Strong satellite signal but no TV channels found?

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Deleted User YDKXO

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We have a Sea Tel satellite controller on our boat in south of France with a Humax receiver. The Sea Tel is saying that we are picking up a strong signal from the Astra 28E and Hotbird 13E satellites but the Humax receiver cannot find any channels at all on the Astra 28E satellite and just a few channels on the Hotbird 13E satellite, all from Kurdistan!

What am I doing wrong?

The system has picked up channels in other parts of the Med from these satellites in the past
 
Is the skew angle of the LNB correct? A wrong skew angle will cause low signal quality even though the signal strength is high
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How can you tell?
 
Bad news, I'm afraid, Mike.

You will be getting strong signals from the Astra 2 slot at 28 degrees E.
But there are now very few channels that you can actually receive.
Think of it as the satellites are transmitting two beams (one is like a floodlight - the other is like a torch beam).
All the channels that you will want are being transmitted on the "torch beam" which is pointing at the UK only and you will not be able to receive them in the SoF without a huge dish.
Your system is reporting a strong signal because it is receiving some transmissions from the "floodlight" beam.
AFAIK, there is now only one useful un-encrypted channel available on the wide beam (floodlight) and that is Sky News.
Everything else (except a few encrypted channels) is now transmitted over the narrow beam (torchlight).

Hotbird at 13E has never carried anything particularly interesting for us Brits.
I think BBC World is broadcast from Hotbird but I've never bothered.

This year, I gave up with my satellite domes - they still work well but the time has come to switch TV reception to the internet
Most of the time, 4G broadband is fast enough but you will probably need an unlimited data connection.
I managed to find an unlimited service for Spanish waters for 70 euros per month.
Thats what I'm now using - the satellite has had virtually no use this year.
Rig up a VPN and you can then watch BBC iPlayer or I seem to remember that you have a Slingbox that will do the job.


EDIT
I expect you are thinking that you want to watch TV on one of your TVs rather than on a PC or Tablet.
The solution for me was to use several Raspberry Pis around the boat - each one connected to the HDMI input of a TV.
The latest Raspberry Pis have WiFi built in so can be connected to a ships WiFi/LAN.
All you then need is a suitable 4G router and an unlimited (or good) 4G data supplier.
If anyone is interested, I could post some notes on how I've done it.
Cost is about £45 per TV and about £120 for a suitable router plus a good service provider.
Several people in Sant Carles have ended up with a solution like mine after I've shown them what can be achieved.
Actually, you will be amazed what IS available out there on the internet.
So anyone interested, just let me know and I will post the solution.
 
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Mike, have you had details of the 4G service in Antibes, by Free Wifi? It's 20 euro for 50GB, and has high network speeds so you can stream live TV no problem.
 
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Bad news, I'm afraid, Mike.
You will be getting strong signals from the Astra 2 slot at 28 degrees E.
But there are now very few channels that you can actually receive.
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Thanks H, that probably explains it. FWIW I'm having my sat dish checked out by a local company just to ascertain whether it is working optimally and assuming it is, probably time to give up as you say

Rig up a VPN and you can then watch BBC iPlayer or I seem to remember that you have a Slingbox that will do the job.
Click to expand...
Yes I do have a Slingbox which I do use to watch specific UK programs via my laptop tethered to my phone and via a HDMI lead to the TV. This works tolerably well only that the picture quality is not great and occasionally the connection drops out. The connection dropping out has been particularly annoying in Antibes and I dont understand why because my phone has a strong 4G signal in the port. My SIM card is a UK Vodafone card for which I pay £3/day for unlimited data use. Is it possible that I'm not getting the full 4G signal because I'm using a UK SIM card?

I also have a Yacht Router http://yachtrouter.com/yacht-router-micro/ on board which also has a separate UK sourced Vodafone SIM card in it and the signal through that is no better than via my tethered phone. It is very clunky to use, the software app is very slow to load on my laptop and I need to reload the SIM card every time I move location with the boat. This has been one of my most useless boat purchases of all time so any advice on wi fi routers would be greatly appreciated

So anyone interested, just let me know and I will post the solution.
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Yes please
 
Nick_H said:
Mike, have you had details of the 4G service in Antibes, by Free Wifi? It's 20 euro for 50GB, and has high network speeds so you can stream live TV no problem.
Click to expand...

He's already been informed...
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Thanks Nick/Jimmy. Yes Jimmy is right he did tell me about Free Wifi. The reason I have not looked further into it is that I have a £3/day Vodafone unlimited data package on my phone SIM card. I incur £3 a day if I make just one call so I might as well use the unlimited data as well. However as you can see from my reply to Hurricane above I'm not convinced that I'm getting the full 4G experience even though my phone shows 4 bars of 4G in Antibes via SFR

Would you say that the 4G signal provided by Free Wifi is going to be better than what I have now? If so where do I buy it?
 
Deleted User said:
Thanks Nick/Jimmy. Yes Jimmy is right he did tell me about Free Wifi. The reason I have not looked further into it is that I have a £3/day Vodafone unlimited data package on my phone SIM card. I incur £3 a day if I make just one call so I might as well use the unlimited data as well. However as you can see from my reply to Hurricane above I'm not convinced that I'm getting the full 4G experience even though my phone shows 4 bars of 4G in Antibes via SFR

Would you say that the 4G signal provided by Free Wifi is going to be better than what I have now? If so where do I buy it?
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If you want to try a direct comparison, you're welcome to borrow my Free Mifi for a day or two and see if you see a performance improvement?
 
Deleted User said:
Would you say that the 4G signal provided by Free Wifi is going to be better than what I have now? If so where do I buy it?
Click to expand...

I'm told the download speed of the Free 4G is as good as most home broadband. I've not noticed any interruptions when using it for streaming in Antibes. I also have a £2 a day 4G option with my UK phone contract, but download speed is much slower, and I get lots of interruptions when streaming.
 
Deleted User said:
Thanks H, that probably explains it. FWIW I'm having my sat dish checked out by a local company just to ascertain whether it is working optimally and assuming it is, probably time to give up as you say


Yes I do have a Slingbox which I do use to watch specific UK programs via my laptop tethered to my phone and via a HDMI lead to the TV. This works tolerably well only that the picture quality is not great and occasionally the connection drops out. The connection dropping out has been particularly annoying in Antibes and I dont understand why because my phone has a strong 4G signal in the port. My SIM card is a UK Vodafone card for which I pay £3/day for unlimited data use. Is it possible that I'm not getting the full 4G signal because I'm using a UK SIM card?

I also have a Yacht Router http://yachtrouter.com/yacht-router-micro/ on board which also has a separate UK sourced Vodafone SIM card in it and the signal through that is no better than via my tethered phone. It is very clunky to use, the software app is very slow to load on my laptop and I need to reload the SIM card every time I move location with the boat. This has been one of my most useless boat purchases of all time so any advice on wi fi routers would be greatly appreciated



Yes please
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A few years ago, I tried to use a Slingbox solution over WiFi and found that it was virtually impossible - "clunky" wasn't the word I'd have used.
However, I was using a variant of the Slingbox from Echostar (the Sat Box manufacturers).
As far as I can see (and I may be wrong), the Slingbox "streams" everything - even the menus so it can be difficult to control.

Rather than drift this thread, I will create a new thread with my internet TV solutions for boats in the Med.

EDIT
Here's the thread
http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?467433-TV-in-the-Med-on-your-TV-using-the-internet
 
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Mike,

If it's bbc you're after it's still available on intelsat 907 @ 27.5 West, I use this on the costa del sol and think is available in most parts of the med. You'll need a satbox that can decrypt BISS, Icecrypt do one for about £60. http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/icecrypt-s1600hdcci-hd-satellite-receiver-with-hdmi-and-usb-pvr-function-n00ce

You'll need to input an encryption key which is readily available on the internet, the key is changed occasionally but it's been at least 18 months since the last change. Not strictly legal as it's the bbc's backup satellite to their land based transmitters.

From memory you get bbc1, bbc2, bbc4, ch4 itv1, itv2 maybe, cbbc and cbeebies.

If you are interested I'll dig out a link to a web page with a profile already setup and the stations tuned so you just download to a usb stick and copy it to the box.

EDIT: here's the link http://www.satpimps.co.uk/showthread.php?169911-27-5-west-guide

Kevin.
 
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Mike, I am pretty sure you can buy a Free sim from a vending machine in Antibes. Jimmy posted about the process and I am sure he will point out how to do it.
 
jimmy_the_builder said:
If you want to try a direct comparison, you're welcome to borrow my Free Mifi for a day or two and see if you see a performance improvement?
Click to expand...

Thanks Jimmy. 5 mins using the Slingbox on your Free Wifi would tell me everything I need to know. Where do you buy it and what are you buying, a SIM card or mobile router + SIM card?
 
Nick_H said:
I'm told the download speed of the Free 4G is as good as most home broadband. I've not noticed any interruptions when using it for streaming in Antibes. I also have a £2 a day 4G option with my UK phone contract, but download speed is much slower, and I get lots of interruptions when streaming.
Click to expand...

Thats v interesting. If the download speed on a UK SIM card is worse than a local one then its worth getting
 
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