BIRDOG and SATMEX5 HUGHESNET

[BajaMike]

Have a Birdog 2.50 meter that I've used for Dish & DTV installs and am trying to tweak my Hughesnet for a better signal (gets 66 max now & is very subject to rainfade). When I connect a line from the LNB to the meter & select SATMEX5, I don't get a "Found" indication - but my HN6000 is locked on?

Updated the meter on the Birdog site, no change. Manuals are, of course, no help at all. System is commissioned on this sat.

What am I doing wrong? Should I be using a jumper from the LNB to the meter "in" port and then connecting modem receiver line to the "out" port or just using the "in"? Does modem need to be powered on to supply power to the LNB?

Any suggestions welcome!
BajaMike

[bajadudes]

Did you try both KV and KH? you only need to connect to the input from the LNB. No need for the modem. That said you should be able to max out sig and ACP just by looking at the PC screen.

[shammer]

sm5 is horizontal up and dn (for current installs) you should just have to select kh and tune it right in . I hate birdogs , what ever that satellite we were hitting in oct. my dog would'nt lock on it at all. opi never fails me.... much.

[HCI]

sm5 is horizontal up and dn (for current installs) you should just have to select kh and tune it right in . I hate birdogs , what ever that satellite we were hitting in oct. my dog would'nt lock on it at all. opi never fails me.... much.

How is the SVT working out for you?

[BajaMike]

Swapped out the LNB, all is good now. Apparently the LNB was failing and was the source of my intermittent connection issue as well as the bad read on the Birdog.

It's tough to maintain all of my dishes in this environment, I live right on the coast and the salt air eats the crap out of everything! Have not found any protective coating that the salt air won't eat through.

[prop]

hey mike `im south of you on the coast in oaxaca.i`m thinking of getting hughesnet.my friend is bringing a couple of systems down.i have a birdog also and i know what you mean living on the beach,stuff just rusts away,but it`s a good trade off for beach life.anyway i guess satmex 5 is the bird for hughes ?if there are any pointers you can give i would greatly appreciate it.buy the way how long did your lnb last?thanks for any help

[MikeinBaja]

hey mike `im south of you on the coast in oaxaca.i`m thinking of getting hughesnet.my friend is bringing a couple of systems down.i have a birdog also and i know what you mean living on the beach,stuff just rusts away,but it`s a good trade off for beach life.anyway i guess satmex 5 is the bird for hughes ?if there are any pointers you can give i would greatly appreciate it.buy the way how long did your lnb last?thanks for any help

Prop,

My LNB lasted a little over 5 years before the salt air finally did it in. I do hose it all off once or twice a month - not sure if that helps or not, but it's the only thing I can think of to do.

I do put a generous application of automotive axel/bearing grease on all of the adjustment bolts, the coating does help prevent them from rusting completely tight and it only takes a few minutes to wipe it off if you want to work on it. I tried a high quality silicone spray on the hardware and that didn't really work at all.

For your connections find some old weather boots like the cable companies used years ago. They are like little connection condoms that you place on the cable before attacting the fitting then slide up to cover, and I fill them with high quality electronic grade silicone - helps keep the salt air out of the connections.

Yea, beach is worth it - but fighting the salt air is a constant battle (which you will never truely win!).

[Stargazer]

Couldn't one just put a plastic tarp over it or some type of dish cover? Signals go through plastic. Couldn't one get some type of liquid plastic or something to spray on the bolts?

[grohgreg]

If they'll help anybody out, I've got two CHINON (rectangular) feedhorns gathering dust in my basement. Both used, but neither is dry-rotted yet. Think there's a spare LNB left too. And for the SatMex folks, I have a 2 degree DirecTV LNB too. When used in conjunction with the CHINON feedhorn, it receives DirecTV from 119W. They used to call it the DWUK-A kit.

Also - consider replacing the cheap OE steel fasteners with nylon and stainless steel. I use nylon for minimum load locations, stainless for load/weight bearing locations. They cost a bit more up front, but may save money in the long run by eliminating cleaning/preserving time and replacement costs.

And before torquing the F-connectors in place, I apply a liberal glob of silicone grease to the conductor and inside threads.Then I seal the connector body to the cable jacket with heat shrink. This includes the connectors at the cable block too. Leave the hex head exposed so you can still get a wrench on it. But heat shrink from the hex head back - to include at least 1/2" of cable. Matter of fact, I heat shrink the ground lugs to the copper wire too. After all that, it's typically only the exposed male threads that attract rust. But it's of no consequence there.

//greg//