AMC-1 C-band program switching/ receiving problem

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normsuss

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Oct 5, 2009
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Coolsat 4000pro. Scanned AMC-1 (W-1). PBS, Deutsche Welle, California Station will come in with a strong signal, but sometimes I will get no signal at all. Other channels on that satellite like ION will come in only when those first three have no signal. When those first three have signal, Ion and others have no signal. The DiSeqc setting is the same for all the programs. I can't figure out what is happening. They are all the same polarity. If I get some, shouldn't I get all the programs at once? Has anyone had a similar experience. Does anyone know what could be causing this?
 
Coolsat 4000pro. Scanned AMC-1 (W-1). PBS, Deutsche Welle, California Station will come in with a strong signal... ... When those first three have signal, Ion and others have no signal. ... ... They are all the same polarity. If I get some, shouldn't I get all the programs at once?...

?? "PBS, Deutsche Welle, California Station" are all vertical. "ION" is horizontal. Ie, not all the same polarity. Or am I missing something (just going by Lyngsat, not on that sat right now.)
 
Thank's for the feedback

?? "PBS, Deutsche Welle, California Station" are all vertical. "ION" is horizontal. Ie, not all the same polarity. Or am I missing something (just going by Lyngsat, not on that sat right now.)

I think you hit on part of the problem. I re-scanned AMC-1, and all of those programs are now listed at their proper polarity on my Coolsat 4000 pro (per Lyngsat). But, still only some of the programs are visible. Although the polarity of the others (the invisible ones) is correctly listed, when I click on them in the list they are displayed at the wrong polarity, so there is no visible signal from them. Then, spontaneously, the other ones are visible, and the ones that were visible are gone. The only thing I can think of now, is that there may be a glitch in the 4DTV firmware for that satellite that doesn't change the LNB to the proper polarity (I'm using that to turn to the proper satellite). I wish I knew what to do to fix this problem :confused:. I have no problem on other satellites.
 
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Is your 4DTV turned off by chance? IRDs like the 4DTV, if they have a VCII installed, will tend to cycle through channels looking for an active VCII channel, changing polarity, when you turn them off via the remote (they're still on relative to LNB power, etc, just the display goes off). Only other thing I can think of is that some IRDs have a setting which will turn off the polarotor control after a few seconds, as most polarotor motors will stay where they are set, however I think older polarotor motors needed constant control. With my old IRDs, I always set it to turn off the polarotor to save wear and tear on it. The IRD I have now doesn't seem to have that setting, or at least I haven't found it yet. Not sure if the 4DTV gives you that option or not. But if it is sending polarity control signals all the time, it might have a tendency to drift around. I know that with my current IRD, I was up on the ladder near the feedhorn once, and I could hear the polarotor moving around quite a bit, which I later found out was because I had some un-shielded wiring that was shorting out when it got windy. It wasn't unshielded originally, but the electical tape I had wrapped around it 14 years ago fell off.
 
You may have hit upon the problem

The 4DTV is an older model (DSR 920), and it's off when I am using the Coolsat. The way I have the two connected mandates that the 4DTV must be off when I am using the Coolsat or I will get a blank screen. I will revise the connections between the two so I can leave both on at the same time; while getting reception on the Coolsat. Thanks again for the good advice. :)

I hope that will do the trick. The only reservation I have is that currently everything works as it should on all the other satellites. In any case, changing the connections will make it easier for me all around, as I won't have to turn the 4DTV off when watching the Coolsat programming.
 
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