Blindscan Accuracy on Openbox S9

[hicks107]

Hello,

I have been blind scanning on my openbox s9 for a few weeks now and can find lots of great programming. I had trouble finding a few channels listed on lyngsat when I did a blind scan so I decided to enter them manually. For starters, I entered the frequency and SR for KFTL on AMC 6 (AMC 6 at 72.0°W - LyngSat). The TP instantly went hot with 60-70% quality. I scanned the TP individually and it found the channel. I decided to delete the channel and TP and try another blind scan. It still wouldnt find that TP!! What gives?? What else is my openbox missing on a blindscan?? Or could this be a result of my dish not being aligned properly?? I am using a motor and 74W is my True South Sat. Its what I used to aim at when I installed the motor and I can scan the belt well.

Is it a sensitivity issue? I am using a ChannelMaster 75E (globacast dish) with stock NJR2162F LNB.

As always,
Thanks

 

[phlatwound]

I can't remember if my S9 was able to blindscan KFTL, but some receivers have issues with blindscanning channels with low symbol rates, a manual scan will usually bring them in though.

 

[Jim S.]

Yeah, the box misses low symbol rates (less than 3000 maybe?) all the time. If they're not TOO low, it picks them up manually just fine. If they're REALLY low, like around 1000, I've had problems with it picking them up on a manual scan too -- it appears that it doesn't let the tuner "settle" on the frequency long enough before it scans! (This problem also prevails with DVB-S2 signals of ANY SR if the signal level isn't strong.) In that case, the only thing to do is use the editor to enter everything manually. I've never had anything that failed to work that way, unless the signal is too weak and/or has too much interference.

 

[hicks107]

Thanks for the replies. That might also explain why I cannot pick up Lifechurch on AMC3, 3256 SR.

One more question for you, have you ever been able to pick up New York Network at 105W? I have never been able to tune that in either. It has a high SR but maybe they dont always broadcast. The new Gov is about to do a state of the state address so I imagine it will be active.

 

[Hindu55]

Lifechurch as listed in LyngSat is not 24/7. Only Sat-Sun during certain hours.
New York Network was only on 105W for a short time. You will find LyngSat's
listings are not always up to date.

 

[hicks107]

Thanks Hindu55. I was scanning LC during their broadcast time this past weekend. However, I have found that some Sundays are not live. I will try again this weekend.

Now a question about The List. It lists NBC HD on 103W, but I cant tune those in either. The last update to those was June 2010. Are those gone too?

Thanks!

 

[Pixl]

The List. It lists NBC HD on 103W, but I cant tune those in either. The last update to those was June 2010. Are those gone too?

Hicks,

They are up, watched them this morning.You may need a larger dish. I used to have trouble getting them here in Michigan on my 90cm Primestar, I switched to a 1.2m Prodelin they come in great now on my OpenBox. Just one of those touchy things about S2.

Jim

 

[Jim S.]

In central Pennsylvania I can get them on a 36" dish. I used to get them on a 30" dish in fact. But in either case, you have to be really precise with your aim, and also take into account the fact that the skew is screwed up on that satellite. (I hope they don't purposely screw it up on the replacement satellite, to be launched sometime this year.) I can sometimes get the strongest of the 3 or 4 NBC transponders without changing the skew, but the one I really want, the one with Universal Sports, no chance. (By the way, the one at 12000 isn't there anymore, as far as I know. A pity, because it used to be the strongest by far.)

 

[hicks107]

I will try them tonight. Maybe bump the dish a little. 105W is also where the trees start to get in my way.

For what its worth, NYN still lists their coordinates as 105W updated last March

Satellite Transmission Services

 

[Mr Tony]

but that is just a feed. Its not up all the time

 

[Pixl]

I will try them tonight. Maybe bump the dish a little.

Hicks,

Jim S. brings up a good point about the skew on 103ku. It is way off from the other sats in the arc. This is why many of us have a dedicated fixed dish for this bird.

 

[hicks107]

Thanks all. thanks Iceberg, I figured it might be for feeds, thats why I was asking if anyone has been able to get it. I just had a friend tune it in successfully to watch the Gov. Thanks!

 

[Blindowl1234]

I get the channels on 103W with an old 36" Primestar...I have to bump the dish a degree east or west depending on which TP i'm trying to get. As for KFTL I manually entered all the info in the receiver early this year and never did get it. The GBN that is on there comes in but takes a few seconds for it to pop in. I have the same issue with This TV on 87w. Takes a few seconds and it pops in. Blind

 

[hicks107]

I learned a lot yesterday. Thanks everyone.

When I went home, I manually entered Florida Knowledge Network and the Florida Channel, and those scanned in. I moved my dish to 103 and went outside and bumped the dish a little and it locked on to the NBC channels. However, when I went to scan them it lost the lock. I need to fine tune everything one of these days. My dish/motor is bolted to a fence post that I cemented into a 5 gallon bucket 6 years ago to get E* in an apartment complex. So the bucket isnt very sturdy nor very level. I used some shims to try and get it level. I will put a real post in the ground when the ground defrosts. It works for now

I noticed this about my openbox last night: In my openbox, when I select a TP in TP list that is absolutely not active, the Signal Quality stays at 5% (without a lock of course). When I select a TP that is active and I am just a fraction of a degree off, such as the NBC TPs or the two Florida TPs on 87W, then the Quality jumps from 5-10% but never locks. This is how I can tell that I am a fraction of a degree off.

What I am still trying to figure out is why some TPs are 70-80% Q while others wont lock. I understand that not all TPs transmit at full power or the same power. But why do I get 70% on the 11736v, but 0% on the Florida TPs? And why do I get the Pentagon, beach, and Fedex TPs at 70%, but the NBC feeds wont lock?? By the way, I get those TPs on 103 just fine without adjusting my LNB skew, just not the NBC one. They are Vertical and the NBC ones are Horizontal. When I bumped the bucket forward and locked on to the NBC TPs, rotating the LNB did not affect quality.

 

[Jim S.]

Skew issue on 103 aside, the reason many DVB-S2 channels won't lock when DVB-S channels will is because in general, S2 requires a higher signal quality.

 

[Blindowl1234]

If you look at where you add/delete a T.P...scroll thru the list, sometimes you'll see some pop right in at 70% or so. I've noticed when I've scrolled down to some T.P's that I know are live, nothing happens. After a few seconds of sitting there it will go from 0-5% to 70% plus.Try to blindscan from there. Sometimes the Tp drops to 0% again and finds no channels. Then the last alternative is to manually enter all the channel info in the editor and do it that way. Most will blindscan but some I've had to manually enter. Also the same thing when you try and go to a channel you've already got in the receiver, sometimes they are slow to pop in. 72W NBC is finicky for me sometimes it takes a few for it to pop in. The low symbol rate channels will be slow to pop in too....hope that helps..Blind

 

[linuxman]

I guess the question is then, are the developers going to do anything with the firmware to improve the scanning capabilities?

 

[Jim S.]

The question is, has anybody HEARD FROM the developers lately? On another forum, the moderator kept saying last year that he was in contact with them and they were supposed to be having a fix for the green issue, the timer issue, and something else that had been bugging everyone (he didn't say what) Real Soon Now. It's been about a month and there hasn't been anything forthcoming. Me, I say the timer issue is intractable (at least on many units -- a few people seem to have working timers already, but I think they must have different hardware!) but the green issue should've been a no-brainer, because it only appeared with a particular firmware release, so I don't know why they can't figure out what they changed!

But, yeah, if anybody can get in touch with these people (or better yet, if anyone has the resources to disassemble the code themselves), an increase in tuner settling time before a scan starts (assuming that it's not a hardware issue) would be a great thing.

 

[hicks107]

What is the timer issue? I had setup one timer only to test it out and it worked. I've had my box for a few weeks so its relatively new.

My only concern is where to get firmware updates. I have searched and searched and can only find sites that want you to purchase the box from them to get firmware updates. This box was a gift so I have no "proof of purchase" from wherever the person bought it.

 

[Jim S.]

The timer issue is that, for a lot of people, the timers won't work unless you leave the receiver on because it forgets the time when you turn it off. No big deal leaving it on since it only uses 10 Watts, but the other problem is that after it does a timer recording, it shuts itself off so you can't schedule more than one recording at once.

Actually, the exact problem seems to be that it remembers the time when shut off, but forgets it when it starts up! I tried it recently with two timers and it awoke at the time of the second timer, but didn't record anything. Maybe this could be alleviated by setting it to get its time from the satellite, but I haven't tested it because even if true, it would be of limited real-world use. Why? Some transponders don't broadcast the time, others broadcast their LOCAL time instead of GMT.

Confusing the issue further is that there have been one or two reports of properly-working timers, and they say that the box displays the clock on the front panel when it's shut off. Neither mine nor the vast majority of others' boxes do that.

Firmware updates are indeed a frustrating issue, as I only know of one American, non-pirate site that gets most of the updates, and aside from only providing most of them to their own customers, they're also irrationally hostile to this site, so I don't like referring people to them. You can of course find the European pirate sites on your own and download the current firmware, no harm done since it won't descramble anything without the user entering an address and login for a key server, but you can't post links to such sites on reputable sites.

But, you're probably not missing anything. Virtually all of the fixes that have come out for many months have just been to fix glitches with pay services. The only other thing you get by getting an updated file from an American dealer is that they'll get rid of the European satellite list and put an American one in. You can do that yourself though, either with the editor program or, laboriously, with the remote control. If you already have your dish aligned well, you don't need to go to all the trouble of keying in transponders for all the satellites, just put the satellite names and positions in and do a blind scan on all of them.

I think Sadoun has an Americanized version of the firmware free for everyone on their website. It's nowhere near the latest version, the last time I checked anyway, but like I said, it works fine for our use and should have a usable satellite list if you don't want to make your own. (I made my own because, with me only having Ku-band, the list with C and Ku listed as different satellites was both crowded and ugly.)

I'm sure if a groundbreaking firmware update that actually fixes any non-encryption-related bugs or unpleasantness ever does get released, we'll hear about it soon enough whether from an official source or not. I just wish we had assurance that someone was actually working on such a thing!