AMC 124.9 W KU Band

[farwest5050]

I am trying to lock AMC 124.9 W KU where there are some PBS channels but I can't. Can I get some help, please?

 

[MikeI]

is the dish on a pole? Is there a motor? can you get velocity at 121 or canal 4 at 117 on nearby sats? How about the western sats like g17? If it's on a motor, I'd say it's an alignment problem with elevation or the pole isn't plumb. if it's a stationary dish then do you have a sat meter?

 

[KE4EST]

I am trying to lock AMC 124.9 W KU where there are some PBS channels but I can't. Can I get some help, please?

You are going to have to provide way more info than that.
What size dish? What kind of dish? What LNB(F)?
What receiver? Is the receiver capable of DVB-S2?
Are you getting other satellites?
etc....

 

[farwest5050]

Thank you for reply...My dish is a 6' C band installed on its original assembly, everything secure. I can even lock the G14 125 W C band perfectly that is closer to AMC 124.9 I don't have any motor installed so I locate the birds manually watching the TV screen. I don't think I have wrong elevation because I can lock satellites in all the west arch.

 

[farwest5050]

OK, my receiver is a Geosat Pro HD, DVB-S2 capable and the LNBF is dual band ( KU/C)

 

[KE4EST]

Using a combo C/Ku LNBF on a 4-6 foot dish can get tricky. What kind of reflector doe the dish have? If mesh, the holes in some mesh is too large, and the Ku signal will mostly pass through instead of reflecting back.
If the reflector is Ku compliant, you may find you will have to move the LNBF out or in farther than you do with C band. Those C/Ku LNBF's are a compromise and only work well on a hand full of dishes.
Your best bet is to find an offset dish 90 to 120 cm that is designed for Ku.

 

[farwest5050]

The reflector is solid...no holes. I can get both, KU and C bands at other satellites with my system...the problem is only in the mentioned satellite(AMC 21 124.9 W)

 

[Jason S]

For 125W-Ku here, it's a dedicated 1.2m offset and Ku LNBF fixed to 125W. Great reception except for brief outages during a very heavy thunderstorm.

Here's a post on a 6' Fortecstar that may also be pertinent: http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/posts/3704947/ As discussed in the post, Fred555 used a Ku LNB on a Corotor II. There is also some discussion about a prime focus Ku LNBF that may be useful (e.g., offset LNBF addition to current LNBF).

Some more on combo C/Ku LNBF issues: http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/posts/3726984/
Interesting discussion on the entire thread. From the Titanium post linked above, maybe the most relevant thought for a C/Ku combo LNBF: "The best explanation that I can give is that the KU LNBF will catch whatever falls out the backend of the C-band LNBF cavity..."

 

[dsmith0429]

I had a similar problem with 124.9°W Ku. I was getting everything available from 58.0°W to 123.0°W no problems, but 124.9°W I was only getting Montana PBS.

I changed my elevation very slightly and now I get all that's available there as well. Was probably only a degree or less movement, but made all the difference and also boosted the signal quality of the other satellites I was already getting.

It's a very tricky thing to find that sweet spot to get the most out of a dish setup. I myself was actually surprised at how small the change in elevation provided such a big improvement.

May not work as good for every dish out there because they all have their own personality it seems, as well as the LNBFs, some work better on some dishes but not so well on others.

Finding that right combination takes a lot of patience and time. 124.9°W Ku is still my weakest satellite, but at least it does work now.

I could probably get more below 58.0°W if it wasn't for the neighboring palm tree farm. I am able to pick up transponders all the way down below 30.0°W, but too week to pull in any channels. I would probably have to have my dish a half mile away to have a clearing facing more to the East. Or place a dish on top of a telephone pole. But overall all I'm satisfied with my setup.

 

[stecle]

This satellite has a very strong Ku signal for me. On my Manhattan I get PBS Montana at levels around 55%-60% where most of the other Ku satellites I usually get around 30%. Does this satellite have power levels that are significantly higher than others?

 

[Shicks4]

125w (149.9w) appears to be a finicky bird in relation to c/ku feeds in my limited experience. It also dont like reflectors much smaller then 90cm ive noticed. Here a month or so back it appears that Montana PBS got a significant signal boost. I am not sure if its still transmitting with the boosted power but when it was first announced here with boosted power i was currently goofing around with a modified Dish Network dish 500. Before the power boost i received nothing from this location with the dish 500 and after i received the Montana PBS. The only thing i can pick up that satellite with is a 90cm, 1m and 1.2m dish, even my 10' unimesh dont like that satellite (regardless of the many saturday afternoons i spent tweeking and turning) with a corotor 2 where i receive all other ku signals from other satellites. So i think there are a lot of factors involved in being able to reliably receive signals from this particular satellite. Just my 2 cents........

 

[farwest5050]

I had a similar problem with 124.9°W Ku. I was getting everything available from 58.0°W to 123.0°W no problems, but 124.9°W I was only getting Montana PBS.

I changed my elevation very slightly and now I get all that's available there as well. Was probably only a degree or less movement, but made all the difference and also boosted the signal quality of the other satellites I was already getting.

It's a very tricky thing to find that sweet spot to get the most out of a dish setup. I myself was actually surprised at how small the change in elevation provided such a big improvement.

May not work as good for every dish out there because they all have their own personality it seems, as well as the LNBFs, some work better on some dishes but not so well on others.

Finding that right combination takes a lot of patience and time. 124.9°W Ku is still my weakest satellite, but at least it does work now.

I could probably get more below 58.0°W if it wasn't for the neighboring palm tree farm. I am able to pick up transponders all the way down below 30.0°W, but too week to pull in any channels. I would probably have to have my dish a half mile away to have a clearing facing more to the East. Or place a dish on top of a telephone pole. But overall all I'm satisfied with my setup.

Well, I have another dish,90 cm and a KU LNBF. I can either lock Montana PBS and the 12180 V transponder that carries the rest of PBS, Create, etc.

 

[farwest5050]

I add the transponder manually also, have done a blind scan too but the receiver does not recognize some transponders at 83 W,124.9 W and 131 W birds.

 

[farwest5050]

Can I get some help please?

 

[armadillo_115]

In general, a few reasons why one can't receive a specific transponder:

Dish too small. ( Less received signal AND possible interference from adjacent Satellites)
Dish not aligned correctly. (Slightly too far east/west or elevation too high/low)
Dish skew off.
Out of footprint or borderline.
Not all transponders broadcast at same signal strength. (You may not receive a weaker one)
C/KU lnbs are a compromise. Sometimes they work pretty well, on some dishes they work poorly.
Cable loss due to bad connectors, damaged coax,etc.
Lnb may be poor quality or failing.
Some transponders do not broadcast 24/7.
Sites which list transponder specs may need updating.
Some receivers are 'finicky' on certain transponders. (Possibly due to tuner type or other issues. )
Sometimes there can be multiple small issues that combine to frustrate you and are difficult to resolve.

That's a few things off the top of my head to rule out first.

Post the transponder info that you entered in manually and can not receive. Someone can verify if your specs are correct and if the transponders are receivable.

EDIT: If you haven't already done this: Take receiver to the dish and test on a good, short coax to rule out cable loss and correct alignment issues. It's darn near impossible to get a peak signal when the receiver is in the house.

 

[farwest5050]

Thank you armadillo_115. The specifics transponders that I can get are:
11916 V 2398,12106 V 2398 and 12180 V 30000 at AMC 21 124.9 W
3725 V 10000 and 3820 H 29724 at SES1 101.0 W

 

[armadillo_115]

YW, Farwest. Are those transponders listed above ALL that you receive on 125W Ku and 101W C Band?

I may not be able to respond back for a day or so. We had a death in the family back home...and family is coming in from out of state to visit for a few days. So I'll be busy for a while. Don't think I'm ignoring ya!

I'm sure some one else will be able to help you in the mean time. Most of these guys are smarter than me anyway.

 

[armadillo_115]

Ok... I had a little time this morning.

First Farwest...be sure you are doing a true BLIND SCAN and not just a normal scan. (Different receivers use different terminology) You should get most if not all the channels in without a manual scan.

With that said: You have everything that I have on 125W Ku except for an occasional feed or two.

On 101W C band, you are missing:

4180/h/30000 Sur, Sur Peru, VME Kids, UT Feeds,VME, Primo, EStudio, Venezuela,Cincomas, venevision,one other
3961/v/2733 Movies
4180/h/30000 Grit
3957/v/2733 Decades
3953/v/2733 Heroes
3976/v/2734 Heroes
3772/v/4441 DayStar
4020/h/28000 GVTV mux
3716/v/4773 GEB
3820/h/29723 Mnet
3859/h/30000 Sprout

* Note that the numbers may vary +/- a count or two between different systems, but should still be usable. A Blind Scan gives you the most accurate freqs for your system.

EDIT: I should specified In The Clear Channels. No need to post specs for scrambled channels,

 

[Jw2016]

Well, I have another dish,90 cm and a KU LNBF. I can either lock Montana PBS and the 12180 V transponder that carries the rest of PBS, Create, etc.

Probably would just leave it on 125KU for PBS if you can. Trying to get ku signals on that 6 footer are kind of tough. That's why 90cm or 1.2m dishes rock pulling in ku signals. I have a dedicated 90cm for Montana and PBS and signal qualities are fantastic. I would recommend the dedicated ku dish idea as there is a good possibility of PBS dumping their SES-3 c-band feed what was meant for backyard dish owners a long time ago. With the government wanting to cut Corporation For Public Broadcasting funds, PBS would dump (they were actually wanting to do that anyway) c-band feed to cut costs. Having a fixed dish on 125 ku is perfect for receiving those services.

 

[farwest5050]

YW, Farwest. Are those transponders listed above ALL that you receive on 125W Ku and 101W C Band?

I may not be able to respond back for a day or so. We had a death in the family back home...and family is coming in from out of state to visit for a few days. So I'll be busy for a while. Don't think I'm ignoring ya!

I'm sure some one else will be able to help you in the mean time. Most of these guys are smarter than me anyway.

I am sorry about your lost in your family. Thank you for your time with me. Well, I can receive other transponders in both, 125W and 101W either, C and KU bands. But for example, the transponder 4180 H 30000 at 101 W appears for free in Lyngsat but I can't get it anyway. Same problem at 124.9 KU with the transponders 11916 V 2398 (Montana PBS) and 12106 V 2398 (Montana PBS also) The other transponder at 124.9 that I can't get is 12180 V 30000(PBS East and PBS West,Create, FNX,World and Vme)