f5s 19.2e low signal / no signal electrical issue

[statalite]

Hi everyone, I wonder if you can help.

I am using a skybox f5s box to receive 19.2e. I have tried 28.2e and all the transponders reported by the f5s are fine.

On the f5s around a third of the transponders are reporting a low signal on quality at 10-30% and jumping around. I borrowed a Humax HDR and all was fine signal wise, with quality at least 70%.on the same lnb.
I have been reading that some people have bought a low signal fix cable from fleebay which contains a diode soldered to the coax to reduce the voltage that the box sends to the lnb. This seems to be if people are using the f5s and an official box on the same lnb. I dont have this. I have my f5s linked directly to its own lnb. So I have mu doubs one of these will help?

I have also noticed that when the skybox is turned on it severely affects my FM radio signal. It would appear electrical. None of my other things like pc, tv or set top boxes do this.

Has anyone experienced either of these?

I cannot seem to find anywhere on the internet that answers this so I hope you guys can help.

[katieb]

i dont get any electrical interference from skybox but they are not upto ce standard. if the other satbox works fine on 19.2 then it has to be the box or dish slightly out as f5s are very tempermental boxes due to beeing cheap

[Hadron]

The in-line diode is for "no signal" problems, not "low signal".

How are you receiving 19.2e & 28.2e? Do you have 2 dishes, a single dish with 2 LNB's, or a motorised dish? Or did you just temporarily realign your dish for 28.2e?

If you just moved your dish temporarily, are you sure that you moved it back accurately enough? Different boxes have tuners with different sensitivities. What might be good enough for the Humax, might not be for the F5s. Your dish may need tweaking while the F5s is connected to get the alignment spot on.

[statalite]

katieb: I take your point that these are not built to the same standard and will be something I have to live with.

Hadron:

I have a normal sky dish with a quad, I attached a separate lnb next to this for 19.2, I did it with cable ties as per many images on the internet.
However I have just checked again with the humax hdr and i'm not getting any signal in rainy weather.
I havn't moved the dish at all so I am putting it down to an alignment problem. I did not change the position of the actual dish so not to disturb the 28.2 lnb. I did all of my alignment with the originally with the f5s but no matter what I did those transponders were showing low signal. I'm putting this down to my inability to align the lnb properly.

[Hadron]

katieb: I take your point that these are not built to the same standard and will be something I have to live with.

Hadron:

I have a normal sky dish with a quad, I attached a separate lnb next to this for 19.2, I did it with cable ties as per many images on the internet.
However I have just checked again with the humax hdr and i'm not getting any signal in rainy weather.
I havn't moved the dish at all so I am putting it down to an alignment problem. I did not change the position of the actual dish so not to disturb the 28.2 lnb. I did all of my alignment with the originally with the f5s but no matter what I did those transponders were showing low signal. I'm putting this down to my inability to align the lnb properly.

Yep. It's very hit & miss when using the "cable tie" or "gaffa tape" method.

I assume that at the moment, the 2 LNB's are actually touching eachother. You could try putting some thin spacers between them to see if that helps. If it makes it worse & they need to be closer together, then there's not much to can do about it.

[M T Glass]

Ideally you should have a separate lnb holder for the 19E lnb to give you more flexibility for adjustment.....the problem is (correct me if I'm wrong) the bar coming out from the dish on the standard sly dish is usually square whereas most brackets for supporting a second lnb holder are meant for a round pole.

[digicon]

You could always slightly move the dish further towards 19? east as the 2 birds now at 28.2? east will still be OK signal wise even with a little 'offset' they are that powerful

[statalite]

Hadron: yes they are touching each other, what type of material would you recomend for spacers?
M T Glass: yes a seperate holder will be best, but as I have a mk4 sky dish with a 37mm zinwell, i dont know how readily available or effective one of these will be.
Digicon: I have now done a little movement, the margin for error is tiny but even when i get it in the best place the the signal is the same as before. Its probable that the lnb is not in the right position, which a holder might help with?

[digicon]

I am afraid that an LNB holder will be a little of much use in your case due to the fact your using a Zone1 dish which is great for multisat use due its shape the problem is the feed arm is too short for practical use you would need to lengthen this to attain the ? spread required for the LNBs not too be touching each other. My advice would be to either A. upgrade to a Zone2 or B. get a standard 60cm dish with a multi lnb feed arm.

Any standard multi LNB bracket you buy is made for standard 40mm LNB collars and the $ly Quads are an oddball size which you will have to pack out so that the holder grips

[statalite]

I am afraid that an LNB holder will be a little of much use in your case due to the fact your using a Zone1 dish which is great for multisat use due its shape the problem is the feed arm is too short for practical use you would need to lengthen this to attain the ? spread required for the LNBs not too be touching each other. My advice would be to either A. upgrade to a Zone2 or B. get a standard 60cm dish with a multi lnb feed arm.

Any standard multi LNB bracket you buy is made for standard 40mm LNB collars and the $ly Quads are an oddball size which you will have to pack out so that the holder grips

I didn't realize that the arms on a zone 1 would not be sufficient enough, I just looked at what other people had done and thought I would give it a try, they were saying it was a success, maybe because they got the f1 and were happy.
I'm afraid its not an option to replace the dish, as I dont need every channel,after a little investigation, the channels that I want are coming through on the stronger transponders, so I will leave it as it is. Spent far to lng trying to adjust it on this setup.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

[lescombes]

You are best off doing like I did..... align the dish to the 19.2 bird and offset the other lnb to 28..... bear in mind.... as you look at the dish from the LNB's... the 19.2 will be in the holder and the 28 on the left of it...as the signal will work like a mirror image... I use an Octagon Flex Feed LNB... on an 80 cm dish...Dad has the same on a 60 cm and gets both birds on 90%