Satellite tuning problems

[fuzzy21]

Satellite tuning issues
Hi I have a 60 cm dish with a dual monoblock for hotbird 13 and astra 19.2.I have had this setup for a year and it works great with an exception my astra 19.2 reception is good at about 75% but the hotbird is only around 40-50%?? this is borderline reception particularly on sky italia channels which are blocky and mosaic like.When looking at the dish from the front with the LNB sticking out towards you I have the right hand LNB clamped and have hotbird setup as port a and astra as b on diseq.The only thing I haven't done is skew the LNB, could this be the problem , if so how would I skew this to maximise my reception?

[dick b]

slacken the lnb clamp just enough to be able to twist it then find best skew angle by trial and error but you will also be affecting 19E so check both polarities on both sats you should also recheck the azimuth and elevation are spot on.your clamping arrangment sounds fine for 13E as prime.

[fuzzy21]

Is it correct astra needs to be higher than hotbird? If so this will surely affect my near perfect astra signal when I skew it?if so would I need to alter the elevation ?

[dick b]

you need to find the best compromise as the offset lnb will always get a lower signal than if it was prime but you should be able to get both those sats pixillation free in most of the UK.with a monoblock no trouble.
start off by getting 13E with a higher signal as possible by dish alignment.no need to alter elevation once correctly set for 13E.then adjust skew to get 19E as best as possible.then recheck 13E and just keep doing this til both are ok.I wouldnt use a 60cm dish with a monoblock I"v used them on 80cms(thats the dish size they are designed for) but a lot use 60cm dishes like that and have no problems.

I"ve just checked a skew table and when viewed from behind the dish the 13E lnb wants about -9-10 degrees of skew thats anticlockwise,this will automatically raise the 19E lnb to the right angle but you may still have to fine tune it.

[jovie]

unless you get a bigger dish you will always have trouble in
bad weather if you move the skew you will lose channels
that at the moment have a good signal leave it central
best regards jovie

[dick b]

unless you get a bigger dish you will always have trouble in
bad weather if you move the skew you will lose channels
that at the moment have a good signal leave it central
best regards jovie

he is using a monoblock skew is essential on a fixed dish.and he is not getting a good signal on 13E at the moment.

[ramjet]

when I used a monoblock on a fixed 60cm dish I had to extend the lnb arm to get better results, but if you do as dickb suggest you may be able to tweak your system and avoid buying a larger dish, but as he says the monoblocks are designed to work on an 80cm round dish