bolero boy Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 We are in the ile de re using a Camos flat sat which has been working well on the trip down. We have been here before and we know we can get a signal with a clear line of site. We are struggling as there are a lot of pines at that awkward height lol. However, my observations here on site appear to indicate that European vans with dishes seem to have no problem homing in on Astra 1 despite all manner of intervening foliage , sometimes with relatively small dishes. We are using our Sky+HD box from home and have even tried changing the default transpodner but no success. When trying to access the planner, says not. available in Diskless Mode......??? Any thoughts? Thanks, Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebishbus Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Hi . We were on the ILE DE RE at the end of July, at camping Bel Air, La flotte. We only have a 40 cm dish, it would not pick up Astra 2, but would Astra 1, but it did on the mainland, so we watched the Olympic opening ceremony in German. We moved on to the mainland to Port des Barques, Astra 2 worked again and all the way back through France. Brian B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Depending on where you are Astra1 can be much stronger signal than Astra2 but still not easy to recieve throu foilage, Astra1 will be about 3deg higher than Astra2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolero boy Posted September 12, 2012 Author Share Posted September 12, 2012 Thank you both for the replies. As we have a Sky box rather than free to air, its not easy (really tricky apparently) to make the box respond to any satellite other than Astra2. Even so, I can't get any bars at all for signal strength or quality even with the finder shreiking at me. Thanks again. Ps, Colin - what is your avatar a picture of? I. Just can't work it out. Rgds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebishbus Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 Hi again. If you have changed the transponder setting to the southern beam frequency, 12.207 vertical, and still have no signal I think it must be your location or faulty connection somewhere. The southern beam even covers Spain. Brian B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolero boy Posted September 12, 2012 Author Share Posted September 12, 2012 Hi Brian, yes I did try the South beam just as a thought but no success. The sat finder is wired permanently in-line to the sky box and is shrieking well so the box is powering. the finder and the finder is receiving some sort of signal but I suspect not that good due to the trees. We have a dual lnb system and I have al@o swapped the cables into the back of the box. I do suspect the lack of line of sight and all will be fine if in the open at our next stop in a few days. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snitrats Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 We too have a camos flatsat. On board I have a Sky Javlin box also an Aldi,free to air unit which I use to tune with before transferring the leads over to the Sky box, reason being the cheapo Aldi box tells you which satellite you are hitting,which is normally Astra ! as first go.Prior to Astra 2 shutting down, the camos would pick up 1&2 on the same setting ! (I believe the flatsat is less sensitive than normal dishes) however ,it could be me,but lately I have found Astra 2 to be harder to find. As to receiving through trees I think this is a definite no no for any dish,. I have been on many tree lined sites, and despite no signal to our van,others with small mobile dishes seem ok cause they can move around and shoot their signal under the trees, ours is 3 metres in the air to start off with! Now I always look on www. dishpointer.com and look where the satellite is so I can Pitch in a clear view pitch. :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolero boy Posted September 12, 2012 Author Share Posted September 12, 2012 Thanks Geoff. I may get a cheap free to air box sometime. Re: the trees, some of these dishes are on van roofs but still seem to be pointing up through dense foliage.of course, they might not be getting a picture! Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snitrats Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 bolero boy - 2012-09-12 3:30 PM Thanks Geoff. I may get a cheap free to air box sometime. Re: the trees, some of these dishes are on van roofs but still seem to be pointing up through dense foliage.of course, they might not be getting a picture! Thanks again. I was in aldi today and they still had some satellite camping kits for £49. This is where I got my box, it's 12v as well. still carry the kit for occasions when the roof dish is obstructed (dish,leads,sat finder,fitting clamp) + 3 year guarantee, can't go wrong :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 bolero boy - 2012-09-12 7:11 AM Thank you both for the replies. As we have a Sky box rather than free to air, its not easy (really tricky apparently) to make the box respond to any satellite other than Astra2. Even so, I can't get any bars at all for signal strength or quality even with the finder shreiking at me. Thanks again. Ps, Colin - what is your avatar a picture of? I. Just can't work it out. Rgds Yes the sky boxes are a PIA for any other sattellite My avator is a picture talen at ITN building grey's inn rd, of a Leodardo glider we hung that we had previously built for a C4 programme. http://www.skysportengineering.co.uk/corporate.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolero boy Posted September 16, 2012 Author Share Posted September 16, 2012 Thanks Colin, we are moving a bit further south tomorrow to Royan so will try again there and keep you posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolero boy Posted September 19, 2012 Author Share Posted September 19, 2012 Arrived just to West of Royan at St Palais Sur mer and the weather and satellite picture are perfect! Hope to be able to see the Tour Championship and Ryder Cup now. Thanks to all for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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