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Maplin Portable "Suitcase" Satellite TV Receiver on Offer.

alan_fincher

By alan_fincher
in Boat Equipment

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BlueStringPudding Veteran II

BlueStringPudding

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I will definitely have to get me one of these things. Instead of chalk try using a "glass pen" we use them in pubs for writing on glass (duh) and as weatherproof writing on chalkboards.

 

cheers

Phil

 

Oh yes, I know the kinda thing. I could also write the specials of the day on the side of the boat:

 

TODAY'S SPECIALS

 

Luke-warm steak and kidney pie (gone a bit off coz there's no fridge on board)

served with homegrown salad (please pick from the rooftop planters)

 

Duck a la pumpout

 

Bream marinated in oily bilge water served on a bed of a blue-green algae

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  • 2 weeks later...
GeoffS Rising Star

GeoffS

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I bought one of these suitcase satellite systems and tried to test it by setting it up in the garden at home. No matter how I moved the dish the only satellite I could receive was Astra 19E and get some German channels. Has anyone else had this problem before I think about returning it to the shop?

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Chris J W Influencer

Chris J W

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I bought one of these suitcase satellite systems and tried to test it by setting it up in the garden at home. No matter how I moved the dish the only satellite I could receive was Astra 19E and get some German channels. Has anyone else had this problem before I think about returning it to the shop?

 

Practice and a bit of paitence at first is what's needed - and a decent view of the sky, too!

 

I had this problem when I first got mine untill a passing fellow on the towpath pointed out that the Tesco in Ricky was in the way. Ah-hem! :lol:

 

Find BBC1 on the channel guide and go to that

Press the "info" button and then 1 for the "tuning tone"

Point the dish at 147 degs south (it may help to get a decent compass and stand a few feet away from the boat to get a bearing)

Move the dish, slowly, left/right/up/down a bit and listen for the tone-pitch to change - the higher the pitch the better the signal

 

As I said, it does require a bit of paitence at first, but it gets easier with practice.

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Bullfrog Rising Star

Bullfrog

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I bought one of these suitcase satellite systems and tried to test it by setting it up in the garden at home. No matter how I moved the dish the only satellite I could receive was Astra 19E and get some German channels. Has anyone else had this problem before I think about returning it to the shop?

 

The very fact you've got 19E and the German channels demonstrates the equipment is working fine.

 

Either no line of sight to the correct satellite or operator error I'm afraid.

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Silkhay Engager

Silkhay

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I bought one of these suitcase satellite systems and tried to test it by setting it up in the garden at home. No matter how I moved the dish the only satellite I could receive was Astra 19E and get some German channels. Has anyone else had this problem before I think about returning it to the shop?

From Astra 1 (19E) turn about 5 degrees left and tip forward a tad Astra 2 (29E) is a bit lower in the sky because its further round the equator, works every time.

Astra 1 is quite a lot stronger signal, I almost invariably hit it first but then I know I'm roughly right.

 

Good Luck

 

Martin

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GeoffS Rising Star

GeoffS

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Thanks. I will try properly at the weekend. I tried briefly last night without success. I heard a comment that a good Omni aerial and freeview box might be a better option. Does anyone have experience of that?

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alan_fincher Veteran II

alan_fincher

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I heard a comment that a good Omni aerial and freeview box might be a better option. Does anyone have experience of that?

It depends entirely on where you are, with respect to the transmitter, and whether at a "good" or low lying area for reception.

 

At some locations some people report good results with such a set-up. I've tried it, and in the area I tried it was next to useless.

 

Whilst an omnidirectional antenna means you don't have to mess around with alignment, in is very much a compromise device, and can't hope to work as well as a traditional TV "beam" antenna, where signal strengths are low.

 

The problem with a "beam" is, like a satellite dish, you need to know where to point it, and also whether to have the elements horizontal or vertical. Usually the easiest way to do this is to look at neighbouring houses and boats, and mimic what they are doing.

 

There is a definite knack to aligning the satellite dish, but it has the advantage, unlike the terrestrial options, that provided nothing tall is in the way, it works every time.

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RobinR Collaborator

RobinR

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Thanks. I will try properly at the weekend. I tried briefly last night without success. I heard a comment that a good Omni aerial and freeview box might be a better option. Does anyone have experience of that?

They are expensive rubbish!! They rely on an amplifier for gain. There is no such thing as a "good one". The only potential plus is the ability to receive both horizontally and vertically polarised signals from any direction with equally poor gain in all directions. A robust log periodic aerial with a low noise amplifier is much better but still needs to be cared for. Removed from the support pole it lays flat on the roof. Replace the hexagon nuts on the U clamp with wing nuts for easy removal and switching between horizontal polarisation - used by ALL main transmitters - and vertical polarisation - used by VIRTUALLY all relay / infill transmitters. This is even more relevant for Freeview.

 

I use the rubber sucker base for my suitcase satellite dish with water and a sponge to ensure secure attachment to the roof. I remove it in one piece and leave assembled in the boat whilst boating. Mounting it nominally on the centre of the roof, I use the roof curvature to accommodate the slight variation in roof slope to correct the elevation angle of the dish. I can set up the dish a quickly as tuning in a new terrestrial transmitter – even more so when polarity is also changed!

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Teakbank12 Collaborator

Teakbank12

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Sitting here at Limekilns this morning have been pondering over buying a Maplins suitcase Sat kit for a while.

We now have a store in Bedford so may well purchase one when we arrive home.

Our tv aerial is realy annoying & i was going to buy one of those swordfish aerials but i think theyre approx £30! may as well spend extra on the Maplin kit.

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GeoffS Rising Star

GeoffS

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I tried on the boat for the first time yesterday using the clamp to secure it to the front of the boat. After 3 or 4 attempts when I only picked up Astra 19E I finally got a signal on Astra 28E. But I could not get a permanent picture. It was extremely windy and I could see that the dish itself was being moved on the bracket. Maybe this was the reason.The dish just pushes on to the end of the bracket but there is nothing to fix it hard into it. I will try again but after that will have to consider trying to get a refund and find some other option.

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saltysplash Experienced

saltysplash

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I tried on the boat for the first time yesterday using the clamp to secure it to the front of the boat. After 3 or 4 attempts when I only picked up Astra 19E I finally got a signal on Astra 28E. But I could not get a permanent picture. It was extremely windy and I could see that the dish itself was being moved on the bracket. Maybe this was the reason.The dish just pushes on to the end of the bracket but there is nothing to fix it hard into it. I will try again but after that will have to consider trying to get a refund and find some other option.

 

 

I just slot mine into the G clamp without using the brachet and secure it with the wingnut. Its very stable and is much less sensitive than the proper Sky dish I also use. That may have something to do with the Sjy dish being on a higher pole so when the boat rocks, the Sky dish movement arc is greater than the Maplin dish which is just above roof level.

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Bullfrog Rising Star

Bullfrog

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A quick update on our experience with this.

 

I would sometimes find lining up the satellite difficult and would then give up, assuming the surrounding trees, buildings etc were getting in the way.

 

I have just replaced the horrible screw-on connectors on the co-ax cable with proper (gold plated!) plugs, which I have now soldered on to the cable.

 

Everything is now much more solid with the satellite quickly found and locked on to. Much improved performance for only a few quids expenditure.

 

I can only assume many of my previous difficuilties were caused by the poor quality of the supplied connectors.

 

David

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Tony Ross Contributor

Tony Ross

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Just thought i'd add my twopennies worth on this as i'd been contemplating getting one of these dish in a suitcases for ages as i've got fed up with the shocking picture that my omni directional aerial gives.

 

Hot footed it down to Maplins yesterday and was relieved of £79.99. Home and out of the box, I had it up and running within half an hour. Chuffed to bits! I managed to get 90%+ signal intensity and over 75% quality, although being in the south east i'd have been disappointed if i got less. I'm off on the boat next week so will be interested to see how well it works there. The picture quality is a quantum leap over what can be achieved using the aforementioned omni.

 

Just one point on setting the dish up (I've got some experience having previously fitted a motorized unit at home). The most common mistake made when setting a dish up is having it pointed too high in the sky and therefore overshooting the satelite even if it is pointed in the right direction. Remember that the signal coming down from the satelite bounces off the dish at an angle onto the LNB. The further north you are, the lower in the sky the satelite is so do as the manual states and start with the Dish set up vertically and when you have it pointed the right direction then move it up slowly until you get a signal.

 

Again relating to this angle, much is mentioned in the manual about the fact that you need a "clear line of site" ie; no trees, building, etc in the way. This is true but remember that this clear line of site is not from the centre of the dish so just because you are moored up next to a hedge, it is quite possible that the centre of the dish may be pointed at the middle of a hedge but you may still be able to get a signal as this comes over the top of it before bouncing onto the LNB. Obviously, this depends on the height of the obstruction!

 

Hope that's of some help,

 

Tony

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