Astra 2E: Canaries & Africa Reports

For a good cross plarity ratio recommend Inverto Black Pro or Invacom QDF031, both have 30 dB. SMW is even better, 32 dB, but also much more expensive.
 
LambdaKt said:
For a good cross plarity ratio recommend Inverto Black Pro or Invacom QDF031, both have 30 dB. SMW is even better, 32 dB, but also much more expensive.
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But did you try
LambdaKt said:
For a good cross plarity ratio recommend Inverto Black Pro or Invacom QDF031, both have 30 dB. SMW is even better, 32 dB, but also much more expensive.
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But did you try it on a big dish? get more signal quality on horizontal low transponders (BBC ,ITV...)
 
bambule666 said:
But did you try it on a big dish? get more signal quality on horizontal low transponders (BBC ,ITV...)
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I tried personally to my 2.4 m Prodelin antenna. I have SMW DRO LNB but Invacom QDF and Inverto Pro work better ..

IMAG0258.webp
 
Dave HD, Watch HD and Alibi HD have gone. Moved elsewhere?
 
Well, the wife came back with two more more LNB's for me to try; a new Invacom quad to replace my existing one (was bought October 2009) and an Inverto Black Pro quad ( to see if it is better than the Invacom).

I tried the Black Pro 1st. Weather was excellent, no cloud or wind. Results were not impressive. Using the % readings from my Tecnomate TM-F3/5 they were down by approx 5% - so got nothing worth watching, just pixelated or 'no signal' screens.

Next came the new Invacom. Well, that put the theory of deterioration over time to bed. The new LNB was under performing the old one by 2%. So I'm back where I started with the old Invacom Quad and the TM-F3/5 combination giving the best results.

Now I am aware that you can have a box full of (same) LNB's and each may perform better than some others but, unless I am prepared to buy a dozen or so Invacom's (which I am not) to test the theory, I will never know. Maybe my original LNB was an excellent performer from the outset, but has now deteriorated to perform very well (compared to the new one). Then again, it could be performing as well today as it did in 2009. Nobody knows.

I am still doing some daily signal strength recording and will post results next week - just for interest.
 
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The Inverto Black Pro is not the LNB that has gained the rave reviews. It's the Inverto Black Ultra.

So people have also said that it's only the single output BU that performs well, the twin and quad are not as good. Others have disputed this.
 
Presumably you tested a quad? Inverto also seem to have a reputation for more - ahem - variability in their quality control. Perhaps you were unlucky. But it's an expensive business to keep trying LNBs of course.
 
PaulR said:
Presumably you tested a quad?
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Yes.

PaulR said:
But it's an expensive business to keep trying LNBs of course.
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Yes. So that is the end for me - unless someone can provide details regarding testing a LNB 'in the box'. Then I could ask a supplier to provide 'the best'. Being a nuts and bolts man (not a wiggly amps man) I guess the answer is - not possible.
 
OK, have been monitoring reception over the past few weeks since having my new TM F3/5 (mid March 2014). As you know, this gives a % point reading which is more revealing than my Humax - which is limited to a % range.

The frequencies that I have been monitoring are on both 2e + 2f and are of interest to me (the channels we watch) so provide a good selection of 'normal' UK TV (BBC/ITV/CH4, CH5 etc) on both H and V.

The attached reception .jpg gives the latest set of results that I have, taken on Tuesday 15 April. I only uploaded the one set of data because, to be honest, not much has changed in terms of reception during the past 5 weeks. All readings that I take are on clear sunny days/clear nights with no cloud. The slightest hint of weather (rain) and I loose the lot. Individual readings in the % column may show more than one set of digits (e.g. 61/62/63), this is because the TM F3/5 data 'flicks' from the lowest to highest %. So I record them all. In general, anything at or below 61% on a SD channel gives a degree of pixelation but when it is 62% or above things are fine. For HD channels I need 64% or more to avoid pixelation, so its a close thing.

As you can see, 2e is the problem child but apart from Ch4 and BBC2 UK, I do get a reasonable set of channels to watch most of the time and there is a work-around for BBC2, I switch to BBC2 NI when/if the programmes I want is available. Best reception appears to be in the very early hours of the day.

I know that this is not a truly 'scientific' set of data as it simply relies on the readings from my TM, and that can obviously vary from one machine to another, but it does demonstrate how close to the edge things are and any small % point gain can make the difference between picture/no picture (hence my earlier obsession with receivers and LNB's). I will maintain a weekly check to see how things go throughout the year.


reception 15-04-2014.webp
 
Deso said:
That's a teaser now given your readings above. :-ohcrap
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Sure is - not looking for much in the way of improvement and on the link TM claim: "Furthermore, Tele Satellite Magazine concluded that the Gold Series of LNBs are 'an absolute top performer and probably the best LNB we ever tested'." But what does that truly mean ??? I may do a bit more research with their help but certainly can see me giving this one a go.
 
FRINGE said:
Sure is - not looking for much in the way of improvement and on the link TM claim: "Furthermore, Tele Satellite Magazine concluded that the Gold Series of LNBs are 'an absolute top performer and probably the best LNB we ever tested'." But what does that truly mean ??? I may do a bit more research with their help but certainly can see me giving this one a go.[/QUOTE
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£17.95 on Fleabay. This is the problem when you are so near, I only have a 1.2m in our place on Fuerteventura so I don't have this challenge. It has to be tried, because it is there. :)
 
I was about to invest £100+ in trying an Invacom C120 quad and matched feed horn for my Channel Master 2.4m offset, but for less than £20 I guess this might be worth a try.

Sent from my GT-I9205 using Tapatalk
 
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