Galaxy 25 Troubles

[tranny]

Hello to all as this is my first post. I am having trouble with my Coolsat 7000 setup and Galaxy 25. I have a 33 inch Fortec dish and a Coolsat 7000 set at 10750. I have had this satellite tuned in (albeit a weak signal) in the past. I turned my system on one night and couldn't get a signal for G25. I ordered another switch (Chieta) and still nothing. Other polarity satellites seem to be fine. The system seems to be tracking properly. I have tried every conceivable setting. What else could be wrong? Could I have a bad switch out-of-the-box?

Thanks in advance.

 

[turbosat]

Can you rec the sats on either side of G25? Gal 3, and G16? If so, I think I would delete the entry for G25 , re-enter the settings for it and rescan.
If you're not getting those other sats at all I'd say the tracking is prob off.

 

[ng54]

Tranny This line ' I have had this satellite tuned in (albeit a weak signal) in the past.' is telling me the dish will need realignment. Most tps on G25, you should see min 65 - 85 percent quality on the meter. My ivisionsat which is similar to your coolsat is running 82-90 percent quality on the tps.

 

[tranny]

I never could get the other Galaxies. I just got a weak signal from G25. Is my angle off? I am a noob so be easy on me. The thing I don't understand is I had G25 one day and the next it was gone. Nothing obvious happened to the dish that I am aware. Worst case, what are your recommendations for re-aiming given that I am new to this. Is there any way I can rule out the switch for sure without extra equipment?

 

[tranny]

NG,

I only had 25 - 30 percent quality .

 

[Wescopc]

Can you bypass the switch for setup? Might help if you explained how you have the system wired (switches and motor) and which LNBF you are using.
Bob

 

[voomvoom]

Why are you using a Switch? What else do you have? How is everything connected and in what order? Is it motorized or do you have multiple lnbf's or a single lnbf in a fixed position?

 

[pmb1010]

Whats the Chieta switch for, if you have 1 dish and 1 receiver?

I bought one of those "high quality Chieta" switches - it lasted exactly 20 seconds before it burned up.

Take the switch out of the lines - go directly from reciever (thru motor) to LNBF. See how that acts for you.

 

[ng54]

tranny Lets start from the beginning. We could use a little info, is the dish on the ground or roof. What brand of motor. 1. mounting pole must be plumb. 2. determine which sat is close to your longitude. 3. setup usals in the receiver for your longitude and latitude 4. then send motor to its reference positition via positioner command in the posititioner settings menu. 5. go to, dish point it at the south sat using compass 6. set motor elevation, rotate motor up 1 degree more than book setting, trust me this will help. 7. connect sat signal meter to find sat arc and set dish elevation very course adjustment. 8. go to receiver and do the dish setup for your south sat, make sure to do usals(when in the positioner settings menu you must push the goto button 9 while in positioner settings menu go up to frequency and set the strongest active TP. (ask here or goto lyngsat.com) 10 back to the dish, very slow rotate the motor on the mounting pole until you see some evidence of signal reception. try both directions tiny bit at a time. 11 FYI - place a hose clamp on the pole just below the motor clamps to prevent it from slipping down the pole. Local hardware store has them in plumbing section. 12 once you have found some signal snug up motor clamps 13 now adjust dish elevation for best signal 14 if signal is not with 65 - 80 percent go back rotating motor on the pole for peak signal, then back to peaking signal with dish elevation. You will also find the signal levels change a bit when doing the tightening of the bolts. These are general guidelines that should get you in the ball park.

 

[tranny]

Thanks for all who replied. I can see why this group gets such kudos.

Remember, I am new at this so I will explain the best I can. I have done some research but I am not up to genius level yet. The dish was installed by someone in the hobby - NOT me.

I have 1 dish, 1 receiver as mentioned above. I have a DISEqC motor. I would have to research the LNB although it has four outputs. The LNB is hooked up to the switch "LNB 1" and "LNB 2". The switch output is then hooked to the receiver. I was under the impression that the switch changed the polarity in my setup. I guess I am wrong. I don't know why else it would be hooked up that way. Any Ideas from this info?

Thanks again.

 

[ng54]

Sounds like you have a Invacom QPH-031 lnb(white in color). This unit has two different types of lnbs in it which would require a switch. to select the type you wish to use. The circular type is for the comercial sats and the linear type is for the fta sats. This lnb has two outputs for each type. As for polarity, it refers to the type of signal being received from the sat: FTA has horizontal polarity and verticle polarity. Comercial sat has right polarity and left polarity. Yes it will take you some time to absorb all this.

 

[tranny]

Yes, that sounds correct. I am mostly interested in receiving G25 programming. That is mostly all I watched when I could get G25. I am interested in seeing some other programming you guys are taking about but if the switch won't work to the FTA sats, I might as well get rid of my system.

 

[turbosat]

Don't give up on the hobby over a switch malfunction lol. Got a digital camera? Make a few pics of what you have, surely someone here can help you figure out where to find the problem. Where do you live-may be a member that lives near you who could help, if the person who installed your dish isn't available.

 

[ng54]

Remove the switch, and run cable from motor to an 'L' connection on the lnb. Should be an L and C mark near the connectors on the lnb. The connections alternate L-C-L-C.

 

[Tron]

When you have the switch in the line, you have to select the proper port (port 1, 2, 3, or 4... you're using 1 and 2) in the DiSEqC setup menu on the receiver. I would connect the 'L' LNBF output to port 1 and the 'C' LNBF output to port 2, but you can do it the other way around. In my example, linear (normal Ku) satellites would be set up with DiSEqC port 1 selected, and circular (DBS) satellites with DiSEqC port 2 selected.

 

[tranny]

Success!,

Thanks to all who have helped me. I bypassed the switch and wired direct to the linear port of the LNB and got G25 back. I guess I have 3 bad switches!?!? The signal is weak though (about 35 - 45 percent depending on the transponder). Is my angle off? I can watch fine until I get a little rain.

I had a few other questions and then I will stop bugging everyone. Are there any program guides for the linear sats? Also, is there a way to delete a satellite from the selection list of a Coolsat 7000? I can't find anything in the manual.

Thanks again.

 

[ng54]

OK!! 1. Have someone watch the signal meter on the TV.
2. Goto dish grab bottom of dish with two fingers and push down.
3. If signal improves you need to loosen elevation bolts on dish and
adjust down tiny amounts.
4. Next go into the positioner settings menu, select an active TP and
use the USALS menu fine tuning to move the dish east and west to see
if the signal improves. No way to delete a sat from list at this time.

 

[tranny]

So...the elevation is up too high for certain? I am just curious on how you know I need to go down. I am trying to learn this stuff so don't get offended.

I also was able to hit 123 G10R with a weak signal. Will I be able to get 101 (AMC 4) and some of the other FTA sats if I adjust the signal to get better quality? Are all the sports channels on C-band? I could not find the FSSN channel that was mentioned in the threads on any list.

 

[ng54]

Well, you have two possiblities that is causing a weak signal. the dish elevation is incorrect, either to high or to low. A quick check to verify which way its off is by pulling gently down on the dish while watching the signal levels then adjust the dish accordingly.(towards the direction that gives the best signal) The other possibility is the azmuith is off, which is left to right movements. A quick check is using the fine tuning menu in the receivers menu positioner settings / USALS.

 

[turbosat]

tranny, once you are tracking the satellite arc you will begin to find sportsfeeds and lots of other stuff. FSSN isn't on unless there's a hockey game or something the channel is covering, and you're prob just a bit late this season to see any Sioux games.
*pushing down on the dish slightly, or pulling up on the bottom will give you hints as to whether your elevation may be high or low. And always remember, or write down your current figure before you change it, so you can go back if needed.
Also- on the switches, never unplug or connect them to cables when receiver is powered on!