Setting up the Lidl Satellite System: For Beginners

Pal

marclt wrote:

i don't think this has been covered before ;-)

If I wanted to take my sky dish down and replace it with the lidl dish... how easy would that be... and could i attach two lnbs onto the dish for both services? I'd keep the two boxes seperate as i pay sky a sub.

I just don't want two dishes on the front of the house!

Marc

yes.
one dish
two lnbs
one going to SKY box, the other going to LIDL box.

no prob.
except, when its fixed.
Youre stuck with whatever bird you point the lidl lnb at. say hotbird. You cant get anything else then.

Tony

marclt wrote:

i don't think this has been covered before ;-)

Believe me it has, boardy covered this on previous page.

mandraker1000

Hi All,
I have installed my Lidl sat dish and have all the necessary FTa channels available on 28E (BBC ITV sky etc....). however Firstly when I look at info on most of these channels they show a signal strength of 87 - 91% and a signal quality of 55 - 61 % but some have only even down to 34 % quality and yet i can still see them. My real interest however is getting the channels on 19E ( ARD ZDF etc...) and in exactly the same satellite position as 28E I'm getting info on for example ZDf of 92% signal strength and 67% quality, I've used the correct freq, polarisation & FEC but I still end up with a box that says "Audio Video not available"......have i done something wrong???? .....this doesn't make sense....BTW i found this was the strongest position for 19E.

any help greatly appreciated.

Thankx in advance

mightyboosh

mandraker1000 wrote:

Hi All,
I have installed my Lidl sat dish and have all the necessary FTa channels available on 28E (BBC ITV sky etc....). however Firstly when I look at info on most of these channels they show a signal strength of 87 - 91% and a signal quality of 55 - 61 % but some have only even down to 34 % quality and yet i can still see them. My real interest however is getting the channels on 19E ( ARD ZDF etc...) and in exactly the same satellite position as 28E I'm getting info on for example ZDf of 92% signal strength and 67% quality, I've used the correct freq, polarisation & FEC but I still end up with a box that says "Audio Video not available"......have i done something wrong???? .....this doesn't make sense....BTW i found this was the strongest position for 19E.

any help greatly appreciated.

Thankx in advance

This is the same problem that I raised. Yes I get 92% signal on 28e from my sky mini dish and receiving those channels is no problem. But why is it showing 98% from 19e and all the channel information when it's showing correctly 0% signal from Eutel sat, Hotbird etc.

Basically I'd like the extra channels instead of good signal but "Audio Video not available"
Is there a problem with the units signal meter? But then how does it get all that channel information if there is no signal

HELP!

boardy

Come on guys, I already answered this question.
You need to be pointed at Astra 1 (19E) to get its channels (irrespective of what you say about signal strength etc.). Think about it, how do you expect to get these channels when you are not pointed at it? You are pointed at 28E. You can however use another LNB to get the channels on 19E (See earlier posts ad infinitum).


But I wish life was that easy ….

murphsonline

hello
this is my first time on a message board and have found some of the meanings of the jargon very enlightening. I too am new to satellites, but not wanting to jump onboard with murdoch decided to try the lidl system on sale this week, which is where this message board comes in ( especially after the helpline proved to be seemingly unmanned or engaged !)
Like many others i managed to set the system, dish etc. up ok, my problem as i've seen on some of the messages is this:
I live in pembrokeshire in west wales, i used the optional satellite finder to set the dish for the astra 2.8 satellite, i could achieve a signal strength of 64 which after selecting autotune gave me a perfeft reception on all the foreign astra 1 stations but the english speaking stations ( BBC etc. ) had a message " Audio and Video not available " even though the signal bar shows a strength of 92.
Could someone offer me some advice please ?

The Muppet

murphsonline wrote:

hello
this is my first time on a message board and have found some of the meanings of the jargon very enlightening. I too am new to satellites, but not wanting to jump onboard with murdoch decided to try the lidl system on sale this week, which is where this message board comes in ( especially after the helpline proved to be seemingly unmanned or engaged !)
Like many others i managed to set the system, dish etc. up ok, my problem as i've seen on some of the messages is this:
I live in pembrokeshire in west wales, i used the optional satellite finder to set the dish for the astra 2.8 satellite, i could achieve a signal strength of 64 which after selecting autotune gave me a perfeft reception on all the foreign astra 1 stations but the english speaking stations ( BBC etc. ) had a message " Audio and Video not available " even though the signal bar shows a strength of 92.
Could someone offer me some advice please ?

What foreign stations are you getting. Apologies for asking the obvious but are you certain you have it aligned correctly at the astra 2 satellite 28.2 degrees east?

murphsonline

thanks for the prompt reply, yes I'm fairly certain that i'm aligned ok, I pick up all the french, german, spanish and polish stations ok.

The Muppet

murphsonline wrote:

thanks for the prompt reply, yes I'm fairly certain that i'm aligned ok, I pick up all the french, german, spanish and polish stations ok.

In your first post you said you could recieve the channels from astra 1 which is not the correct satellite for recieving BBC etc. Astra 1 is at 19.2 east you need Astra 2 at 28.2 degreees east.

murphsonline

thanks, i reset the dish first thing this morning so i thought i was on astra 2, I' try again in the morning.

mightyboosh

boardy wrote:

Come on guys, I already answered this question.
You need to be pointed at Astra 1 (19E) to get its channels (irrespective of what you say about signal strength etc.). Think about it, how do you expect to get these channels when you are not pointed at it? You are pointed at 28E. You can however use another LNB to get the channels on 19E (See earlier posts ad infinitum).


But I wish life was that easy ….

Yes message received and understood. Like I said I'm getting 28e no problem at all, but that doesn't answer my question does it.

You think about it...
How can a parabolic antenna be picking up the sub-codes when it's several degrees off? This can't be down to harmonics, not at these frequencies so why I'm I receiving the channel sub-code information from 19e @ 98% ?

I still don't get it

Any ideas?

Zaphod

mightyboosh wrote:

How can a parabolic antenna be picking up the sub-codes when it's several degrees off? This can't be down to harmonics, not at these frequencies so why I'm I receiving the channel sub-code information from 19e @ 98% ?

It has nothing to do with "sub-codes" or "harmonics".

The satellite operators often reuse the same transponder frequencies for satellites in different orbital positions. If you overlay the graphic represenations of the transponders of 28E and 19E in the link below, you can see the two coincide at various frequencies.
http://www.satsig.net/spectrums-europe.htm

For example, on Astra 2D 28E, BBC One is available on 10.818, V, 22000, 5/6. On Astra 2C 19E, CC Valencia is available on 10.818, V, 22000, 5/6. If your dish is pointing at 28E, but you select CC Valencia on your receiver, the receiver will indicate that it is receiving a channel in both the signal level and quality meters, but there will be no audio or video, because the audio and video PIDs will be those for BBC One, not CC Valencia. The receivers are dumb and if you select the satellite as being 19E, they will assume that your dish is indeed pointed at 19E.

mightyboosh

Zaphod wrote:

It has nothing to do with "sub-codes" or "harmonics".

The satellite operators often reuse the same transponder frequencies for satellites in different orbital positions. If you overlay the graphic represenations of the transponders of 28E and 19E in the link below, you can see the two coincide at various frequencies.
http://www.satsig.net/spectrums-europe.htm

For example, on Astra 2D 28E, BBC One is available on 10.818, V, 22000, 5/6. On Astra 2C 19E, CC Valencia is available on 10.818, V, 22000, 5/6. If your dish is pointing at 28E, but you select CC Valencia on your receiver, the receiver will indicate that it is receiving a channel in both the signal level and quality meters, but there will be no audio or video, because the audio and video PIDs will be those for BBC One, not CC Valencia. The receivers are dumb and if you select the satellite as being 19E, they will assume that your dish is indeed pointed at 19E.

Thanks for the informative reply.

I knew 19.2 couldn't be received (that much is obvious) I just didn't know why my receiver was trying to tell me otherwise, and where the channel info was coming from, so thanks, that explains it.

I think the best way forward for me will be a small, separate dish for 19.2 and a switching box.

Much appreciated.

boardy

mightyboosh: Have you considered a motorized option using the same dish? It might be more cost-effective.

Couch Potato

Lads, if it is of any use Lidl in Westend Blanchardstown had 3 of the satellite systems on sale today and they have loads of the sat finder thingys...

pyxxel

Hi there,

Well you won'T find anything just by holding the dish out of the window - satellite locations are determined both by degrees from south as well as height above horizon. Both values obviously change depending where you are on the face of the earth, and also the direction needs to be found quite accurately. A few millimeters out in any direction and you won't get a signal, and since it's digital it's not coming in gradually but is either off or on (and more often than not, OFF!)

I've hung up my dish on the supplied bracket and am trying to aim it this weekend, will report my findings here if I get a chance. BTW I'm in Dublin-West.

pyx

wil

"Strong signal but no picture" invariably means WRONG satellite
If the channels you can see are
Mostly English - Astra 2 28.3E (Astra 2 ABD and Eurobird appear as one sat to your receiver)
Mostly German - Astra 1 19E
Mostly Italian - Hotbird 10E
If you get "Strong signal but no picture" it invariably means your dish is pointing at the WRONG satellite no matter what you think your receiver is telling you
As I mentioned in the twin Lidl thread, most of the problems here and the other thread are arising from thinking your dish is pointing at a particular sat but are actually pointing at a different one. Almost exactly the same questions as last time Lidl and Aldi sold these.
I may have suggested last time but certainly do so again that this question be added to the FAQs or stickies (same place 2 months time)

A separate question asked earlier regarding obstacles - a general rule of thumb is that you should be twice the height of the obstacle in distance away from it. As you look further East or West the sats are lower on the horizon and you may need to be further from the obstacle to get a clear view and signal.

grogz24

hi everyone! i need serious help please! first i live in meath and the only channels i can pick up are in german and french!! i took someone advice and pointed it where the sun does be at noon?? which sat am i picking up and which should i be lookin for!?

any suggestions!!! cheers

muincav

you are on 19.2 and need to go left a little to 28.5- try the thread at the top of the main Sat pages on Boards (Lidl Sat) and you will get more info...

It will come good, so enjoy

wil

grogz24 wrote: »

hi everyone! i need serious help please! first i live in meath and the only channels i can pick up are in german and french!! i took someone advice and pointed it where the sun does be at noon?? which sat am i picking up and which should i be lookin for!?

any suggestions!!! cheers

Your question was answered in my post just above nearly a year before you asked.
Mostly German - Astra1.
Presumably you want mostly English, which is still Astra 2 28.3E or nearly 10 degrees ACW as you look down on the dish.

Terry

This will work with a sky mini dish, yes?

Do I need to move the dish to find the English channels?

biologikal

Terry wrote: »

This will work with a sky mini dish, yes?

Yes

Terry wrote: »

Do I need to move the dish to find the English channels?

If you were getting the English channels with this dish before, and if the dish hasn't moved since, no.

guinnessdrinker

Anyone know if it's possible to buy the silvercrest sl65 on it's own anywhere without the dish?

wil

guinnessdrinker wrote: »

Anyone know if it's possible to buy the silvercrest sl65 on it's own anywhere without the dish?

Online there are probably plenty of German suppliers among others, but retail in Ireland it would be hard to find on its own cheaper than the price Aldi/Lidl charge with all the extras.

Maplin recently selling a few varieties of Comag, SL25 and SL30 IIRC as well as with SL65 in kit around €120 to 130
Cant remember the specs but I think the SL25 or maybe 20 only had scart, nothing else. Was about €60

decob

anyone know if its possible to get a new lmb holder for the lidl system. managed to snap one of the ends while replacing the lmb.

stupid plastic piece of crap.

watty

No.

Glue gun and Tie Wraps.

byte

A Sticky Thread already covering Lidl systems with loads of info, so I'm closing this one.