly not to be desired.

get someone you know with a welder to make a stronger bracket.
should take even a complete amature only a few minuets.

Eurorunner

those lidl brackets are definitly not to be desired.

Yeah....they're crap. It all goes back to you get what you pay for i suppose...

tapest

Eurorunner wrote:

Yeah....they're crap. It all goes back to you get what you pay for i suppose...

Gotb to disagree....I took the oportunity to pick up some spares recently. I've about 1/2 doz now....thc cost wouldn't cover the coachbolts...and they're rust proof...and they'll do nicely for hanging up ladders and long length of steel etc....

Eurorunner

tapest wrote:

Gotb to disagree....I took the oportunity to pick up some spares recently. I've about 1/2 doz now....thc cost wouldn't cover the coachbolts...and they're rust proof...and they'll do nicely for hanging up ladders and long length of steel etc....

I'm not suggesting that i'm out of pocket for having bought one but in hindsight, i would have preferred to get a stronger bracket seperately. Hanging up ladders is good n' well - but theyre supposed to support a dish - but can't take the pressure of high winds without bobbing up and down.

Ronan|Raven

I hobbled outside to look at how my setup was after the winds my mount stayed up (it it moved the house would have moved :-D ) no damage to my 1m dish but the 80CM I picked up, one of the bolts has snapped and part of the plastic has cracked around the bolts. Will take it down and fix it up later.

duridian

The Lidl bracket has a fair bit of flex/bounce in it alright but if you keep the dish relatively low and sheltered they should survive the like of last night's winds.
In fairness though despite the bounce the clamps do seem to stay on the satellite they are aimed at.
The best design of wall bracket really though IMHO would be the 'double U' type made in one continuous piece of piping bent to the shape where there is a part of the pipe about 2 feet long bolted horizontal against the wall at the top and at the bottom and the middle part of the pipe is bent out in a vertical U shape for bolting on the dish clamps.
A possible improvement (which I will definitely do when I get a chance) to the LIDL mount would be to drill a hole horizontally thru the top of the pipe in the bracket parallel to the wall. Then I intend to design two 'legs' from some flat steel which will be bolted on either side of this hole and taken back at an angle to the wall and bolted on there with 2 more bolts/coach screws for each 'leg'. In essence what I am thinking of is a tripod design. similar in idea to the one at the top of this page

Eurorunner

A possible improvement (which I will definitely do when I get a chance) to the LIDL mount would be to drill a hole horizontally thru the top of the pipe in the bracket parallel to the wall. Then I intend to design two 'legs' from some flat steel which will be bolted on either side of this hole and taken back at an angle to the wall and bolted on there with 2 more bolts/coach screws for each 'leg'.

If you go ahead with that, please post a pic....i need to do something of this nature cos its fecking up viewing.

duridian

Ok Euro, I dont have a digital camera but I will measure the stuff that I make it from and possibly do some sort of a sketch in a graphics proggie describing the design. I believe it should be straight forward enough to convert the LIDL bracket to a tripod design and I reckon taking the bounce out of the bracket should do a lot for it as the jiggling could possibly have a detrimental effect on the clamps as well in the long term . Will have to do 3 of 'em as I went a bit mad with the LIDL dishes

Eurorunner

Ok Euro, I dont have a digital camera but I will measure the stuff that I make it from and possibly do some sort of a sketch in a graphics proggie describing the design.

Nice one. I suppose its straightforward enough...just at a loss as to where i could get two pieces of metal that would suit...

costellon

The mini whirlwind that tore through Galway on New Years day whipped my 80cm dish into the next door neighbours garden where I had to battle for my prize with a Cladonian Elk hound with a shovel handle, gently of course. The dish was ripped away from the plastic mounting bracket completely and I rebuilt it using galvaband and loads of fiberglass, I can now swing out of it. Tomorrow I am going to "tripod" the metal bracket into the wall to stop it from shuddering in the breeze. Anyway, I am new to satellite TV and need some advice please. What would be the best satellite to use for free English speaking channels and can I use the one dish to recieve a few sats ? Any advice would be appreciated. I bought the system for my Father who is into documentaries and the like and am a little disappointed at the lack of such channels.

Help !!!!

Ronan|Raven

Well for english speaking channels then Astra2 @ 28east is yer best bet prob. You can also on that dish pick up if one likes 28east, 19east and 13east that would give you a good range of satellites. You can get from what I read in another thread here a multi lnb holder off satellite.ie for that dish.

snaps

duridian wrote:

A possible improvement (which I will definitely do when I get a chance) to the LIDL mount would be to drill a hole horizontally thru the top of the pipe in the bracket parallel to the wall. Then I intend to design two 'legs' from some flat steel which will be bolted on either side of this hole and taken back at an angle to the wall and bolted on there with 2 more bolts/coach screws for each 'leg'. In essence what I am thinking of is a tripod design. similar in idea to the one at the top of this page

Very, Very good idea indeed.

snaps

Better baton down those lidl dishes tonight folks as the wind is going to be galeforce by the morning!

Booms

Never go near a Cladonian Elk hound when it's got a shovel handle.

duridian

Well I did a bit of work on the idea of improving the stability of the Lidl dish mounting bracket this afternoon. This was more or less what I came up with. Due to the material being just regular steel, I strongly recommend that you protect the metal by painting it with some type of hammer coat or aluminium paint before actually putting it on your wall as otherwise it will get rusty very quickly. For one dish this should'nt cost more than €10.
I haven't actually put mine up yet as I will be applying several coats of paint to them before doing so. This modification should be easy enough for anyone with basic tools as all you really need is a drill, a hacksaw (or if you have one, a mini grinder) and a vice grips to assist with bending. The precise point of the bends and the exact angle is not hugely important as long as you are fairly close you can adjust a bit anyway when it comes to mounting them on the wall.

https://us.v-cdn.net/6034073/uploads/attachments/22708/9433.jpg

https://us.v-cdn.net/6034073/uploads/attachments/22708/9434.jpg

trap4

snaps wrote:

All my LNB's have homemade caps on them made out of soda bottles that have been cut in half then taped around the LNB.

Snaps, can you upload a photo of that please or point me to something similar. I'm just wondering if this is somethng I should do myself. Are these LIDL part not capable of standing up to the elements?

calinirl

MOD EDIT: No Telephone numbers. Read the rules re: advertising. Twice this has happened, next time will be a ban.

Ronan|Raven

I think you should read the charter m8 in regards to personal advertising

oconnorw

There appears to be a lot of advertising for satellite.ie on this forum so why not share with other members the names of good installers ?

DMC

If you care to look, there is a sticky at the top of the main forum page with a list of installers and suppliers that forum posters have used. This forum is in no way connected with satellite.ie only that its proprietor posts here.

Eurorunner

oconnorw wrote:

There appears to be a lot of advertising for satellite.ie on this forum so why not share with other members the names of good installers ?

Not really. Tony just happens to be a regular contributor. Other ppl on the board may mention satellite.ie but if you check through Tonys' posts, you'll see that he himself does not.

And in this case, the guy in question has a sum total of two posts contributed. Havnt seen the first one but the seconds just blatant advertising.

ednwireland

its now 2 pm the wind is trying to fold trees flat here in donegal lidl mounting bracket lasted first seriously strong gust dish now pointing at ground. whats the best bet get one from my local metalworking shop ?

JoyPad

My dish has been holding strong for the past few days, still have 70% signal quality on Hotbird with all the rain and wind.
However, I just heard on Galway Bay FM that the storm will peak this afternoon between 4 and 9pm, with winds close to 100mph. So, I've taken down the dish and stored it until the storm is over. Mainly because I've put it on sale
I'll have to make do with the Sky minidish until then.

iwb

So, if you get 3 LNB's on the dish to pick up three different satellites, how do you wire them to the receiver? I assume you don't actually need three receivers also?

Tony

iwb wrote:

So, if you get 3 LNB's on the dish to pick up three different satellites, how do you wire them to the receiver? I assume you don't actually need three receivers also?

For this you can use a 3 way switch such as an automatic diseq switch. Most digital receivers have this facility whereby you program an lnb per satellite so you can seamlessly change channels.

Hope this helps