KUIL out of Lake Charles is on 101w Ku-Band, and its FTA... Unfortunately, though, they are no longer a Fox affiliate.
Did RetroTV go bye bye?
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KUIL out of Lake Charles is on 101w Ku-Band, and its FTA... Unfortunately, though, they are no longer a Fox affiliate.
Ok thank you! I will pass it on to my folks. I have no interest in that station, it's for them. Why anyone would want to watch FOX is beyond me. Don't get me started on politics.
Ok.
I still have no RTV/RTN or whatever the heck it is. I wish they would get everything in order and decide on a single name to use.
Now. Here's where I go waaaaaaaaaaaay off the deep end.
I've done a LOT of reading through the forums. RTV has gone bye-bye, for me.
I have been getting it for a month or two, not always so great but usually somewhat watchable.
Then a few days ago we had some nasty weather come through. It's been raining for the first time in MONTHS..
After that storm RTV went away. Now all I can get are "color bars" (I looked it up ) on AMC-9.
One of them says AMC-9/3F on it but the other one says nothing.
But when I press info it says it's "Video 1" and "Provider: TandbergTV"
That's ALL that comes in now on that satellite. From reading the forums, I am led to believe that there is another satellite in the same spot that's hijacking the channel, blocking the signal because it's more powerful. Bullying out the weaker signal.
Someone suggested the storms may have blown the dishes around.
So I checked them. They are rock solid, no wiggling, not even a tiny bit.
No way it was moved by the storms. And the other dishes are unaffected.
So I was talking to my neighbor and he said that PROBABLY what happened is that the ground was dry (it was bone dry) when I found the satellite the first time and the dish was loose in the ground. After it rained and the ground got wet, the dirt swelled up, tightened up around the dish post and changed it's aim.
He said he's seen that before and I have seen my gate posts do that too.
And it makes sense to me. Get a bone dry sponge and drip some water on it and watch as it swells and change shape. I see it every day in the kitchen.
So, my neighbor tells me that I will have to re-adjust the dishes again now that the ground is damp. Sigh.. That was such a horrible nightmare of guesswork and walking back and forth to the house and the dish. It took me 40 forevers.
So. Ok. I have this fancy, La-de-da birdog meter that I bought and never got to work right. It works fine on pay TV satellites but it hasn't worked right at all on the direcway dishes. Not once.
I did get it to work on the dish for White Springs, it worked great. By changing out the LNB on it for a dish brand one and finding the dish satellite then putting the primestar LNB back on it.
So in talking with my neighbor and showing him the info I've found online about the satellites, him looking at the dishes and him reading the instructions for manually programming the birdog yourself, he believes that the birdog doesn't understand how to communicate with the dishes and LNB's that I have. They are speaking two different languages and not even on the same phone numbers. So to speak. That's how he described it for me. Makes sense to me.
So I sat up in bed until 5am reading and re-reading stuff, the instructions on how to make you own birdog files and stuff on this forum. And that's not easy to browse a forum on an iphone. I really need to get my old laptop fixed.
I *THINK* I have figured out enough to make my own files for the birdog now.
My neighbor says I can not hurt anything to try and at the worst, I'll learn something new by trying.
Now bear in mind that I am getting a fair amount of guidance from my neighbor on this so no, I haven't figured this all out all by myself. I'm not ashamed to admit that and I'm not ashamed to ask for assistance/guidance.
I guess it would be easier to show some pictures
Those are two screen snaps from the editor and the pages from the instructions that explain what all the options are. If you click on them they will open up to full size where you can read them.
Now, after a whole lot of reading and re-reading and with advice from my neighbor, I THINK I have made my own files for it.
At the bottom of I've attached two screen snaps of what I THINK the settings for AMC-9 should be to cause the birdog to tune in specifically the channels with RTV on them and no other channels.
From what I gather, you must have your dish very, very precisely aimed at that one little weak satellite or the big bully satellite drowns it out.
How I ever found it before is beyond me. There really is such a thing as dumb luck and beginners luck. I had them both.
Ok, so you guys that are the true experts here, the rocket scientists, please take a look and tell me what you think, do you think I have this all set right?
Oh, my neighbor did say that "the birdog probably wasn't working with the direcway dishes because it wasn't sending them the 22khz signal which they require."
I'll take his word for it. He looked at what I made in the editor and he says it looks ok to him and that I should go ahead and try it, that it can't hurt anything.
But if it's wrong, I could spend hours out in the hot sun. I really would prefer to not get burnt to a crisp, it's well over 100 out there. So I'm hoping that you guys can look over these things and see if I have them right and save me from becoming a wilted flower, again. I already spent weeks out there last time with these kooky things.
Thank you!
I still have no RTV/RTN or whatever the heck it is. I wish they would get everything in order and decide on a single name to use.
Now. Here's where I go waaaaaaaaaaaay off the deep end.
I've done a LOT of reading through the forums. RTV has gone bye-bye, for me.
I have been getting it for a month or two, not always so great but usually somewhat watchable.
Then a few days ago we had some nasty weather come through. It's been raining for the first time in MONTHS..
After that storm RTV went away. Now all I can get are "color bars" (I looked it up
) on AMC-9.One of them says AMC-9/3F on it but the other one says nothing.
But when I press info it says it's "Video 1" and "Provider: TandbergTV"
That's ALL that comes in now on that satellite. From reading the forums, I am led to believe that there is another satellite in the same spot that's hijacking the channel, blocking the signal because it's more powerful. Bullying out the weaker signal.
Someone suggested the storms may have blown the dishes around.
So I checked them. They are rock solid, no wiggling, not even a tiny bit.
No way it was moved by the storms. And the other dishes are unaffected.
So I was talking to my neighbor and he said that PROBABLY what happened is that the ground was dry (it was bone dry) when I found the satellite the first time and the dish was loose in the ground. After it rained and the ground got wet, the dirt swelled up, tightened up around the dish post and changed it's aim.
He said he's seen that before and I have seen my gate posts do that too.
And it makes sense to me. Get a bone dry sponge and drip some water on it and watch as it swells and change shape. I see it every day in the kitchen.
So, my neighbor tells me that I will have to re-adjust the dishes again now that the ground is damp. Sigh.. That was such a horrible nightmare of guesswork and walking back and forth to the house and the dish. It took me 40 forevers.
So. Ok. I have this fancy, La-de-da birdog meter that I bought and never got to work right. It works fine on pay TV satellites but it hasn't worked right at all on the direcway dishes. Not once.
I did get it to work on the dish for White Springs, it worked great. By changing out the LNB on it for a dish brand one and finding the dish satellite then putting the primestar LNB back on it.
So in talking with my neighbor and showing him the info I've found online about the satellites, him looking at the dishes and him reading the instructions for manually programming the birdog yourself, he believes that the birdog doesn't understand how to communicate with the dishes and LNB's that I have. They are speaking two different languages and not even on the same phone numbers. So to speak. That's how he described it for me. Makes sense to me.
So I sat up in bed until 5am reading and re-reading stuff, the instructions on how to make you own birdog files and stuff on this forum. And that's not easy to browse a forum on an iphone. I really need to get my old laptop fixed.
I *THINK* I have figured out enough to make my own files for the birdog now.
My neighbor says I can not hurt anything to try and at the worst, I'll learn something new by trying.
Now bear in mind that I am getting a fair amount of guidance from my neighbor on this so no, I haven't figured this all out all by myself. I'm not ashamed to admit that and I'm not ashamed to ask for assistance/guidance.
I guess it would be easier to show some pictures
Those are two screen snaps from the editor and the pages from the instructions that explain what all the options are. If you click on them they will open up to full size where you can read them.
Now, after a whole lot of reading and re-reading and with advice from my neighbor, I THINK I have made my own files for it.
At the bottom of I've attached two screen snaps of what I THINK the settings for AMC-9 should be to cause the birdog to tune in specifically the channels with RTV on them and no other channels.
From what I gather, you must have your dish very, very precisely aimed at that one little weak satellite or the big bully satellite drowns it out.
How I ever found it before is beyond me. There really is such a thing as dumb luck and beginners luck. I had them both.
Ok, so you guys that are the true experts here, the rocket scientists, please take a look and tell me what you think, do you think I have this all set right?
Oh, my neighbor did say that "the birdog probably wasn't working with the direcway dishes because it wasn't sending them the 22khz signal which they require."
I'll take his word for it. He looked at what I made in the editor and he says it looks ok to him and that I should go ahead and try it, that it can't hurt anything.
But if it's wrong, I could spend hours out in the hot sun. I really would prefer to not get burnt to a crisp, it's well over 100 out there. So I'm hoping that you guys can look over these things and see if I have them right and save me from becoming a wilted flower, again. I already spent weeks out there last time with these kooky things.
Thank you!
Attachments
Ok.
I still have no RTV/RTN or whatever the heck it is.
......
After that storm RTV went away. Now all I can get are "color bars" (I looked it up
One of them says AMC-9/3F on it but the other one says nothing.
But when I press info it says it's "Video 1" and "Provider: TandbergTV"
That's ALL that comes in now on that satellite. From reading the forums, I am led to believe that there is another satellite in the same spot that's hijacking the channel, blocking the signal because it's more powerful. Bullying out the weaker signal.
Someone suggested the storms may have blown the dishes around.
.....
It is not "another satellite in the same spot that's hijacking the channel". That Video 1 channel is on the same satellite, and it's not blocking the RTN transponder, and it is not significantly stronger, if at all. There is very little difference between it and the RTN transponder.
It's just that that Video 1 transponder is near by the RTN transponder, and your receiver, for whatever reason is picking it up instead of the RTN channel.
Aiming your dish better MIGHT help a bit, if the signal strengths are marginal, but normally, if you can get the Video 1 channel, you're probably good enough to get the RTN channel. It's probably just some wierdness of your receiver, coupled with perhaps a freq shift of your LNB, that's causing your receiver to lock onto Video 1 instead of RTN. Some people have had luck by using a slightly higher freq for the RTN channel, instead of 11735, or you might try changing your LO freq setting to something like 10749.
Dee_Ann
Nice iPhone report! You really get down to it...
The only small thing is, BirDog can NOT communicate with any dish, since its just a peace of plastic or stamped metal, hence you really need to know your LNB type and specs to select proper options in BirDog software. Unless BirDog is directly hooked to the LNB, you need to indicate proper DiSEqC Switch port(s). Do you have any switches on your Dish, the LNB is hooked to? Another minor point, your neighbor missed, you're already watching the sat, there's no reason in the whole world to re-aim your dish, as B.J. pointed. The most sad outcome goes back to Melgagra's post above, which in familiar terms explains, how to change parameters of RTV channels in your PC Sat Card software to finally get back that vanished childhood dream RTV. If you don't see RTV channels listed in your PC Card Soft after Blind Scanning the sat, add them manually. Also keep in mind, fine tuning the dish and playing with BirDog might not relieve you from duty to do the above adjustment testing thing with channel params in your PC Card.
Nice iPhone report! You really get down to it...
The only small thing is, BirDog can NOT communicate with any dish, since its just a peace of plastic or stamped metal, hence you really need to know your LNB type and specs to select proper options in BirDog software. Unless BirDog is directly hooked to the LNB, you need to indicate proper DiSEqC Switch port(s). Do you have any switches on your Dish, the LNB is hooked to? Another minor point, your neighbor missed, you're already watching the sat, there's no reason in the whole world to re-aim your dish, as B.J. pointed. The most sad outcome goes back to Melgagra's post above, which in familiar terms explains, how to change parameters of RTV channels in your PC Sat Card software to finally get back that vanished childhood dream RTV. If you don't see RTV channels listed in your PC Card Soft after Blind Scanning the sat, add them manually. Also keep in mind, fine tuning the dish and playing with BirDog might not relieve you from duty to do the above adjustment testing thing with channel params in your PC Card.
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dee, make it easier on yourself, order a stand-alone receiver (like the Mercury2 or Traxis 3500) that you can carry out to the dish and tune with. Drag the extension cord and a little tv with a short piece of coax to hook up with, and I'll bet you can get your RTV back. A bigger dish would help, but I've gotten that channel just fine on my direcway dish before with no big problems.
You can check the plumb of your mounting pole with a level, to make sure it didn't move in the ground. Check all around it to be sure. If you can work an iphone thing, I know you can read a level!! Good luck.
You can check the plumb of your mounting pole with a level, to make sure it didn't move in the ground. Check all around it to be sure. If you can work an iphone thing, I know you can read a level!! Good luck.
I have an iphone app that makes the phone into a level.
I don't know how accurate it is but I have it. I have no idea how to check it.
This old house is all wonky so checking it on the floor or walls is a waste of time.
You can put a tennis ball on the floor and it will roll into the corner all by itself, every time.
Really, I have reached the point where I'm just clicking on stuff and hoping that I'll get lucky sooner or later. I'm really messing with things here that are above my skill & knowledge level, just hoping to hit the jackpot, eventually.
Sigh... \
/I'm really missing RTV. Especially Leave it to Beaver. It's so nice to see a TV show that's so innocent, no violence, no cursing, no sex.
Ok, so this stupid computer stuff is not so great.
You say I should get a tuner box.
What's one that will do it and is cheap?
OH! And I remember from earlier now, someone said it should be blind scan.
That's so neophytes can find stuff without knowing what they are doing, right?
Is it possible to get one for under $40? I've already spent way too much on this silly "hobby" as it is.
And I'm afraid to buy one on ebay, I don't want one of those pirate ones. Just one that will work and is cheap. I don't have all that fancy HDTV, just old TV's from way back. So basic is fine.
I'm open to suggestions.
Thanks again!
I'm scared of ebay too , mostly. Though there are some legit satellite dealers who sell on there, and have "ebay stores". For cheap but great blind-scanning, Traxis 3500. Usually find them for less than 90 bucks. WSI , one of our dealers has them, I think, and prob some of our other sponsors too. Its not fancy, but has a very sensitive tuner, and is about the fastest blind-scanning box ever!
I'm really missing RTV. Especially Leave it to Beaver. It's so nice to see a TV show that's so innocent, no violence, no cursing, no sex.
Is it possible to get one for under $40? I've already spent way too much on this silly "hobby" as it is.
Thanks again!
Leave it to Beaver, thats one of my favourites. My RTN plays 2 episodes every weekday and I record them on my PVR. Fortunately for me I was able to get RTN, or now RTV OTA with my antenna. (digital tv signal)
One of the local satellite shops by me has the Coolsat 6000 for $29.00 new still in box. I don't know if they ship to the US. I'll pm you the dealer web site if you want to check it out. Even with the shipping it's a plus for you as the American dollar is worth more than our Canadian dollar.
LOLOLOL...Nooo,
Blindscan or powerscan is a feature that steps thru the frequency and symbol rate combinations systematicly and pushes any valid signals into memory for you to step thru as channels. A lot of stuff that we look for is not published so it is a tool everyone at all levels uses, not just the novices. A receiver with good sensitivity and thourogh blind scan has two immediate advantages. One is that is minimizes the amount of info you have to hand enter (some stuborn signals still dont get caught on a blind scan) Two it allows a degree of independence from having to wait to be told something is somewhere and what to enter to get it.
I have a CS 6000 and it has a decent blindscan and sensitivity. $30 Cad. plus shipping (if he will ship to the US shouldnt be more than $10-15 max) for one NIB (new in box) is a sweet deal. I think the exchange rate is about 80 cents on the dollar so that should be less than 36 bucks USD.
BTW, there are some PBS channels on AMC 21 @ 125W Using your WSTV setup at 129W, you would have to go east just a small amout and raise the elevation just a bit as well. Here's the data for them.
Montana PBS -12104/V 04340
Several other feeds -
12180/V 30000
the last ones are AC3 (digital) audio. Your comp should be set up to catch it, but a regular STB will have to have the output, (the 6000 does) and be sent to a stereo or other equipment capable of playing digital audio input.
Get out and get tweakin!
Thanks for the input Anole, I've really been wanting to try a motorized setup, just havent been convinced it's as trouble free as I need it to be....lol
However, if you don't want to loose precious White Spring movies, you can solidify your concrete like FTA experience by adding a second LNB on the same dish, aiming that LNB only at AMC21, similar to what other people do. I'd say, NIB Coolsat 6000 is your very best bet anyway you look.
Dee, did you notice, your every thread becomes a bestseller? And that despite you being so purely equipped for now (except iPhone of course)! Could you imaging, what can happen, when you super modernize your whole system? You can easily setup your own forum Sponsor section.
Dee, did you notice, your every thread becomes a bestseller? And that despite you being so purely equipped for now (except iPhone of course)! Could you imaging, what can happen, when you super modernize your whole system? You can easily setup your own forum Sponsor section.
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Thank you guys for all your advice.
I will have to check my bank balance against the cupboard balance and figure out if I can afford more stuff right now or not.
As to the motor, I will keep that in mind for sure, if I ever get to that point. With that part missing on that big dish that kind of throws the plans out for now.
Then I would have to get a new LNB for it and "fab" it all up. Um, sure.
I would probably try to talk my dad into doing the "fabbing" (that just sounds too weird) on it for me. I don't have the tools, skills or anything else to do stuff like that. So a big, motorized dish is a distant future project.
I looked on ebay at the coolsat 6000 and they all just say "You know what you are looking for so I'm not bothering to describe it." in the description. Sounds pretty peg-leggish to me. I saw people are getting sued for owning some satellite tuners. How do you know which ones are safe? That's the last thing I need, to get sued.
Oh and it looks like people are taping parts together to get more channels on one dish? As if things don't already look bad enough with 37 dishes sprouting up all over the place like ugly grey mutant mushrooms. Well, maybe not 37. But a lot. Sigh.. These things are such a pain. It will be so nice when I can cut them all down and have just one, painted pretty like a sunflower. I wish there was a way to hide these things. They really are sooooo ugly and I hate mowing around them. Now I understand why people just get cable. This really is not fun at all.
I don't know how you guys can call this a hobby. I thought it was a hobby, for about 2 hours. Then it became a pain in the backside. Where's the fun? LOL..
"bestseller" ???
Ok, time to shower and relax. And more reading I guess..
Thank you guys!
I will have to check my bank balance against the cupboard balance and figure out if I can afford more stuff right now or not.
As to the motor, I will keep that in mind for sure, if I ever get to that point. With that part missing on that big dish that kind of throws the plans out for now.
Then I would have to get a new LNB for it and "fab" it all up. Um, sure.
I would probably try to talk my dad into doing the "fabbing" (that just sounds too weird) on it for me. I don't have the tools, skills or anything else to do stuff like that. So a big, motorized dish is a distant future project.
I looked on ebay at the coolsat 6000 and they all just say "You know what you are looking for so I'm not bothering to describe it." in the description. Sounds pretty peg-leggish to me. I saw people are getting sued for owning some satellite tuners. How do you know which ones are safe? That's the last thing I need, to get sued.
Oh and it looks like people are taping parts together to get more channels on one dish? As if things don't already look bad enough with 37 dishes sprouting up all over the place like ugly grey mutant mushrooms. Well, maybe not 37. But a lot. Sigh.. These things are such a pain. It will be so nice when I can cut them all down and have just one, painted pretty like a sunflower. I wish there was a way to hide these things. They really are sooooo ugly and I hate mowing around them. Now I understand why people just get cable. This really is not fun at all.
I don't know how you guys can call this a hobby. I thought it was a hobby, for about 2 hours. Then it became a pain in the backside. Where's the fun? LOL..
"bestseller" ???
Ok, time to shower and relax. And more reading I guess..
Thank you guys!
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No matter, where you buy Coolsat 6000, it will NOT decrypt anything encrypted by now. Besides, people sued are those who own the whole receiver brand, supply them in mlns, and pay cash to develop pirate decryption methods - a big fish, so to speak, not your parents type. For bestsellers just look at thread viewing numbers - you're ahead. That's the complexity and challenge of this hobby that makes it so attractive for some people. Not everyone prefers uniformity to diversity, and Easy Button will always be the limiting one.
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