Fortec Star Dynamic Installation Results

[AcWxRadar]

I thought some of you might like to follow along with me on this receiver setup. Just something to do for fun while the receiver is scanning away. I will type out my steps and provide the results as I go along... It was approximately 11:00 am Central Time when I hooked this up.

I finally got back to playing with my new Fortec Star Dynamic receiver. Had a problem finding the menu to set the video output selection to change it to S-Video, but that was a minor issue. I need to read the manual a little more slowly.

Now, I have disconnected my Coolsat 5000 and installed the Fortec Star in its place.

I have a single cable running out to the motor (a PowerTech DG-280B) which is driving a Winegard DS-2076 dish and an Invacom QPH-031 LNBF. I have connected a Chieta 4x1 DiSEqC switch in between the motor and the LNBF and now I am setting my menu parameters.

I scrolled through the factory satellite list and set all sats to use 10.750 GHz L.O. frequency, USALS motor positioning and DiSEqC 1.0 port 4 (port 1 and 11.250 GHz for any circular sat signals I might find available).

I have entered my latitude and longitude coordinates and I am ready to select a satellite to scan.

EDIT: Located near Omaha, NE. Just a little NW of the city.

AcWxRADAR

 

[AcWxRadar]

I am going to use the Power Scan mode to seek the TPs and channels. Symbol Rate set to FULL RANGE, Polarity ALL, start frequency 11700 and end at 12200, frequency step set to 4. Scan mode set to FTA and Locking Speed set to DETAILED.

It is overcast and drizzling light rain today, so not a great day to scan, but alas, this is my available day to play!

My due south sat is 97.0W Galaxy 19, so I will start there.

Scanning TPs... ~10 min / scanning Chs... ~3min
165 Tv and 85 Radio

I knew it would take a long time to power scan with these settings, so I was prepared for that, but 12-14 minutes isn't too out of line compared to some. Of course this is the longest scan mode that I could select (I think).

RADAR

 

[AcWxRadar]

The first nice thing to observe is that it pans my motor just fine to all the satellites, just as nicely as my Coolsat does. The USALS must be correct in this regard, it goes right to them.

However, one item that I do not like is how the sats are lined up in the list. I would prefer them in numerical order, but they are either random or alphabetical by sat name.

The Power Scan is slow (but I expected it to be, especially with the settings that I used and I did so purposely) but it is not a heck of a lot longer than the 5K blind scan with the SR search set to DETAIL.

RADAR

 

[AcWxRadar]

Now trying one of my most watched sats Galaxy 18 at 123.0W...

Scanning TP.... ~10 min / scanning Chs... ~3min
39 Tv and 9 Radio

Now trying Amazonas at 61.0w, never could get anything before... Hmmm, still can't!

Scanning AMC1 @ 103.0W
13 Tv / 8 Radio

Scannning AMC2 @ 85.0W
Only one Tv channel here.

RADAR

 

[AcWxRadar]

Scanning AMC 3 @ 87W
10 TV / 4 Radio

Scanning AMC 4 @ 101.0W
24 TV / 13 Radio

Scanning AMC 5 @ 79.0W
11 TV

Scanning AMC 6 @ 72.0W
6 TV channels

RADAR

 

[AcWxRadar]

So far, there is little to complain about here (comparing the Fortec to my trusty Coolsat 5K). Menu layouts are differently organized, but not a problem.

As the TPs are being scanned, those scanned in reveal the FREQ/POL/SR and this information is displayed on the screen. Some are followed by a [+] which I am not sure what it means quite yet. Do you suppose that not only is it an active TP, but that at least one channel was detected?

Scanning AMC 9 now...

RADAR

 

[gillham]

However, one item that I do not like is how the sats are lined up in the list. I would prefer them in numerical order, but they are either random or alphabetical by sat name.

The ViewSat VS Pro I set my brother up with does this. Rather annoying, especially when the names are different for some satellites. I found myself having to scan the whole list looking for the orbital position most of the time. That's one of the reasons I gave the VS Pro to my brother.

 

[AcWxRadar]

Scanning AMC 9 @ 83.0W
AMC-9/3F channel popped in for me and three radio channels, but no RTN feed channels. I was worried about that. They are so low on quality for me with the Coolsat that on this rainy day, I was doubtful that any other receiver could pick them out.

Moving over to AMC 15 @ 105.0W now

RADAR

 

[AcWxRadar]

The ViewSat VS Pro I set my brother up with does this. Rather annoying, especially when the names are different for some satellites. I found myself having to scan the whole list looking for the orbital position most of the time. That's one of the reasons I gave the VS Pro to my brother.

Gillham,

It is rather annoying, isn't it? I like things in order across the horizon. It seems to make more sense to me that way. I don't care what the name of the sat is, that is immaterial and has nothing to do with anything as far as I can see.

Is there a way to rename the sats in the Fortec? If there was, I would simply remove the alpha names and replace them with the orbital position numerically, then they might line up.

Or is there an editor for the Fortec available?

RADAR

 

[AcWxRadar]

Scanning AMC 15 @ 105.0W found:
10 TV channels, no Radio

Moving on to... AMC 16 @ 118.0W? What is this? Is there really a sat here? I don't think so, but I will scan it anyway and see what shows up.

AMC 16 is at 85.0W anyway, according to Lyngsat.

EDIT: Nothing found here on this imaginary satellite. That seemed strange that it was listed in there, was there a AMC 16 sat at this location a long time ago?

RADAR

 

[Sadoun]

Radar, nice report so far.


The (+) sign means the transponder is active, discovered by the blind scan, and it has been added to the list of stored transponders.

 

[gillham]

Is there a way to rename the sats in the Fortec? If there was, I would simply remove the alpha names and replace them with the orbital position numerically, then they might line up.

Or is there an editor for the Fortec available?

There is a channel editor listed on their website for the Mecury II, which I believe should work on the Dynamic. Channel Master mentions the Classic NA only.

 

[AcWxRadar]

Next sat up to bat was 148.0W Echostar 1/2
20 TV / 15 Radio

I didn't realize there were so many free channels on this sat. Not something I expected. Maybe they are all just garbage or informational services or something.

This next one in the lineup goes along with 148. It is 61.5 Echostar 3. Let me see how many free channels are on this one.

RADAR

 

[AcWxRadar]

Radar, nice report so far.


The (+) sign means the transponder is active, discovered by the blind scan, and it has been added to the list of stored transponders.

Thanks Sadoun!

So far so good on this receiver in my opinion! Thanks for the information on the [+] sign. What does it mean if the TP appears, but does not show the [+] sign? Is that TP already in the list but was found to be INACTIVE at the time of the scan?

RADAR

 

[AcWxRadar]

There is a channel editor listed on their website for the Mecury II, which I believe should work on the Dynamic. Channel Master mentions the Classic NA only.

Thanks Gillham,

I will have to check it out. This scan should be a good list for me and I want to save it for future reference so I will need to determine how to extract it from the receiver, save it and edit it when necessary.

RADAR

 

[AcWxRadar]

Well, it finished scanning 61.5W Echostar 3 and came up with:
5 TV / 13 Radio channels.

Moving on to the next sat it is 129.0W Echostar 5. I don't expect too much here. I know that there are some engineering channels displayed, but they are nothing to watch. Unless you want to amuse your friends! LOL

Let's see what comes up here... Back in a few.

RADAR

 

[AcWxRadar]

Completed scanning 129.0 Echostar 5
6 TV and 11 Radio channels

Next up is Echostar 8/10 @ 110.0 W (should be Echostar 10/11 - shouldn't it)?

I wonder how many channels this time. Hoping to get through these Echostar sats soon and get to the good ones! Galaxy!

There is one sat that I realize I missed up front. If this is going in alphabetical order, where is AMC 21 @ 125.0W. I guess I will have to figure out how to add that later.

RADAR

 

[AcWxRadar]

Completed the scan of 110W Echostar 10/11 and came up with:
11 TV / 15 radio channels

Moving on to Echostar 7 @ 119.0W

I cannot stop to check what I am scanning in here, if I do that I will really delay my process. So I am just scannning and moving to the next sat and going again.
Seems like this little receiver is doing quite well so far! I like it. It is easy to navigate, I have been used to the Coolsat 5000 for four years and so it is hard to adjust to something new. This receiver is fairly simple to adapt to.

RADAR

 

[AcWxRadar]

Echostar 7 @ 119.0 W picked up:
11 TV and 4 radio channels

Echostar 9 @ 121.0W up next.

The front panel display is very nice for me. My eyes are getting bad (although I am not yet wearing glasses) but I can see the green 1/2" tall segmented display really nicely from across the room. It is the easiest panel to read out of any of the equipment I have or have ever had in my entertainment center. The chassis looks sharp, too. Kinda my style. Straight lines and nice layout without so much flare that it looks gaudy. It fits in style with all my other components. I wonder if it comes in black, however. This one is silver. It's fine in silver, but would be better in black for my setup.

RADAR

 

[AcWxRadar]

Echostar 9 @ 121W gave me:
1 TV channel and 6 radio channels.

Here comes a good one to test. Galaxy 13 / Horizons 1 @ 127.0W
Got a few channels here with the Coolsat, but all were either encrypted in a format that I couldn't pick out. Would like to pick up something new here. Something FTA, I have it set to FTA only, so at least I dont have to worry about deleting all those channels. I hate doing that with the remote on my Coolsat. It is pretty tedious. So I always change the scan mode to FTA only and then I don't have to mess with it.

Scanning now.

RADAR