Thread: New to FTA, looking for some pointers

Hey guys,
I figure I could use some Monday morning humor.. So far, I would like to believe that I am extremely successful with how much progress I have made in setting up my 6' dish, despite the cold temps in my area. I own a polar mount dish, that I am temporarly setting up to to be stationary for the first go around (still gotta buy the actuator controller).
What I am trying to do is receive signal from AMC-11 at 131, the closest thing I am able to receive is Galaxy 15 at 133's TP 3720 H. So I figured to have the dish and LNB tweaked to peak, I made some adjustments, and then head back over to AMC-11 but to no avail, I do not receive it. So for laughs and giggles, I jumped back over to Galaxy 15 and did a blind scan, and I receive TP 3720 both as H and V, and pretty strong too! I do not receive any other TP's from that satellite either, so I am left a little confused on what I should do.
Thanks for any humor!

to SatelliteGuys!

Logging the same transponder in Horizontal or Vertical could be the result of the type of equipment that you are using or the LNB(f) adjustment is incorrect.

You have a great group of Satellite Guys who will provide a ton of assistance if we know what equipment makes up your system. Brands and models would be great!

A lot of the channels on AMC11 C-Band are Digicipher channels, not DVB channels. Are you trying to tune in a DVB signal, or are you possibly trying to tune in a Digicipher channels? DVB receivers can't tune Digicipher signals. (Just something to check..)

My dish is Sadoun's 6' Polar Mount dish, I also use their DMX741 LNB which has capabilities for C and Ku, however for now, I am only using the C-band jack on it. My receiver is a Pansat 2500, with a newer (but not the newest) firmware, and I also have an old analog receiver that I wonder if it still works. My goal is to try and receive QVC in digital and C-SPAN in analog (if possible), then hopefully next week I could put some movement into dish by taking advantage of the actuator!
Thanks!

You don't mention how your receiver(s) are connected. Ie you mentioned a desire to receive analog channels. If, by chance, you have both receivers connected via a splitter, and are not using a DC-block, then the analog receiver will keep the LNB voltage at 18V, which will keep your lnbf in horizontal polarity, which will mean that your digital receiver will be scanning horizontal twice, since it can't drop the voltage to scan vertical channels.

If you just have the digital receiver connected, then I don't know.

Originally Posted by B.J.

You don't mention how your receiver(s) are connected. Ie you mentioned a desire to receive analog channels. If, by chance, you have both receivers connected via a splitter, and are not using a DC-block, then the analog receiver will keep the LNB voltage at 18V, which will keep your lnbf in horizontal polarity, which will mean that your digital receiver will be scanning horizontal twice, since it can't drop the voltage to scan vertical channels.

If you just have the digital receiver connected, then I don't know.

I have not connected the analog receiver, it will be connected using the IF out port on the pansat. when i want to watch something in H polarity, i will tune to a station on the pansat that is using H, same with V.

I wonder if my situation is coming from the skew on the lnb or the FD I currently have it set at..

Ok Well let me give this a shot....I'm not familiar with your receiver but if you know how to manually enter a TP (transponder) then lets try this. On 133w try 3817 H 3000 this is Classic Arts channel. Manually enter the transponder. Then scan that transponder or do another blind scan. Usually a good signal here in Ohio. Thats about it for 133w. If you get that one then try moving the dish to the east a very small amount---less than 1/4" probably, and raise the elevation about 2 degrees. If you have an inclinometer that will help with the elevation measurement. Then manually enter 3928 V 14320 as a TP on 131W. Scan that Transponder and hopefully that will get you QVC. QVC comes in strong here in Ohio as well. I had the same dish as a fixed dish until this past fall and I motorized it. For future reference....It took some effort to get it perfectly on the arc. My true south is roughly 87W. I was on 87W but moving the dish one way or the other on the pole 1/8" made a world of difference getting the upper sats. Best of luck and when you get the accuator on it and run into problems let us know. Blind
Welcome to Satellite Guys!

Hey Blind, Thanks for your suggestion, however I seem to still have little luck. I did notice through some LNB turning, I was able to receive the transponder for the Classic Arts Channel, and also I still receive the noted transponder in my first post. I do notice if I have the LNB connected to the receiver the current way, the TP on Galaxy 15 3720 will show up as H and V, however if i use the other port, it will only use the H, so I am not clear which way is accurately correct for this particular LNB.

I attempted to move the dish to receive the QVC feed on AMC11 and ended up moving way too far and picking up LCN on Galaxy 13 (TP 4076 H). I also picked up less than a handfull of TP's too.

Maybe if there was a strong TP on AMC11 I could use for alignment, that insight *may* help, but still, all in all, when i am aligned with a satellite, i only receive a few TP's.

I seem to be shooting in the dark here unfortunatly, so i figured taking a few pics of my setup to give a better idea of whats going.

If anything helps as far as alignment is concerned, im near Philly, PA.

Thanks for all the help!

Alright, an interesting method which i read and figured i would try is using the analog receiver to align the dish. Since CSPAN is on that satellite, i was able to align it in such a way that I am able to receive that channel, although, its i would say its quality is around (roughly) 80% with some snow in the picture. are there any tips on cleaning up the signal some more so the channel is 100% and receive all the digital transponders as well ?