Thread: Can't get mpeg 4 on a new HD receiver

It looks like greg harris is probably right on this. The thumb nails that he is showing are just what it looks like.

All of these channels come in so well with my SatHawk PVR800. In reading on these forums I was under the impression that Pansat is suppose to be one of the best available. This Pansat will not pull in the stations as well as the least expensive SatHawk HD box. Not that I get all of them on the satellite but I do get about 38 of them on 4080 and 3800. I also get many of the same ones on the Ku side of it with the duel LNBF.

I will probably put in a additional larger dish next summer. To get more stations than what I now get with the Sathawk on that satellite would only be repetition of the same programming in most cases. Most of you are probably like I am on this. I want to get it all even if I do not want to watch it. Then there is always that chance that I might find something really good that I do not know about or expect to find.

I want to thank everyone for all of the good information.

see what pansat has to say about it!Both my solomend and azbox have no proplem with getting the mpeg4.Others here using the new manhattan also have no problem with them.I would think that the new pansat should do at least as well so maybe its a firmware issue or its defective.Note!! Check out hypermegasat! some there have the new receiver and have tested it with good results on Mpeg4!see if any of them have used it with a 6 footer.

Originally Posted by user of fta

All of these channels come in so well with my SatHawk PVR800. In reading on these forums I was under the impression that Pansat is suppose to be one of the best available. This Pansat will not pull in the stations as well as the least expensive SatHawk HD box. Not that I get all of them on the satellite but I do get about 38 of them on 4080 and 3800. I also get many of the same ones on the Ku side of it with the duel LNBF.

You can probably get the same channels using the Pansat as you get with the Sathawk. The Pansat needs a tad bit more of a 70Q signal in order to watch these channels. Your 6ft. dish is considered marginal by many for these channels. Slight changes in the weather or the atmosphere could mean the difference of you getting these channels or not.

The PVR800 is barely getting these channels too. It is scanning about half of what is available on these two transponders. You either get these channels clearly or you do not get them. There is no in-between.

Try moving the dish. A fraction of an inch will make a difference. Same with the LNB. Moving the LNB a fraction of an inch will make a difference. Move only one thing at a time and see what effect it has. Mark everything before moving Anything so you can put it back where you had it originally if needed.

Firmware updates should not matter. The last firmware for the 9500HDX is #339 and it is available for downloading at Panarex. You may want to try this firmware if it is not in your receiver already.

Change receivers. Put the PVR800 in place of the Pansat and verify that the PVR800 is still receiving these channels. You may be surprised at what you find when you do this.

There are not any ku transponders that have these channels on the SES2 satellite at 87 West. I do not understand how you are getting these c band channels on the ku transponders. It sounds like you have something set wrong. GregH

The rest of the story

I had contacted Pansat about this receiver at about the same time that GOsatellite (who I bought if from), referred me to them. We exchanged a few email messages about the problem. They decided, in their words, that it "seems your Pansat receiver has some tuning problems". They asked me to send it to them for warranty repairs and I did just that.

A few weeks went by and I heard nothing from them. Since we had covered about everything before I sent it in there should be no reason for them to contact me. Then after about three weeks UPS delivered it one day. I hooked it up in place of my SatHawk again. I was fearful that it would not do any better than it had in the first place. To my surprise it not only pulls in the signal very well it now seems to far exceed the SatHawk. In my opinion the SatHawk does just fine in any weather conditions.

Off of the 6 foot C-Band dish I normally have a signal strength and quality of 80/70 from 87 W with the SatHawk. With the Pansat I am now getting a steady 80/85 with all other equipment and conditions remaining the same. The previous problem before I sent it in was that the signal was very week and it would not lock onto most channels because of this weak signal.


I realize that different brands or even different models of receivers do not necessarily have the same signal strength scale. Considering the Pansat’s reception both before and after warranty repairs I am very pleased with the end results. I am also very pleased with the customer service departments of both Gosatellite and the Pansat people in California.

As far as what they actually did to repair it I do not know. Their notes on the repair sheet were just that, notes. They did not make any sense other than they had checked a box on the sheet labeled “power surge or lightening damage”. I know that there were no power surges or lightening damage during the brief time that I had it hooked up.