Foxtel

Dolly · Veteran Member

Foxtel

exa41 · Guru

Dolly , not sure about Foxtel , but when I set up the satellite I use the sat finder on Wikicamps camera , works well.

KFT · Guru

You need to look for the Optus C1/D3 satellites. I can email you a copy of the coordinates for most towns in Australia if you pm me your email address.

Wikicamps satfinder will give you a general direction and elevation

To do this task easily and quickly you will need a marriage saver device AKA a sat finder meter

have a look here I would very highly recommend this one www.satplus.com.au/collections/satellite-meters/products/clearsat-sf3239-digital-satellite-meter

don't buy the cheap analogue meter (has a needle to indicate signal strength) they are hopeless

hope that helps

frank

Gundog · Guru

Its funny KFT I use one of the swing needle meters and it works fine.

I check my quick reference guide for the angle, position and LNB twist, then fine tune the position using the meter, I preset the meter to between 4&5 move the dish to true north then move it in a an easterly direction until the needle swings to 9-10 then keep moving it to the east the needle drops and then it will swing up high again ypou are now in the approximate direction on C1/D3, now I reset the meter back to 0 then move the dish side to side finding the highest signal strength then lock it off as this is the best position. I repeat the process using the meter to get the best angle, lock it off and then do the same with the LNB twist.

the whole process only takes a couple of minutes, the more you do it, the better you become at aligning the dish.

the other way is to use the signal finding option that come with the Vast box

KFT · Guru

G'day Gundog,

you are obviously quite experienced at aiming your dish. Many are not and often struggle with it and that is why I often suggest the digital sat finder which will only indicate on the selected satellite.

The needle type you use will indicate on any satellite it is aimed at and there are lots of them up there these days and they are usually only 4 degrees apart.

They are quite often referred to as marriage savers because they do make finding the right sat so much easier for the inexperienced.

frank

PeterInSa · Guru

Agree with the satplus unit money well spent, Had the needle unit with our Analogue Sat setup and initially took a lot of time to lock on, then purchased a meter that showed the signal strength still nowhere is fast as using the above satplus unit that only locks onto the C1/D3 Sats.

I also agree with Frank, experienced users like Gundog have no probs using the swing needle meters.

Peter

Gundog · Guru

Sorry but with due respect you have made the assumption that I am an experianced at using this gear. I have only been using this for a bit over 2 months. I like many initially had all the trouble in the world at finding the correct satilite, why very simiple like many australian males I didn't read the instructions properly, decided that ah I will grab an app to do it yeah that work, yes it did work somewhat. But until I actually sat down and read the instructions fully, did I understand how to align my dish properly. So read the instructions first before shelling out hard earned for the latest whiz bang item to do the job it maybe a waste of money

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

My eyesight isn't as good as it used to be .. Tricky to find ..

PeterD · Guru

It is an excellent concept. It can be programmed for other satellites as well as the Vast one. I am bookmarking that one in case I go for sat TV.

When you are doing the final tweak of the dish I suggest that you aim for maximum quality rather than maximum signal strength. The quality of digital signals generally measures the "bit error rate" (ie it looks for the number of stuffed up bits in the data stream.) The more lost data bits you have the worse the picture is likely to be. There is a certain amount of bit error correction in the system but if there is too many bit errors your picture is likely to suffer. (The same goes for terrestrial TV, If you get a signal strength meter to assist with your aerial alignment, get one with a bit error rate and/or a quality readout and align the antenna with that as your final tweak.)

If you wish to go one better ITECH have the Satellite Finder D4 as well. It has a 3.5 inch LCD Colour Screen where you can watch for the stability of the picture.

-- Edited by PeterD on Saturday 3rd of October 2015 12:27:49 PM

KFT · Guru

G'day Peter,

The meter you linked to is not DVBS2 compliant so will not give you signal quality on the VAST system. It will work ok for Foxtel though.

The only free to air channel on the C1/D3 satellites is Aljazeera and that is the only channel you will see a picture from.

There are later models of satfinder on the Satplus website but of course they are more expensive too.

frank

PeterD · Guru

Frank, their instructions on the D4 Satellite meter please click here. indicate that it will tune the ABC chanel. under the Features it claims "Fully DVB Compliant." I take it you have used this meter and found that not to be the case.

KFT · Guru

Hi Peter,

I have an older meter that I used to use for work that is not DVBS2 compliant and it will not tune to any VAST channels because of that.

They are having you on if they are saying that meter will tune VAST channels.

The ABC and Aljazeera channels they refer to are transmitted by Foxtel.

The SF3239 I referred to above is DVBS2 compliant and will show sig strength and quality on the VAST frequencies.

frank