I need to find AMC-6

[ccrider9]

This might be the wrong thread for this, but I was hoping one of you old and fading away C-Bander's might be able to answer a question.

I'm using a GI 350i Super C/Ku-band receiver to move a 10' dish so I can program my Technotrend S2-3200 receiver card in a PC.
Is there a C or Ku Band Analog Transponder on AMC-6 that I can lock on to?

If not; How would you guys go about locating a satellite?

Thanks Much,
Chris

 

[Lak7]

I don't know of any Analog on AMC6, but the Digital NASA TP is very Strong.
Freq: 4040
Polarity: Vertical
Scan Rate: 26665

Good Luck

 

[ccrider9]

I don't know of any Analog on AMC6, but the Digital NASA TP is very Strong.
Freq: 4040
Polarity: Vertical
Scan Rate: 26665

Good Luck

I'm really new to this, I don't even have the S2-3200 installed in my PC yet. I figured I would have to locate AMC-6 with my old GI box before I could scan it with the FTA card....Am I correct? Or should the card tell me when it's on the bird?

Are the NASA channels C or Ku?
I haven't used the Ku LNB for 20 years, so I have no idea if it works. I haven't been able to find anything analog.

Is there anything ANALOG still out here on Ku?

Thanks for Your Response,
Chris

 

[phlatwound]

I'm really new to this, I don't even have the S2-3200 installed in my PC yet. I figured I would have to locate AMC-6 with my old GI box before I could scan it with the FTA card....Am I correct? Or should the card tell me when it's on the bird?

Are the NASA channels C or Ku?
I haven't used the Ku LNB for 20 years, so I have no idea if it works. I haven't been able to find anything analog.

Is there anything ANALOG still out here on Ku?

Thanks for Your Response,
Chris

Chris, the NASA channels on 72W (and 137W) are C-band. And there is very little-to-none 24/7 Ku analog out there any more.

 

[ccrider9]

Chris, the NASA channels on 72W (and 137W) are C-band. And there is very little-to-none 24/7 Ku analog out there any more.

Phlatwound, :up
Thanks for the Hand-Hold'en, I finally found NASA on AMC-6...it was a lot closer to AMC-3 than I thought (counts). I've got 4 C-band satellites located now, pretty much across the ARC, so I think my dish is close to tuned.
I'm still not sure my Ku LNB is any good, as I recall, it was always hard to get a good signal with it .... years ago.

Until another day....
Chris

 

[B.J.]

Phlatwound, :up
Thanks for the Hand-Hold'en, I finally found NASA on AMC-6...it was a lot closer to AMC-3 than I thought (counts). I've got 4 C-band satellites located now, pretty much across the ARC, so I think my dish is close to tuned.
I'm still not sure my Ku LNB is any good, as I recall, it was always hard to get a good signal with it .... years ago.

Until another day....
Chris

Just checked in with this thread to say that there is a StLouis baseball game on analog now (ch 21 on C-band), but I now see that you don't need it anymore. But it might help you to hone in on the sat a bit since the analog tuning meters are usually better.

 

[melgarga]

This might be the wrong thread for this, but I was hoping one of you old and fading away C-Bander's might be able to answer a question.

I'm using a GI 350i Super C/Ku-band receiver to move a 10' dish so I can program my Technotrend S2-3200 receiver card in a PC.
Is there a C or Ku Band Analog Transponder on AMC-6 that I can lock on to?

If not; How would you guys go about locating a satellite?

Thanks Much,
Chris

Well there's surely plenty of old to go around, but there are several of us that have no intention of fading away...............
I've already told the CFO I want a G-box in my hands tied to my perf'd Birdview 'headstone' when they box me up! They are sure going to be surprized when that dish pans the sky....lol. I told her I would haunt her if she failed to comply with my last wishes. She didnt seem too concerned.....
Welcome back to C band. Hope you get your Ku side lined out w/o any issues. Quite a bit of DVB on Ku. Pretty cheap to get into it these days. Usually less than 25-50 bucks for a used box, and several in the $100 range for a new one. It is a little 'less forgiving', but very doable with a dual band BUD setup.

 

[Gooch]

Phlatwound, :up
Thanks for the Hand-Hold'en, I finally found NASA on AMC-6...it was a lot closer to AMC-3 than I thought (counts). I've got 4 C-band satellites located now, pretty much across the ARC, so I think my dish is close to tuned.
I'm still not sure my Ku LNB is any good, as I recall, it was always hard to get a good signal with it .... years ago.

Until another day....
Chris

I'm having the same problem with a 15 year old UST4600. I can't get AMC-6 because of trees. What other C-band satellites did you locate?

 

[ccrider9]

I'm having the same problem with a 15 year old UST4600. I can't get AMC-6 because of trees. What other C-band satellites did you locate?

So far, on a Technotrend S2-3200 PC card running DVBViewer V4.1.1 pro software with a 10' solid dish I've got:

AMC 1 C ----4 channels nothing on but NYC legislative channel (playing a loop of congress - men & Women's pictures).
AMC 1 Ku ----3 channels, only got a screen with info & audio (Bloomburg)
AMC 3 C ----Has the most channels (31) lot of old TV shows from the late 60's?? (Dragnet) and 70's A-team, BaBa Black Sheep etc. Many channels showing the same show. Also getting a lot of radio channels.
AMC 6 C ----3 SD NASA channels and 2 HD NASA channels (nothing but an info screen)

AMC 1 C 62%
AMC 1 Ku really weak, 32% (in the red yesterday...today I can't see it)
AMC 3 C 64%
AMC 6 C NASA gave me the best signal 67%

On the other end of the ARC, I haven't found anything yet except C-band Analog. I get some sparkles on those, so I'm wondering if I might be out of alignment.

Do you need a better aim for the Digital Receivers than you do for Analogs?
Might explain why I can't find anything to the West. I used to get Analog F1 @ 137deg. fairly clear but it has remained lost for several years...I assume replaced by AMC-7. I figured I'd Get NASA over there, but no luck.

I'm hoping to find the Brickyard NASCAR race this weekend. I can't remember if they blacked us out last year. I know they always do for the Indy 500...the main reason I took on this project.

 

[Lak7]

Do you need a better aim for the Digital Receivers than you do for Analogs?

Yes
Now all receivers read a little different, but the NASA TP is pretty strong.

 

[ccrider9]

Well there's surely plenty of old to go around, but there are several of us that have no intention of fading away...............
I've already told the CFO I want a G-box in my hands tied to my perf'd Birdview 'headstone' when they box me up! They are sure going to be surprized when that dish pans the sky....lol. I told her I would haunt her if she failed to comply with my last wishes. She didnt seem too concerned.....
Welcome back to C band. Hope you get your Ku side lined out w/o any issues. Quite a bit of DVB on Ku. Pretty cheap to get into it these days. Usually less than 25-50 bucks for a used box, and several in the $100 range for a new one. It is a little 'less forgiving', but very doable with a dual band BUD setup.

I might have a problem with my Ku half, I had AMC-3 Ku last night ... very weak 32% only 3 channels ... nothing but a Bloomburg info screen and audio. Today I can't find it. I'm using a 10' solid dish with a Chaparral Corotor C/Ku feedhorn. Both LNB's are at least 20 years old. I can't remember the noise figure numbers.

What is a "dual band BUD"?...Sorry, my knowledge is lacking. I tried Google and got two hits...one of them was this thread.

Wikipedia---Big Ugly Dish .... Humm, Is that what we're talking?

Glad to hear you are sticking with it even after the end.
Perhaps the Wife will come out to the grave once a year to change the remote batteries.

 

[melgarga]

Yes dual ( C and Ku) band BUD. BUD has come to be defined as any sat dish over about 4 ft.
I think your AMC3 is actually AMC9 the RTV (Retro Television) Network @ 83W. That signal is quite difficult to capture at times so I'd say you have a decent S/N ratio value for your Ku side. Check out the Ku content on 97W, 101W, 123W, 129W the list goes on....
Speaking of lists, did you look at the ones under "The List" tab at the top of the page?
Or try these -
http://www.global-cm.net/mpeg2central.html
Pretty comprehensive lists of the DVB available on C and Ku.
Have you been here lately? -
http://lyngsat.com/america.html
All in all it sounds like you have everything you need, in working order and the skillset to make it all happen, you just need to be brought up to date on what is where.

 

[ccrider9]

Yes dual ( C and Ku) band BUD. BUD has come to be defined as any sat dish over about 4 ft.
I think your AMC3 is actually AMC9 the RTV (Retro Television) Network @ 83W. That signal is quite difficult to capture at times so I'd say you have a decent S/N ratio value for your Ku side. Check out the Ku content on 97W, 101W, 123W, 129W the list goes on....
Speaking of lists, did you look at the ones under "The List" tab at the top of the page?
Or try these -
MPEG
Pretty comprehensive lists of the DVB available on C and Ku.
Have you been here lately? -
North & South America - LyngSat
All in all it sounds like you have everything you need, in working order and the skillset to make it all happen, you just need to be brought up to date on what is where.

D'ho! Now I'm really confused. I see on Lyngsat ...the RTV stations, but I thought AMC-9 is a Ku bird? I unplugged my Ku LNB from the DiSEqC, and the Transedit software still finds the RTV stations. I moved the dish to AMC6 (NASA) unplugged the c-band and the picture froze...tells me that I don't have the feeds crossed, so I don't know what's going on here.

Are you familiar with Transedit Software (part of the DVBViewer sw)?

When setting up a DiSEqC; What data determines Sat1 or Sat 2? Is it the LOF1, or the Frequency of the channel you're searching for? I assumed it was the LOF1, because the directions said to 'enter 5150 for AMC3 C and 10750 for AMC3 Ku'.

A stupid question....Can a C-band LNB pick up Ku???

Thanks for the heads-up to the LIST tab, and the other list links. That should help immensely,
Chris

 

[B.J.]

So far, on a Technotrend S2-3200 PC card running DVBViewer V4.1.1 pro software with a 10' solid dish I've got:
....
....

AMC 6 C ----3 SD NASA channels and 2 HD NASA channels (nothing but an info screen)

...

I'm only aware of one NASA HD channel on AMC-6. Certainly only one on the 4040 mux. Did you find another transponder with another HD channel, or are you somehow seeing the one HD channel as being 2 channels?
There ARE 3 other NASA transponders on AMC-6, but those are all SD. I haven't noticed another HD NASA channel, unless you picked up one of those HDNET feeds.

 

[ccrider9]

I'm only aware of one NASA HD channel on AMC-6. Certainly only one on the 4040 mux. Did you find another transponder with another HD channel, or are you somehow seeing the one HD channel as being 2 channels?
There ARE 3 other NASA transponders on AMC-6, but those are all SD. I haven't noticed another HD NASA channel, unless you picked up one of those HDNET feeds.

I checked again to be sure and I have 5, I have yet to see anything but the info screen on the last two (HQ4 & HQ5), just says occasional HD programming or something to that effect. I've included an image from the TransEdit app that scans for channels. The numbers probably mean more to you than me...still a newbie here.

Chris

Edit: My BAD... I think I'm gonna have to eat those words. I think HQ4 is nothing and DVBViewer just freezes the last channel tuned. So if I move from HQ5 to HQ4 the HD info screen for HQ5 is just froze on the screen for HQ4. I still get signal strength on HQ4, but evidently they're doing something different, or just a carrier.

 

[B.J.]

I checked again to be sure and I have 5, I have yet to see anything but the info screen on the last two (HQ4 & HQ5), just says occasional HD programming or something to that effect. I've included an image from the TransEdit app that scans for channels. The numbers probably mean more to you than me...still a newbie here.

Chris

Edit: My BAD... I think I'm gonna have to eat those words. I think HQ4 is nothing and DVBViewer just freezes the last channel tuned. So if I move from HQ5 to HQ4 the HD info screen for HQ5 is just froze on the screen for HQ4. I still get signal strength on HQ4, but evidently they're doing something different, or just a carrier.

HQ4 is an encrypted SD channel. When they first started up the mux, they had it FTA for a while, but it's been encrypted pretty much every time I've looked ever since it encrypted. You're probably right, that it's just giving you a blank screen or something and retaining the HQ5 info, when you switch from HQ5 to HQ4. That's one reason I like to use TSREADER. It makes it much more obvious when you have an encrypted stream, and you can tell which streams have enough bitrate to be HD, etc, etc.

EDIT: Just added some TSREADER screen shots.
First one shows the 12 mbps HD stream in green, compared to the SD streams that are about 3 to 6 mbps.
The second , I've scrolled down in the chart section to see the HQ4 stream in red (encrypted). Interestingly, it's about 8 mbps, which is pretty high quality SD, but not really fast enough for decent HD. It used to be SD when it wasn't encrypted. It's possible that it's 4.2.2 like the video on other transponders. They have the video info other than mpeg hidden by the encryption.
This view also shows that the null stream (8191) is almost empty, meaning that this whole mux is just barely holding all the channels they have there, particularly since they seem to be using a fixed bit rate. I seem to be getting occasional errors on this mux even though I'm getting a strong signal.

 

[ccrider9]

I've played with TSReader Lite and ATSC signals before, not that I really know a lot about what I'm looking at. I did manage to find the TVGOS transmitting station here in the Indy market. I'll have to give that a try....noticed it has a Source DLL for my tuner.

Perhaps they use HQ4 for personal communication .... Air-to-Wife and such.