I use a Thompson dish, it,s got a large LNB attached, and has a pole fitting and also a Sug foot (large lever sucker), we use the Sug foot on the roof of the van (or anywhere that suits), I fitted a plug on the roof for the TV and sky, just screw it in, I have a sat finder, but also a good compass, to get basic directions, or see what way other dishes are pointed. Also I seen a couple of bloggs were people are getting good signals but no picture,when tuning the station in go to services then signal test and the astra dish will have the id code 07d4, because their is other satellites out there, your site finder will be going daft but your system cannot decode them,plus it will show your signal strength also if you go down the line of attaching the dish to a pole most hire shops sell the tripods for attaching working lights to,retails for about £15.00.
There are many confusing options available, and it depends greatly on where you are travelling to.
If you are staying in the UK, then the MAXVIEW 54cm dish, tripod, Satfinder and compass with its own carrycase, and an MXL020 freesat box (The model is important...there are cheaper kits with a different satbox).
£225.00 the lot.
For going accross the water to the continent, then an Arcon sweety kit is good value at 199.00 plus 100 quid ish to get the freesat receiver you want.
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Quote: Originally posted by dave8858 on 10/5/2009
Brian4 please tell me which satellite finder you use. Is it a digital one which reads out the satellite ID or one of the onces that automatically calculates where to aim the dish for a given satellite if you tell it the co-ordinates of your location? There are a lot of satellites up there and I have trouble picking out Astra 28.2. Got a 0.6m dish because I envisage using it in France and generally dishes for use in the UK are only good when there are clear skies when used in europe.
Hi dave the staellite finder is one that just gives an indication with a meter and noise when you are aligned with a satellite. The forum 'caravansatellite' is very good as there are a few satellites to aim at. Ours came from Maplins. Hope this helps
My Thompson dish has an unusual LNB as it is in the centre of the dish, is circular and seems to be very efficient at picking up signals, I have used it as far down in France as Cannes and as far west as Pornic, it has worked though cloud cover and on sites were I been told you will not get a reception,(by people with with very large automatic sat finding dishes), and as I have said before a compass and a basic sat finder brings on the satellite every time, plus using the signal strength indicator on Sky to tell me I am on 07d4 sat.
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Topic: satellite tv for van
