Can't find signal with miniBUD

[ftamart]

I had already given up on it because I could not get a signal on C band or Ku band with the original LNB, but gave it another try with the original LNB after I found the offset degrees of the dish on a spec sheet. I finally found a signal on Ku 97W, my true south sat.
This is what I have:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/188924-got-1-2m-dish-possible-minibud.html

I positioned my dish for the best signal on Ku and then swapped the bracket and LNB to C band using a conical scaler ring, but I get no signal.
I set the LNB to Standard 5150 in my Viewsat Ultra receiver and tried to get a signal on 97W 3905V 4166, but nothing. I moved the LNB back and forth but nothing.
Do you see anything obvious that I am missing? The wrong setting in my receiver? Low signal Transponder?

I appreciate your advise.

Thanks!

 

[Mr Tony]

97W is difficult to pick up on a 6 footer much less something smaller
Try 99W instead.
3820 V 26000 is very strong

 

[ftamart]

97W is difficult to pick up on a 6 footer much less something smaller
Try 99W instead.
3820 V 26000 is very strong

Thanks Ice! Will try that and post my results.

 

[guapoharry]

Sorry about that OP.

But Mini BUDs are kind of lame, because they are underpowered... (At least that's how it turned out for me..)

 

[ftamart]

Some progress, but not there yet.

I finally got signal on C band on 99W with my 1.2m offset dish. Thanks for tip Ice!
I got a quality of 60 on my Viewsat Ultra. The threshold is from 20-30.
Putting the conical scaler ring on, increased the signal, so I fine tuned it on the TP on 99W.
Unfortunately I didn't get anything on the other TPs. I also tried 95W, but nothing. 0 quality. As you will know from previous posts, I am really interested in Univisión. Does the Univisión on 91W have a stronger signal?
One odd thing I found is that I had to turn the LNB to line up the 0 degree marker in the back horizontally to get signal on 99W. Please see the picture. I would have though that the 0 degree marker would be pointing up.
To see the pictures of the original Ku LNB, please see the pictures here.
Any suggestions?

 

[Mr Tony]

Univison on 91W is very strong

On those LNB's for some reason the skew seems to be 90 degrees off. I have 6 of them (2 different brands) and all skew 90 degrees off so "0" skew is at 9:00 or 3:00 as you showed

I also learned to push in the LNB a little bit to gain signal (see pics but your mileage may vary)

 

[1ADAM12]

ftamart-

Looks like you modified a WSI C band bracket to fit your dish. Very nice!

 

[ftamart]

Thanks for all the help throughout this project! I finally got Univision on 91W as you suggested Ice.

I also learned to push in the LNB a little bit to gain signal

I tried this, but got less signal. Found that mine gets the best signal when the scalar ring is flush with the edge of the LNB. I also tried without the scalar ring, but got less signal. The scalar ring makes a huge difference.

Looks like you modified a WSI C band bracket to fit your dish. Very nice!

Actually, all I did was I made two small angle brackets with holes in them and put the in between the two parts of the LNB bracket with the bolts going through the holes of the LNB bracket and angle bracket. This dish has no LNB arm, just 3 round tube braces, so I bolted the bottom of the LNB bracket to the bottom brace, and the other (side) braces to the angle brackets.

I get signal on the 3720 frequency as well, but my receiver doesn't scan any channels on that one, even though it locks it. Are those channels still there? If not, I am happy with Univision.

Thanks again!

 

[Mr Tony]

Thanks for all the help throughout this project! I finally got Univision on 91W as you suggested Ice.

cool. I know last night on the 6 footer it locked at almost max signal so a 4 footer should work fine

I tried this, but got less signal. Found that mine gets the best signal when the scalar ring is flush with the edge of the LNB. I also tried without the scalar ring, but got less signal. The scalar ring makes a huge difference.

interesting....I never had good results with it flush

I get signal on the 3720 frequency as well, but my receiver doesn't scan any channels on that one, even though it locks it. Are those channels still there? If not, I am happy with Univision.

CW channels have to be manually PID added. They wont scan in automatically. You need to manually enter the PIDS. Each receiver is different. Some have a manual entry but some like the Coolsats need a workaround

 

[ftamart]

CW channels have to be manually PID added. They wont scan in automatically. You need to manually enter the PIDS. Each receiver is different. Some have a manual entry but some like the Coolsats need a workaround

Thanks again! It wasn't too hard to do on the Viewsat. Nice channels.