Help with my poor Bud

[Tron]

There is some analog on there too
16 (V) is shepherds chapel
18 (V) & 19 (H) have syndicated feeds on during the day
Sometimes 17, 23, 8 & 10 do too

Those analog TPs sort of put a little wrench in my plans for using an Eagle Aspen B1STACK stacked LNBF on my near-future BUD setup... Unless, of course, I use a de-stacker of some sort...

 

[Anole]

keep it in the family:

If I was really ambitious my cousin has two 10' Buds behind her house.
One is a fiberglass model and the other appears to be a solid stainless steel model.
Both look like they were built to survive a nuclear war.

We got guys running all over the countryside, knocking on strangers doors, begging for BUDs.
You got 'em in the family? -

Get some pictures of those dishes and post in this thread.
I'm sure several people will help you decide which dish or dishes are best for your needs.
Or, just get 'em all. Parts is parts! -

When you've eaten your fill, offer the left over bits to other members.
Don't want to see that stuff in the landfills! -

edit:
don't forget the poles. they are hard to replace / come by.
if you were to offer a cast-off dish -with- pole, already out of the ground, people would kiss your feet. -

 

[Crocodile Locke]

I had to re-install several mesh panels that were knocked loose. The best way I found was to unbolt the offending panel section, turn it on its side, and gradually slide the mesh into place.

By having it on its side, gravity helps to keep the mesh fully seated in the lower channel, while you tease it into the upper channel. I also spread the aluminum channels the mesh fits into with a thick putty knife, then hammered them back tight after installation.

Re-installing the panels was by far the toughest part of my rebuild, and I was getting nowhere until I broke the dish down into the panel sections and turned the panels on their side so I could easily reach both sides of the mesh.

Hope this helps.

Your method sounds like the most effective way to get it fixed. I hadn't thought about using a putty knife to spread the channels. It would have been nice if the dish could be disassembled so the sections could be slid directly in from the edge. Thanks for the Tip. :up

We got guys running all over the countryside, knocking on strangers doors, begging for BUDs.
You got 'em in the family? -

Get some pictures of those dishes and post in this thread.
I'm sure several people will help you decide which dish or dishes are best for your needs.
Or, just get 'em all. Parts is parts! -

When you've eaten your fill, offer the left over bits to other members.
Don't want to see that stuff in the landfills! -

edit:
don't forget the poles. they are hard to replace / come by.
if you were to offer a cast-off dish -with- pole, already out of the ground, people would kiss your feet. -

I was looking them over the other day. The stainless steel bud (circa 1985 judging by the date marked in concrete) has been in disuse so long that a fairly large stand of roughly 30 ft trees have sprung up around it. The fiberglass bud (circa 1983 judging by markings) is much more accessible, but it and the stainless one are both very heavily constructed. They are anchored on what appears to be well casing at least 6" or more (I'm thinking more like 8") in diameter sunk in copious amounts of concrete. The hardware is very seized on both, which made me lose a lot of interest (I'm not afraid to use PB B'laster, but this stuff appears to require more than that...more like an angle grinder )
I'll have to get some pics of them. Funny thing is... I've seen at least 3 large buds within roughly 5 mins of my house, not counting the 2 by my cousin's house.
I think you could have a bud bonanza around here! k:

I just noticed your location says LA. I used to live in Burbank back in the late 90's. I miss being able to go to In-N-Out for a Double-Double. :river

 

[Anole]

go for the metal; real old fiberglass may suck:

The hardware is very seized on both, which made me lose a lot of interest (I'm not afraid to use PB B'laster, but this stuff appears to require more than that...more like an angle grinder )

I found a hand-held grinder equipped with a cut-off wheel to be superior to a Sawzall for BUD extraction! -
Better for those hard-to-reach corners, and when you are standing on your head, or at the top of a ladder on one foot! -
New hardware is probably a good idea after 20 years in the field anyway.

I'll have to get some pics of them. Funny thing is... I've seen at least 3 large buds within roughly 5 mins of my house, not counting the 2 by my cousin's house.
I think you could have a bud bonanza around here! k:

Add that to the photo collection and the guys will tell you which ones THEY want! -

I just noticed your location says LA. I used to live in Burbank back in the late 90's.
I miss being able to go to In-N-Out for a Double-Double. :river

- double-double
- both kinds of onions
- 4x4
- animal style
Those are what you hear from serious customers.
And they -do- taste great!

 

[Crocodile Locke]

I found a hand-held grinder equipped with a cut-off wheel to be superior to a Sawzall for BUD extraction! -
Better for those hard-to-reach corners, and when you are standing on your head, or at the top of a ladder on one foot! -

Indeed! Another cousin of mine has an auto repair shop (lots of relatives around here - especially cousins) nearby...maybe I could borrow his oxy-acetylene torch and take that up the ladder to use on one foot!

Add that to the photo collection and the guys will tell you which ones THEY want! -

Maybe I should get a tractor trailer to haul all the Buds around the country making deliveries!

- double-double
- both kinds of onions
- 4x4
- animal style
Those are what you hear from serious customers.
And they -do- taste great!

Yeah. : Mmmm. Good stuff. So many good restaurants no longer available to me. There are some days I'd kill for a prime rib from Damon's in Glendale. :dev

 

[Crocodile Locke]

Ok everybody, I've got the bud temporarily up now, but unfortunately the actuator isn't working (no big surprise there). Without it my GI 550i just keeps telling me I need to set east/west limits whenever I try to get into the setup menu. Now I know I can manually move the dish if I remove the actuator motor (I already did), but it doesn't seem to be much of a help if I can't do anything with the GI 550i. Earlier today I remembered that I had another actuator in a shed. It's a Prosat 118.

So, would I be able to hook up the Prosat to the GI 550i or is it too old? I cracked open the Prosat and the wiring is different than what I've got in my cable.
I've attached a pic of the wiring on the Prosat and my cable wiring.
Thanks again everyone for the continued help with this. :up

 

[Lak7]

From what I can see in Pic #1, the Motor Wires are the White & Green and the Pulse wires are Red & Black.
Is that an extra Actuator? Is that why the wires do not match Pic #2?

 

[phlatwound]

That looks like a potentiometer-type sensor in pic 1, will those work with a GI 550i?

 

[Crocodile Locke]

From what I can see in Pic #1, the Motor Wires are the White & Green and the Pulse wires are Red & Black.

That kinda' what I was thinking based on the wire gauge. So you think it would work alright (assuming it is functional)?

Is that an extra Actuator? Is that why the wires do not match Pic #2?

Yup, I remembered there was another out in a shed and dug it out.

I've been braving the elements (it's been raining here for the last three days :rant to try and manually get the bud parked on G16. I dialed it in the best I could using my $10 satellite finder and I'm getting good ol' Pastor Arnold Murray coming in pretty clear right now, so I know I'm in the right place. I haven't hooked up to my Coolsat yet to scan for the networks, I need to dry off and eat some dinner first. I attached a picture of Sheperd's Chapel.
Thanks bubba108 for telling me to look for it. :up

 

[bubba108]

On your pic of your LNB there are three wires coming out of the blue box- black, red & white. On the back of your GI 550i hook the red wire to the +5, white to pulse and black to ground. Then you can set the polarity anywhere you want. On the menu of the GI 550i hit 4- Sat Adjustment then 5 Skew and you can adjust the polarity. If you want the Island networks you only need flat horizontal for now.

I would use an Armstrong motor (by hand) to move the dish to get G-19. Then get as fancy as ya like!

 

[Lak7]

That kinda' what I was thinking based on the wire gauge. So you think it would work alright (assuming it is functional)?

I dunno, see Phlatwound's comment.

 

[bubba108]

You close man, real close! If your getting the Energizer Reverend, then you will get the GDMX mux when you do a digital blind scan with your Coolsat. Your polarity, seeing the reverend is vertical. The Island networks (This-TV, ABC,CW Network, NBC and Fox) are horizontal.

 

[Crocodile Locke]

I decided to not try and get the other actuator hooked up right now and instead focused on zeroing in on G16.
I switched the polarity over to horizontal on my 550i and then I disconnected the cable from the 550i and ran it inside to my Coolsat 7000 and hooked it up directly (no switches) into the lnb in. I posted some pictures of my settings and results. When I did a blind scan I came up with 10 channels. I get KCWY, Living Faith TV, LESEA, What I'm guessing is WAPA, TSMA. 3 Mexico. I also scan in G16/19 SD, G16/19 HD and E.E.CEA 2. Those last three lockup my Coolsat :rant:so I'm guessing (also based on the HD clue) that these are some sort of HD channels my receiver can't handle.

So, the big question is why aren't I getting the island networks? I seem to be getting decent quality so I hoped it would pop in on the blind scan. I deleted all channels for G16 on my Coolsat (from my Ku setup) before I blind scanned, but I still only come up with these 10 channels.

Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong? Could there be an issue with dish alignment or perhap the lnb isn't set right? I was thinking I should probably get a newer voltage switched lnb like Iceberg suggested.

I'm getting closer, but for some reason those networks seem elusive. You should all probably be praying I don't get the island networks, since the last time I managed to get an ABC station it was KTWO...and it went dark the next day. I must be cursed.

 

[Mr Tony]

I would manually add the transponder and scan. Sometimes the blind scan misses it

3845
H
15030

They will log as "SVC 1" through "SVC 7" or something like that

 

[Crocodile Locke]

I would manually add the transponder and scan. Sometimes the blind scan misses it

3845
H
15030

They will log as "SVC 1" through "SVC 7" or something like that

I was just about to edit my previous post. I tried another blind scan about an hour 1/2 ago and they all appeared. @party I'm getting 91 - 94% quality.
Strange nothing from that transponder showed up before but it makes more sense now that you tell me that blind scan can miss things. Yeah, they showed up just like you said SVC 1 - SVC 7. The blank screen on ABC HD makes me really think I need to join the Azbox club!

On my CS 7000 I noticed that when I bring up the channel menu it displays it reaaallly slow, like it's bogging down really bad. I've had it bog down, but never experienced it as bad before. Have you ever noticed that? Another thing I've noticed is that it occasionally locks up and I have to use the rocker switch on back to turn it off.

I really appreiciate the help everybody's given me with this
I'm slowly learning and everyone has been very patient with me.
I still have to run my cables inside which will take a little work (brick house) and then maybe when I have more time (and better weather) I'll permanently site my dish/install the actuator.

 

[Mr Tony]

I remember on the Visionsat and older software a HD channel would lock up the receiver and require a reboot with the switch on back. That had been cleaned up in a subsequent software update and it just shows "bad channel" on the screen

 

[bubba108]

k:party:up

Ya might want to make sure there is anything on vertical you want before go to the trouble of getting vertical.

At the dish run the output of the KU dish to the diseqc switch. Then hook up the C-band to the switch also. This way there is only one feed in the 75' run.
Then hook up the Coolsat the way you had it. Set the C-band to the correct diseqc position and set all your KU satellites to the correct diseqc position.
Popcorn and your favorite beverage.

Wow 94 SQ, I'm jealous!!

A. Don't worry about all that other stuff for now.
B. Carry a picture of Iceberg in your wallet.
C. I sometimes have trouble getting my motorized dish to work when using switches.

Whenever I load a HD channel on my Traxis 3500 SD, everything bogs down till I delete it. Go figure.

 

[Mr Tony]

Ya might want to make sure there is anything on vertical you want before go to the trouble of getting vertical.

bubba
on V unless he wants analog the only items are HD or 4:2:2 feeds

 

[bubba108]

Yep, the original goal was the networks, so until he scores an AZ or Q then he can just set back and enjoy winter. Chestnuts roasting and all that good stuff.

 

[Crocodile Locke]

I remember on the Visionsat and older software a HD channel would lock up the receiver and require a reboot with the switch on back. That had been cleaned up in a subsequent software update and it just shows "bad channel" on the screen

I always figured I should update my software on it. I have a tendency to procrastinate if something isn't a huge problem.
Any idea where I can the the latest factory software for it? The last time I checked the Coolsat website was down. Are they having some sort of company meltdown?

k:party:up

Ya might want to make sure there is anything on vertical you want before go to the trouble of getting vertical.

At the dish run the output of the KU dish to the diseqc switch. Then hook up the C-band to the switch also. This way there is only one feed in the 75' run.
Then hook up the Coolsat the way you had it. Set the C-band to the correct diseqc position and set all your KU satellites to the correct diseqc position.
Popcorn and your favorite beverage.

Wow 94 SQ, I'm jealous!!

A. Don't worry about all that other stuff for now.
B. Carry a picture of Iceberg in your wallet.
C. I sometimes have trouble getting my motorized dish to work when using switches.

Whenever I load a HD channel on my Traxis 3500 SD, everything bogs down till I delete it. Go figure.

I've got the bud and the Ku setup in two different places, so I can't use a single run . I have a 4x1 diseqc 2.0 switch that came with my Coolsat; any idea if they're any good? I would set all of my satellites to "On" for diseqc 1.1 in the setup menu right?

I'll probably going hold off on the vertical since I'm lacking the Quality/Quali-TV or Azbox.
I'm pleasantly surprised with the SQ, I always seem to hover around 80% on my Ku system unless I'm on AMC 21! Good ol' PBS!

A. That's my plan (unless I find more ambition)
B. I didn't know he was giving out pictures? I'd probably hang it on the wall next to my celebrity autograph collection instead k:
C. I sure hope I don't.