B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish - Page 32

**Chris** · 20-11-2011, 17:27

Except that most people don't want to learn how their TV reception works. They just want it to work. That's why free-to-air satellite was a minority hobby until the Freesat brand was created.

AZIMUTH · 22-11-2011, 18:25

:quite right kymmy,,,,it was only that the ross complete package ie,,dish etc was so cheap that i bought it,,i had nothing to lose at£25.with a bit of info from you i got good reception,.when my freeview is playing up i just swop over to my satellite,,,,got a good pic.thanks to cheapo ross im now in semi hobby satellite mode.i now have a bit of an idae what to buy when my ross box packs in.it just proves that most things have potential if one wants to find it.

Bob Hendricks · 06-12-2011, 14:28

I don't actually particularly want the Freesat channels. What I'm after is French TV as cheaply as possible.

In that respect is the Ross HD box worth getting?

Kymmy · 06-12-2011, 14:32

19.2E seems to be where most of the french station are... No idea though which are encrypted and which are free.. You'll have to check on lyngsat.com for that

**Chris** · 06-12-2011, 14:39

I think he was more interested in an evaluation of the Ross as a basic FTA box for picking up channels outside of the UK market for which it was intended.

Kymmy · 06-12-2011, 15:27

Which the Ross will do perfectly well..

Just went a bit further and told him the best place to point it

Most EU sats use MPEG2 for SD and MPEG4 for HD which the Ross boxes do perfectly well. It's only when you get outside of Europe that people have issues with C-band..etc..

Bob Hendricks · 06-12-2011, 17:36

Thanks for that. I will have to keep it in mind then and will look to see how much I can get it for on its own from my local B&Q.

Although I'm actually thinking the Openbox S10 maybe serves me better as I prefer the look of it and it has a CI slot.

As a complete satellite novice I find that lyngsat.com site a bit difficult to interpret, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of explanation attached to the tables and I can't work out which are encrypted and which aren't etc.

Kymmy · 06-12-2011, 18:15

Concerning lyngsat it's very simple as all FTA programs have

next to them under the SYSTEM ENCRYPTION table

levi1989 · 20-12-2011, 18:24

Deleted Post. Problem solved, for now

lufc12345 · 21-12-2011, 09:16

I have been trying to set up the Ross HD satellite kit without much success. I have used a signal tool and compass (also an iPhone app) but i just get a load of German, French & Italian channels. The receiver shows the UK channels with 99% signal strength & 72% quality but nothing appears on the screen. Can anyone help? I plan to go back this morning with my Humax receiver just to see whether it is the box or the alignment.

**Chris** · 21-12-2011, 09:32

If you're only getting foreign channels, you're pointing the dish at the wrong satellites.

The sat finder can't tell you which ones you've found, it can only show you that you have a good signal from the ones you've found.

And when you use a compass, remember that magnetic north deviates from true north by an amount that varies from year to year. What compass bearing are you using to aim the dish?

lufc12345 · 21-12-2011, 09:46

Hi Chris,

I am pointing it, or at least I think I am at 28.2. My confusion is that it finds the UK channels and with good strength & quality (stronger than some of the Euro ones) yet there is no picture. So it sounds like trying to figure out which way to go!

Kymmy · 21-12-2011, 09:53

You're probably pointing a few degrees to the right from the sat you want...

Plug in the sat meter and gently turn the dish to the left and listen/watch for a signal on the meter... the more you go left then you may have to drop the dish by a millimeter or two.. The difference between freesat/sky and others like Astra1/hotbird is only about 10-15 degrees so isn't a great deal of movement on the dish.

markcricket · 31-12-2011, 19:16

hi new member father in law has just installed a ross sat system signal strengh bar very good but quality is reading 0 we have used a sat finder to find the satellite please could some one point us in the right directions to fix this problerm.

**Chris** · 31-12-2011, 19:32

Signal strength measures the connection between the LNB and the set-top box. Signal quality measures the signal being received from the satellite at the LNB. If the signal quality is zero, then you have not got the dish aligned correctly with the satellite.

I don't know the Ross box personally but IIRC its firmware is such that it won't recognise satellites other than the ones designed for UK broadcast, in which case you could have the dish pointed at the wrong satellites and get a good reading from a sat finder but then get nothing on the Ross box. Someone else will be able to confirm or refute that anyway.

Remember, however, that a satellite finder cannot tell you which satellites you're pointing at, it can only tell you how well you're locked on to the ones you have found.

And also bear in mind that it is far from unheard of for Ross boxes to be duff and need replacing back at B&Q or wherever you got it from before you actually bring home one that works!