Reception Problems !

[aldhahir]

Hello All

I have been having reception problems with several channels
(including Iraqiyah, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi Sports, etc.....) over the last few days. Some of the channels (Kuwait, Saudi, Al-Alam, etc..) are still
good though. Is everyone having the same problems ? Does anyone
know what's going on ?

[Darkman]

Nope .. those are OK here..

You probably need somewhat bigger dish (expecially during heavy rain time .. or if greenery / leaves are somewhat a factor during spring / summer time)

Or you need a better install maybe .. like say your dish "moved" a little and needs to be re-aligned (spelling?) somewhat ...

Not sure though.. just a couple of guesses

[pictureon]

Some transponders on that satellite are weaker than other. 11836 where Alalam is, is a very strong transponder. If you're loosing most of the arabic channels, then you might have low signal and you're not gtting enough signal on transponder 12146. Try to align the dish to get better signal.

[wejones]

Some transponders on that satellite are weaker than other. 11836 where Alalam is, is a very strong transponder. If you're loosing most of the arabic channels, then you might have low signal and you're not gtting enough signal on transponder 12146. Try to align the dish to get better signal.

Nine times out of 10, it is not a situation that one transponder is weaker than others, but a situation that you are getting interferrence from nearby sats on that frequency. On the spectrum scan I posted yesterday of G25V Ku, 12146 is most likely actuall stronger than 11836 if anything. I'd bet that the problem is interferrence from the 12140V signal on the very strong nearby G16 sat. You are right that re-alignment might help, but it could be a situation where being off aim a bit to the east might actually help, ie further away from G16. Before realignment, a try at manually bumping the motor east migh be worth a try.

[pictureon]

As for the receiver. 11836 is stronger than 12146 regardless of the reason. I had so many trouble calls where only channels on 11836 are available because of low signal. I do not agree with people who go very deep in the technology of the satellites when replying to a simple question. I know it might be good to have this knowledge, but when a simple question is being asked, it would be nice to have a simple answer. Sadoun may be asked to create a section for high tech questions and answers.

[Darkman]

hehe...

Personally i am not sure if 11836 is stronger than 12146...

Even though it's definatly NOT the weakest of them all.. - for my location anyhow though, 12146 would definatly be one of the best tps ..

And even though i have no problems at all with 11836 (expecially on my 40 incher here) .. i do NOT think it's stronger than 12146 .. but if was asked "which one" .. and had to give a quick reply .. i d say actually quicky "12145 is stronger tp than 11836" .. currently and in the past anyhow.. and for me anyhow

[Darkman]

Or even if they are the same in strenth .. for me anyhow... - i wouldn't say that 12146 is weaker than 11836 ..

In any case.. the bottom line is - he would ONLY but benefit (in a long run) from having 40 inch dish (instead of 32 inch)

But currently .. i think that he just needs his dish adjusted, tweaked .. re-aligned somewhat.. that's all

And lets NOT forget that, to start with.. NOT everyone out there is an installer or knows how to do it ..and do it properly .. - so this task that might seem simple to some, is a VERY hard and unpleasant chore (that might require money to be paid out) to others

[wejones]

As for the receiver. 11836 is stronger than 12146 regardless of the reason. I had so many trouble calls where only channels on 11836 are available because of low signal. I do not agree with people who go very deep in the technology of the satellites when replying to a simple question. I know it might be good to have this knowledge, but when a simple question is being asked, it would be nice to have a simple answer. Sadoun may be asked to create a section for high tech questions and answers.

I don't think there is anything high tech involved here. You are right that 11836 will appear to be a stronger signal on a receiver, from a signal strength viewpoint, because it is at a lower frequency, as with most systems, the signal strength tends to fall off when going from 11700-12200. If you look at the trace I posted yesterday in the
Signal Trouble
thread, you'll see that the general signal strength on my system is higher at the left than it is at the right, due to the fact that I have quite a long coax run, about 240' . However this absolute signal strength isn't really that important. What is more important is the peak height, ie the difference between the peaks and the valleys. Even on my trace, you are right that on the receiver, the signal strength of the 11836 would appear to be stronger than the 12146, but the absolute signal strength really doesn't mean much, as it is largely due to noise. Everyone here is familiar with the concept that before they found satellites that they were getting signal strength readings even when not pointed at a sat.... that's the noise, and that's the valleys I'm talking about, which will be greater at lower freq usually. What is important is the signal to noise, peak vs valleys, and when looking at it that way there really isn't much difference in those two signals, and 12146 is really a stronger signal when compared to the noise floor.
Saying that it is a weak signal may be a simple answer, and re-aligning may well help the problem, particularly since apparently this person was getting the channel before, so something probably moved his dish a bit. But there are so many times I read about a signal being weak when it just isn't true. The problem usually is that these little dishes just aren't capable of eliminating the signal from adjacent satellites, so that some transponders are harder to get than other due to interferrence. The real solution is to go to a bigger dish which has better resolution. I just don't see where it helps to blame it on the satellite when it isn't the satellite's fault.

[Darkman]

Bingo!

As i said also above.. my 40 inchers is WAY more "friendly" to my receiver and to getting good tp signals into it than my other dish pointed to 97 West as well, which is 32 incher...

Other than that.. - again.. - maybe his dish moved slightly and needs to be re-adjusted, re-aligned ( which, if he is not an installer himself, would be a chore simular to say going to the dentist to have a tooth pulled )

Nuff said on the subject... (as far as i am concerned)

[pictureon]

Bingo!

As i said also above.. my 40 inchers is WAY more "friendly" to my receiver and to getting good tp signals into it than my other dish pointed to 97 West as well, which is 32 incher...

Other than that.. - again.. - maybe his dish moved slightly and needs to be re-adjusted, re-aligned ( which, if he is not an installer himself, would be a chore simular to say going to the dentist to have a tooth pulled )

Nuff said on the subject... (as far as i am concerned)

We're having trouble with a 30" dish as it's considered too big for most customers. I can not dare to suggest bigger dish there.