Getting Ready to loose Virginity....

[HDTVFanAtic]

If these sound like a n00b question, its because it technically is.

I am in an area that i have zero experience with and there seems to be a secret handshake/password to get in mentality here, so I guess I will just ask again where I hope someone will help a virgin.

I have readjusted my Toroidal to see from roughly 87W to 129W. I am trying to fine tune it to make sure I have 87W on the far side - so I can pick up PBS-HD.

Thus far I appear to be on the arc properly with 129W - 91W circular coming in properly. That part I am very comfortable with.

However, the lnbs on the low side are a bit off where the sweet spot should be so I am concerned that I might not have enough room on the arm for 87W.

I purchased a DVBWorld USB to receive PBS-HD, but have no idea how this works.

As I am getting strange signals on my meter all over the place between 101W and 91W....even down to the end where I suppose 87W should be, I am a little more concerned. So I thought I should try and see how the DVBWorld USB unit really works before I try to see if I can actually receive 87W.

Thus I have found a really strong signal between the lnbs for 91W and 101W (yes this is a linear lnb).

Its about 1/2 way over so I assume its probably Intelsat Americas 5 or Galaxy 3C.

So I install the newest DVBWorld USB software.

Reboot, start DVBWorld and it says I have a signal of 74% and a quality of bouncing between 0 and 22)????

Go to configuration, leave Type as Fixed, set SAT to Galaxy 3C. Set lnb to Universal (I assume this is correct). Do not check 22KHz Tone, Tone Burst and disable DiSEqC.

Hit scan (looks like it starts at 18 and only goes to 22, only Horizontal????????)

Finds nothing that I can tell.

How can I tell what satellite I am really on? How can I at least find out if this is working properly?

As I don't know the secret handshake or passwords, I guess some think their exclusive club doesnt deserve outsiders.

Would anyone that doesnt think their s... doesnt smell bother to tell me what I am doing wrong or how to test this out for the first time?

 

[Shawn95GT]

The DVB World box's scan only scans the pre-stored transponders. You'll likely have to add the specific transponders you're looking for on AMC3. The STBs are much easier in this regard.

In my playing around with the same tuner, the DiSEqC switching was sketchy. Heck, even the signal meter is wierd. Sometimes I'd get absolutely nothing, try again and I have 90% signal. I think what I was seeing was just goofy DiSEqC switching.

Make sure you get the current software for that box. I haven't tried the latest version (I plan on trying it out soon) but the 'old' new version was a great improvement over what came on the CD.

you can get it here:

http://www.worlddvb.com/html/softdown.htm

Their host is usually dog slow so it might take a while to download.

I'll try and get mine setup again. My BUD is pretty much out of whack as far as ku is concerned, but I'll give it a shot.

I've had good luck on the c-band side with it.

 

[HDTVFanAtic]

It's 4am and i am sitting on my roof in the dark illuminated by the laptop and a wifi connection. I am looking at the the device on a computer down below.

The drivers apparently are the .06 drivers.

I am not using DiSEqc and have it disabled.

I have a 64% signal no matter where i point the lnb - on dish or not.

I have tried 2 lnbs and 2 RG6 runs. No difference in either.

I can get up to a 76% signal at one place between 91W and 101W, but i can never get the signal from Red to Green - nor can I get a signal quality level.

Suggestions?

I need to determine if this is working before I fine tune the toroidal down.

 

[Shawn95GT]

I haven't had a chance to play with a Toroidial dish but I've read that they are tricky to setup. I assume you have a T90. If it's a T55 then that's your problem .

Which LNBF are you using for AMC3? One of those Z10/Z20 ones? If so, my guess is that it's a standard LNBF with a 10750 LO. Double check the basics and go from there.

I'll try and get mine setup again tonight.

 

[HDTVFanAtic]

I haven't had a chance to play with a Toroidial dish but I've read that they are tricky to setup. I assume you have a T90. If it's a T55 then that's your problem .

Which LNBF are you using for AMC3? One of those Z10/Z20 ones? If so, my guess is that it's a standard LNBF with a 10750 LO. Double check the basics and go from there.

I'll try and get mine setup again tonight.

I have tried 2 Z20s and 1 Xtreme 0.3

I cannot find any point from about 89W to 110W where the signal goes green and the quality even registers.

However i can clearly see 110W, 101W and 91W are pumping out good numbers with a a circular lnb.

I just want to see the thing get a good signal and go green somewhere so i know its working.

 

[HDTVFanAtic]

Which LNBF are you using for AMC3? One of those Z10/Z20 ones? If so, my guess is that it's a standard LNBF with a 10750 LO. Double check the basics and go from there.

Ok, according to the DVBWorld USB manual you set the unit to universal lnb if using Ku - however their preset in the their program for Universal has 10600 in Freq1 and 9750 Mhz in Freq2.

Is this wrong?

Do I need to go to custom and set it to 10750 and if so, what is the Freq2 setting? Is this what would keep me from getting a channel lock?

 

[Shawn95GT]

That'll do it!

Yeah, you need to fix the LO. If you were blind scanning you'd get some stuff and the frequencies would look all messed up. Since Blind scan isn't an option we just don't see anything.

Set it to 1075000 in both fields - this should help tons. I have to change this for use on my BUD too.

 

[HDTVFanAtic]

That'll do it!

Yeah, you need to fix the LO. If you were blind scanning you'd get some stuff and the frequencies would look all messed up. Since Blind scan isn't an option we just don't see anything.

Set it to 1075000 in both fields - this should help tons. I have to change this for use on my BUD too.

Well, thanks!

For a n00b to this, you would ASSUME when the manual says to use this for Ku and its not adjustable, it would atleast be correct!

Why would they have a set default for Ku that isn't correct? Is 10600 the setting in some other countries?

Also, should I turn the 22Khz tone setting on?

 

[HDTVFanAtic]

Ok, doing a scan of the transponders (I assume) with 22Khz not turned on a setting of 10750 Mhz in both boxes, It appears I am only picking up 1 channel.



Shows 12173 Frequency - Vertical and a Video PID of 33 and Audio of 34.

So, what Bird am I on?, lol.

 

[iammike]

Might be IA6, what's the SR?

 

[HDTVFanAtic]

ok, what's an SR

 

[iammike]

Sorry about that, I forgot you're a noob with loose virginity.

SR = Symbol Rate

 

[Shawn95GT]

that's RTPi - sounds like you found 101 West, and H/V is backwards.

http://www.lyngsat.com/amc4.html

Try 12120 V SR 30000 (will probably get signal on H since polarity seems to be backwards).

SR is the symbol rate. If you click 'add' in the transponder list it'll ask for H/V, frequency and symbol rate.

 

[HDTVFanAtic]

thats now making some sense as i could not find anything that made sense on IA3 or IA6.

I also have the lnb at a 90 degree angle as thats where the strongest signal was.....and when i put at 0/180 and rescanned for IA3 or IA6, I would get nothing.

So, what is the Ku FTA birds that that i can get a picture lock on that are closest to both sides of Nimiq1 at 91W since the secret handshake to find this stuff out apparently will never be revealed.

 

[iammike]

that's RTPi - sounds like you found 101 West, and H/V is backwards.

http://www.lyngsat.com/amc4.html

Try 12120 V SR 30000 (will probably get signal on H since polarity seems to be backwards).

SR is the symbol rate. If you click 'add' in the transponder list it'll ask for H/V, frequency and symbol rate.

That makes more sense than IA6. Lyngsat lists 12175V as FTA but it's May video.

 

[HDTVFanAtic]

As I dont intend to get heavy into this, but just need a way to figure out the basic, where can I find a list of the Ku birds with FTA with just 1 or 2 channels or so on each- not the master "I'm so l33t my poop don't stink behind the locked gate forum" list.

 

[Shawn95GT]

That explains why the polarity is backwards .

The best way to find all that transponder info is to use a site like Lyngsat. It's all I do to see where the heck i'm at.

On the East side of 91 is IA-8 (89W):

http://www.lyngsat.com/ia8.html

On the West side you've got IA-6 (93W):

http://www.lyngsat.com/ia6.html

Reading the charts you just need to find a DVB clear signal on each and hope it's still up. Lyngsat is usually pretty good.

On IA-6 I'd gun for Doc Scott on 'University Network' - 11865 V, 3516 SR

On IA-8 I'd shoot for 11780 H, 29000SR - it'll be foriegn language, but will show picture.

First thing I'd do is rotate that LNB back the way it should be so that the Lyngsat charts make sense. As far as decoding Lyngsat goes, DMS has a pretty good decoder ring:

http://www.dmsiusa.com/charts.htm

Is that what you are looking for?

 

[Shawn95GT]

As I dont intend to get heavy into this, but just need a way to figure out the basic, where can I find a list of the Ku birds with FTA with just 1 or 2 channels or so on each- not the master "I'm so l33t my poop don't stink behind the locked gate forum" list.

Mike Kohl's site might have the information layed out more like what you want:

http://www.global-cm.net/MPEGlistKuBandUS.html

I find Lyngsat to work fine for what I need.

Don't confuse the information you're looking for with the info in the WUT area. That area is for wild feeds / un-published broadcasts. Those aren't very useful for what you are trying to do since they come and go.

 

[HDTVFanAtic]

Again, i want to thank you so much for this help. Its at least coming together.

My issue with lyngsat is I cannot figure out how to tell what stuff is Ku vs C vs K.

I dealt with IDB Communications(there's a blast from the past) during the 80s and we bounced more crap around over birds than I care to remember when we had plenty of space to throw up junk we needed - but quite frankly not dealing with it for years it begins to fade from how it worked.

And quite frankly, all I want is to get a Toroidal leveled out so I can get PBS-HD direct and just have to figure out where it is.

As I get a signal of 64 if a lnb is plugged in, regardless of where it is pointed, how do you find the birds these days? Even the Accutrac2 shows the same signal even with no bird present.

And FWIW, if anyone has a Nextcom R5000 running with the WorldDVB USB (I know Mike has one), I am getting BSOD after about 10 seconds with "Bad Pool Caller". Googling that seems to indicate a problem witha USB device, so I assume the 2 units have a conflict.

I doubt either will try to fix it, so just a heads up - especially you IamMike.

 

[Shawn95GT]

C vs Ku is easy. 4 digit frequency is C-band. 5 digits is ku.

the DVB World software has been kind of flakey with the signal meter. It seems to stop sampling after a while. I just start and stop the meter often while looking. I figure it's a software / driver thing that'll get sorted out.

I'll put a PC together on the patio tonight if the nightly storms we've been gettign all week dont' blow in and see if I can't get PBS-HD dialed in.