Info and advice on which to get / which are easier to set up? We would want to use it in south of France and Germany we know we need a minimum 60cm dish, Are the foldable one's ok?
We go to the South East of France and take an 80cm Dish, fact is the biggest problem is tree shade at the campsite, a decent size Dish can some times still pull in enough signal when tree are in abundance, but not always.
Vin Blanc on here has some good tips on finding Astra2 when away from the UK, my tip would be find out what the Elevation offset is for your Dish. I workout the offset angle of my Dish by placing an angle finder on the protruding part of the LNB arm part of the Dish, but to be fair any Datum point on the Dish will do.
Remember to find the offset value of your Dish you first need to be on the satellite, so this procedure is best done at home, before you go on your travels, once you have the offset value, that will be good for wherever you go in Europe.
This is simple to work out, first make sure your camping Dish is on the satellite, then take a reading using an inclinometer, I use a Digital angle finder, but it's much the same thing just with batteries and a LCD display.
So as an example, when I point my Dish at Astra2 here in Manchester, my angle finder tells me that the Dish is pointing at an Elevation of 17.2 Degree, fact is Astra2 is at 22.7 Degree of Elevation from my location.
So when looking for Astra2 I have to deduct 5.5 Degree from the Elevation given for the location that I am at.
But every satellite Dish has a different offset elevation value, so you just need to verify what that figure is for your dish.
Finding Astra2 using Elevation data, makes life a whole lot easier, you just need to make sure that the pole/tripod that your Dish is attached to is in perfect plumb.
I carry all the Elevation angles for Astra2 for each Department of France of which there are many.
Of course there are plenty of Smart Phone apps that will provide the same info, they work out the Elevation angle from your GPS location on the phone, very handy but not needed.
Here is an example, in Manchester the angle of Elevation to Astra2 is 22.7 Degree, but in the South of France say Antibes on the Cote d Azur the Elevation is 35.2 Degree, so with your offset info to hand in my case -5.5 Degree so I set my Dish to 29.2 Degree.
Once my Dish is set to the satellite Elevation angle of 35.2 Degree, it is then just a simple case of rotating the Dish slowly from East to west, and that's how it's done.
Of course it's good to have a satellite meter, so that you can stop on a strong signal and check if it's Astra2 or not. In fact some satellite receivers have an in built satellite meter function.
We use an 80cm dish and have visited Italy, Germany, Austria, France and managed to get most UK programmes. However if you go too far east and south even an 80cm dish won't be big enough. Have a look at www.satelliteforcaravans.co.uk lots of info there.
We have the Rockdale 60cm folding satellite dish, which I find really easy to set up and it works great in the UK and on the Vendee in France this year. Can`t say whether it would work the further South you go in France though.
However, it may not work next year on the Vendee when the replacement Astra 2F satellite is launched later this year as the footprint will be tighter. Francais would be able to explain the issues with Astra 2f far better than I can.
I use DishPointer to get the setting for elevation, azimuth and LNB skew before we set off to any site. Just enter the postcode of where you will be setting up and select the satellite you after and it will give you the settings.
You can still the get the Rockdale folding dish for £39.99 plus £5 p&p. You also get a single LNB and 10m of cable in the price.
Griff
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Hi Vin Blanc.
That's a very good article that you have produced in the link, so many people give up on using a satellite dish, as they don't take time to read up on the principles.
I recently modified a Lidl cycle work stand, to use as a satellite dish stand, the stand allows for full 360Deg rotation of the satellite Dish, whilst the head of the Dish remains firmly fixed, the only adjustment to the Dish mount is the Elevation setting. The Lidl stand is a big improvement on my previous satellite tripod stand, as the Dish can now go to 1.8m height, handy if line of sight is obscured by nearby trees or structures.
On doing a recent test, I noticed that there is a Satellite at 26 East, (Arabsat 3A) that is putting out as much signal as Astra2 at 28 East, no wonder some folk have problems finding the correct satellite.
Alternatively you could get an Oyster Caro system (or similar) fitted to your van, then all you need to do is press a button and it finds the satellite for you, then switch on your TV and watch, mine works brilliantly, I could never get to grips with setting up a dish on a tripod
Quote: Originally posted by Francais on 30/8/2012
Well spending £1,500 on something that can do what a £100 product can do is a bit of a no brainier imho.
Quote: Originally posted by markh1 on 30/8/2012
Alternatively you could get an Oyster Caro system (or similar) fitted to your van, then all you need to do is press a button and it finds the satellite for you, then switch on your TV and watch, mine works brilliantly, I could never get to grips with setting up a dish on a tripod
The biggest problem with this idea is you have to get the Caravan in the right position to see the Satelite. A friend of mine in France has never been able to get a picture on his pitch because of the trees. This year he bought a small dish from Bricolage used his washing line as a tripod and got a perfect picture.
Yep, you often need to move the Dish around your pitch to get good line of sight, which is no help if the Dish is fixed on top of your caravan or motor home.
The most crucial part of aligning your Dish is the Elevation setting, get that right and finding the satellite becomes a breeze.
I have ordered a igaging angle cube, a simple Digital angle finder, that will tell me when the Dish is at the exact angle of elevation to find the Astra2 satellite, or any other satellite for that matter.
The great thing about the angle cube is that it is only 2inches sqare so will fit onto the reference point of my Dish with ease.
Then it's just a case of rotating the Dish from East to West, to find the satellite. Using an angle finder takes the hit and miss element out of finding your satellite.
In fact you could almost dispense with using a meter, although they are handy for telling you that you have located a satellite, even if it's not the one you are looking for!.
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Topic: Satellite Dishes
