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I'm having real trouble setting up a free to air and a freesat portable system. Despite the fact that I have read some posts saying how easy it is to do I am having so much trouble it's not funny. Well it is a bit.
This week I bought a second hand Maplins Suitcase kit, and also a 54 cm Dish with a Pace digibox and Freesat card from sky. All this from another member on here who is a real gentleman and I have absolutely no reason to suspect that the kit doesn't work. It HAS to be me being a numpty. This what I've done so far.
I connected the dish to a tripod and connected the cable to the LNB connector and to the LNB INPUT at the back of the little receiver. Hooked up to my TV indoors using a SCART cable and turned it on.
I get the menu and then select LIST on the remote and where the instructions says select ASTRA28EAST I do that and then it says select BBC 1 London, but that doesn't appear in my list. I assume that as it's been used before and not in my location the available programmes are set up for the last location it was used in. So I selected SKY News. It then says Select INFO and you will see the signal strength and quality bars. Press 1 to set a tone so you can check the Satellite signal. To start with strength is 10 and quality is 37 and that is normal.
It then says point the dish due south with the azimuth horizontal. Starting there move the dish to the left and you will pick up ASTRA28EAST about halfway between South and East which makes sense. Then I should see the signal strength improve and an audible tone rise and fall as I go past the satellite. They say only move about 5-10 mm at a time.
Well I've done all of that and nothing happens. And I mean nothing. The tone doesn't change and the signal doesn't change. I've also tried linking in a TELEVES satellite finder and although I can get that to see something as the tone rises and falls and the signal strength meter changes, the receiver stays just the same.
What am I doing wrong? I can't be that stupid can I?
hi
colonel it sounds like you are doing the basics right, but before you can recieve a signal the angle of elevation has to be right too.
try this site for correct angle http://www.dishpointer.com/
just put in your location and the angle pops up.
you write the satfinder goes up a little, when it's at it strongest signal lock the dish and try to alter the elevation.
i get a signal stength of about 75 and a quality signal of about 72.
once you have a good signal try a scan of all free toview channells
(over 1000) and add the channels you want to the favourites list and delete the channells you don't want.
once you get the hang of setting the dish up it's quite easy.
good luck and don't swear too much.
First thing - throw the Pace box away, you'll take a lifetime to set the Maplin dish up with a Pace box and the FTA box that comes with the Maplin system will do everything that the Pace will do (unless you have a Sky subscription (not Freesat) card in it).
I can almost guarantee that your main problem is the elevation of the dish. The Maplin dish needs to be set almost vertical in the UK, once you get accustomed to it, it's very easy to use but can be a real devil first time. People get confused by the elevation angles stated, because the Maplin portable dish has a high deflection angle it needs to be more upright than many other dishes to obtain a similar angle to the satellite.
Before you press the "info" button to see the tuning screen, press the "program up/down" button until you're tuned to a station on Astra28E, otherwise the receiver will look for a different satellite. Once you're tuned in, do a program scan and it should pick up the BBC London program (along with hundreds of others).
______________________________________________________________ If you lend someone £20 and never see that person again, it was probably well worth it.
rocknroller, that site's great and has confirmed that I'm pointing in the right direction. The azimuth angle says 25 degrees approximately but using the Maplins oval dish I was told to have the angle almost vertical to start with until I could see some signal then lock it down and adjust the azimuth angle up a little at a time. Maybe I need to raise it up much higher and start from there. I have an old sky dish on the wall at the side of the house which confirms the direction as that is also pointing in the direction of ASTRA28EAST by the look of it. Unfortunately I cannot use that dish as the cable termination is buried somewhere and I can't find it. it's also very old.
Hi Gaspode, your opinion seems to be similar to what I have been told and is the way I have been trying. I live on the side of a hill facing east across a valley and maybe that is also what is confusing the azimuth angle. I am only using the Maplins box at the moment as that is apparently easier to set up. I'm not sure what you mean to tune in to a station on ASTRA28 as I can't tune in to anything but I am choosing SKY News which is on 28 so hopefully that's right.
Do you guys think it might be a good idea to reset the FTA receiver back to it's factory settings and start from scratch. Maybe because it's already been set up in a different area it is adding to the problem, or can't you do a reset?
Hi Gaspode, your opinion seems to be similar to what I have been told and is the way I have been trying. I live on the side of a hill facing east across a valley and maybe that is also what is confusing the azimuth angle. I am only using the Maplins box at the moment as that is apparently easier to set up. I'm not sure what you mean to tune in to a station on ASTRA28 as I can't tune in to anything but I am choosing SKY News which is on 28 so hopefully that's right.
Do you guys think it might be a good idea to reset the FTA receiver back to it's factory settings and start from scratch. Maybe because it's already been set up in a different area it is adding to the problem, or can't you do a reset?
Hi colonel
Being on a hill should have no effect whatsoever unless your direct sight line to the satellite is blocked. Just make sure your dish is vertical (or maybe 2 deg off vertical).
When I say tune to a 28E station what I mean is: Use the P+/P- button to move up and down between preset stations until you find a preset that is on 28E, this will be displayed in the program description box. Moving through the P+/P- buttons not only changes channels but it changes satellites too, once set up you use the centre buttons to change volume and channels, not the P+/P-. IIRC Sky news is also on other satellites, certainly it's on all the Astra2 beams whereas BBC1 London is only on the 2D narrow beam so will be more accurate for tuning.
Best tip with the Maplin dish is to leave it in the box lid, set the lid vertical and gently move the box around. Take no heed of the signal strength meter, just concentrate on the signal quality.
You could reset the receiver but it won't help - oh and memorise the menu functions before you do it because it'll reset the language to German too.
Everyone has difficulty setting the Maplin dish up in the beginning, it's a knack and once you get the knack you'll wonder why you ever had a problem.
______________________________________________________________ If you lend someone £20 and never see that person again, it was probably well worth it.
Unfortunately BBC1 London is not on my channel options, that was why I was thinking of resetting the system. All I have are BBC 1 Scotland, Wales, West etc., but I grasp what your saying and it looks like I'll be in the garden all day on Saturday until I get it right.
I want to be sure that I'm not still struggling once the system is in the MH.
Hi Colonel
If the dish is an offset type (like thos on houses) where the lnb isnt on the centre of the dish then the dish should be vertical/ As gaspode says the Pace box will be too slow to react and so you will have to move the dish 2deg then wait 10 seconds before moving again.
the litte reciever that came with the suitcase system will be 100 times faster that the pace box. Use this to practice your setting up tecnique. You will see the difference. I used to use a sky box but dont bother any more.
Oh and if you do use the pace take the card out. You will get bbc1 london on ch 001 then. if you have the card in it will assign your local bbc station to ch001.
Phill
______________________________________________________________ Just when i found out my dad was right I had a son that thought I was wrong.....Henry winkler.
I'm using the box that came with the Maplins system and yes the dish is an offset. I do also have the Televes 7301 meter and that was really for using with the pace box and larger dish as I'm aware that the pace box is slow to react and it's much harder to align a bigger dish.
If I could just find the flippin satellite once then I'm sure I will be OK. If I didn't know better I'd say it was avoiding me.
hi paul
take a look at the email i sent you. When I first bought the maplin box astra 28 wasnt even in the listings of the box and i had similar problems at first . From memory i had to go into an installation menu and tell the receiver to search for all satellites and then i think i chose astra 28 and told it to search for all stations.
I know there are a few stations programmed on that box that are not correct as even when i was on the astra satellite i went to itv central or something similar and it just wasnt there and would say no signal as the channel must have been wrong.
This does not reset your receiver , it just resets the channels . Its a pity someone isnt close by with a maplin syatem so they could show you / use their receiver to see what is the problem. I guarentee the sytem works , im sure its a receiver channel or alignment issue. If i was closer id run over and sort it out for you. I initially programmed it up and set it up when i was in germany as it arrived 1 hr before i left for a holiday. The programming has stayed the same since then so dont know if that made a differance. Ive since used it in the UK though with no problems.
All the best
Gary
If your any where near the midlands in your motorhome in the near future ill come to you to set it up. If your not happy in any way then as i said ill refund 100% of your money no problem at all
I got your emails last night and I'm going to have another go at the weekend when I have a bit of time. I said that you are a gentleman and I meant it. I appreciate your offers of help but don't worry, I'll get there in the end. And I don't think for one minute that there is a problem with the kit so don't worry.
The problem may be my line of sight as there is a big tree in next doors garden. I'm going to see if I can get round the edge of it.
I'll let you know how I get on and thanks again for your concerns.
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