Dish obstruction by trees?

[Robojin]

Struggled with what should have been a simple FreeSat dish install

Couple of laylandii about 40m away roughly in line with Astra 2 (I heard once that fir trees can be a nightmare as they block the signal true/untrue?), got a good signal after a while, then tuned in TV, nothing, back up to the dish signal strong for a moment then nought (no wind today), no matter what I tried could not get a signal on any of the outlets, could this just be a failed LNB?

 

[Andy™]

how did you get your strong signal reading?

 

[Robojin]

[quote name='Andy

 

[Lurch]

One of those analogue Sat meters, tested when I got home no prob worked fine

On a digital satellite? There's the first half of the problem. Secondly, trees do indeed block satellite signals, moreso when the foliage is thicker so a good install in November is hopeless in July.

Was going to ask what sort of readings you got on the test, but then I remembered where I started this post! Digital is either on or off. A boderline signal is still a signal, so it's on, and then slightly worse could be off so it wouldn;t take much to lose a weak signal, whereas with analogue you'd see a gradual fading from good to none existent.

 

[Robojin]

Thanks Lurch, I guess distance to the trees has some baring

The rear of this house is facing SSE, looking at other Sky dish positions, e.g across the road (from front) the dish's appear to be getting a signal even though the buildings on opposite side appear to be blocking line of site, I've also seen installs up in town where the dish's are pointing at the building opposite logically they should not work?

Could this just be a faulty LNB?

BTW found this useful site last night

http://www.dishpointer.com/

 

[Lurch]

looking at other Sky dish positions, e.g across the road (from front) the dish's appear to be getting a signal even though the buildings on opposite side appear to be blocking line of site, I've also seen installs up in town where the dish's are pointing at the building opposite logically they should not work?

The line of sight is largely 'upwards', the satellites are a few miles above us, not in the village green opposite.

Could this just be a faulty LNB?

Dunno, could be. We're just ****ing in the wind with no actual signal readings from anything.

 

[Apache]

The line of sight is largely 'upwards', the satellites are a few miles above us, not in the village green opposite.Dunno, could be. We're just ****ing in the wind with no actual signal readings from anything.

Lurch! Play nice. Not said that for a while :|

 

[ianmacd]

Remember radio line of sight is not the same as visual line of sight.

 

[davetheglitz]

I thought the satellite dishes were offset parabolic dishes - so to the eye they look like they are pointing at a tree or building - but in reality they are picking up a signal that comes in skywards. Any chance of a short on the F connector - I've never quite trusted the beasties myself!

 

[Robojin]

Lurch;125515]The line of sight is largely 'upwards', the satellites are a few miles above us, not in the village green opposite.

ROTFWL

 

[Robojin]

I thought the satellite dishes were offset parabolic dishes - so to the eye they look like they are pointing at a tree or building - but in reality they are picking up a signal that comes in skywards. Any chance of a short on the F connector - I've never quite trusted the beasties myself!

I have a trusty test lead (eg high quality moulded F connectors) and tested the drop lead too!!

As I mentioned did seem to have a signal at one point, so have bought another LNB for now so I can eliminate that, also used a 50cm dish just in case of any issues

Patch I thought he was playing nice

 

[Lurch]

Patch I thought he was playing nice

I was. You can tell when I'm not.

 

[ian3012]

hi robojin... i assume you got this sorted by now...

i used to fit dishes in the analogue days... (i probably did 2000 of them for that

 

[Robojin]

hi robojin... i assume you got this sorted by now...

Hi Ian,

Yes got it sorted, I suspect my meter was playing up, had the right baring 147deg, might have been a little out on azimuth, based on web site 25.5 was optimum

Had been pondering about one of these

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FRINGE-Pro-TV-Sat-Signal-Finder-two-in-one-meter_W0QQitemZ300412262255QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_ConEle_SatCableFreeview_RL?hash=item45f1f7576f#ht_1127wt_939

So bought one and did allow me to get the best signal, the only gripe, is that you need to connect to a receiver it does not use the 9v used for TV (I guess cause you need 13v for the LNB)

 

[ian3012]

good...

dunno about the fringe meter but theyve always been a brand leader in the tv/sat accessories game haven't they.

i got an SLX satellite meter from screwfix

 

[Robojin]

good...dunno about the fringe meter but theyve always been a brand leader in the tv/sat accessories game haven't they.

i got an SLX satellite meter from screwfix

 

[ProDave]

Bumping an old thread, but for serious satellite dish alignment, forget those

 

[Zeespark]

Where is that tester shipped from may I ask Dave?

AndyGuinness

 

[oldtimespark]

My son enjoys satellite tv his current setup can track an arc 45 east to 45 west .

There are lots of forums available to browse .Alignment guide link

 

[ProDave]

Where is that tester shipped from may I ask Dave?AndyGuinness

The one I bought came from Hong Kong. There are 3 or 4 regular ebay sellers selling the same item, at least 2 from Hong Kong and one from the USA. You need to check carefully as they sell them at different prices, sometimes with a postage charge, and sometimes with free postage. Check to see which one gives the cheapest overall price.

I bought mine over a year ago, and it cost me about