Sky Reception

[whurules]

Does any whizz out there know if changing the standard sky quad l n b for the new hybrid l n b would improve the signal reception and or strength thanks for any suggestions

[Buenchico]

I can think of no reason why switching to a hybrid LNB would improve reception. (I studied physics as a subsidiary subject for my degree and taught it as my subsidiary subject at secondary level. I've also passed the Radio Amateurs Examination and had articles on aerial design published. I simply can't see how you'd benefit from changing your LNB).

If you're getting poor satellite reception then at least one of the following factors must be involved:
1. Your dish is poorly aligned. (The Astra satellites are about 22,000 miles above the Earth's surface, transmitting signals that are intended to cover a very large area, and using no more power than a couple of domestic tungsten lightbulbs consume. So the signal strength is bound to be extremely low, meaning that a dish needs to be precisely aligned) ;
2. Then's a poor connection somewhere (possibly due to water ingress) ;
3. The signal path is obstructed (e.g. by trees) ;
4. Poor-quality cabling has been used, resulting in signal loss ;
5. There's local interference affecting the signal (such as can occur when a poorly-screened satellite cable runs adjacent to a mains cable).

[whurules]

Thank you for taking the time to answer with such detail, we are just at the end of our tether with it all really, we never know what channels we are going to get from one day to the next, everything has been changed, the dish, the cables, the box, we just don't know where to turn, I can get a channel perfectly in the morning and by the afternoon it says no signal and nothing has changed , same weather , anyway thanks again for your input

[Buenchico]

My instinct in such a situation would be to install a larger dish. You're allowed a dish up to 1m in size (without needing planning permission) as long as there's no more than one other aerial/dish on your property and the maximum linear dimension of any other aerial/dish doesn't exceed 60cm. (Full rules here: https://www.planningportal.co.uk/info/200130/common_projects/48/satellitetv_and_radio_antenna ). In practice, I'd expect an 80cm dish to fix your problem.