Newsfeeds on the 1.2m. Not what they used to be.

[Panavision]

I've been having trouble keeping a consistent lock on DVB-S2 8PSK 5/6 Ku on my 1.2m Andrew. My quality hovers right around 70% on my Micro and this is just enough to keep the audio going, but the video breaks up every few seconds. This never seemed to be a problem with DVB-S MPEG-2 in the past. Is S2/8PSK/MPEG4 really that much harder to pull in? I thought a good 1.2m would be sufficient. Have others been let down by how their systems deal with this higher-order modulation?

[primestar31]

It's the 5/6 fec that's probably affecting you most. You MUST completely re-tweak your dish, and lnb to make sure you are getting every single bit of quality you can get. This might mean eliminating couplers and switches, or changing them out for ones with less loss, or even better quality cable. Even 1 db of signal is 26%, and could be the difference between getting it or not. You need to try for 74-75% if at all possible. My DiSEQc switch is rated for only 1.5db loss, and MOST of them are rated at 3db loss! 3db is 1/2 your signal.

[Panavision]

Yeah, it really is those darn 5/6 feeds because 3/4 are fine at 70%. I experimented by removing the switches and didn't see any change. I'm running only 50 ft. of RG11 to my motor. I wonder if it has anything to do with my Channel Master feed horn. I got a 10% boost in quality on G16 by moving the feed horn closer to the dish by about 3/4 inch. I'm in MN, am I on the fringe of many footprints?

[primestar31]

I don't know, I have no need to check sat footprints out as far as Minnesota. Use this site to figure it out:
http://satbeams.com/

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Also use Lyngsat to check the "EIRP" power level for your location. The higher the number, the easier to receive that transponder. You have to check each individual satellite you actually want to receive for this.

By the way, I think a good 3 ghz swept quad-shield RG-6 cable is actually better then some RG-11 cable. I've exclusively used quad shield RG-6 for over 10 years, and it works well for me. I use Thomas & Betts connectors, and never use just plain crimped connectors.

[skyscanner4ever]

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Well I am locked in with my 1.2 meter dish and I am getting 70-78 quality on all sats from 72 to 125 with some up to 83-85 quality on my micro hd. I have to say I pull in tons of news feeds, more at certain times of the day. Heck my entire channel list right now in just a month of scanning is over 1400 and if you take away the 200 channels from G 25 and the other 50 or so from all the other sats then I have scanned in around 1150 or so feeds so far in just a month, well its been a month since I deleted my channel list. So I would say there is still tons of new feeds, in fact I can honestly say usually during the day up until around 7 or so in the evening it is nothing to scan in 5-10 new feeds every time I scan G 17 at 91* or the 99* bird. some such as the SES2 at 87* or the amc 9 at 83* dont have many news feeds, but sats 89,91,and 99 have tons of news on them so I would try to align your dish a little better.

[Panavision]

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Yep, sounds like an alignment is in order!