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PE2BZ
Last reply · posted in Free To Air (FTA) Discussion
Hi,
short introduction, I am Ben, radio amateur from the Netherlands ( Callsign PE2BZ ) and I like to find orbiting satellite signals and identify them with the use of strf tools.
strf tools

For now I have received signals up to 3400 MHz and the beacons from starlink in the KU band.

I am now trying to receive orbiting signals in the KA band, 18 GHz, for amazon / kuiper satellites.

I started with CoPilot about the LNB with model number 3d2LNBR0-02 and the usability to tune into 18 GHz with IF output to an SDR (HackRF and Adalm pluto available) which suggested that for this LNB I had to power it with 21 Volt DC and 22 kHz inserted to switch to the 18 GHz RHCP polarity.

Now, after ordering the LNB from the US of A and checking with copilot again it tells me I need some special command to send to the LNB to have it switch to that frequency which has to be sent from a directtv receiver which I don't have.

Is there any documentation which describes how I would manually be able to set the LNB to my preferred frequency range ?

Thanks for your time,

Ben
10 Replies · 1232 views
Tom Speer
What Titanium is talking about requires a Legacy DirecTV LNB, not a SWM LNB.
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PE2BZ
Thanks all for your replies.

Would there be anyone over here with access to the MXL865 datasheet ? I opened the LNB to see what's inside and there is an MXL865 inside which can move parts of the 5 IF inputs to / or combined in the IF output, the chip has uart and i2c bus too, but trying to register to get more as the 2 pages product sheet is declined because I am not using an business email address ?

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Tom Speer
I don't have access to that datasheet. It probably was a proprietary chip made for DirecTV, I suspect it is the heart of the SWM functionality, which under control of the DirecTV receiver, switches one transponder on a specific frequency, LHCP or RHCP on one of the three feedhorns to a specified SWM channel on the coax. The SWM channel 0 is tuned to Ku Band, 101W TPN 27 that provides the slow program guide to all receivers in low data rate PID/SCID streams in addition to the A/V streams there. Each of the other tuners in each receiver are assigned a SWM channel to use. SWM channel 0 is centered at 974 KHz. I am attaching a SWM frequency chart that I developed 15 years ago.

If a SWM LNB is powered up without being connected to a DirecTV receiver, and therefor receives no commands, it puts out a signal tuned to a transponder on the center (101 Ku) feed horn. It could be on TPN 30 which previously was the guide data channel. This signal can be used with a simple meter to align the dish (here in the US) with a process called "dithering" to get the much sharper Ka feeds from 99.2 and 102.8 W aligned.
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Titanium
A few members on www.satellites.co.uk forum have done a lot of SWM hacking mods. Might be a good resource for your project.
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Former member 209992
Last reply · posted in SatelliteGuys Support Center
For some reason, the satelliteguys.us site is loading a lot slower than usual on both Chrome on my Asus laptop and Safari on my iPhone.
I'm also seeing longer appearances of the blue bar at the top and the "3 blue bars" loading symbol.
Is anyone else also having the same problem? Thanks in advance.
524 Replies · 17827 views
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Foxbat
Yeah. It's probably something going on with the MacBook as my iPhone has been pretty snappy.
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Scott Greczkowski
I have been optimizing the site the past few days... and got us here now. :) We are rocking now!

Screenshot 2026-10-15 144737.webp
Foxbat
Yeah. It's probably something going on with the MacBook as my iPhone has been pretty snappy.
I rebooted my MacBook Air and it's zipping right along. Sorry, but it was taking over 20 seconds to load pages, with the pulsing blue bars so it was munching on something.
Scott Greczkowski
Remember folks... just like DNS... its always Foxbat. :D
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Foxbat
Remember folks... just like DNS... its always Foxbat. :D
WTF… …What the Foxbat!😱
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dishstaller
Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in Internet Television (IPTV) Discussion Forum
Wasn't exactly sure where to post this. Just had a customer come in inquiring about internet. He has HughesNet and had heard good things about mine. He asked if we provided email addresses and it kinda caught me off guard. I said he should be able to keep whatever email he had been using....my sister in law is still using a BellSouth email addy and they haven't been around here for many years. He said he had gotten a letter from HughesNet stating that they had until Nov 16th to save, move, forward, whatever, their Hughesnet emails because they would lose them after that date.

I have never heard of a company simply mass-deleting email accounts (the customer still has his HughesNet service). From what I understand, in the past, the company who was ditching their email service simply sold the customer base to a company like Google.

Anyone else getting this letter. He said he would show it to me tomorrow when I go out there and set up his internet.
4 Replies · 58 views
Foxbat
Doing a Google of the HughesNet Email notice, it seems that HughesNet has been trying to eliminate hosting emails since 2019. And with HughesNet filing Chapter 11 back in August, it would be a smart move to switch to a more stable Email provider. Even AT&T farmed out their Email to Yahoo! years ago.

SpaceX's Starlink and the Cellular 5G Home Internet solutions have pretty much relegated HughesNet and its high latency, low bandwidth Internet service to History. If Earth had shorter days, maybe a Geostationary Internet Solution might have stood a fighting chance…
dishstaller
Well, I helped him set up a gmail acct....I actually wanted to see what the new process is for setting up a gmail acct since it had been years since I set mine up. Anyway, I showed him how to forward the emails he wanted to keep over.
navychop
If Earth had shorter days,

Wouldn't we then die of old age sooner?

🙄
Foxbat
Wouldn't we then die of old age sooner?

🙄
Still the same number of years, just more Sunsets…😉
dishstaller
Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
Can't help but wonder if a worker overlooked checking the harness. I rarely ride a roller coaster anymore but when I do I check the harness myself pretty aggressively.
Can't imagine what the son is going through.

22 Replies · 174 views
Jimbo
Back on the Goliath Roller Coaster ... I'm interested to find more details as well ...
Like where on the track did this happen (somewhere I read that it was on the climb up the top), which is impossible ...

They really need to take that ride and add at the very least, seatbelts ...

The Park is opening back up on Friday, the ride will Not be opening ... personally, I would keep it closed until different type of restraints can be designed and installed (over the winter).

I find it hard to believe that this ride is even allowed to be running with the restraints that exist at the moment, there are other rides that use the same type and they have been shut down across the country.

You got to believe that every ride has at least 2 types of restraint systems in place.

I wonder what and when we will hear from the Manufacturer ... and whatever governing bodies control these ...

Just think, this is a Major Amusement Park .... I would not have any problem getting on the Roller Coasters I have rode ...

Imagine what these County Fairs and others like them, I would not be caught Dead on one of them ... they get put up and tore down every other week, where is the safety for those rides ... No Thank You.
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Jimbo
navychop
I would not be caught Dead on one of them

Yet IF you were on one, you might be caught dead.
dishstaller
Had no idea there were that many redundancies built into those restraints.
Jimbo
Had no idea there were that many redundancies built into those restraints.
It makes sense, however, I would want more types of restraints, so if one doesn't work, the other does ... the restraints coming over the shoulder I would have expected ... with a Seat belt as last resort.

Fwiw, I inquired with what they use on Coasters at Cedar Point, various Coasters, different restraints according to what the car and track requires ...

NONE of the Coasters at CP use THAT particular system :)
I'm glad to see ...
dishstaller
with a Seat belt as last resort.
According to the article, when you see a seat belt on a ride like this, it is basically used as a way of making sure the rider isn't too large/fat to safely ride the ride.
H
Last reply · posted in FTA Receiver / Equipment Support
I just received 6 receiver 2 port mini Multiswitch and it work great, no external power need it, and you can connect 6 receiver instead of 4 on most Mini Multiswitches... If anyone is interested in where they can get one PM me....
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2 Replies · 44 views
Titanium
Have you tested using external power? Over the years, have found unpowered polarity switching to be unreliable. Especially problematic when used with DiSEqC motors or switch stacking.
H
No I have not. I just got it the other day and it is connected to six receivers working just fine. What I do is non power mini multi-switches work best with LNBF's and with LNB's
TWiT Tech Podcast Network
· posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network
0 Replies · 7 views
TheRatPatrol
Last reply · posted in TV Shows
Anyone else watch this show? Any guesses as to what was in the box Gibbs gave to Abby that was on her desk? It look liked it was glowing.

I also heard that someone was leaving the show at the end of this season. Any guesses as to who thats going to be?
2129 Replies · 214621 views
TheRatPatrol
Wait, Tony is the director now? Apologies, I stopped watching a while ago.
  • Wow
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Jimbo
Wait, Tony is the director now? Apologies, I stopped watching a while ago.
Was Gibbs still there when you quit watching ?
If so, A Lot has happened ....

It's been pretty good all along , once you get use to Gibbs being gone.
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Jimbo

Howard ...
You don't like Tony, or Tony as the Director (he's only been there for 30 seconds now) or you don't like NCIS ?
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Howard Simmons
Howard ...
You don't like Tony, or Tony as the Director (he's only been there for 30 seconds now) or you don't like NCIS ?
Tony as the director.🙄
Jimbo
Tony as the director.🙄
Would you rather have LaRoche ???
TWiT Tech Podcast Network
· posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network
0 Replies · 9 views
dishstaller
Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
I bought the fixed color version of these bulbs for my store several years ago...work great and no more replacing ballast. Finally had one go out and when I went back to Amazon I saw that now they come in selectable versions so no more guess work as to what color light would do best in a certain area. They are now double OR single ended...used to be strictly one way or the other. If any of you are looking at replacing the old style 4 or 8 ft bulbs, you might want to give these a try. The 8 footers are BRIGHT. I put 5 in my shooting/target shed and you can get a decent tan if you are in there long enough.

1 Replies · 27 views
Foxbat
When we re-lamped my in-Laws' house for sale last year, we were able to get all the Edison bulbs and a few fixtures with switch-selectable Color Temperature. We tried a few and settled on 3000°K as the best fit for the house. Matching the lighting in all the rooms made for an inviting experience. The Shop was the only place that we went with 4000°K for the LED 4' fixtures.

The house was sold within a month of going on the market, so we must have done something right.

The other advantage is if the new owners decide that they prefer a warmer light, they can unscrew the bulbs (I think it was close to 70 bulbs) and set them to the 2500K/2700K settings.

I'll have to check these out. Thanks!
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