Thread: Help with Shaw System / 605 rcvr / quad lnb / 60cm dish

Hi all - I am having trouble setting up a Shaw 605 receiver on a 60cm quad lnb dish down in the lower 48 (Arizona). I am using the Super Sat Buddy meter and am pretty confident I have the satellites pegged. My meter is indicating mid to high 70's signal on most all transponders, both satellites and using the ID verify function the meter reports back ID verified. I have pointed at 111 many times for use with the Wildblue system, and have pointed thousands of dishes in my career - but this is my first trying a shaw system. I get nothing at the receiver whatsoever. To rule out interior cable, etc I have a straight jumper from the LNB to the receiver and have verified signal at the receiver using the SSBM. When I hook into the receiver I get nothing, at all... I have plugged channel 299 in, also verified 4128 in the provider ID. What's odd is when I *remove* the sat feed, the point dish screen indicates signal - bouncing from 0 to 95 and everywhere in-between. Why would that be?? I've measured voltage off the port at 13.95 steady. Further, the LNB and dish is brand new - shows very minor LO drift (couple hundred kHz, dB's are in range, etc. ie: The LNB seems fine to me. Also, I've tried different ports at the LNB. The receiver came from the customers house in Canada and was working fine there (I don't know his dish setup there), so it is believed to be a good receiver. Any suggestions??? Does anyone know what transponder ch 299 comes down on so I can use that specific one to point at? What should the voltage measure off the back of the receiver? Is this even the right dish for this receiver? Thanks in advance for any replies!!

Is this even the right dish for this receiver?

Yes it is. The 60e dish is little small for this far south; the 75e works better in this part of the world for minimizing rain fade, but that doesn't explain your problem.

Ensure that the LNB matches the dish; it should say 60e on the ticket on the back of the LNB. The dish should be about 60cm horizontal dimension (24").

Let me clarify.....you have selected channel 299, punched Options 6-4-3-1, and entered 4128 in the provider ID box? If you are pointed to the Shaw satellites, the box should turn from red to green. Do you get a green, or does it stay red?

Since your receiver is (or was) already authorized, you should see a picture on 299 as soon as you hook things up. It's currently showing a buring log in a fireplace (it's a Holidays thing!). On your set up, what do you see?

I can't explain the bouncing signal meter thing. Usually it will show about 20 even if the dish is mispointed. If it shows a flat zero when connected, it usually means a non-existent or shorted connection between the LNB and the receiver. You can use any of the four ports on the quad LNB.

My signal meter, using channel 299, Options 6-4-3-1, currently shows 71 using a 75e dish; it's been higher in the past, but it's been a couple of years since I peaked the dish.

I can't help you with the other technical information.

What part of Arizona are you in? I might be able to help in some other way......

Shaw is currently in the very early stages of issuing a new type of LNB (xku band) in preparation for the launch of a third satellite in 2012.

Examine the photo below: the LNB at the left is the old style; the two at the right are the new. Notice that the eyes on the new style are more oblong. If, for whatever reason, your customer has the old style at home in Canada, and if your dish that you are installing in Arizona has the new style (or vice-versa), you are going to have problems.

I don't think that this is your problem at this point, but I've read of some crazy things happening when the older LNB's are replaced with new ones. It requires a call to Shaw Direct for them to straighten things out on their end before the new style LNB can be substitued for the old.

VortecRacer, I have a spare 60 cm dish and older style lnb here in Mesa. PM me and we can discuss your issue some more.

Originally Posted by joshuals

Shaw is currently in the very early stages of issuing a new type of LNB (xku band) in preparation for the launch of a third satellite in 2012.

Examine the photo below: the LNB at the left is the old style; the two at the right are the new. Notice that the eyes on the new style are more oblong. If, for whatever reason, your customer has the old style at home in Canada, and if your dish that you are installing in Arizona has the new style (or vice-versa), you are going to have problems.

I don't think that this is your problem at this point, but I've read of some crazy things happening when the older LNB's are replaced with new ones. It requires a call to Shaw Direct for them to straighten things out on their end before the new style LNB can be substitued for the old.

I'm having the same problem as the original post. 0 signal strength and it looks like we have the new LNB. A tech support person at Shaw said that 4128 was the wrong number to use (manual out of date I guess?), but didn't give me a new one. She just said that if the cables were connected properly to the LNB then we should be getting at least some small amount of signal, even if the dish is pointed at the ground.

She walked me through a factory reset and had me set the receiver to 285 instead of 299. Still at 0 though and she's out of ideas. Is there something I need to change on the receiver because of this new LNB that the tech support people at shaw are not aware of?

odiv, where are you located?

In BC. Nearest town in the listing is Sidney, so we're using those numbers (azimuth/elevation/skew) for the setup.

Haven't gotten anything other than 0 though.

Thanks for the response. I'm only here until tomorrow morning though, so I might have to suggest they hire a contractor or something unfortunately. Shaw will apparently credit up to $120 on the account to reimburse them if they go that way.

edit: I think we might have a larger dish that the original poster (74 maybe?), if it's relevant.

Thought you were down south like VortecRacer.

If you have the new XKU LNB, do a factory reset on the receiver, then turn it to 252 when it comes back on, if the red light disappears, then your tuned in, and ready to get a hit to activate the receiver. You will always get a red light on 299 and 284 with the new generation of receivers, unless they are preloaded with a xku channel line up.