Can anyone advise me on what size of Satellite Dish I need?

[blahde2]

Hi guys n gals,

This is my first post, & hopefully it wont bore you to tears.

I am returning to live in the UK after 9 years living in Germany. I've decided on taking on Freesat as I have had enough of subscription services here in Germania.

My issue is this, over here in Germany I can receive all the Freeview British channels (even the regional ones) on a 60"dish on my flats balcony. My partner is German, & is moving to live with me in the UK in September. We would like to be able to watch German TV as well as Freesat due to the fact that the various TV series are up to a year behind the UK.

A neighbour of mine can receive both UK freeview & German TV on the same dish (60") but with two LNB's. He uses a home made holder attached to his main LNB's mount to be able to get the UK feed. His signal is not great, but is definately watchable. In bad weather its not useable.

Does anyone else have a similar setup in the UK (only back the front to Germany) where the Satellites being received are Astra 1 (19.2*E) & Astra 2 (28.5*E), Astra 2 being the main UK provider.

All I want to know is what size & type of dish I need. 60" or 80", solid or mesh?

Taa for your time, your help would be appreciated.

John boy 🙂

 

[Dave_]

When using a multi-LNB set-up,in your case 2 LNB's,the offset LNB i.e the one(s) not centred on the dish boom/arm wont receive as strong a signal as the centred one, and is effectively seeing a smaller dish which is why you can get problems with signal loss in bad weather(rain fade).

So a bigger dish is required, and would recommend using at least an 80cm(depending on your location) and i would personally steer clear of mesh dishes of that size or above as they tend to be very cheap and flimsy.

 

[Anonymous]

Only out of curiosity but does the OP mean 60" and 80" or 60cm and 80cm for the dish diametre?

If it is inches do you need planning permission? and what would be the benefits of such a meaty dish with say Sky HD?

Cheers Si.

 

[Dave_]

soulton:
Only out of curiosity but does the OP mean 60" and 80" or 60cm and 80cm for the dish diametre?

If it is inches do you need planning permission? and what would be the benefits of such a meaty dish with say Sky HD?

Cheers Si.

No,i assume the op means 60cm and 80cm.A 60 inch dish would be over 1.5metre's in diameter and an 80 inch would be over 2metre's and yes you would need planning permission and probably wouldn't get it.

Generally speaking planning wise in the uk, on buildings upto 15metres in height you're allowed 2 dishes and one must be no more than 60cm in diameter and the other no more 100cm in diameter,though if you live in a listed building,conservation area or national park etc it can vary if you're allowed one at all.

Again,generally speaking the bigger the dish the better the signal strength and quality and you're less likely to encounter problems with rain fade etc.But a dish of that size just isn't needed in the uk to receive good signal from Astra2 @ 28.2 degrees as its footprint covers the uk.

 

[Anonymous]

Cheers daveh75.

Good info as always.

 

[blahde2]

Cheers Daveh75,

I think its gotta be an 80cm dish as its gonna be situated in N.Ireland where it rains alot!!

I have another small question ref the dish on this link http://www.aerialshack.com/force-wavefield-55cm-multi-satellite-dish-p-776.html

It seems to good to be true being that its only 55cm in size. They do offer a 90cm dish, but that would be rather ugly stuck on the side of my house. I'd prefer the smaller 55cm dish. I can't find any reviews on it either, so have to take the manufacturers spiel at face value.

What do you think? I reckon the science is sound, (being that its being focused twice etc) but then I don't know much about this kinda thing.

Anyhoo, thanks to all of you who replied. It is appreciated.A

John boy

 

[Dave_]

Gregorian type dishes(on which the waive guide is based) are more efficient/have a higher gain by all accounts,due to the signal being reflected/focused twice,i.e they're supposed to give the same performance as a standard type larger dish.

Though i've never tried one in direct comparison with a standard dish, so couldn't really comment on whether these claims are correct,

I think if it was me i'd go with a standard but larger dish, and high gain one from the likes of gibertini,fraccarro or funke for example.