enodreven Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 Hi, Just wondering does anyone know exactly how the actual dish functions, the reason I am asking is rather than taking a very large dish with you if you were visiting southern Spain could you modify your existing:- (1) Would it be possible to make a clip on arrangement to enlarge say a 60cm dish (2) If it is possible does that have to be made of metal ?? (3) Would the LNB arm need to be altered (4) Do they allready make a clip on attachment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsandywhite Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 B-) http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/images/skydish3.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 No you cannot really modify the dish easily. You can make it larger but the reflected signals would be at the wrong angle for entering the LNB. You would need to move the LNB further away from the dish making the curve of the existing dish wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGD Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 I think there may be a bigger issue for you if you want to receive UK TV signals here in Spain - The content of UK Sky and Free-to-air BBC stuff etc, is of course legally only licenced for broadcast to UK consumers. The width of the beam from their satellite which broadcast to the UK used to be quite broad, and so with a sub-1 metre dish you could still pick up the signal on the Spanish Costa Blanca region quite easily (although legally people ain't supposed to). About 3 (or 4?) years ago, they changed their technology - I'm no expert but I think it was to get a stronger, more focussed beam down to the UK. But the result was that the "footprint" of this broadcast beam is now much smaller. Here on the Costa Blanca it now means most people who live here and who simply cannot survive without their daily dose of UK TV are having to change to a whopping 2.2 metre dish to get good quality UK Sky reception, as we are right on the outer edge of the new footprint. I do hear rumours however, that on the southern part of the Costa del Sol, reception is better, because they are very close to the beam which broadcasts UK Sky down to Gibralter (they can do that because the UK Government argues that this is technically a piece of the UK). I should add that all of this is based on pub-talk and heresay rather than any personal technical knowledge, as we don't use satellite; either at home, or in the old-dog-van when rambling around Spain. When we do (rarely) watch TV at home it's Spanish TV. More technically qualified people who live/travel down this way may have more accurate information. Bottom line though - if you are coming down here, maybe try just to enjoy the scenery, the different local cultures, the bars and restaurants etc, rather than sitting inside your van watching UK televison......it's a wonderful country, even without "Corrie" etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankkia Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 As above no you cant just add a bit to your dish I am afraid. as you would never (without a heck of a lot of trial and error) get your LNB to line up correctly. The satcure pic shows why for what is called an offset dish. There are other types of dish which claim to give 80cm reception from a 60cm dish (the Arcon sweety for one) and they are quite good but at the end of the day (as they say) size really does matter! There are other "prime focus" dishes where the LNB is angled directly at the centre of the dish and for them it is possible to mount the LNB further away but getting the distance right is another problem. If too far away you would be picking up "noise" from whatever is behind the dish or if too close you would negate the benefit of the emlarged dish. The reason why they lost the BBC and ITV in southern Spain was the launch of Astra 2D which was added to the other sats at 28deg. This sat has more advanced transponders which can be more tightly focused on to the target audience area (the UK). Astra 2D is receivable as far south as Barcelona with a good quality 60cm dish but any further south you need a progressively bigger dish. It can be received in Tenerife but you need a dish about the size of a house. You can receive programming from the southern transponders but of course it depends on which channels you want to watch - If you only want to keep up with the news then you can get Sky News and radios 2 & 4 (Oh and lots of shopping channels (aaaaggghhrr). Sat dishes do not have to be made of metal - there are a number of good plastic and composit dishes about. however never make the mistake that you need a reflective surface.It will not help to paint the face of the dish with gloss paint or make a dish from shiny alloy. Why I hear some of you cry - because as it is always facing towards the south the sun will be reflected on to you LNB and will melt it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 Brian, you could if you wanted make your own colapsable dish, enthusiashs have been know to DIY, but its a whole load of hassle, there are 'flat dishes' that don't use a arm out front but collect signal from rear the only ones I have seen tested are fairly small but in theory you could couple several together, but once again load of hassle and very expensive. Bruce, the broadcast of programming across EU is a can of worms, there is some debate as to whearer it is legal to ristrict say the BBC to broadcasting any programing to within UK only, this is proboly why although BBC is availible outside of UK no program maker has tried to stop them. As for sky they can restrict who they sell to, but once again they possibly could sell to anyone in europe if they wanted to, but every one seems to be walking on eggs over this one, no one wants to upset the apple cart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 Bernie's post has just reminded me, don't bother with a clear plastic dish, as they are very shiney and refect sun making them as noticable as a solid dish and they are faily inefficient for there size Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enodreven Posted September 6, 2007 Author Share Posted September 6, 2007 Hi, Very Interesting and helpful information thanks everyone Can you buy the fan type dishes, that you sometimes see on the TV, the ones I'm talking about are built like a Ladies Fan but open to form a dish ? hope that makes sense. If they can be purchased ? any ideas of cost and who makes them ? Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Syd Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 enodreven - 2007-09-06 9:15 AM Hi, Very Interesting and helpful information thanks everyone Can you buy the fan type dishes, that you sometimes see on the TV, the ones I'm talking about are built like a Ladies Fan but open to form a dish ? hope that makes sense. If they can be purchased ? any ideas of cost and who makes them ? Brian £179 from Maplin gives you a folding 2.4 meter dish that "should" get you what you want. Note the "Should" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Syd Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 And have a look on here http://www.satelliteforcaravans.co.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enodreven Posted September 6, 2007 Author Share Posted September 6, 2007 Hi, Syd Do you have a link to the page on the Maplins web site, as I have tried a couple of searches on there without any success Thanks Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Syd Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 Think this is what you need http://www.satelliteforcaravans.co.uk/ http://www.maplin.co.uk/search.aspx?menuno=13039&MenuName=Satellite%20Dishes&FromMenu=y&worldid=-9&doy=18m8http:// Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enodreven Posted September 6, 2007 Author Share Posted September 6, 2007 UPDATE:- OK Syd thanks found the Maplins page, it ways 62kg now thats what I call a dish shouldn't have any problems with that its only 62kg do you reacon i could mount that on the roof, LoL As for the http://www.satelliteforcaravans.co.uk/ I carry a copy of that artical with me on my laptop its got to be the most helpful artical regarding saterllite system when touring that there is i did send an email sometime ago to the chap who wrote it thanking him But really I was thinking about something with a little less weight and that perhaps folds up, John above suggested on the motorhomefun.co.uk web site that the military may use the Fan type dishes does anyone know anymore about them Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsandywhite Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 Here :- http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=48743&doy=6m9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankkia Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 Put that on yer roof and you wouldn't need diesel on a windy day! :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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