help needed installing satellite dish

C

creedgearoid

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got a fortec star ultra+ 5 days ago from maplin and hav been trying to set up since. I hav everything connected up ie- dish,lnb,cable, +receiver.
I know approx which way to point the dish, with correct angles etc.
i have a sat finder connected between my lnb and my receiver but am gettings zilch signal so not picking up any satellite. the astra satellite is 28.2 degrees, but im getting nothing there. dose anybody out there have any knowledge or experience with the fortec star? ie- do i hav to change any of the settings on the reciever or is it preset from the factory?
I know this is a shot in the dark but if anyone out ther has any info it would be greatly appreciated.
 
creedgearoid said:
I know approx which way to point the dish, with correct angles etc.
i have a sat finder connected between my lnb and my receiver but am gettings zilch signal so not picking up any satellite.
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First off - 'approx' does not work when trying to pick up a satellite signal. I am sure that you have the receiver switched on. This provides the power to the LNB and also the meter. Take a look around at where other folks have their sky dishes pointed (I am sure that you have done this already.) Now this is where patience is needed. Slight adjustments in one direction and I mean slight! 2mm to right down here means a huge distance in space where you are trying to find the satellite. Work right then back and left. Then adjust up and down and repeat the right and left movements. Patience and a little time will do the trick! Good luck.
 
If you do what I did you'll get a really strong signal and think you've got it. Then when you plug the receiver in you won't be able to get a lock on the satellite (this was a sky install I was doing). I spent the next 2.5hrs making the smallest adjustments and still not getting a lock on. I ended up getting frustrated and whacked the arm of the satellite dish. It moved about an inch out of place and I immediately got a lock.

Turns out there are two satellites in close proximity and I was getting a signal from the non-sky one. Expletives were plentiful!
 
Wellcome to the world of space for the common man (or woman). Don't worry putting up the dish isn't rocket science!!.

First off I would connect the decoder to a friends existing setup and tune it in, i.e. search for the channels and store them etc. You may have to enter the BBC transponder codes manaully for that particular decoder box.

I find it better to tune the decoder to a station like sky news (any will do) and use this rather than the sat finder to pick up a signal.
The decoder normally has an audible tuning indicator in the Menu under set up / instalation.

You must be spot on, nearly there just doesn't do it.
Set it up so that when you are adjusting the dish you can hear the TV that way you know when you find it.
Astra 2d is 152 deg magnetic, look at your neighbours.
It is easier to tune in the other Astra sat, Astra 1?, it seems to have a wide beam, maybe start by finding this as it will validate your set up and show your LNB and cable are OK. Astra 1 is to teh right a few degrees of Astra 2.

Be careful and patient on the ladder, sat finding does take time, best of luck with it.
 
If your sat finder works the same as mine then you should have a low continuous beep when you plug in the earphones, the pitch of the beep will increase when you start to pick up a sat. I ditched the single earphone I got with the sat finder and used a decent sterio set instead, however I still found it quite difficult to hear the beep because of background traffic noise.
 
Froggie said:
If your sat finder works the same as mine then you should have a low continuous beep when you plug in the earphones, the pitch of the beep will increase when you start to pick up a sat. I ditched the single earphone I got with the sat finder and used a decent sterio set instead, however I still found it quite difficult to hear the beep because of background traffic noise.
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A few things...
1. Make sure that when you set up, you have a valid station selected on the receiver ie. there may be some on the channel list that are no longer transmitting (even ones that you are familiar with..may have moved to a different transponder, etc.).
2. double check all your connections.
3. How much faith have you in that maplins satfinder? I know about six months ago, I was absolutely desperate to get my hands on a satfinder - maplins were the only way of getting one fast. All they had was those rubbish satfinders with the ear piece - I decided to hold off and ordered up online and waited. Make sure that finder can deal with digital signals as I think they were still selling some that could only tune in analog!
4. Visually double check the general direction the dish should be pointing in with neighbours dishes. With satellite, its all or nothing. If your a milimeter out, no signal. Adjust the sat finder as per instructions (if its like the others, you adjust it till theres the lowest audible tone). Then move very very slowly and methodically. You should notice the beep tone intensify if your getting close to a signal. Bear in mind (depending on the receiver), it may take a second for the receiver to adjust to the signal as its recieved - as you move the dish.

Good luck!
 
thanks for all the replies, im going to hav another crack at it on xmas day so will let ye know how i get on
 
got the astra sat lined up and picked up some channels but not the one's i wanted ie bbc's itv's etc. they are supposed to be on the astra2d which my receiver is telling me i have a good signal on this sat but whatever adjustments i make with the dish im still just getting the same mostly crap german channels
tink at this stage its something to do with adjusting the settings on the receiver but hav"nt a clu re frenquencies, disqc?? etc. no info on the fortec star web site so think im going to take it back to maplin and try and get money back if no body out there can HELP!
 
patspost said:
Astra 2d is 152 deg magnetic, look at your neighbours.
It is easier to tune in the other Astra sat, Astra 1?, it seems to have a wide beam, maybe start by finding this as it will validate your set up and show your LNB and cable are OK. Astra 1 is to teh right a few degrees of Astra 2.

Be careful and patient on the ladder, sat finding does take time, best of luck with it.
Click to expand...
Looks like you hit on Astra 1. Well done now at least you know everything is working okay so as patspost says go left sloooowwwwwllllly.
 
creedgearoid said:
no info on the fortec star web site so think im going to take it back to maplin and try and get money back if no body out there can HELP!
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Your not likely to get info from the actual dish manufacturer. There are plenty of satellite forums out there who have the knowledge - or try boards.ie -> satellite board.

I agree with Hansov. Its very likely your picking up Astra 1 (19*E) and not Astra 2 (28*E). Sometimes, even if you run the receiver setup to search for one satellite, it will alledgely pickup some of the channels but you are actually on another satellite.

Can you list a couple of the channels your receiving?
 
Sounds like you are picking up Astra19 as previous posters suggest- see Lyngsat for what channels are beamed from what satellite http://www.lyngsat.com/eb1.html-
I've setup the Maplin & Lidl FTA satellites in the past its much simpler with 2 people one at the dish the other at the TV - Found this the best approach -
  • select BBC1 London from the channel list
  • select info to get on screen Signal strength reading, make note of this as it increases / decreases.
I found that the Lidl channel listing system using their RC was much simpler work with, the Maplin one is more cumbersome.
 
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