Nilesat free TV - one for the techies!

treemancyprus


Joined: 13/08/2008
Posts: 82

Message Posted:
09/04/2009 11:13

I have Nilesat free TV, 1.43 metre dish, through a Fortec Star Omega DSR. Get around 20 English language channels (plus 340 Arabic!). Recent problem is channels dropping out, often at certain times of the day/night. Signal strength is fairly constant 50-60%, and when quality is ok, BER is usually around 40%. Problem is when cant get certain channels, signal quality goes from 1% - 80% very rapidly, therefore receiver can't 'lock on'. Could it be the LNB? - mine is an old one (Samsung MSDE8232AB), maybe 8-9 years old. Have tried twisting the LNB, makes very little difference. Anyone out there able to advise/help?

mmmmmm



Joined: 19/12/2008
Posts: 8398

Message Posted:
09/04/2009 11:41

re msg 1, TreemanCyprus



Hi, without the correct kit - hard to tell could be:



1/ dish positioning - it is big enough by the sounds of it



2/ lnb



3/ receiver



Have you tried another free to air receiver - if still bad reception - then you know it is "dish end" and time to call a specialist with the right kit to test.



Lnbs in the extreme heat of CY sun do well to last five years.

fiendishpaul


Joined: 18/05/2008
Posts: 1720

Message Posted:
09/04/2009 12:26

Hi Treeman

I also use Nilesat but on a 1m dish and am not experiencing any of the probs you are. I have a Next YE2000 FTA USB box. Got it from Tektan in Girne as part of my sat package. Excellent box and very easy to use.

Regards

Paul

keithcaley



Joined: 13/06/2008
Posts: 2521

Message Posted:
09/04/2009 12:40

msg 1,

which channels are you having the problem with?

If you can tell me channel name, frequency and polarisation, I'll have a look and see if I've got those channels, and whether they are 'behaving' the same as yours.

Then we can take it from there...

I have a 1M dish, pointed at Nilesat, with a Fortec Star box and LNB that I use for English FTA channels.

Keith.

zerochlor


Joined: 03/04/2009
Posts: 4024

Message Posted:
09/04/2009 12:42

ive got a dreambox DM-500S. nilesat comming through at 89 to 91% hotbird the same.maybe 2300 channels,useing 2 normal size dishes. had to buy new LNB for one dish as signal was no good on nilesat.now wonderful,to many arab channels.but you do get good movies and they have 3 or 4 choices of lanuage.english included,im happy with the system. just i think im getting a bug...it might be called channel hopping,maybe im to nosey!!

fiendishpaul


Joined: 18/05/2008
Posts: 1720

Message Posted:
09/04/2009 15:16

Hi Zerochlor

I must admit I haven't bothered to surf through the arab channels to look for decent movies. Could you give me a steer as to which channels show them ?

Regards

Paul

mmmmmm



Joined: 19/12/2008
Posts: 8398

Message Posted:
09/04/2009 15:29

re msg 6



MBC 2 and MBC 4 and MBC action



http://www.lyngsat.com/nile.html



freq: 11938

polarity: V

symbol rate :27500

FEC:3/4

andre 514


Joined: 31/03/2008
Posts: 1163

Message Posted:
10/04/2009 00:32

hi treeman.



your dish is easily big enough



you say you tried twisting the lnb:

this compensates for scew of the satellite sight line, a slight effect only



also you get a signal but it is unreliable

we used to get drop-outs with hotbird in the uk

the answer was to realign the dish myself perfectly which fixed the problem



you apply the tiniest movement but a meter reading will change dramatically

it is a question of up and down and side to tweak up the sgnal;

there are two kinds of meter

the cheapest is about £12 connects to the lnb lead and then to your receiver,

the latter powers it up

more sophisticated is a self-powered one from maplins abiut £60



both of these are sensitive enough to set up scew and dish alignment,

but the posher one need not be connected to anything below



a poor receiver can make a minor difference, I found the palcom 380 useless

but phoenix are good

andre 514


Joined: 31/03/2008
Posts: 1163

Message Posted:
10/04/2009 00:37

ps treeman



paradoxically the bigger the dish the more critical the alignment must be:

with a big dish you are only talking about a degeee plus or minus



a small dish collects far less signal but is not so narrowly critical

fiendishpaul


Joined: 18/05/2008
Posts: 1720

Message Posted:
10/04/2009 08:59

Mmmmmm

Thanks - Already have those channels, thought I might be missing out on something else

Paul

zerochlor


Joined: 03/04/2009
Posts: 4024

Message Posted:
10/04/2009 09:28

Message 6 of 10 in Discussion



Hi paul.. MBC channels as some 1 has already pointed out...some good movies on the nova channels also...good old movie on right now...THE GREEK TYCOON!!!!!!!!

sylvie


Joined: 12/03/2008
Posts: 1081

Message Posted:
10/04/2009 10:02

are they pay channels ?

madouh


Joined: 10/04/2009
Posts: 8

Message Posted:
10/04/2009 20:05

message 9



critical alignment is valid for very big dishes (7meters).



On Nilsat the horizental transponders are weaker than the vertical ones.

I would change the Lnb .I guess yours is 0.7db and now

you get 0.2db ones.





best regards

keithcaley



Joined: 13/06/2008
Posts: 2521

Message Posted:
10/04/2009 20:41

treemancyprus still hasn't told us which channels are the problem, or if they ARE still a problem!

mmmmmm



Joined: 19/12/2008
Posts: 8398

Message Posted:
11/04/2009 03:08

re msg 12



Bonjour Sylvie



The MBC channels in question are clear to air - free. ! ;)

mmmmmm



Joined: 19/12/2008
Posts: 8398

Message Posted:
11/04/2009 03:17

re msg 9, Madouh



"critical alignment is valid for very big dishes (7meters). "





Sorry, I don't understand this remark. If the signal is weak and you have a 2.4m dish that has many adjustments- a GOOD meter capable of examining the Bit Error Rate - in addition to just the dB strength of a signal - can make a big difference in reception.



A good example in the construction of a 4.2m Jonsa





Installers using a simple meter could never get he best from such a dish. Hence I can't understand the reference to 7m.



There are signals we can receive in Cyprus on dishes smaller than 2m - that are low on the horizon, or close to other satellites where critical alignment applies.

mmmmmm



Joined: 19/12/2008
Posts: 8398

Message Posted:
11/04/2009 03:21

( cont)



re 16



dishes used for up linking can be less than 7m and alignment can be "critical", too !



Perhaps I has misunderstood your helpful contribution - if so please accept my apologies, and try to explain what distinction you make re 7m or bigger.



As you may know - a well made and aligned solid 2.4m dish will blow away a poorly built/ aligned 4.2m.

treemancyprus


Joined: 13/08/2008
Posts: 82

Message Posted:
11/04/2009 10:45

Re: msg 14 - my apologies, Kieth, for not coming back after your kind offer to check channels. Had first visitors over, so been doing the tour guide bit!!

I have 12 channels as favourites, here are the results:

Channel F/P/FEC Results



BBC World news ME 11766/H/27500 Usually ok, can take time to lock

Fox Movies ME 11766/H/27500 Locks out in evenings

Dubai One 11766/H/27500 Rarely locks on

DW TV Arabic 11900/V/27500 Never locks on

MBC 4 11938/V/27500 Rarely locks on *

MBC2 (UAE) 11938/V/27500 Usually ok *

MBC Action 11938/V/27500 Always locks on *

MTV Arabia 11977/V/27500 Usually locks on

Al Jazeera English 12015/V/27500 Never locks on

CNN Int. Europe 12073/H/27500 Always locks on

Gear One 12226/H/27500 Never locks on

treemancyprus


Joined: 13/08/2008
Posts: 82

Message Posted:
11/04/2009 10:52

continued -



The * channels - my receiver tells me it is looking at these channels on frequency 11939, not the 'published' (by Nilesat) frequency of 11938. This may be something my original sat. set-up man changed - he was so fast pressing buttons, zero explanation, etc. that I'm not sure. As I see it, there is no simple pattern to reception from the above results.

One final thought - when I setr my receiver to search for all available channels, it has never managed to find MBC Max (same frequency as other MBC channels) - any idea why?

keithcaley



Joined: 13/06/2008
Posts: 2521

Message Posted:
11/04/2009 12:46

treemancyprus,

All ch's you mention ok here sig/qu/ber generally 70/80/42 (albeit uncalibrated!)

many additional ch's available-fox series,mbc persia,city7,FATAFEAT +plenty more.

1 possibility not mentioned-downlead damaged/deteriorated, suggest take box + small tv outside, and try using a short lead to LNB to eliminate this - also has the advantage that you can see effect on sig/qu/ber of applying small pressure to top/sides of dish...(be aware of slow response,however)... makes it easier to align dish accurately

ANYTHING else that can degrade signal may be the cause- dish distortion/damage/mis-alignment, or LNB misalignment/deterioration (water ingress etc) - not all transponders/polarisations have equal ERP, so some may drop out 1st.

n.b. Dubai one is 11785V

Keith

rtddci


Joined: 29/12/2007
Posts: 842

Message Posted:
11/04/2009 13:01

I'm looking for a reasonable priced, legal FTA TV package for when I visit. Not happy with digiturk. Any advice would be welcome.

keithcaley



Joined: 13/06/2008
Posts: 2521

Message Posted:
11/04/2009 13:35

rtddci,

Tektan will supply and install a receiver and dish to receive Nilesat FTA programming for a one-off fee - the equipment is then yours.

From what 6m's has said, you should insist on a 1 meter dish to minimise drop-outs in rainy weather (not sure what they supply 'as standard', or what the price is - a 1 meter dish may cost you a few more Lira...).

Keith.

madouh


Joined: 10/04/2009
Posts: 8

Message Posted:
11/04/2009 15:27

Dear mmmmmm

I am sorry ,maybe I was supposed to write it in a careful way.

I have a 1.8m dish and the alignment never was a problem for me and

our mate treemancyprus has 1.43m dish. I remember I asked somebody who

has to do with big dishes and he meant it gets critical by very big dishes.

Sorry again.



For mates watching channels in English:

Kuwait2 11823v (Nilsat)



Best regards