Frustrated newbie... help please!

[teykly]

I bought an FTA set-up not long ago and have yet to enjoy it. I want to get into pure FTA, no hacking or illegal stuff. My set-up is this: 30' antenna w/ universal Ku LNB, direct coax run to a Coolsat 6100 receiver (no diseqc switch). The Coolsat manual is of little help. I'm a somewhat technically knowledgeable guy and the receiver says I have an 84% signal, but when I do a search I still can't get a darn thing to come in. All I get is a big 0 transponders found. I've tried blind search and manual search where I enter everything straight off lyngsat. Anybody have an idea?

 

[ronjohn]

On the signal meter, what is the quality reading?
What sat are you trying to get?

 

[teykly]

I'm at 84% and trying to get Galaxy 25 at 93.1

 

[ronjohn]

How were you able to point the dish to 93.1?

 

[teykly]

My bad... looking at old notes. I'm on Galaxy 19 at 97.0 W.

 

[ronjohn]

12090 H 20000 should have a strong signal level. You can still see signal even if the dish is not pointed correctly, or you have the wrong LNB selected. You must see "quality". Make sure you selected the universal LNB. Also, you need to have the LNB skewed correctly. If it is sideways(90 degrees out of position), a horizontal transponder would appear as a vertical transponder and vice-versa. Also if the LNB is twisted to something like 45 degrees, you probably wont get anything.

12090 should be on the transponder list, just select it and see what you can see.

 

[ronjohn]

Also, if you thought you were supposed to be at 93.1, you probably need to repoint your dish to 97.

 

[teykly]

Ok, checked pointing and eyeballed the lnb skew (-29.7). I'm doing a manual search for 12090 H 20000. If no good I'll tweak on the lnb since I know pointing is good.

 

[ronjohn]

How did you check the pointing if you have not quality level?

To point the dish you have to select a transponder and move the dish until you see a quality level, not just a signal level. It sounds to me like your dish is not pointed at any satellite since a blind scan does not find any transponders.

 

[english2fourth]

check lnb

jplay with the lnb frequencies, that has helped me before many times...look for the quality boost, that is what you need once you have a good strength. make sure you are on the right sat too good luck

 

[jayelem]

Anybody have an idea?

teykly , I hear your pain ..... been there done that .
It's winter .... I don't know what part of the country your in , cold and frustration don't go very good together.

If you are not using a analog signal meter between your LNB and receiver (which can help) , you are basically aiming your dish the best you can according to a compass and the elevation scale on the dish (the elevation scale can sometimes be off)

.....so my suggestion would be to have a small tv next to your dish so you can monitor the quality bar , the best thing you can do once you have the dish aimed in the general direction is move the dish in very small increments and pausing between adjustments untill you get a reading .(swinging the dish up and down and back n forth doesn't usually work unless you get lucky).

This can take a few minutes and up to half an hour with patience , just remember to have an active TP frequency set up correctly and do make sure that your LNB settings are also correct in your receiver.

The key word is patience .... keep the movements small .

Good luck

 

[teykly]

Thanks for all the good tips... I think it may be a pointing error after all as I have 0 quality. Will try again tomorrow... too much rain to stand outside!

 

[teykly]

So I'm back for another round of troubleshooting. Started from scratch, reset everything, even put a new universal lnb on (I had bought the antenna/lnb used) just to ensure that wasn't bad. Started back into searching for a Galaxy 19 signal using the specific tp ronjohn suggested. Got nothing. So switched gears to Galaxy 18 for grins to see if it would make a difference. Again, good signal but 0% quality. Now this has been 2 hours of dish pointing mayhem so I decide to resolve once and for all that I can get a signal. I had moved into my house 4 months ago... the last occupants left a standard 18" Dish Network dish on the roof and I remember them using it before they moved out. So I figure that's a guaranteed good pointing antenna - if I connect to it, I should at least see something as far as a signal. I got nothing, still 0% quality. Having read how easy most people find a signal with their Coolsat 6100 and that the 30" antenna is fairly forgiving with a blind search, I just can't believe I'm having this much trouble with basic signal reception. I'm really starting to suspect a bad receiver. Any ideas out there?

 

[Lak7]

Location?
Which Sat do you want to hit, Galaxy 19 @ 97west?
Can you list your LNB settings from the Receiver's Sat Setup Menu?

 

[teykly]

I'm trying to get on Galaxy 18 @ 123 W right now - but no luck yet, still 0 quality. I am trying to do a specific user defined search for 11800 V 26657 (tp 5). Here are my settings... LNB: On; LNB Type: Universal; Diseqc: Off/Off/Off; Positioner: None; Search: Blind; Freq: Auto; Polarity: All; Search Type: All channels; Dish setting: 9750/10600.

 

[Lak7]

Location?

 

[teykly]

Latitude: 34.8712°
Longitude: -120.4285°

 

[Lak7]

Dish setup:
Elevation: 49.4°
Azimuth (mag.): 170.9° using Compass
LNB Skew: +3.6° counterclock wise, about 1/8"

Dish Settings Menu:
LNB Power: On
Type: Universal
L.O. Low: 9750
L.O. High: 10600
22KHz: Off
DiSEqC: Off

Use the "Manual Scan" vs. "Blind Scan", for Frequency: look for 11800 V 26657
Then pan the Dish back and forth Slowly, watching for Quality.

 

[teykly]

I've checked all the settings and antenna pointing. All are good except I don't have anywhere to turn 22 KHz off. Also, I don't have the capability to be in active scan while trying to fine-tune the antenna pointing. While I'm in the set-up menu I can select a signal and quality meter to help point the antenna - but as I said, I've tried that for hours and never get anything except quality 0.

 

[Lak7]

All are good except I don't have anywhere to turn 22 KHz off.

22KHz switches and Universal LNBs are incompatible, so that option may not show.

I don't have the capability to be in active scan while trying to fine-tune the antenna pointing.

While in the Manual Scan menu, you have to move the Dish. If at all possible, bring the Receiver and a small TV to the Dish, makes life much easier.