3 boxes...3 different channel lists

[Mr Tony]

Boy this is weird. In the process of hooking up a FTA box in computer room and I just went through 3 of them before I got one that gets everything

setup is C-Band dish with LNB for G4 and one for AMC1 and 90cm dish at G10. Both lines from G4 run into 4x4 multiswitch. G10 runs into 13v side and AMC1 is 18v (AMC1 will only get H polarity on this old LNB that manually is skewed). Total cable run is about 75 feet for the C-Band and 105 feet for G10

Hooked up Pansat 2100 and can get
-G4 stuff (nets & WHN)
-G10 all TP's BUT 11720
-nothing on AMC1 (there are 4 TP's there)

Unhooked and hooked up Viacast 2000 and get
-G4 stuff
-G10 stuff including 11720 but 11720 has low signal so its pixelated
-AMC1 but signals are low so I get pixelating

Hooked up Fortec Ultra and can get everything and the quality is higher than the other boxes. Threshold is 40 on Fortec and the AMC1 stuff is at 50. Rest is high enough.

Is the tuner in the Fortec really that much stronger that it can get everything??

 

[Anole]

now you know...

Now you know what the rest of us have to put up with.

I'd like to hear how your Coolsat 5000 does for those signals.
It and a Pansat 3500 sd would be on the top of my list if I were spending money on a blind-scanner tomorrow.

Oh, and do check out your Satpros 500, too!

I've often wondered the same about various DVB cards, but never could track down any info.
They all just seemed about equal - or at least close enough to not matter much.

 

[Mr Tony]

The Coolsat 5000 can pick them all up with no issues. Havent tried the Satpros yet...hang tight

 

[Mr Tony]

Satpros works fine for all TP's

 

[Anole]

well, I'll be #$%'d !
ain't that a kick in the teeth?
the $25 wonder really stands up to the competition.

What's the common denominator? Newer designs with newer front ends?
Ya'd really think anything the LNB could cram down the cable should be handled equally well by all the boxes...

Oh, you might check the bad transponders..
... are they all at relatively higher IF frequencies???
Cable loss? Front-end roll-off??

 

[Mr Tony]

The Pansat 2100 not getting the AMC1 is very possible due to the way I have to setup the LNB to work with a 22k. You cant turn the 22k on & off so I have to set the LNB for Universal and change both LO's to 5150 which the reciever cant distinguish between the low band and the high band.

I know the Viacast reads low but the Fortec & Satpros works fine on the low signal of AMC1 (due to being offset).

 

[Inno]

Have you gone back and hooked up the other receivers you started with just to see if there was possibly some environmental issue?

 

[Mr Tony]

yep. Swapped the boxes numerous times and same results

 

[Inno]

Wonder if the ViaCast and the Pansat 2100 use some sort of attenuation or protection on the RF input. Theoretically they should all be the same, very strange. Although in the "REALLY good ole' days" of TV, some TVs were more sensitive than others when picking up signals OTA when that's all there was, same for FM radios. Perhaps there is a sensitivity setting that was set incorrectly at the factory. I'm not sure about digital satellite but there is such a thing as getting too much signal and that can cause problems with OTA stuff which is why attenuation is used. But again, not sure if that applies to satellite.........I don't think I've ever had too much signal!

 

[Hermitman]

Just looking at the specs for the Fortec, the signal level is -25 to -65 dBm. On some of the older receivers, the signal level was only -20 to -60 dBm. It could be a more sensitive IC chip in the newer models. Just for experimenting, I'd try and take the switch out of the system. The older units may have a weaker power supply and the current draw is bringing down the signal output, especially if you're using an old LNB like a Primestar. Have fun.

 

[Mr Tony]

not old LNB's

99 C-Band is a Geosatpro dual 17K
103 C-Band is a old LNB 25K (have to manually skew it)
123 is a Sadoun .4 dual

The other bvoxes work fine along with the CS8000, SatPros and the Pansat 1500. The Pansat 2100 I know why it cant get AMC1 but its weird I cant get G10

 

[Mr Tony]

The reason I can't get AMC1 on the Pansat 2100 is because you can't turn the 22k on manually. You have to automatically turn it on. KU is easy to change (just make it 10750 for both) and as long as the frequency is above 11700 the 22k turns on. C-Band wont let me do that since there is only one band.