B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish

[Kymmy]

Roughly pointing the dish will not work, it needs to be exact down to the millimeter.. that's where a sat meter comes in handy

[Scorpio53]

The that bothers me is that the manual says there should be a signal quality & signal strength meter in the setup menus but I can't see them does that mean my box is not working properly?

Also there is an update function in the menus but how do I get the update files to the box it only has a RS232 port NO USB or Ehernet ports?

[tony_ray]

Originally Posted by Chris

If Sky installed your +HD service, I would not assume they installed a quad-LNB to feed it, because only a dual-LNB is required in order to make a single Sky+HD box work.

Get a close look at the dish - borrow binos if you have to. If it is a quad-LNB you should be able to see two unused terminals on it. If there are no unused terminals, you will need to buy a replacement. They're not difficult to install though; I replaced our mono with a quad a few weeks ago.

While I recognise that many people in this thread are perfectly happy with their Ross/B&Q box, I would never have one because it doesn't have an EPG. To me, a decent, 7-day EPG is by far the best thing about digital TV. For that, you need either a Sky or branded Freesat box.

I have now checked my LNB and there are 2 spare terminals. I now intend to buy some cable to run to my kitchen TV. The Sky cable at present is marked CB63R Digital Sat CBL UK BSkyB twin 63-001A I have looked on line for extra cable as I need about 18 metres but am getting confused by jargon. What on earth is "Shotgun" cable? Non of the jargon busting websites mention it! Is it really just a matter of running the extra cable and connecting into a freesat box? I have been on a couple of advice websites where there is talk of amplifiers, splitters and all sorts of other stuff. Although I am pretty technical (I was a marine engineer in the Royal Navy) some of the jargon does confuse!

[Kymmy]

RG6 or pf-100 will do.. You should be able to get 20m lengths on ebay complete with the F plugs

(and that comes from an ex-RAF Weapons Tech (nearly got articifer in the RN but the RAF came through with an offer first)

Further to Biggles' comment above, as you're going to be running cable from outdoors to indoors, whatever you buy, if it comes bundled with f-plugs, make sure they're not moulded in place already. You need screw-on f-plugs that you will fit yourself once your cable is run and cut to length.

[tony_ray]

Originally Posted by Kymmy

RG6 or pf-100 will do.. You should be able to get 20m lengths on ebay complete with the F plugs

(and that comes from an ex-RAF Weapons Tech (nearly got articifer in the RN but the RAF came through with an offer first)

Thanks Kymmy, but you haven't really answered all my question (don't forget you are dealing with a thick ex-matelot here - not a bright and intelligent crab!). What is "shotgun" cable? Is running extra cable and connecting into the back of a freesat box all I have to do?

---------- Post added at 15:05 ---------- Previous post was at 15:02 ----------

Originally Posted by Chris

Further to Biggles' comment above, as you're going to be running cable from outdoors to indoors, whatever you buy, if it comes bundled with f-plugs, make sure they're not moulded in place already. You need screw-on f-plugs that you will fit yourself once your cable is run and cut to length.

Thanks Chris. Also see my latest reply to Kymmy's offering (typical RAF - never give you the whole story!!)

Don't worry about what 'shotgun' means. I've managed to do precisely the job you're now planning, without knowing.

Get yourself a drum of cable like this (that one comes with a couple of f-connectors as well, which you will need), run your cable, tack it in place, trim to length and fit f-plugs on either end. Then screw one f-plug into a spare terminal on your LNB, and screw the other one onto the 'LNB IN' terminal on the back of your Freesat box. Job done.

[Kymmy]

Shotgun cable I presume is twin cable joined by the outer coating (hence it's like a double barrled shotgun)

If you're being rude though about the RAF I might as well take my advice elsewhere

We could be rude about the navy instead if you like?

[Kymmy]

Not really, I have total respect for all of the armed forces..

[Scorpio53]

Does anyone know how to update the firm ware in the B&Q Ross satellite kits.
The box I have only has a scart socket and RS232 9 pin socket and the socket for the aerial cable.
I've tried putting my sky dish cable into the Ross box and it found some channels OK so I'm confident the receiver box works. I've now connected the Ross dish LNB to the Sky receiver box as it has an on screen signal strength & quality meter.
I get about 50% signal strength which is the connection between the LNB and the box I think.
I can't get anything on the signal quality meter no matter what I do, I'm almost at the point of chucking the lot in the bin.
I contacted a company that aligns and installs systems but they charge £65 plus any cablingetc that might be required. For a £40 dish system it seems a waste of money to pay the extra £65 when there is no guarantee it will work. The installers could say anything was wrong with the system and try to charge me extra';0(

[Kymmy]

OK, simple answers, if it works fine on the Sky dish then the box is OK.. How are you trying to line up the ross dish (just that it's hard enough to do it with a sat meter and just damn near impossible without one) mainly as half a degree out either way (up/down/left/right) can be the differnce between a picture and no picture.

The RS232 will be the way to update (which model is it??) you might have to get the update program & bin file from Ross but that shouldn't stop it at least being tuneable..

From the sound of it you have a fully working box just a misaligned dish. The way I would though install it if you don't have a meter is to attach it to the sky dish, fully tune it in and save the channels, check on the meter which channel has the strongest signal and leave it on that channel. Then using a grid pattern search put the dish pointing just below where you think it should be (mark the position then slowly move the dish left to right (about 20-30 degrees) pointing roughly in the right direction, no channels so move up the dish by a fraction then go left/right again.. keep doing that untill you get the channel you need.

Not exactly ideal and you need to either have a TV viewable from the dish or a walkie talkie contact with someone viewing the dish (shouting loudly can work as well )

[Scorpio53]

Hi Kymmy

Thanks for the reply I appreciate it, I borrowed a Labgear 27866R-UHF/DVBT Signal Meter from my brother, it has connectors for Antenna I/P and a Receiver O/P with a Red power LED & 4 Green LED's for 50, 60, 70 & 80 dB micro v. I'm not if it's the right type to use for a satellite signal as when I connect the sky dish to the Antenna I/P and switch it on ( it has a 9V battery supply) all that happens is the Red power LED lights up. Someone at work told me he thought the set top box needed to be connected to it as well to power up the LNB, so I tried that as well but still no Green LED's for signal strength which is strange as the Sky feed receives channels.

So I've been working blind really, I got the dish settings from satellite finder.com as a starting point and set the dish elevation to 25.5degrees and Azimuth to 144 degrees which looks the same kind of position as the Sky dish. I have then been using the SKY Services & Signal Test settings to try and get a reading. Only thing is the Sky box keeps saying it is not receiving a signal and drops out of the signal test mode.

My Ross box is a DVB-S4100 and also has R10W13-0914 on it, I'll give your way a go tomorrow if the rain has stopped. At the moment to set dish up I have taken a portable TV & set top box into garden on a table so I have just dropped the cable from the dish down and connected it into set top box. Once dish is properly aligned I intend to cable clip it down the wall and through into the house ';0)

[Kymmy]

Quick reply as I'm busy working.

The DVBT meter isn't correct for sat usage and will NOT give you any usable readings.

If you have access to a sky dish (they point to exactly the same group of sats as freesat uses) very close then you can get the rough settings then try my sweep/raise/sweep/raise/..et.. method as it'll be the ONLY way of doing it without a meter (in fact even with a meter it might be necessary)

[Scorpio53]

Hi Kymmy

Thanks for the reply I might go up B&Q tomorrow and buy there satellite meter I'll let you know how I get on.