Flat panel dishes

Hagar

I recently came across these flat panel dishes. > Selfsat <
They are used here in France by people who are not allowed have dishes due to restrictions by building management companies. They cost a bit more than a standard dish but it's better than having no satellite at all.
They also do a model which can pick up both Hotbird and Astra.

wil

I watched the installation video, you owe me 10 minutes of my life. (Hence "Costomer service" i guess) It was the only place to actually see a proper picture of it. By the end I was really hoping it involved throwing the brick at the satellite in order to capture all.... Did he actually bolt it to the double glazing? :eek:
But seriously I fail to see how bolting a white brick to the side of your house is any different (other than not specifically being stated in the management contract) to bolting a small dish to your house.
In fact the Sky minidish is not much different in area, and my (cough, spit, splutter) Aldi 35cm dish is smaller. (Mentioning anything other than bog standard dishes is sailing close to the wind around here.)
Hagar why dont you encourage quelques-unes de notre amis français to take a test case to Brussels under Freedom of Services, that would sort it out once and for all.
I must revisit your thread on signal strengths

Hagar

wil wrote:

IBut seriously I fail to see how bolting a white brick to the side of your house is any different (other than not specifically being stated in the management contract) to bolting a small dish to your house.

That's the key bit, technically it's not a dish so it's not forbidden.
Other than that I'd say it performs about the same but is more expensive

watty

Unfortunately unless you are in the South east these don't give enough signal nationwide except for Astra 2d (BBC/ITV/RTE).

I have a nice 44cm turkish one about 30 Euro (+ carriage from Turkey!). Maplin has similar model about 60 Euro.

There are three main kinds of design:

• PCB array. Thinest but poorest gain. Integrated LNB can't be changed.
  
• Honeycomb multiple horn. Heavy and expensive. Integrated LNB can't be changed.
  
• Dish with a secondary reflector to make it flatter and have LNB at rear (no arm), all fitted in square front thin plastic box. Light, cheapest, interchangable LNB. Deeper than other two. Best Gain for front area

wil

Hagar
Saw these flat dishes on sale here in Ireland in DIDElectrical suppllied by Osmosis Ireland. They just have the kit Selfsat DIY500H (dish + receiver). On the box it claims to be as good as a 60cm dish. A bit expensive at €299, how much are they there?

Hagar

MY local Sat store sells them at €189 retail AFAIR. I don't know what postage would work out at but if you're interested PM me and I'll do whatever I can for you.

byte

Came across it here today too.

Can't imagine it is as good as a 60cm dish, though I'd like to try one out. Expensive though..

wil

Thanks Hagar but other than for curiosity I dont need one at the moment.
Reasonably compact, all comes in a cardboard box little bigger than used to ship a DVD player.
If 189 is the price for the kit as opposed to the dish alone then that confirms as much as I reckoned there would be some huge markup on them. Vive le Rip off republic:mad:

rlogue

I spotted something similar at a Carrefour hypermarket in France. The antenna was advertised as a HD antenna for Canal Satellite on Astra, but only for vertically polarised transmissions, so not of a lot of use then.

Ulsterman 1690

If one had two couldnt the second one be mounted at a 90 deg angle for the horizontal stuff

Although probably more hasstle than its worth

Hagar

The LNB is only .7db pretty poor really.
The SelfSat one is definitely both horizontal & vertical, I've used one.

remlap

rlogue wrote:

I spotted something similar at a Carrefour hypermarket in France. The antenna was advertised as a HD antenna for Canal Satellite on Astra, but only for vertically polarised transmissions, so not of a lot of use then.

That a very interesting point, I've never noticed till now but all the Canal Satellite package is indeed vertically polarised, including the HD stations.

St Senan

I have set up a few of the selfsat kit's here around Co Wexford works like a zone 1 sky dish. But as watty pointed out i would be afraid to try them further west or north west

amir

Hi,

Did anyone try to use self-sat panel with Hotbird? I am located in Dublin and am thinking about getting one.

pelisor2000

wil wrote: »

Hagar
Saw these flat dishes on sale here in Ireland in DIDElectrical suppllied by Osmosis Ireland. They just have the kit Selfsat DIY500H (dish + receiver). On the box it claims to be as good as a 60cm dish. A bit expensive at €299, how much are they there?

sky dish are much better...i install flat dishes.. on sirius -16% on the meter and 65% on the receiver and is not problem for 28,19.13....not very good for 16!

watty

They are about the same or less gain than a Sky Zone1 45cm dish. Total rubbish to claim same performance as 65cm

Only good for Sky in South East. Rubbish anywhere else on Sky in heavy rain. Sky is strongest signal here, though some transponders on 19E and 13E are strong enough for 65cm here.

hugoline

I can't comment on the Self-Sat dish but I have an Attisat FL500 myself (http://www.attisat.gr/engl_lang_ver/engl_fl500_tecnica.asp) which is a 'traditional' square flat antenna setup in Dublin.
The FL500 is 53x53cm and roughly compares to a Sky zone 2 minidish.

I can get most of the transponders of the Hotbirds, a few start pixelating during heavy rain showers (happens once a year and affects mainly the 24/7 selling channels).

You might be able to pick up a few transponders with the Self-Sat dish, but more than likely not reliably and definitely not in the rain (I wouldn't invest my money in this one).

watty

No. its significantly less gain than a Zone 2. OK for Sky in Dublin.
Not so OK in Limerick / Galway/Donegal, other than 2D beam

It's much better than the 44cm square flat panels

blue bandit

Do you live in Gorey? I am having difficulty tuning in my selfsat could you help me out please.