Why dont retailers allow a personalchoice of minidish for satellite tv installations?

AnthonyUK

The fact is that satellite tv signalstrengths vary greatly across the H and V transponders of the Astra 2 and Eurobird1 satellites at 28.2/28.5deg E.

Eurobird 1 channels are slightly weaker in eirp output than Astra 2 because eurobird1's satellite fixed western europe and steerable europewide footprints cover large areas of Europe and slightly more focussed to Europe than they are to the UK mainland.

A zone 2 44cm minidish in northern england would give a slightly bigger received dBW gain and guarantees good reception in all weathers over a piddling 35cm zone 1 minidish that copes in fine weather and lighter rain/snow but is kicked in the teeth by heavy rain/hail and snow.

SES Astra actually recommend a 50cm dish for reception of their satellites in the UK at 28.2degE but this is poopooed by Sky/Freesat installers to save money and bang a dish up as quick as they can for as little as they can ignoring the facts about satellite tv reception and relativity to dish size/signal strength.

I think satellite installers and the retail trade should allow consumers to pick the dish size they require when ordering a freesat/sky system for installation in their home. Also many non-Sky/non-Freesat generic free to air sat systems provide a 60cm dish which gives an even higher received dBW gain than any minidish-the manufacturers have planned for this AND got it RIGHT.

spannerzone

Sadly it's all down to cost and keeping things simple for the suppliers.

If you wanted a choice then I'm sure a decent satellite equipment installer can offer choices and discrete installs but you'll pay for it. There are plenty of suppliers out there offering all sorts of dishes including flat plate and tube types.

Sky give the equipment for free (well sort of) and pay the installers peanuts so it's cheap and cheerful.

So if you're prepared to pay a decent rate then you can get what you want but it won't be £99 all in, that's for sure.

yangptangkipperbang

AnthonyUK wrote: »

I think satellite installers and the retail trade should allow consumers to pick the dish size they require when ordering a freesat/sky system for installation in their home.

They do ...............if they say they won't, take your trade and money elsewhere.

Sky offer a cheap installation package - if you don't like that you can go elsewhere again.................

If you are that picky, do as I did - bought a 1M motorised dish and installed it myself.

buglawton

What puzzles me is that 2 cm of snow collected in front of the LNB can totally block the signal. As my dish is mounted halfway up a back wall, I get a broom and clear it off. What do people who have their dishes on the top of their roofs do?

John_Gray

Get the garden hose out? (In America, they'd probably shoot the snow off...)

cootuk

Didn't Sky increase the size of the zone 1 dish due to digital signal dropout? We suffered badly until I swapped out for an old 60cm dish.

neilwoods

Could always cover the dish, can get covers for dishes to stop snow gathering and heavy rain

AnthonyUK

cootuk wrote: »

Didn't Sky increase the size of the zone 1 dish due to digital signal dropout? We suffered badly until I swapped out for an old 60cm dish.

Sky and Freesat use zone 1 35cm dish antennae through most of England/Wales/Republic of Eire/Channel Is./IoM and Northern Ireland and restrict the bigger and better zone 2 44cm dish antennae to all of Scotland incl all the way to orkney/shetland where astra2/eurobird1 signals are at their weakest(and its only just about acceptable for a zone 2 44cm minidish).

Transmitted and received signal strength between horizontal and vertical transponders on Astra2/Eurobird1 satellites at 28.2/28.5degE can vary greatly across the UK;especially english language services in Sky/Freesat going out on Eurobird1. This satellite has a fixed Western and Central Europe footprint from Canaries and NW Africa across mainland Europe to NW Turkey and a steerable Europewide beam which avoids the Canary Is. and NW Africa covering most of Europe to mid-Turkey short of Cyprus. Most sky/freesat channels on EB1 use these two beams which vary greatly in signal strength between H&V transponders especially in bad weather on very small zone 1 minidishes of 35cm diameter. The rule of thumb with satellite is;the bigger the dish the better the reception if signals are weak. Sky/Freesat installers dont follow this and dont necessarily equate dish size vs satellite reception when installing.