Searching for Arabsat.
This is me looking for Arabsat 3A at the beginning of August 2004. On a beautiful evening I decided to have another go at this difficult satellite - I hadnt had any reception since September 2001. I think my original satellite dish was damaged when it was blown over in a storm, and twisted enough to kill any chance of getting weak signals. With more dishes joining the collection, some of which are in better condition than the oldest one, I decided to "have another go."
The tv and two satellite receivers are sitting on a "Workmate" portable bench, and as you can see Im retuning the receiver. A few seconds later I was watching "ERi.TV" Eritrea! Also in the picture is the Hotbird dish (the one above the fence) and the 5E / 7E dish. Just about out of shot is the Astra 1 dish. The peanut feeder which appears to be hovering top right is hanging on the washing line.... If you are wonder what the beer is - it's a pint of Banks's Mild from my hometown local brewery in Wolverhampton :-)
You might find it hard to believe, but that dish is exactly the same one as this sad example below. This battered 80cm dish was given to me a few weeks ago, and as you can see had been vandalized badly. I think some kids had stood on it! This was the the state it was in *after* I had spent 10 minutes getting the worst of the twists and dents out of it.
I thought it was beyond saving as it was way out of alignment, but an hour with a 2lb hammer and a large set of molegrips (hardly the thing you would think of for precision engineering!) and I had a repaired dish. Its now one of the straightest in the collection..... And brings in Arabsat 3A at 55% quality, which is quite sufficient for reception unless its raining hard. :-)
20 minutes spent tuning the digital receiver, and I had all the Arabsat 3A transponder that carry fta services and have a symbol rate of 27500 fec 3/4, and the solitary transponder with a symbol rate of 18500 fec 3/4. I couldnt get a lock on the Saudi Arabian transponder that has a symbol rate of 7500 fec 7/8
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