Helping pointing Intellian i4 to *Choice (not hack)

[heathriel]

Hey there -

I know this is the FTA section but I can't find anyone else who has anything at all listed on how to point to Anik F1R and Anik F2 - and you guys are experts at this stuff. The *Choice section of SatelliteGuys does not have transponder and frequency talk, like you guys over here do, so that's why I'm in here begging.

I have an Intellian I4 dome satellite antenna (motorized), and to program in a new satellite, I need the following info. Problem is, Lyngsat seems to not be complete in the Anik sections, or if it is, I can't figure it out.

Sat Name (optional)
Longitude
Verification: AGC Only/DVB Lock/DVB Decode/DSS Decode

Vertical/RHCP
Freq (MHz):
Symbol (KHz):
NID 0x:

Horizontal/LHCP
Freq (MHz):
Symbol (KHz):
NID 0x:

Polarity: Auto/13V/18V
Band Control: Auto/0KHz/22KHz

Local Frequency:

Now, I know the Local Frequency for Star Choice is 10750, and that ituses Digicipher, but which Verification option is Digicipher? And hat LHCP and RHCP should I be using to lock on? And what is the NID for Anik F1R and Anik F2? I thought it said the ONID for F2 was 517, which would be 0x0205, but then it had the same one for F1R, along with 3 others, and I saw a"Provider ID" of 4128 with the kusat instructions somewhere else, and I have no idea what *that* is...

Star Choice on Anik F1R at 107.3°W - LyngSat
Star Choice on Anik F2 at 111.1°W - LyngSat

Please, help? Anyone?

Thanks!

 

[turbosat]

Dont know what an intellian is but sounds nice. I would go with DSS/Decode for the verification.
Looks like it needs a right-hand circular transponder and a left to lock on, maybe to pinpoint the sat(? since its motorized?) Lyngsat should have the freq and symbol rate for both, I'd pick a channel off a r-h circular tp and one off a left-circular and try entering that. NID I'm clueless on.

edit: Ok just looked at lyngsat and both those sats use linear polarization (h and v) . I believe right-circular corresponds to V, hopefully somebody who knows for sure can help you better. Freq and Symbol rate is right there in the lyngsat column,along with the fec..

 

[Anole]

sorry, Charlie:

That dish system looks nice, but I don't think it's going to get StarChoice reception, at all.
The dish is listed at 45cm, and the smallest dish deployed in Canada for StarChoice, is 60cm if I'm not mistaken.
(someone will correct me in about 2 minutes!) -

Another hint is this quote from their web site: "...satellite TV broadcasts automatically from DirecTV, Dish Network and ExpressVu..."
They don't even hint at StarChoice.

 

[Keith Brannen]

That dish system[/URL][/U] looks nice, but I don't think it's going to get StarChoice reception, at all.
The dish is listed at 45cm, and the smallest dish deployed in Canada for StarChoice, is 60cm if I'm not mistaken.
(someone will correct me in about 2 minutes!) -

You are correct, 60e is the smallest used.

Digicipher II transponders do not show up on FTA systems.

 

[turbosat]

Good work Anole. Hope he can find something else to watch with that thing, or they have a
great return policy!

 

[heathriel]

It's not an FTA - I'm using a Motorola 530 with *Choice service. Other boats pick up the signal fine (KVH, Seatel), but there are no other Intellians here, and no one else has any clue how to check their settings. I know how to check the KVH settings but I'll be darned if I'm going to ask someone if I can come onto their boat and plug my laptop into their antenna.

So, DSS Decode, not DVB? And try to lock on to the transponders that are Digicipher, not Digicipher 2?

So, ignoring the 45cm/60cm issue - does ANYONE know what the NID is? And once I get this set up, you can bet the Intelliantech website will be updated to say "Star Choice" as well.

 

[photoman76]

I've looked at the manuals on the Intellian website and it appears that it will not lock digicipher signals. You will have to edit the satellite info to add Anik F1R and Anik F2. There are some DVB signals on Anik F1R and F2 satellites that you could try to lock instead.

Anik F2
111.1° West
Verification: DVB Lock

Vertical
Frequency: 11862
Symbol: 10000
NID: 0x0441 (I don't think this matters, you can probably put in anything you want)

Horizontal
Frequency: 11794
Symbol: 4500
NID: None listed (Enter anything you want)

Polarity: Auto
Band Control: Auto

Local Frequency: 10750

Anik F1R
107.3° West
Verification: DVB Lock

Vertical (There are no Vertical DVB signals on Anik F1R)

Horizontal (This signal is there most of the time, but may not be up 24/7)
Frequency: 11902
Symbol: 5859
NID: 0x0001 (Again this probably doesn't matter)

Polarity: Auto
Band Control: Auto

Local Frequency: 10750

As others have mentioned a 45cm dish may be too small to lock these signals or
Star Choice signals using your Motorola 530.

 

[turbosat]

I'd say contact the co that sold you that antenna system and ask them if anyone else is using it for DC2 services. The KVH site talks about receiving pay-tv, such as Dishnetwork and Directv, SkyMexico and says :Enjoy programming from your favorite satellite TV services, including DIRECTV1, DISH Network, ExpressVu, Sky Mexico, DIRECTV Latin America, and other services around the globe2.
The small 2 says at bottom of that page "Region specific lnb and receiver" may be required.
Maybe all you need is the proper lnbf (linear).

 

[rv1pop]

It appears you ae in a boat so I would check with marina parts places or yatch clubs for help. If it was an RV I would suggest contacting Camping World. I have seen that unit in Seattle (Ballard) but I can not remeber the dealers name. It may have been Captains World or something close. I can not find the letter I wrote to them and I can not find a phone book. Hope trhis helps some though.

 

[gillham]

The small 2 says at bottom of that page "Region specific lnb and receiver" may be required.
Maybe all you need is the proper lnbf (linear).

The specs say 10.7 - 12.75 and RHCP/LHCP & H/V so in theory it should have the right hardware and the ACU should handle switching between linear / circular based on the lock data the installer configures. At least that is my guess from reading that page.

What I found really interesting was this: "QPSK demodulator lock for DSS signal."

My initial interpretation is the same as Turbosat's. That it can get a fix on the satellite by the fact that the QPSK demod locked the freq/polarity/sr, ignoring the actual payload of DVB or DSS or DCII. Full DVB lock is probably a more reliable method, provided those DVB signals are always there, but QPSK demod lock of a real *choice transponder might be worth trying.

 

[JohnMinetola]

this thread is a little old, sorry I didn't find it before. (disclosure: I work for Intellian)
Right now, no marine antenna can handle Starchoice. We are working on it at our R&D center in California. Would be happy to use you to test it in Canada when we are ready. Your i4 is big enough, but it needs a linear LNB (circular LNB's can not be converted.) It will need some new software to be flashed into your control box. Any linear system also works better with an auto-skew mechanism if you travel more than a few hundred miles. We make the smallest auto-skew marine antenna.
We are also the only company making a small antenna that can handle the Ka band on DirecTV.
We have a great solution for Bell ExpressVU in Canada, too, now that they have more than one satellite in their constellation.

 

[Anole]

dry well:

Great to have a company representative to help on the problem.
Thanks for coming by.
Hope you find the forum interesting and hang around! - :up

Sadly, it doesn't look like the OP has been back to the forum since February.

Last Activity: 02-27-2009 08:42 AM

You could try to PM (private message) heathriel.
Depending on how he has his account set up, the SatGuys forum may email him a notice of the PM.