Eutelsat 8 West B

Interesting. You're in the UK. How far west can you receive anything? I don't have much confidence I will see anything tomorrow. Using manual method without USALS it is very difficult to find signals when there is no reference signal in the region of the sky you are searching.

The only transponders available out far west is 65W C band extended I can see further W than that but nothing beamed this way to my knowledge.
 
(pokes head in)
How close to the horizon is it reasonable to receive a (video) signal, anyway? Assuming nothing's in the way, but air.
I'd love to get something with the BBC on it, besides BBCA on DirecTV. :rolleyes:

If you have a footprint beaming your way and the correct size dish nothing stopping you getting geting a satellite 0.5 degree, get a VPN and use iPlayer might be an easier way though.
 
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We really don't have European channels beaming directly to America, as far as I know. The closest thing that comes to mind is France24 on the Caribbean beam of 34.5W, Ku-band.
 
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We really don't have European channels beaming directly to America, as far as I know. The closest thing that comes to mind is France24 on the Caribbean beam of 34.5W, Ku-band.
exactly - Canal Caraïbes on 34.5W lower Ku is a French operator (with all the "regular" channels from France but also many channels from the Americas) that is aimed at the French islands in the Caribbean. Unfortunately it's almost all encrypted and while it's a subscription service, you need an address in Guadeloupe, St Barth, St Martin or Martinique to be able to subscribe.

BBC world News was ITC there recently, for a few days, but that's gone.

There is however, supposedly, a real European service that can be received in Eastern Canada and in New England... I've mentioned it a few times but here it is again... Check out ABS-3a on Lyngsat, at 3W. The last service at the bottom of the list, Europe beam. That beam extends to the areas I just mentioned. However, it is at best very challenging. From here, it's only a few degrees above the horizon, and only 40 dBW EIRP. But in theory, it most be doable. It carries a few Italian channels.

For about a month last year, the BFBS mux was ITC on 40.5W. That was really nice, but the picture quality was mediocre SD.

You can also get some European channels on Hispasat @30W: Canal Vasco (Basque region of Spain) and TV Galicia (area of Spain just north of Portugal).

The other European channels we can get are "international" channels: DW-TV, France 24, BVN, TVRi, RTPi, Duna, RT, UATV, Belarus, RTS, TRT World, etc.
 
Not a single signal found. Not even data. But it's a big sky to simply blind scan.

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probably quite difficult without a spectrum analyzer, but keep trying!
It took me a long time to find 113W and 117W when I started in the hobby, yet they were there all along. Took me also a few days to find 30W. Like you said, it's not easy when there's nothing nearby as a reference
 
(...) Took me also a few days to find 30W. Like you said, it's not easy when there's nothing nearby as a reference.

Well... the night sky full of stars is there. It's date and time (and weather!) sensitive, of course, but if you're working at night the moon or stars could help. Figure where in the starry sky the satellite is, and that's your aim point. The celestial equator / Clarke Belt goes just above the right star of Orion's Belt, so sometime during the 24-hour day your satellite will be there. It's a little cross-disciplinary, but it might help.
 
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I gave up on Round 1. I am re-grouping for another attack. My experience is that a motorized dish using USALS is the best way to find something elusive on the arc when there are no nearby reference signals. My mini-tower is going to return with concrete feet and guy ropes to hold it in place this time. If I put the portable tower about 100+ feet from the house, a dish on it at 7-feet high can see 3W. That satellite is 12 degrees elevation for me and about 68 degrees east of my due south. USALS should be able to reach it or almost. If not, I can bump a little further east using manual bumps of the motor. I can also then search by motor from 61W and east looking for those other possible signals.
 
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(pokes head in)
How close to the horizon is it reasonable to receive a (video) signal, anyway? Assuming nothing's in the way, but air.
I'd love to get something with the BBC on it, besides BBCA on DirecTV. :rolleyes:

Very close to the Horizon is possible, it is standard practice in Alaska, below 10 degrees or so it gets iffy. Dishes tend to be larger though.
 

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Doesn't anyone make a dish aimer that will go 180°, horizon to horizon? You'd think at least some users would appreciate that.

As we live on a globe (not a flat earther), the maximum look angle to satellites in the geosynchronous arc is approx 140 degrees (-70 through +70). USALS calculations often only provide 120 degree coverage of the arc and the ends of the arc require DiSEqC 1.2 for the final 10 degrees on each.
 
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Finished installing today my motorized 1-metre Ku dish so I can explore the eastern sky. The motor is tracking well with USALS from 5W through 107W. Trees block the view further to the west. I have 200 feet of RG6 to the dish. After comparing signals at the dish versus in the house, I know I am losing dBs since the SQ is lower on some satellites inside the house. The microHD won't drive the dish over this length of cable so I must use my Openbox S9 which works reliably. I can probably remove 50 feet of cable tomorrow.

The furthest satellite received to the east so far is 22W. There is a strong transponder on 12080 H 10332. No lock on this signal though. Perhaps CNN. If so, not sure why it won't lock. Also received 30W for the first time from Nova Scotia. I can lock 3 strong transponders.

It's going to be fun exploring new territory to the east. Motors rock!
 
Just to finish this off, I removed 94 feet of RG-6 from the path to the LNB. This reduced total RG-6 path length from 225 feet to 131 feet from house to motor to LNB. No switches in line. Big difference.

Now horizontal polarization (18V) on tps scan correctly. Received SQ is about the same as at the dish. I also tweaked every satellite position using Diseqc mode. USALS is excellent to find satellites but fine tuning a couple bumps using diseqc commands after finding the satellite provides much better SQ.

I blind scanned every satellite last night from 107W to 5W. Still the furthest east satellite was only 22W (very strong data tp). In the eastern half of the arc between 72W through 5W, I received lots of data tps but could only lock signals on 58W (Sky Mexico) and 30W (Hispasat).

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Round 2 looking for far eastern sats using an inverted 1m dish on a 2nd floor balcony. I can see to a very low elevation beyond 1W from here.

Have now located 30W as a reference. Moving now to 22W. Who knows the strong 24/7 data tp on 22W? From memory...12080 V ???

Will then move directly to 3W which has 11132 H 30000 and 11168 H 30000 beaming to the Americas.

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Very interesting thread and I look forward to hearing more of your exploits.

I don't suppose you get BBC Satback on 27.5W? It's the satellite backup for the terrestrial DTV network but I think it's on a Northern European spot beam so I doubt it.
 
Yesterday I received three strong data tps on 22W. This was important to get a reference for my inverted dish and to prove it's working. I learned without wasting too much time that the Edision Tuner B will not receive or display these signals. Tuner A does.

The signals are:
12038 H 3333
FEC 5/6
DVB-S2 16APSK

12081 H 10332 (only one receivable on GSP microHD)
FEC Auto
DVB-S2 QPSK

12180 H 5423
FEC Auto
DVB-S2 QPSK

My best satellite seeking receiver is the Geosatpro microHD. It has the unique characteristic of the SQ reading bobbling between 0% and 7 or 10% just prior to locking a signal. This tells you when you are very close as you pan the dish. I got this yesterday while seeking 3W. The tps I tried for are 11168 H 30000 and 11132 H 30000. But I could not lock either.

I don't see a footprint from 27.5W that covers my location. It would be useful to know details of any active Ku transponders on satellites that have footprints on North America between 22W to 3W and further east.
 
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Very interesting thread and I look forward to hearing more of your exploits.

I don't suppose you get BBC Satback on 27.5W? It's the satellite backup for the terrestrial DTV network but I think it's on a Northern European spot beam so I doubt it.
correct, as far as I know, 27.5W does not have any Ku beam over North America. I'm able to get some C-Band. Occasionally I'm getting some Brazilian channels, and surprisingly easier, NTA (Nigeria) even though it's on the Global beam (so weaker EIRP).
 
I cannot find 3W with my 1m dish. I can easily find 22W in less than a minute (see posting in What's Up There).

From 22W, I drop the dish elevation by about 12 degrees and swing toward the east by about 17 degrees. I have panned the dish many times, rocking elevation up and down, and blind scanned many times also.

I am doubting the footprint of 3W falls on this part of Canada.

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