[P22] Testing-testing.

(

Due to other chores I only had the system set up by 14.30pm again. Getting the dish pointed correctly from the new position was rather more difficult than anticipated. Despite having a decent compass I seemed to have found the wrong satellite again. I checked the dish's altitude while listening to the SatFinder meter's irritating whistle. It should whistle on zero gain if it is 28E.

Only when I moved the dish by a large angle in azimuth was I finally able to pick up 28E. Then there was more "fine" dish movements before I could get the UK Spot Beam. Certain transponders were stronger than others. It was now 15.00. BBC channels were again weaker than ITV. Channel 4 was variable between channels. (Presumably broadcast on different transponders.)

As the signals began to fade at 15.30 I tried swapping receivers with a Kathrein which was kindly loaned to me for comparison. I cannot be sure but I think the Fortec Star Passion HD is just marginally better at locking onto fringe signals. Though I really could not be certain I was comparing like with like. The channel lists were so different with lots of duplicates on both receivers. No scientific accuracy is claimed nor meant by anything you will read here.

By 16.00pm there were only  a few Spot Beam channels still working. Most of the others registered no signal or nothing at all. A couple of ITV channels hung on longer than the rest but hiccuped and froze at times. I gave up at 4.30pm with only Pan Euro beam channels left. It seems the new dish and turned brass feedhorn are not gaining enough to extend reception by much over the Salora 1.8m. But again I cannot be certain that present conditions are the same as before. It was raining almost continuously again today from a solid overcast. "Rain fade" is well known in fringe reception conditions. All a far cry from previously perfect  reception on a 120cm dish under all conditions on 28D year round.

I know from my early experience with the 6' Salora dish that fine azimuth adjustment is absolutely vital to fringe reception. A quarter of a turn on the Salora mounting's azimuth adjustment screws was the difference between receiving the UK Spot Beam channels or nothing at all. At the moment I am literally dragging the slotted angle stand around on the wet lawn to rotate the 2.2m Kathrein dish.

Fine adjustment is not remotely what I would call it. So the potential exists for far better fine tuning in azimuth. I already have fine vertical adjustment in altitude. Due to the flexibility of the slotted angle stand I can flex the dish from side to side and rock it up and down. My wife tells me the dish was fluttering quite noticeably in the wind the other day.

There are now two ridiculously large dishes set up in my garden as well as several smaller ones. Still with no more than marginal UK TV reception over a very limited period each day. One must assume that I am living close to the supposed null line. Which is theorised to run north-south over the middle of Denmark. Though the exact location is still open to rumour due to the lack of feedback by other big dish abusers. Some people even imagine that a positive report online will result in the satellite company tweaking their beam pattern to spoil the fun.

It is certainly odd that the many ex-patriots, who are not resident in the UK, have lost their national TV service. Enjoying their home TV was the unbreakable anchor chain which kept them feeling at home. Wherever they happened to be living at the time. Many enjoy their annual holidays on the Continent and have paid their TV license in full. The advancing tide of copyright greed has spoilt it for countless ordinary people living or holidaying "abroad".

So much for the pretence of equality and equal rights within the EU. Gutless and riddled with corruption from top to bottom! Except when the bananas need to be straight. Don't forget to vote in the present EU elections! A banana near you may need the help of the endless gravy train riders to the life of endless luxury, blatant fraud and countless wasted opportunities to reform.    

My own investment so far has not been financially crippling thanks to purchasing both dishes at favourable secondhand prices. [Complete with their respective altaz mountings.] It might still be possible to sell both of them to fellow fringe reception enthusiasts in less demanding areas of Denmark. But only if I completely lose patience with the poor reception so far. I could turn the dishes into giant bird baths complete with fountains, garden ponds (again with fountains) or even domed roofs for small, round, decorative garden sheds. Aluminium is toxic to some wildlife so the Kathrein won't make an ideal fish pond.

The Kathrein 2.2m prime focus dish beside the now redundant offset 1.2 Gilbertini. The Salora 1.8m dish lies between the two in size and is indicated to scale by the shaded circle. [From left to right: 4', 6' and 7'4" in  old money]

Those who consider a 1.2 metre grey dish as too large for their garden have absolutely no concept of how a white one, almost twice the size, looks from the front! From the side and rear they look much less significant. Being round they are not traditional rural furniture in appearance. A caravan is absolutely huge in comparison but nobody gives a caravan a second look. Not even a snow white one. A round white dish can be spotted from a great distance!

Luckily the larger dish is now behind the house out of sight. (For the moment.) The smaller, Salora might as well be taken down now. I wonder if the dishes will show up on this year's free, aerial imagery and mapping service provided by the Fyn Councils? Perhaps I should cover the big one with a green tarpaulin tent in case people imagine they are seeing UFOs! Fortunately Google Earth imagery of Denmark is often so absurdly poor and so many years out of date, that nobody will ever notice anything unusual!

)