Help with signal quality

[shark1959]

Hello All:

I'm new to this hobby and I'm trying to help my neighbour who has just purchased a Coolsat 8000HD along with a Invacom Quad LNB QPH-031 and a 33" FTA Tech dish. We have managed to get a 90% signal level on the receiver, but we are struggling with getting a quality signal from the receiver. I think he should have purchased something a lot simpler as his first step in to this wonderful world of FTA, but he was so set on wanting the high definition. Using a marine compass we used a satellite calculator to get our co-ordinates for satellite 97W and aimed the dish to a magnetic heading of 128.91, an elevation of 27.82 and a skew of -20.5. Our location is 123.12696W and 49.70573N. Just a note the dish mount was mounted plumb with additional braces for support.

I saw a post by Iceberg about the receiver needing a factory software upgrade before it would perform properly. So yesterday we loaded in the factory file to the receiver that's listed at the end of his review. It loaded in perfectly, when we went out to try it again we were still faced with zero quality. I have yet to see the meter move at all. I'm beginning to wonder if something is faulty with one of the components of this system.

Looking for answers site today I surfed on the Invacom web site and looked at the FAQ's and found the following post:

Q. "The signal level meter only gives an indication of the signal level, not the signal quality."

A. "The signal level meter only gives an indication of the signal level, not the signal quality. The important parameter is the C/N or BER, which is not indicated on the level meter. Many cheaper LNBs have a gain which is above the level specified by Astra. This can cause some receivers to give a poor picture, although they give a high reading on the signal level meter."

If this is correct how can you to tell when you have a lock on the satellite?


The following is the current settings of the receiver:

Coolsat 8000HD Receiver Settings


Satellite Information

Model 4600C146
H/W Version 1.00.00
S/W Version 11.13.8A (before the upgrade 11.13.4A)
Serial Number HCYIBICFRTDHF00BS001077

Menu/Dish

Dish - 1
Satellite - 97.0W KU-T5
Transponder - 11748V 7230 ¾
LNB Power - 13/18V
LNB Type - Standard
22Khz - Off
Switch Type - None
Option - None
Legacy Switch - Off

Menu/Manual Scan - Sat

Dish - KU-T5
Frequency - 11748
Polarity - Vertical
Symbol Rate - 7230
Modulation - DVB-S-QPSK
Pilot - Off
Code Rate - ¾
Scan Mode - Free & Cas
Service Type - TV & Radio
Frequency Scan - Disable
Pid Search - Auto Pid

Menu/Manual Scan - DTV

Frequency - 57000
Scan Mode - Free
Service Type - TV & Radio

LNB is an Invacom Quad QPH-031
Dish is a 33” TFA Tech
Signal Level is 90%
Quality Signal 0%

There was also a Stab HH90 motor that we had originally installed but we took it out thinking that this might have been giving us problems and went with a fixed dish set-up to begin with. Thank you in advance to all who reply. Sorry for the length of the post but I thought it best to include as much information as possible in hopes of resolving this problem. I'm looking forward to getting this system operational for him.

Cheers

Jack

 

[jayelem]

Welcome to Satellite Guys !!!

Starting out with no previous experience is tough , but I for one have gone through the same difficulties, some have had it a little easier , got luckier, read alot more.

You can do it , have patience , you will get plenty of support here.

I see you are right out of Vancouver , your True south Sat is G10R at 123.0 W.
You will use this satellite for your motor setup, it's also nice to use because the elevation of your dish will be higher.

Use the following Transponder Freq for G10R at 123.0 w.
123 (Galaxy 10)-11805 H 4580 or 11800 V 26660
( Icebergs Strong Transponder List) here's a link for more Frequencies from other satellites : http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=85225

I understand you are trying to get 97.0 west , I would go for your True South Sat first.
I have the CS 5000 , and we have members here with the CS 8000 who can be more of help.

When moving your dish please move in small increments and wait a little bit , hopefully you have a small TV outside with your receiver that you can use for reference. You'll get plenty of help here, good luck.

 

[gabshere]

yeah use a live transponder , sometimes for me and my coolsat 5k i just moved it a small fraction and blind scanned this is a slow and frustrating method but it will work lol.. Main thing is not to get discouraged its easy to hit the DN & DTV sats but takes a bit more to tune the DVB sats.

first work on setting it up without the motor to get a feel and direction of the angle and way the dish points and add the motor later.

good luck

 

[shark1959]

Thanks for the welcome Jayelem, glad to be here and to gabshere for your reply.

Jayelem wrote:

I understand you are trying to get 97.0 west , I would go for your True South Sat first.

Well isn't shooting for a true south satellite only the case when you are setting up the dish with a motor? We have removed the motor and are running it as a fixed dish, just trying to get some fraction of a quality signal to see if the receiver meter will respond. Should we give up on 97.0W and shoot for G10R at 123.0W and see if this makes a difference or does it matter?

Is this statement below true regarding the Invacom quad LNB we are using as I mentioned in my first post? If so what do you use to peak the dish without a quality signal?

Q. "The signal level meter only gives an indication of the signal level, not the signal quality."

One last thing do all the settings appear correct in regards to the receiver in my first post?

Thanks again

Jack

 

[Mr Tony]

yes the settings are correct in the first post.

If you are working with a fixed dish, you have to skew the LNB for optimum signal. Here is where to get the skew for your area
http://sadoun.com/Sat/Installation/Satellite-Heading-Calculator.htm

 

[shark1959]

Update:

Well after trying what was written above and a few other things we are still having problems getting any quality signal from the above set-up. I C&P the following from Invacom faq's "The signal level meter only gives an indication of the signal level, not the signal quality." Is this correct and if so how do you know when your on the satellite to the peak quality level?

Still getting nothing I decided to take the receiver and hook it up to my dish set up, hopefully eliminating the receiver from the equation. The quality signal came streaming in in the mid 90's so we know there is no issue with the receiver thankfully as this is the most expensive component. So is it possible there is a problem with this LNB? It was new out of the box. What about the focal length of the LNB to the dish it self. We set the LNB in the clamp as specified in the structions as 30mm from the face of the LNB to the front edge of the clamp. We are at a loss as what to do next other than buying another LNB. Is the Invacom the only one that does linear and circular?

One last question, when in the menu/dish screen and selecting transponder, how do you get the receiver to save the selected transponder? I see on the screen where you are to select OK to save and exit, but it doesn't do anything. You usually see a window pop up stating "Please Wait" and the changes are made.

Any way thanks again for taking the time to help. We've been at this 2 weeks now and have yet to get any quality signal from the set-up as shown in the original post.

Cheers

Jack

 

[sksatellite]

Without the meter, its hard and time consume, with just the receiver and use the signal level from the receiver, you need to take step little by little, digital signal is very narrow, when trying to get the signal come in, use the receiver and a tv next to the receiver and move the dish one or half degree at a time and stop a second or two if you can tell the satellite position, up and down and left to right at that position. give a time/chance the receiver to intercept the signal, this, you can narrow the chance to catch the signal with an active TP from that satellite.