tv reception

[nickk]

can anyone advise us on how to stop loosing tv signal. We receive a signal via a sky box but are not subscribers. It happens regularly with varying weather conditions. The dish is situated 22 metres from the house fixed to a tree on the bank of a brook below garden level. The cable is under ground. In the past i have borrowed a signal tester to adjust the dish with only temporary results.
I have cut some of the foliage back around the dish with temporary results. The dish faces southeast.even though we loose signal,the menu/timetable,does update.

We are situated in a slight dip and there are not many south east elevations due to trees surrounding us.
Any help or suggestions appreciated.

Thanks

 

[grandads_shed]

buy a bigger dish m8 ,, at least 100cm dia ,, it will make a big difference ,, go even bigger if you can on the size

 

[madkayaker]

Also check condition of cable and all joints it doesn't take much to upset the signal

 

[bump]

Don't forget to check the foliage in the way too. A small eucalyptus killed my signal from the astra 28E cluster.

 

[Premiershipman]

+1 for a bigger dish - minidishes are not good if there is the slightest interference or really bad rain.

I installed an 80cm Triax dish which has improved our signal massively, did the same for my parents as they had a tree about 20m from the house causing issues.

 

[Gritineye]

I had a similar problem a while ago, it turned out to be the cable.

Cheap satellite/TV cables have voids in the insulation that get full of water over time, which proper messes up your signal, If you're using that type it's best to get some of the better quality solid core stuff especially if it's buried.

I found this out because water was running into the wall socket through core of the cable!!!

 

[madkayaker]

I had a similar problem a while ago, it turned out to be the cable.

Cheap satellite/TV cables have voids in the insulation that get full of water over time, which proper messes up your signal, If you're using that type it's best to get some of the better quality solid core stuff especially if it's buried.

I found this out because water was running into the wall socket through core of the cable!!!

Seen that no end of times

 

[normspanners]

Many SKY boxes are ruined by direct connection to outside and water coming into the the box through the coax.

 

[pedrobedro]

If it's fastened to a tree and the tree sways more than a couple of millimetres it will lose signal anyway, you need something firmer to attach it to. You need the direction, elevation and azimuth all to stay fairly constant.

 

[Dave Sherwood]

My son had the same problem always breaking up with even the slightest bad weather. In the End he took it down and mounted it on a six foot scaffolding pole embedded in concrete six feet from house. He was a bit worried as he has 30 foot trees behind him. He mounted the dish on the pole put the cable in cheap hose pipe before putting underground and then into house. Total cable length around 25 feet. In the last two years he has only lost signal twice due to extreme weather and if need be he can stand on steps to adjust.

 

[MattF]

Locate the dish in a clear position and check the cable and LNB for water ingress. Plus, get it off the tree and put it on a solid mount. There are shedloads of mounting options for dishes, so unless you live in the middle of a wood, you can get some mounting combination which will sort it for mounting elsewhere. Plus, a 22 metre run of cable will attenuate the signal somewhat.

If you do have any form of foliage blocking the sight of the dish, using a larger dish is merely making the best of a bad situation. It's not curing the problem, and will suffer just the same after a while due to plant/tree growth. Get it shifted into a position with clear line of sight.

 

[pedrobedro]

Ours is on the side of the house on a standard mount, I installed it a few years ago and used dishpointer website for the numbers and a compass to align it. Only time I ever lost signal was when it snowed and settled on the LNB and once when a stupid wood pigeon sat on the cross bar.

 

[MattF]

A compass, as you used, is the way for working out location and roughly aligning. In the OP's case, he just want to walk around until he finds somewhere with a clear line of sight to the sky, (looking forwards and slightly upwards), at approx. 19 degrees SSE. Like you say, snow is definitely one signal killer. Any foliage is another.

 

[500e]

http://www.ehow.com/how_7323888_install-underground-coaxial-cable.html

Underground cables are different beasts to standard cabling, both Coax, power, & telephone, water & pressure will affect the cable life, performance.

 

[nickk]

thanks all,i dont know the quality of the cable as we inherited the installation with the house,ive never noticed water @ the entry to the box,i cant see tre movement affecting signal as its fitt ed near the base & its a substantial tree-when we do lose signal it can be for days & not when its windy,seems i should change the cable for a better one for my first solution,then perhaps a larger dish,the foliage gets trimmed @ least twice a year& only as a routine not as a breakdown situation.

 

[bullet]

go virgin, not signal interruptions, we used to get loads when we had sky due to the weather, not anymore

 

[Premiershipman]

Decent cable does make a difference, when i upgraded to the 80cm dish i ran all new cable.

Webro WF100 is copper wire, copper insulator and foam insulation, not cheap mind but its damn good cable.

 

[wookie]

+1 for a bigger dish - minidishes are not good if there is the slightest interference or really bad rain.

I installed an 80cm Triax dish which has improved our signal massively

Totally agree, I'm using a 100cm Triax dish and a cable run of 49m with 74% signal strength & 100% quality, and I NEVER get any problems (I know I've just jinxed myself )

Use a good quality sat cable and you should have no problems. http://www.aerialsandtv.com/ is an excellent website with loads of info on the good the bad and the down right ugly of TV installs. Yes I've bought of them and I'm a happy customer, but the pages & pages of info is well worth a read.

Also http://www.dishpointer.com/ is another great site for aligning your dish without anything more than a compass.

 

[hareng]

Check local regs you may require planning permission above an 80 dia.

Had an 80 back in 1989 on T and K brackets on back of garage. Easy to realign on to another sat without any sat finders.
Again use best cable you can get you wont be disappointed complete with drain loops.

Most installers its a case of a quick in and out. ie I was one of very last to have to change from analogue and Sky insisted I could retain existing self install 80 dish and LNB. Installers said otherwise and used my brackets and decent cable, unboxed tuner all done in 12 mins.

 

[nickk]

thanks for all suggestions,i've got aggressive with the foliage ,sprouting shoots & cut a lot down-result ,well 90%, out of 4 days we lost signal @ 9pm once ,so will wait before i go for the next step of replacing cable.