Huston, We have a problem

[CaptainCretin]

It does, but my initial problem was that the sat list on the box was completely wrong, initially only the Astra sat was shown, and after the latest firmware was uploaded, mostly sats I have never heard of from the Far and Middle East were shown - I tried to edit a listing to create a Eurosat entry, but I dont understand the terminology very well, and I must have cocked it up.
Yesterday I found a list on another website (having downloaded several from various places, including here, that correctly shows 9 East, so with the correct transponders selected, as soon as I twitched the dish, the signal was shown.

I am still a little confused by the LNB settings, the "universal" ones, it works on some of them, but not others.
Tomorrow, if it stops raining, I am going to play with the LNB position and try to improve reception (if possible).

After that I am going to play with CCCAM etc, although right now I have the minimum I wanted - access to 5 Chinese language channels for SWMBO.

Then I have to unplug everything and feed the cable through the house to the bedroom.

I managed to get the dish up by modding the Sky mounting, but it doesnt feel too strong, (I think it may wobble in strong winds), so I will be looking at a better mount in the near future

[pspmixer]

have you tried a sat amp

[CaptainCretin]

have you tried a sat amp

No, I dont need one, I have the channels I wanted, anything else will be a bonus.

One question - as I still have the Sky dish and LNB, can I merge the cables into one box, or would I need a switch??

I was just thinking it would be nice to have the Sky channels as well now I have the dish going spare.
(Ditto fitting a monoblock and getting 9 and 13 East), do you join the cables into one feed to the box or what??

(PS - Mods - the "Ditto" icon is miss-spelt)

[ramjet]

firstly , a monoblock gives a 6 degree spread , not 4 degrees so its unlikely to allow 9e and 13e

you can use an A/B switch to switch a box between one feed and another feed

or use a 4 way diseqc switch to switch between up to 4 lnb feeds (4 inputs and one feed going out to the box)

so you could use a 4 way diseqc switch to use a feed from the sly dish and a feed from 9e, and add one of those lnb adapters and slim lnb,s to try to get 13e as well leaving you with one spare input

[CaptainCretin]

Thanks for that ramjet, although you are wrong about the monoblocks, they come in various splits, from 4 degrees to 8 degrees and possibly higher, although I will admit that 6 degree is the most popular by far.

I have seen one specifically marketed for people who want 9 and 13 East.

OK, time to read up on diseqc switches!!

[ramjet]

they used to bandy about saying a 3 degree one was going to come out , and yes there may be a 4 degree or 8 degree monoblock, who knows what they may bring out if the demand was there, but 6 degrees is the norm and anything else would tend to be lnb racks or multiple lnb holders and use a 2 way , 4 way or 8 way diseqc switch, which covers everything that anybody could wish to have or use, and probably cheaper too, as well as more versatile

so the standard buy would be a multiple lnb holder or lnb rack, separate lnb,s and use a diseqc switch, which was my point here, not interested in being able to buy some 4 degree spread monoblock at ten times the price of the standard 6 degree one !

using a monoblock would normally mean using a manual a/b switch (more expense) in order to switch from the monoblock that gives 2 positions to the fixed dish at 28, been down that road myself many, many years ago, not good !

so instead of messing with monoblocks and a/b switches, my point was to use multi lnb holders and a diseqc switch, with separate lnb,s (like almost everybody else would do)

its usually cheaper and more versatile too

[CaptainCretin]

OK, thanks.

The price for the 4 degree mono was LESS than the 6 degree jobs I have seen, but it WAS being sold through AliExpress.

Right now though, I seem to have a different problem; my box keeps rebooting every 30-40 seconds every time I try to run a CCcam; and although the Clines say they are active, (and I have checked that they are still "good"), the channels they are for are still scrambled.
Have I a bought a lemon ? I am fairly certain it is not an oem F3, I have found a couple of spelling mistakes in the OSD when going through the CCcam and NewCamd settings; should I return it and try again??

[ramjet]

buy cheap and you buy twice, I would never buy a sky box or open box , just my opinion !!

as for the monoblocks , if you factor in an a/b switch as well as the cost of the monoblock , I would think its cheaper to buy a few sly quad lnb,s off fleabay at a fiver a time and a multi lnb holder, and a 4 way diseqc switch - again , just my opinion