Comments from a newbie to FTA

[Hyper Casey]

OK. Using an Amiko MINI HD265 with V1.6.06 i was able to lock on to 3938 V 674 and then scan in these 5 Radio Channels. I can confirm these are ITC and working audio. I have Signal 98 Quality 81. However, there is a little breakup to the audio no matter what i do, as if i need a bit more signal

88.9 Noticias
La Comadre
Match
MIX
AMOR
Radio Felicidad

 

[Brct203]

I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but I'm using a Maverick PLL LNB for the low SR feeds. This guy is selling them for less than $15.88 free shipping:

MAVERICK KU BAND PLL LNBF Free-To-Air Standard Linear FTA LNBF | Universal | Single Band | 1 Output | Taiwan | 0737534698778 | MK1PLL

The best performing PLL Standard LNBF on the Market. High Performance PLL Ku-Band LNB. DC Current Draw 135mA (max). L.O. Accuracy & Stability Within +/-1.5MHz. 100% Water Leak Proof. Temperature Range -40°F to +140°F / -40°C - +60°C.

www.ebay.com

it might be significant... I think I remember a conversation a few years ago involving several forum members (I think you were invoved) where we were experimenting with SDR and the software demodulator that is available online, and the Maverick appeared to be the key to success.

I have one, I will try to swap it soon and see if that gives better results.

 

[comfortably_numb]

the Maverick appeared to be the key to success.

Not only that, but we discovered last night that it helps a lot if the dish and LNB are really "dialed in," as it seems the stronger the signal, the easier the receiver scans it in. That might seem to go without saying, but compared to normal video feeds with higher symbol rates, the Edision "likes" a really strong signal to be able to scan the services in these feeds. We got the SNR up to 13.4 db on WPR last night just by tweaking the LNB. The audio was nice and clear with no breakups, even after an hour of listening.

 

[k4otl]

Not only that, but we discovered last night that it helps a lot if the dish and LNB are really "dialed in," as it seems the stronger the signal, the easier the receiver scans it in. That might seem to go without saying, but compared to normal video feeds with higher symbol rates, the Edision "likes" a really strong signal to be able to scan the services in these feeds. We got the SNR up to 13.4 db on WPR last night just by tweaking the LNB. The audio was nice and clear with no breakups, even after an hour of listening.

My Maverick LNB significantly improved upon the Edision LNB, the Geosatpro IIRC was somewhere in between Maverick and Edision (all on a 90 cm dish)

 

[comfortably_numb]

Hyper Casey good news!

We were able to get the Amiko h.265 to lock 12027 V 360 with your new firmware. We haven't been able to get it to scan in the WPR feeds; still working on that.

 

[Hyper Casey]

Very Good News! Thanks for testing comfortably_numb. I am without a Ku Band dish these days. Thinking of adding a Ku Sidecar LNB to my 10 Ft BUD Dish. Glad to know the Amiko MINI H265 is capable of a SR of 360. Until this thread started, i thought 1250 was a low SR!

 

[comfortably_numb]

Very Good News! Thanks for testing comfortably_numb. I am without a Ku Band dish these days. Thinking of adding a Ku Sidecar LNB to my 10 Ft BUD Dish. Glad to know the Amiko MINI H265 is capable of a SR of 360. Until this thread started, i thought 1250 was a low SR!

Got it to play by using the white key on the remote to set a "user channel" on the TP Edit screen.

WPR Classical use APID 4098 PCR 0256
WPR Sounds of Wyoming use APID 4099 PCR 0256

 

[N5XZS]

Good news, Just ordered the Geosat UL1 PPL Universal LNBF from E-Bay just $ 16 dollars free shipping.

Should arrive in couple of days and hunt down narrow bands signals...

 

[Hyper Casey]

Awesome comfortably_numb! I am impressed!

Both with the Amiko, and your determination to get the WPR signal.

I will let the engineers at Amiko know they did it!

 

[comfortably_numb]

Awesome comfortably_numb! I am impressed!

Both with the Amiko, and your determination to get the WPR signal.

I will let the engineers at Amiko know they did it!

You're very welcome. The Amiko h.265 receiver has sentimental value for me, as it was the first box I bought when I got back into the KU hobby. It was 2016 from KE4EST if memory serves. The updated firmware breathes new life into this old friend.

 

[Hyper Casey]

Good news, Just ordered the Geosat UL1 PPL Universal LNBF from E-Bay just $ 16 dollars free shipping.

Should arrive in couple of days and hunt down narrow bands signals...

I think you will not be disappointed. On its way.

 

[comfortably_numb]

Got my GeoSat Pro 90cm dish I brought with me from Kansas City mounted on an old Dish Network J-pole today. It's fixed on 101 for audio and wild feeds. My roommate bought and contributed the 1.2m dish, which is currently fixed on 99. Both are running Maverick LNB's and have dedicated feeds (no diseqc switch).

We have the following receivers active:

Amiko h.265 (for 101) using Hyper Casey new firmware
GTMedia V9 Prime
Edision OS mini 4K
Tandberg RX-1290 (for 4:2:2)

We acquired an 8 foot perforated steel dish from a Satguys member in Santa Fe last week and will be installing it soon.

Might motorize the 90cm at some point.

 

[cyberham]

I tried a 128 GB USB memory stick in my V7S5X last night and the receiver just locked up....

So I tried a 128 GB USB memory stick in my V9 Prime. I formatted the stick on my PC using the default exFAT format. The V9 Prime would not recognize the stick. I re-formatted the stick on my PC using NTFS formatting. It now works fine in the V9 Prime. I figure I can get 6 or 7 hours of PVRing with this size of stick which is fine just for timeshifting purposes.

 

[Titanium]

If you are serious about receiving low SR and narrow bandwidth signals, consider modifying or purchase a PLL LNB(f) with external frequency reference. Example KU Band LNBF: QO-100 Bullseye TCXO LNB. Othernet Bullseye TCXO LNB 25Mhz for Oscar 100 Some of you may remember Syed Karim from the OuterNet (later called OtherNet) start-up. Michael and I interviewed Syed on an episode of SatelliteGuys Radio.

For several years, the Titanium Satellite C1W-PLL LNBFs were modded for external TCXO for ACARS, Planespotter, etc. reception - see: https://acars-vdl2.groups.io/g/main/messages?msgnum=4650.

FYI: The Maverick and original OuterNet LNBFs were the same hardware as the GeoSatPro KU1-PLL.

 

[one_db_compression]

So I tried a 128 GB USB memory stick in my V9 Prime. I formatted the stick on my PC using the default exFAT format. The V9 Prime would not recognize the stick. I re-formatted the stick on my PC using NTFS formatting. It now works fine in the V9 Prime. I figure I can get 6 or 7 hours of PVRing with this size of stick which is fine just for timeshifting purposes.

I keep a set of very small (under 1GB capacity) USB thumb drives for use on embedded devices. It is pretty common to have addressing issues with storage greater than 4GB on lots of cheap, embedded 32-bit processors and SOCs. Basically, it's the ARM and MIPS equivalent issue to PAE on the Intel architecture.

Physical Address Extension - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Everyone else's mileage may vary.

 

[comfortably_numb]

If you are serious about receiving low SR and narrow bandwidth signals, consider modifying or purchase a PLL LNB(f) with external frequency reference

Even with said LNB, isn't a receiver capable of
tuning lower symbol rates and more precise frequencies still required?

 

[N5XZS]

It's just depends on how good the tuner's drifting can tolerate the LNBF's regardless of PLL or not determined by variable outdoor temperature and other factors that's comes with it.

 

[comfortably_numb]

QO-100 Bullseye TCXO LNB

Got one on order.

 

[cyberham]

I'm going to swap out right now my Invacom QPH-031 with a GeosatPro SL1PLL just to see if the additional PLL stability helps locking low SR tps.

 

[comfortably_numb]

I'm going to swap out right now my Invacom QPH-031 with a GeosatPro SL1PLL just to see if the additional PLL stability helps locking low SR tps.

We swapped out the Maverick for an Amiko L107 this afternoon and couldn't lock WPR at all. So a PLL LNB is definitely a must.