Any signal issues at 123W

[Keith Brannen]

SUCCESS!!! Using the Star Choice 75e did the trick to take care of the G18 fluctuation/interference from AMC21. I am now getting a steady signal (58-62) on 11718 and 42-46 on 11798. I would say that the dish is bumped slightly towards 121 to avoid the fluctuation and interference, since peaking on a horizontal frequency did cause a return of some mild fluctuation (45-60) on 11718, so it got bumped back till it disappeared.

Toggled between the two dishes pointed at G18, and could easily see the fluctuation on the old dish, while the 75e remained solid. I
am a very happy camper now (but what a pain it has been).

As a bonus, some of the other vertical fequencies also saw some gains (especially the 3CTV mux), but there is some loss on horizontal frequencies.

The kicker is that the LNB I am using for G18 is the one 4 degrees off centre! So the Star Choice 75e (made by Channel Master) is a great dish (and is better at getting close to (if not at) 2 degree compliancy than my Fortec Star 80cm).

Moved the G18 dish to AMC21, and am getting signals comparable (might need a slight tweak to boost the horizontals) to what I was getting on the 75e when it was pointed at AMC21.

Had to do a little bracket work to get G27 (129) as close as possible to AMC21 (125), and while I did lose a bit of signal quality due to LNB interference, I got it peaked at 60 (which is down from the 75 or so I use to get). But with its great FEC, it can drop into the low teens before I see any pixelation!

 

[Keith Brannen]

Possibly the EIRP for 125 is stronger at his location than Galaxy 18.

Just checked it, in the 48.6 range EIRP for G18 (lyngsat map), and appear to be just outside, or just on the line for 50 EIRP for AMC21 (ses-americom map).

 

[tvropro]

SUCCESS!!! Using the Star Choice 75e did the trick to take care of the G18 fluctuation/interference from AMC21. I am now getting a steady signal (58-62) on 11718 and 42-46 on 11798. I would say that the dish is bumped slightly towards 121 to avoid the fluctuation and interference, since peaking on a horizontal frequency did cause a return of some mild fluctuation (45-60) on 11718, so it got bumped back till it disappeared.

Toggled between the two dishes pointed at G18, and could easily see the fluctuation on the old dish, while the 75e remained solid. I
am a very happy camper now (but what a pain it has been).

As a bonus, some of the other vertical fequencies also saw some gains (especially the 3CTV mux), but there is some loss on horizontal frequencies.

The kicker is that the LNB I am using for G18 is the one 4 degrees off centre! So the Star Choice 75e (made by Channel Master) is a great dish (and is better at getting close to (if not at) 2 degree compliancy than my Fortec Star 80cm).

Moved the G18 dish to AMC21, and am getting signals comparable (might need a slight tweak to boost the horizontals) to what I was getting on the 75e when it was pointed at AMC21.

Had to do a little bracket work to get G27 (129) as close as possible to AMC21 (125), and while I did lose a bit of signal quality due to LNB interference, I got it peaked at 60 (which is down from the 75 or so I use to get). But with its great FEC, it can drop into the low teens before I see any pixelation!

Glad you got it Keith. Your getting just about the same numbers Im getting on 11720 and 11718. I'll bet the Channel Master has better surface accuracy than the Fortec. I never cared too much for the Fortec ku dishes they seem sort of flimsy. My ADTH has about a 1" U shaped double rim on it. There is no flex in that reflector even if you try to flex it by hand.

My WSTV was at 60 after I made my adjustment for G-18 and was 75 before. The next day I went out there removed the bracket, slightly repositioned it, and fine tuned that LNB and got back up to 75. You may want to mess with that more with a clear mind at a later date to see if you can get back where you were.

 

[tvropro]

Just checked it, in the 48.6 range EIRP for G18 (lyngsat map), and appear to be just outside, or just on the line for 50 EIRP for AMC21 (ses-americom map).

Your about 1.5 db down on G-18 that is half of 3db and 3db is doubling the signal. So that didn't help you any. I think you have it beat though. It's been a bit over a week here and my RTN has been fine even when it was raining the other day. Dropped to 45 on 11720 but was solid even with it raining.

 

[Keith Brannen]

I'll bet the Channel Master has better surface accuracy than the Fortec. I never cared too much for the Fortec ku dishes they seem sort of flimsy. My ADTH has about a 1" U shaped double rim on it. There is no flex in that reflector even if you try to flex it by hand.

Yes, I think the construction of the dish certainly plays a factor, especially when moving a dish a 1/16th of an inch can make such a big difference in signal quality! The fact that the 75e is an elliptical dish specifically made for multiple LNBs I think played a big factor in my success.

My WSTV was at 60 after I made my adjustment for G-18 and was 75 before. The next day I went out there removed the bracket, slightly repositioned it, and fine tuned that LNB and got back up to 75. You may want to mess with that more with a clear mind at a later date to see if you can get back where you were.

Whoops, didn't make myself clear enough when I was typing. The LNB for G27 stayed on the dish that was pointed at G18, and is now pointed at AMC21. That dish now has Echo7 (119), AMC21 (125), and G27 (129). The G27 LNB is tight against the AMC21 LNB, so there is no room for improvement unless I get the smaller bullet style LNBs. No real need to get them, at 60 (and with the great FEC rate) it is more than enough signal for WSTV.

 

[tvropro]

Yes, I think the construction of the dish certainly plays a factor, especially when moving a dish a 1/16th of an inch can make such a big difference in signal quality! The fact that the 75e is an elliptical dish specifically made for multiple LNBs I think played a big factor in my success.

My ADTH is elliptical too, it's wider and shorter. But the Primestar 90cm I have is taller and skinnier, which is suppose to be better for close satellites. I won't complain though since I moved the ADTH about a 1/16 of an inch too (towards 121) and it solved the issue. Bumping it though weakened WSTV to 60 but I resolved that.

Whoops, didn't make myself clear enough when I was typing. The LNB for G27 stayed on the dish that was pointed at G18, and is now pointed at AMC21. That dish now has Echo7 (119), AMC21 (125), and G27 (129). The G27 LNB is tight against the AMC21 LNB, so there is no room for improvement unless I get the smaller bullet style LNBs. No real need to get them, at 60 (and with the great FEC rate) it is more than enough signal for WSTV.

Ya 60 is good enough for WSTV I was getting 45 last year before they fixed there uplink and it worked for the most part.

Glad you figured it all out and got RTN back up. I don't know if you have access to WUT if you do go there. There is some info about whats going on with 125 TR 1. Don't know if it's okay to post that here. Maybe Iceberg can let me know if we can add that to the regular area for all to see?

 

[Keith Brannen]

Glad you figured it all out and got RTN back up. I don't know if you have access to WUT if you do go there. There is some info about whats going on with 125 TR 1. Don't know if it's okay to post that here. Maybe Iceberg can let me know if we can add that to the regular area for all to see?

Yes, and I saw the chart. The huge peak where 11718 is appears stronger than anything else on the satelllite, no wonder there are problems for some of us.

 

[SatPhreak]

I hope they fix this problem or I'll need to upgrade my sister's 30" dish. I was talking with her today and she told me sometimes those transponders work and sometimes she loses them. I don't want to have to do that as she lives a few hours drive away.

 

[tvropro]

Yes, and I saw the chart. The huge peak where 11718 is appears stronger than anything else on the satelllite, no wonder there are problems for some of us.

I put in a request in WUT to Linuxman to see if he can use his BLSA to dissect that carrier and tell us anything about it. The peak was way up there, that's what was knocking us down to 15 Q or so.

 

[tvropro]

I hope they fix this problem or I'll need to upgrade my sister's 30" dish. I was talking with her today and she told me sometimes those transponders work and sometimes she loses them. I don't want to have to do that as she lives a few hours drive away.

Before you upgrade see if a retune will help. It all depends on where your at, the EIRP relationship on 123 and 125 and how well your dish nulls out at the 2 degree 3db down point.

 

[SatPhreak]

Before you upgrade see if a retune will help. It all depends on where your at, the EIRP relationship on 123 and 125 and how well your dish nulls out at the 2 degree 3db down point.

Thanks, but if I have to drive a couple hundred kliks to repoint I'll make sure I bring a larger dish with me just in case. Nothing worse then having to make the drive twice.

 

[Anole]

Location: Thunder Bay, ON (sounds chilly)

I was just thinking . . .
Though Xmas weather might be stressful for working outside on a dish, could you hold off and combine the antenna tweak with a weekend holiday visit?
Perhaps by then, the interference will be resolved, and you can just enjoy the fine dinner (and maybe a minor repoint).

 

[SatPhreak]

Ya, Cristmas sounds ok to do it. It's still around the mid 40's during the day so its not to cold yet but it should be around the 5-15F mark by Dec. I used to do a lot of field work outside and the teens are still good. By mid Jan it usually gets to between -30 to -40 F. That's when it's no fun working outside for too long. By march you start thinking its warm when the temp gets back to around 10.

 

[hwm]

G18 at 123W is working okay for me with a Winegard 31" / 76cm DS-2076 dish. Quality is in the 60 - 70% range. My EIRP from the lyngsat map is 48. The lnbf is a Fortec Star universal. Receiver is Captiveworks CW-700s.

I get some fluctuations in quality on the 11800 V transponder. A very careful realignment of the dish helped, but there is still signal fluctuation down to 40- 50% on 11800 V. 11720 V is okay, stable signal level at 60- 65%.

 

[netbuilder]

Well, I was able to pull all the transponders in again after a minor re-alignment. I forgot just how touchy that bird is, especially now! I too, am still seeing fluctuations regularly (and its the same transponders everyone is reporting as well) but at least I can keep a transponder lock now when before it would just drop off completely.

Thanks for the feedback as usual fellas!

 

[tvropro]

My 11720 has been rock solid for 9 days now. I never had any problems with my 11800. My adjustments are holding up very well.

 

[Mr Tony]

glad to hear it tvropro

I noticed 11720 on mine is a little more stable now (72-73 instead of jumping between 67-73 all the time)