Complete Review- Fortec Star Mercury II

If you tune to the 4 Bob Jones Home Schooling Educational Channels on 97degreesWest (G25/IA5), those show an EPG in the Mercury II - the only ones I have seen with an EPG that are FTA.
The Channels are called Channel 1 (2,3,4) on transponder 11749/v/7232, should come up in any scan of the satellite or transponder.
The transponder should come up on just about any FTA dish, the strength is pretty good.

Thanks for the info kstuart..I will be installing Ku on my 10 ft.dish this spring..quite surprised at all the fta channels just on C-Band..should be fun..
 
In reguard to the universal remote programing there is a step missing. After getting the device to turn off with the code and turning it back on hit the desired device key again to save the code.
 
In reguard to the universal remote programing there is a step missing. After getting the device to turn off with the code and turning it back on hit the desired device key again to save the code.

Welcome to Satelliteguys.us :D You show stellar intellect and obvious good breeding in your very first post! Must be good genetics.....


BTW folks, I would like to introduce Gameguy, he is my older brother who is now fast on the way to FTA addiction ;)
 
Welcome to Satelliteguys.us :D You show stellar intellect and obvious good breeding in your very first post! Must be good genetics.....


BTW folks, I would like to introduce Gameguy, he is my older brother who is now fast on the way to FTA addiction ;)
Welcome Gameguy, obviously the Doc didn't tell you, there is no cure for FTA addiction? But, we have a very good support group here, and we'll give you all the support we can! Good Luck!

Al
 
Mercury ll

On the Mercury ll how do you get the power to the motor actuator? I have the individual wires for the actuator and the polarizer. Can this system be changed at the dish for both of these or how is it wired? I hope I do not have to do a rewire. I take one project at a time, so I have not used my dish to date.
help
 
To control the actuator, use an interface device like the V-Box II. The V-BoxII takes the DiSEqC 1.2 commands from the receiver and converts to interface with the actuator voltage and pulse counts.

The mechanical polarizer is not supported, and you may want to consider replacing the mechanical polarized unit with a LNBF DUAL C-BAND SATELLITE LNBF - SatelliteAV, LLC. so the DVBS receiver can control the polarity. I use a dual output LNBF with my GI 650i and DVBS receiver so each can control the individual output. The LNBF is interchangeable with the CoRotor scaler, so it is easy to install.
 
Brian

Could I replace the lnbf with a c & ku band lnbf. I have a new GEOSAT pro CK1 with two rg6 connectors? Then canthese be run into a splitter so I have one cable into the house?
thanks
 
new question on merc2

When blind=-scanning with the Mercury2, does it automatically dump everything it finds on a scan, when the scan stops? Or do you get the option to store, or not store ?? thks
 
When blind=-scanning with the Mercury2, does it automatically dump everything it finds on a scan, when the scan stops? Or do you get the option to store, or not store ?? thks

I think u mean Power scan...and yes,there should be a option to save at the end of the scan...anyway,my Merc.2 power scan would scan the satellite and find nothing..so I sent it to Fortec in Ontario for repairs..had it for about a year and worked just fine till about 2 weeks ago..seems problems are starting to crop up after some of these units have been in the system for awhile..will post my results after Fortec has looked at it...meanwhile I've put my Coolsat 5000 in line and it works great..just might leave it there..forever LOL...
 
The same is beginning to happen with the great Viewsat Ultra, so I' m beginning to look for something new. I thought I was smart buying a brand new model when it first came out lol.
It works really well, for 1yr now, but lately the video is starting to blink/flash a little on bright scenes, like hockey rinks-kind of like an old time movie projector where you could see the frames flashing by. Hooked up the traxis 3500 on same game, and video is perfect so I know its the VS. I don't like the traxis because it automatically stores everything after a scan, it doesnt ask 'save or delete results' lol.
 
The same is beginning to happen with the great Viewsat Ultra, so I' m beginning to look for something new. I thought I was smart buying a brand new model when it first came out lol.
It works really well, for 1yr now, but lately the video is starting to blink/flash a little on bright scenes, like hockey rinks-kind of like an old time movie projector where you could see the frames flashing by. Hooked up the traxis 3500 on same game, and video is perfect so I know its the VS. I don't like the traxis because it automatically stores everything after a scan, it doesnt ask 'save or delete results' lol.[/quote

I also have a vs ultra,but my video is superb..but it won't do Ac3..I believe I disussed this with u b4..Haven't contacted Viewsat USA yet,but I will..I would think they could correct the problem with a fact. upgrade..beginning to think these ultra receivers were made for the illegal use in mind..You may want to try a Coolsat 5000...I honestly think they are one of the best units out there..I don't think you will be dissapointed with one..see them going on ebay for about $100 ..I just might purchase another for back-up
 
lucky we're getting off the track of the thread here, but for what its worth, the latest factory file from viewsat will give you AC-3 output on the optical cable. It does all but a couple of the AMC3 pbs channels sound - haven't tried it on any other satellite with ac3 yet though. That's the version 1.24 on viewsatusa website. Give it a try.
 
mercury II asks you if you want to save after powerscan (blidnscan) if you choose yes then it saves the channels and the tp's it found, if you choose no then neither the channels nor the tp's are saved.
 
Thanks mrupdatelee that is what i wanted to know. And for the other issue>found out the problem with my Viewsat, it is not the fta receiver, it is the lowquality dvd recorder I have the video piped thru. Once I bypassed it and went direct from fta rec to tv, it is fine.
 
lucky we're getting off the track of the thread here, but for what its worth, the latest factory file from viewsat will give you AC-3 output on the optical cable. It does all but a couple of the AMC3 pbs channels sound - haven't tried it on any other satellite with ac3 yet though. That's the version 1.24 on viewsatusa website. Give it a try.

OK thanks turbosat..just one more question..did u load the factory file( v1.24) with the USB stick...thanks agn.
 
Yes I used a memory stick to load it, just follow directions and it works easily. There are some brands of flashdrive that balk, but i got a cheap memorex one from wallyworld and no prob with it.
 
Yes I used a memory stick to load it, just follow directions and it works easily. There are some brands of flashdrive that balk, but i got a cheap memorex one from wallyworld and no prob with it.

Great ...it will be nice to get AC3..quite a few on C-Band..Thanks
 
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