Aldi Mini Sat

Hi Brendan,

I purchased one of these from maplins 6 months ago and felt the same as you,tried all ways to get it to work, Anyway you will get the hang of it, when we eventually got ours working, it proved to be really good and now is easy to set up. For us we had the actual dish bit positioned vertical and pointing at 28 degrees east of south. so find north then turn the dish 180 degrees(pointing opposite)then go 28 degrees towards east.Also we set ours on an old camera tripod for stability.

Really hope this helps, Dave.

P.S Don`t give in once you do it once you`ll wonder what the problem was!

Most people tilt the dish too far backwards. It should be almost verticle in the UK. Then SLOWLY move it from east to south. Astra should be the first sat you hit. Keep trying; once done you will be able to do it much quicker next time.
Brian

Mini Sat

Thanks both, I'll persevere. One reason for buying this is that we are off to France on Monday for 6 weeks or so, We will be going a little south of Bordeaux to start and then working our way back up Atlantic cost returning Via Cherbourg. If we can finally get tuned in are we likely to pick up signal as far south as Bordeaux? Dish is 36 cms,

cheers.

Brendan

I've just bought one of these and I'm still trying to work out what all the bits are, a "whats in the box " section would help. The quick setup guide go'es right into "how to find a satellite."

Now then whats a LNB ? and oh look there's a satellite finder and a effin
F-connector too............... :0)

Re: Mini Sat

brendan said:

If we can finally get tuned in are we likely to pick up signal as far south as Bordeaux? Dish is 36 cms,
Brendan

Click to expand...

I have managed to get the British channels that far south, in France, on that set up.
Brian

Suitcase Satellite

Hi all,

Using my Maplin suitcase satellite, I have managed to pick up Astra on 19.2 and Hotbird on 13 degrees as far South as Sicily and Portugal.

There's Sky News, CNN and various other English speaking channels on both these satellites so fine if you just want an update.

As we move into Brittany and Normandy, locking on to Astra on 28.2 degrees and using a spare sky box and the card from home system, this then gives us our local news from the Grampian area.

Cheers,
Alan

wozzy said:

Now then whats a LNB ?

Click to expand...

LOW NOISE BLOCK (CONVERTOR)
Basicaly takes in the very high microwave frequency and converts down to a lower frequency that the receiver's tuner will accept... Also works on a small voltage supplied from the receiver (up to 18v) so dont fiddle with when receiver is on, or put tonge on the end of the F plug.

Re: Suitcase Satellite

exmusso said:

As we move into Brittany and Normandy, locking on to Astra on 28.2 degrees and using a spare sky box and the card from home system, this then gives us our local news from the Grampian area.

Cheers,
Alan

Click to expand...

You don't need the sky box and card to get BBC 1,2,3,4 or ITV , Channel 4 etc. They are all in the clear and you can pick them up on the aldi/maplin/lidl decoder and dishes. If you search you can even find the channels that are for your home area e.g. Border/Grampian/..........
Plus even as far south as Cadiz you can pick up all the BBC radio stations (not TV) on the aldi dish and decoder
Brian

I have got the Maplin equivalent. Its really good and very easy to set up once you get the hang.

In Central UK the dish needs to be vertical. We used it at Glencoe recently and that far north we needed to point it slightly downwards. We got perfect reception among the hills in atrocious weather (wind, squally showers, continuous downpour) A full sized oyster a few pitches away from us couldnt get a fix! The further south you go the dish will need to be pointed slightly up.

We don't bother with the suitcase as the dish fits away very neatly in the back of the wardrobe and the LNB arm on a shelf.

I set it up on the roof of our Symbol by poking my head out of the Heki. Takes a couple of minutes. There is an external satellite socket on the Symbol so I cut the cable to reach that.

Peter

tonka said:

wozzy said:

Now then whats a LNB ?

Click to expand...

LOW NOISE BLOCK (CONVERTOR)
Basicaly takes in the very high microwave frequency and converts down to a lower frequency that the receiver's tuner will accept... Also works on a small voltage supplied from the receiver (up to 18v) so dont fiddle with when receiver is on, or put tonge on the end of the F plug.

Click to expand...

O.K.thank you tonka ....I'll keep my mouth shut when working , won't even stick my tounge out of the corner..:0)

but I also have a 8" long flat cable covered in white plastic with male threaded ends...what is that and where does that fit ?..

wozzy said:

but I also have a 8" long flat cable covered in white plastic with male threaded ends...what is that and where does that fit ?..

Click to expand...

I think I know the answer to that one. It's for putting your cable through the van window so you can almost close the window and not squash the cable.

I've been told the name but can't remember it- but I think it's on the contents list on the cardboard sleeve of the Lidl box.

G

thank you grizzley.
thats another piece of the pussel, and a clever bit of kit too...

Update on Aldi Mini Sat..Good old Aldi!

Interesting update on my Mini Sat Saga, basically I bottled out as the set -up was looking very untidy in my High top ( IH TIO, ) .
Although I had unpacked contents and set up rig I felt I was going to have difficulty tuning in, I hadn't succeeded in the driveway but think I did not have clear view of Satellite. Anyway stuck everything back in the box , brought it back to Aldi with receipt and was given full refund, no quibble. I was impressed.

Brendan