B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish - Page 11

Shepsterboy · 15-09-2010, 20:07

thanks for the replies. Still no joy I am afraid. I have used dish pointer and compass and know that I am there or there abouts. But my sat finder does not flicker or change pitch; when piped up to the receiver, I get signal strength of 54% ish but no quality - but this is the same for every satellite. This canno be right can it? I would of thought that if I am pointing at east, all west sats would have no strength. SO have I got a faulty system or is it the case that no matter where I point it, on all channels there will be 50% ish strength.

I have managed to get occasional flickers on the receiver to 90+% signal and quality but it lasts for less that a few seconds, and often I have not moved the dish. I am aware that the margins are small but I am struggling to believe that the signal can be so fickle.

Is it worth me perservering or giving up and paying someone who knows what they are doing. My father in law visit draws closer!

Jasperodus · 16-09-2010, 01:13

Hi there,

Don't have any technical knowledge but here goes:

As I understand it, the signal strength is a measure of the link established between the LNB and the receiver. Hence your signal strength regardless of positioning. Obviously the technically aware here will correct me if needed.

The quality reading (adequate LNB/receiver link assumed), is the 'real' satellite signal strength/quality indicator. I would have thought though that your signal strength reading is low? Maybe it is within limits - perhaps others could pitch in with their technical knowledge.

Are you happy with the condition of the cable and it's connections?

No, the signal is not so fickle. Your second paragraph might suggest something dodgy from LNB to receiver.

Bit strange that you get no reults from the finder. Are you happy with the connections and mode of operation of the sat finder?

As experiments, what about hooking up the receiver or sat finder to the existing dish, and see what results you might get?

Really, the need for pin-point accuracy (Initially, at least) is not such a big deal. As long as you are confident that you have the correct starting alingnment data and have managed to apply those settings pretty closely, (bearing in mind line-of-sight and need for fixed part of dish bracket to be upright so as not to impact dish elevation), then you should get something without a substantial amount of time or fuss. When you do get a lock on whatever, it can be handy to mark that position against the mount for reference.

Hope you get sorted.

Shepsterboy · 18-09-2010, 22:11

Thanks again for the help. managed to get hotbird - signal strength is 60%. SO enough to have quite a few channel but only got Rai 1 and 3, no 2 or 4. Is it worth trying to get more than 60% or calling it a day and going with what I have. My worry is that I will interfere and no get it back to 60%

Kymmy · 18-09-2010, 22:17

Where abouts are you? I only ask as the further north you go the weaker the signal will be..

If you got hotbird with RAI it's probably the sat at 13e, you need to go a few strong signals to the right of them and very, very slightly up.. Once you get the astra2 sats then you need to use minute movements to get the strongest possible signal (including rotating the LNB)

It takes a lot of time/patience and probably best if you can see a TV whilst you move the dish (not the first time I've moved a TV outside whilst I do the fine tuning

DOUGIECRO · 20-09-2010, 16:30

Hi im new to this forum, i purchased the ross satalite system from b&Q, it says should take a couple of hours to assemble & set up. 3 weekends ive been trying without a signal in site, this is with a satalite finder & compass making all the right noises & signs. my caravan is on the east coast scarboro should this make any differance, its doing my head in.

Kymmy · 20-09-2010, 16:44

Location should be fine.. You just gotta remember that it's not as easy as just pointing towards a strong signal in roughtly the right direction like a TV antenna.. Best thing to do is to find a strong signal and then tune in the tuner to see which sat group you're on (compare the channel listings with www.lyngsat.com ) If it's you're below 28E then you need to move the dish left and if it's above then too the right..

One thing to check is that the pole you mount the dish on is perfectly upright, just grab a small spirit level and check at multiple positions

Shepsterboy · 21-09-2010, 23:04

Kymmy, I am in Northampton. I will try you advice to see if I can get a stronger signal.

Dougie - I feel your pain. Had similar problems. In end I just found any satellite and once I had something worked from there . Good luck with it

tony_ray · 06-10-2010, 17:05

Hi, Just registered. Don't know whether this is the right thread for this query but here goes anyway.
SITUATION:
I have SKY + HD in my lounge supplied from a SKY dish. In my kitchen I have an old CRT TV which until recently was supplied with a signal from a separate dish utilising a standard SKY box with a viewing card that I paid a one-off fee for (SKY Freesat?). I have now lost that signal for reasons unknown (maybe dish has become misaligned or SKY box has gone duff!). Kitchen TV is now operating on a "DIGILOGIC" digital box using an Portable indoor arial. I am getting reasonably good FREEVIEW.
QUERY:
I am thinking of upgrading my main TV in the lounge and moving the existing LCD HD ready one into the kitchen to replace the CRT. Can I utilise the existing SKY dish supplying the lounge TV to also supply signals to the kitchen TV assuming that I am also going to buy a FREESAT+HD box for the kitchen. Is it likely that the SKY dish LNB is a quad as it is already supplying 2 signals to my SKY+HD box in the lounge? Are there any difficulties that I might encounter? Would the B&Q Ross FREESAT+HD receiver be any good or should I purchase a more quality one as suggested in previous replies.
I would be grateful for any guidance. Cheers

Kymmy · 06-10-2010, 17:12

If you just want freesat then go for a proper freesat box (it'll run perfectly fine off the quad LNB without having to do anything else apart from the new cable..)

You could get a sky multiroom package (but a box off ebay or get another from sky..

The ross system will give a good picture if you want to go that route and will probably be cheaper than a freesat box, the downside would be the lack of 7 day EPG..

**Chris** · 06-10-2010, 17:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by tony_ray

QUERY:
I am thinking of upgrading my main TV in the lounge and moving the existing LCD HD ready one into the kitchen to replace the CRT. Can I utilise the existing SKY dish supplying the lounge TV to also supply signals to the kitchen TV assuming that I am also going to buy a FREESAT+HD box for the kitchen. Is it likely that the SKY dish LNB is a quad as it is already supplying 2 signals to my SKY+HD box in the lounge? Are there any difficulties that I might encounter? Would the B&Q Ross FREESAT+HD receiver be any good or should I purchase a more quality one as suggested in previous replies.
I would be grateful for any guidance. Cheers

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.

tony_ray · 06-10-2010, 18:00

Kymmy, Chris. Thank you both for the replies. Will check current LNB at first opportunity. Your advice on 7 day EPG much appreciated. Will go down that route. Didn't want to pay extra subscription for multi room from SKy as would also have to pay for extra SKY HD package for 2nd TV as well and wouldn't probably use it. Infact I'm considering cancelling my SKY HD subscription for the main TV anyway but I am uncertain whether I would still be able to receive the free HD channels or still receive SKY's HD style EPG. Can either of you help answer that query please?

**Chris** · 06-10-2010, 19:03

The EPG will still work, but it gets very annoying having to surf through all the channels in it that you can't watch.

BBC-HD and ITV1-HD are broadcast in the clear and should still work. As for the rest - almost certainly not.

Kymmy · 06-10-2010, 19:48

Also with cheaper recievers (which tend to have less memory) the EPG tends to be only a day or two..

Terryc123 · 09-10-2010, 18:32

We have a Ross Freesat Box from B & Q and are trying to get an external 1TB HDD to record to. The box can see the drive but reports it as full (format is FAT32). The box does not format it when told to. Has anyone else managed to get an external drive working that can send us some tips on how to get this to work or are we wasting our time attempting this??

TIA

Terry

Scorpio53 · 09-10-2010, 22:18

I've installed the dish but can't receive any channels, the dish is pointing in the same direction as my Sky dish.
The manual says to make sure the signal strength and signal quality are above 50% but I don't see the meters in the system setup menu.

I connected the box to my sky dish and it found all the channels OK so the box is working I'm wondering if the LN is duff but don't now how to test it.