More Sky Extra Channels on Astra 1
On the old SKY analogue position of Astra 1 at 19 degrees East you can get dozens more channels, mainly German
(many of the same ones you used to get on your old analogue Sky box).
For a full list of Channels that you can get at 19 East see
http://www.lyngsat.com/astra19.shtml (remember only those with Symbol Rates of 22000 or 27500)
Channels worth mentioning in my opionion on 19 degree East include:-
Fox News 12441V 27.5 3/4
Travel 12168 V 27500 3/4 - (Can have longer hours than on Astra2 28 East)
MTV Central Europe - 12699 V, VIVA - 12670V and VIVA2 - 12552 V - good free music channels
ARD/ZDF - 11836 H / 11954 H 27.5 3/4 German State channels, sometimes international sport e.g. Football
RTL - 12552 V 22 5/6 - General Entertainment, shows Formula One, useful when ITV is on adverts
DSF - 12480 V 27.5 3/4 Mainly German Sports, some ESPN stuff
Motors TV - 12610 V 22 5/6 - Has a ENGLISH soundtrack which works great on the digibox (can also select French)
AB Motor - 12255 H 27.5 3/4 - Another Motor sport channel (No English Audio on this one)
Eurosport - 11954 H 27.5 3/4 - Unfortunately only German Soundtrack available in Digital on Astra 1
Sat 1, Vox, RTL2 etc have lots of Films, American Series and Channel 5 type soft porn (all in dubbed German)
CNBC also 11954 H 27.5 3/4 (The one on Astra2 28East is scrambled, this one is FTA)
French TV5 Europe 12610 V 22 5/6
RTM 1 Europe, ESC 1, Italian RAI Uno, German Deutsche Welle TV, Portuguese RTP Int 10788 V 22000 5/6
and others ..... (Information here correct at 15/11/2001, check http://www.lyngsat.com/astra19.shtml for
latest)
If you have your old Analogue Sky dish up on the wall, then you may be able to unplug the Sky Minidish cable, plug in the Old dish and tune in the channels above.
Note, although your dish is pointing in the right place, the LNB on the end of the feed arm on the dish has to be a Universal one to reach all the higher frequencies that most digital channels use. A Universal LNB is one capable of two different LO local oscillator frequencies 9.75GHz and 10.6GHz, they should both be marked on the LNB.
I have also tried the Sky Minidish on Astra 1 at 19 Degrees East and it brings in plenty of signal for the digital channels in Central England.
A good description of different LNB's can be found at http://www.satcure.com/tech/lnb.htm
Switching between Satellites on a Sky Digibox
Many people have e-mailed me to say the Digibox crashes when they move away from or back to Astra2.
From reading usenet I know the Sky box does have a tendancy to crash when moving from and back to Astra 2. Some people have reported that going to a certain channel before switching away from and back to Astra 2 can indeed help, unfortunately I do not know what channel(s) were said to help (if you know let me know and I will update this).
I also read somewhere that someone uses a remote controlled electrical socket so he can turn the Digibox off and on without getting up from the chair if it crashes when changing channels between satellites, bit of a low tech solution.
The following information was sent to me by Liam Costello from Vienna :-
Specification:
--------------
Location:
Vienna.
Manuf:
Panasonic TU-DSB20.
Model:
P2.2.48
OS version: 1.2S4Bc
EPG version: 2.8B*
3 Samsung 0.6db universal single LNBs - one for Astra-2, one for Hotbird
and one for Astra-1 (at the time of writing, Feb 2002, these were on
special offer from Conrad at 23 Euro each).
1 3-Way LittleSwitch and 1 LittleSwitch 8v slave.
Astra-2 LNB mounted on old WisiOrbit 80 x 72 cm dish. Hotbird and
Astra-1 LNBs mounted on old 72 x 72 cm dish.
Littleswitch taking three inputs, one from each LNB and is mounted
externally close to dishes. Output (i.e. downlead) from LittleSwitch
down to LittleSwitch slave and then to digibox. LittleSwitch slave 8v
fly lead to pin 8 on digibox TV SCART out. Combined into existing
Digibox/TV SCART cable.
Signal strength from Astra-2 60%, quality 90%.
Signal strength from Astra-1/Hotbird dish 50%, quality 80%.
Receiving everything except Astra-2D (don't need ITV anyway).
Setup:
------
Connect each LNB to digibox seperately without LittleSwitch or slave and
tune in each one in turn. Allow digibox to find own Channel Listings for
Astra-2. Tune Astra-1 and Hotbird using 'other Channels'. Select
transmissions with Symbol Rates and FECs which suit the Digibox (i.e.
those with either 22.0 or 27.5 srates). When channel listings appear
tick those FTA which you want to store. Save up to 50 stations from
Astra-1 and Hotbird in this way.
When all three tuned in then place LittleSwitch and slave in line. Note:
Slave will only allow signal through when 8v lead is connected to SCART.
Operation:
----------
Switch between LNBs using TV/SKY buttons on Digibox remote control.
Every TV/SKY will trigger 8v on SCART. Distinct audible click can be
heard from slave.
Problem:
-------
Switching back to Astra-2 resulted in 'no satellite signal' and required
a digibox reboot (power off/on cycle), involving painful wait while
searching for listings and occassionaly resulting in loss of 'other
channels' previously stored.
Resolution:
-----------
Before switching from Astra-2 to any other LNB store a channel from the
high end of the SKY digital package frequency range in 'Other Channels',
e.g. CNN, 12051-V-27.5-2/3, EGP no. 513.
Then, when switching back to the Astra-2 LNB for the first time select
CNN from 'Services/Other Channels'. Thereafter simply select 513 from
the EPG. Screen will show 'technical fault' but signal will come in
after a few seconds. Can then proceede to select any channel from the EPG.
Notes:
------
1. After setting up first-time switching as described above, selecting
any EPG number on returning to Astra-2 frequently works, if one has to
wait more than 20 seconds for a signal then selecting 513 or CNN from
'Other Channels' will always do the trick.
2. I might be that this is a signal strength issue or a polarization
issue. I notice that signal strength can be different for different Sky
channels depending on the beam. However, too many permutations involved
and did not explore these possibilities.