B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish

[Kymmy]

The transponders are on the satellites, each sat has many transponders and each transponder might deal with more than one channel.

The LNB (Low Noise Block Convertor) is a device at the end of the dish that takes the signal from the sat (about 10-11Ghz), amplifies it and then converts it into a lower signal (.09-1.2Ghz) that is then transmitted down the co-ax to the receiver. The LNB also is able to switch between polarizations (for example Horizontal or Vertical depending on the voltage supplied to it)

So in simple terms this is the path a signal takes from for example Sky to your box

Sky Offices >> Groundstation >> Receive transponder on Sat >> Transmit Transponder on Sat >> Your Dish's LNB >> Coax >> Sat Receiver

[levi1989]

Originally Posted by Data123

What box do you have?

if its the HDR-6110USB these a Firmware update at www.ross.co.uk

if you have the HDR-8130USB it should work OK you need to scan

10847 V
23000
for BBC One HD & BBC HD

and

12607 V
27500
for channel 4 HD

Thankyou for the reply, so once I have scanned how do I go about saving these channels or will it auto do that for me?


I have clicked save but I still have no Channel 4 HD or bbc ONE hd (I have bbc hd but not #1 hd)

[AZIMUTH]

BRILLIANT Kymmy,many thanks for the transponder explanation.sorry for the delay,,,,ive been muckspreading

[northendsoul]

Hi all, bought one of these a few months back and have recently moved to south west scotland..a couple of weeks back we attempted to set this system up..we have the dish aligned to roughly the same angle as the other dishes on our road and also roughly to the readings taken from dishpointer.com.
however, despite my brother gradually moving the dish as i sit watching the screen..we cannot get the quality bar above zero..the signal strength reading is around the high 60s or low 70s.
we are novices at this game and dont know if we are missing something here or there is something faulty.. any ideas anyone ?

[Kymmy]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

You're missing one thing.. A sat finder.. without one it can be like trying to find a needle in a small haystack. They're only £5-6 off ebay

[northendsoul]

OK, thanks for that Kymmy

[Kymmy]

Don;t get me wrong you can do it without one but you have to go extremely slowly and remember that the signal meter spikes are delayed by a second or two. Best to start off in a position you know is definitely higher or lower and then move the dish very slowly from side to side (perhaps going a millimeter at a time) once you've done a sweep then drop/raise the dish a millimeter and do the horizontal sweep again.

It can take hours where with a sat finder it can take 10-20 minutes as you get an immediate visual and (depends on the meter) audible response to a signal.

[Data123]

Originally Posted by northendsoul

we have the dish aligned to roughly the same angle as the other dishes on our road and also roughly to the readings taken from dishpointer.com.
however, despite my brother gradually moving the dish as i sit watching the screen..we cannot get the quality bar above zero..the signal strength reading is around the high 60s or low 70.

Try doing a "Blind Scan" if you pick up any channel, have a look at http://en.kingofsat.net/ to find what satellite you are on, then move the dish left or right to find the one you are after.

Just bought one of these sets in B&Q. I'm a complete newbie to satelites and havent even tried to set it up yet. Most of the channnels i'm after seem to be on Astra 2 28.2E and Eurobird 28.5E but i was hoping to pick up one channel (VTV4) on Hotbird 13E. Will it be possible to pick up channels from these satelites at the same time with this dish?

[Kymmy]

You need one of three things (for 28.2 and 28.5 you only need one LNB)

1# A dual monoblock LNB (this is two LNB's side by side seperated by an angle of 15 degrees) you need two specify either the angle or the two sats you want to receive(28.2 & 13.0)

2# A LNB mount that you can fit two LNB's at the right angle (I made my own) switching between LNB's you need a disecq switch

3# A DiSEqC motor (which will turn the dish to point to whichever channel you choose.

I'll try to find a couple of examples of what I mean and post links on here

---------- Post added at 17:17 ---------- Previous post was at 17:10 ----------

Twin LNB mount (you will need to buy another LNB and DiSEqC switch and also make sure that it'll fit your dish)


An adjustable dual LNB (doesn't seem to be many 15degree dual LNB's about, if twin output you will have to buy a DiSEqC switch, if single output then the switch is built in)


DiSEqC motor

Cheers, i'll probably go for a motor, seems the most straigforward and adaptable option. Will something like this motor http://www.maplin.co.uk/satellite-dish-motor-47176 do the trick? I'll probably get someone to help me set it up, i've only ever messed around with cable boxes before and haven't got a clue about satellite dishes.

[Kymmy]

The maplins one doesn't state what size dish it can cope with.. If it's a 60 or 80cm dish then you should be fine.. I'd suggest popping to Mpalins and seeing if it says on the box..

But YES that is a DiSEqC motor and as you change channels it'll automatically move the dish to the correct sat once it's been fully set up and configured

Maplins online product Q&A is actually very good - put the question on the product page and you should get a useful answer.

someone already asked on maplins q&a...

Would this be strong enough to move a 1.2mt channel master dish?

A)
Yes the product does support that.

so i suppose it should do the trick

[Kymmy]

Yeah but if it says 1.2 meter dish I wouldn;t trust it past a 1.1 meter dish.. You know what I mean.. I got one for my 1.1 meter dish and bought a 1.3 motor