Initialize Pansat 3500

L

Larrybeaty

New Member

Original poster

May 8, 2006

1

0

St.Petersburg,Fl - Comer, Ga.

• May 30, 2006

• #1

OK I'm frustrated! I have spent several days on this with no gain, no signal.
Brand new Pansat 3500 out of box. I have never used anything but Direct TV and that worked just fine. Trying to get SBS 6/Ku. I have limited access to Southern sky. SBS 6/Ku is in my view. Carefully set Star Band dish on Azemuth. Set Elevation. Got Satellite Finder meter on LNB. Sat Finder says move to South a little more and up a little more. Good signal there. About 178 deg magnetic. Pansat says nuttin'. Scan says nuttin'. Quality says - you guessed it - nuttin'. Sat Finder says good signal there, Pansat says Phooey. There is a box on the screen "Unlock". I have no access to this box. If it is locked, I wouldn't get anything. I could be on wrong satellite. Receiver manual little help. Anyone got any ideas?

 

PSB

On vacation

Nov 5, 2003

3

5

• May 30, 2006

• #2

WELCOME to the SatelliteGuys.US FTA forum!

You would have to make sure you are using a LIVE transponder and watch only for signal quality.

The signal meter will pulll you to the much stronger DBS satellites so you will have to use the signal Qiuality meter to find and store the satellite signal.

 

R

rjc3895

Supporting Founder

Sep 28, 2004

390

0

• May 30, 2006

• #3

What type of lnb did you purchase? If it's a universal LNB, the sat finder won't help. You mentioned that you are using a Star Band dish. Is the dish at least 30cm in diameter? The smaller 18" (Dish Network or Diretc TV style) dishes will not work for FTA.

Assuming you are on a satellite, did you do a blind scan on the Pansat to see if there are any active frequencies? The best thing to do is to go to Lyngsat.com, look up SBS6, and find a channel that is listed as being in the clear. Also, it helps if you can have a tv next to the dish while you are moving it. The signals for FTA are extremely touchy (unlike Dish Network and Direct TV). If you move one inch too high/low left/right, you will loose the quailtiy signal.

Keep trying and be patient. Good Luck.

 

PSB

On vacation

Nov 5, 2003

3

5

• May 30, 2006

• #4

Here is a LIVE TP.

DFreq. 11725

SR. 8593


Pol. H

 

M

Mr Tony

SatelliteGuys Pro

Supporting Founder

Nov 17, 2003

1,957

7,765

Mankato, MN

• May 30, 2006

• #5

another one is Ohio News Network

11741
H
6616

ONN will probably be in the transponder list (if it shows 11742 that will work too)

 

jayelem

SatelliteGuys Pro

Jan 5, 2006

1,305

0

Chicago suburbs.

• May 30, 2006

• #6

rjc3895 said:

If it's a universal LNB, the sat finder won't help.

Click to expand...

Why ?

I used Invacom SNH-031 in my setup and also used the sat finder, got a signal locked in and toggled thru active transponders to get quality reading,fine tuned dish then blind scanned and locked in many channels, I used Lyngsat as reference to see what bird I was on.

I tried first without sat finder, and had no luck, I was adjusting dish and aiming to high in the sky, even with sat finder you still need active transponder.

I guess I could have had success without sat finder had I aimed my dish lower, the fact is Sat finder did help me, put a smile on my face real quick after several days of frustration.

 

PopcornNMore

SatelliteGuys Pro

Mar 20, 2005

3,635

128

Gibsonia, PA

• May 30, 2006

• #7

I also used a sat finder along with my Invacom LNB with great success.

 

hwh

SatelliteGuys Family

May 7, 2006

55

0

Lake Mead

• May 30, 2006

• #8

rjc3895 said:

You mentioned that you are using a Star Band dish. Is the dish at least 30cm in diameter?

Click to expand...

The smallest Starband dishes are Andrew (Channel Master) 75E dishes. 26" x 36" elliptical. They work fine for FTA. Even with the stock LNB they work but only receive one polarity, it's set manually. FYI the elevation markings are 2 degrees low.

 

PopcornNMore

SatelliteGuys Pro

Mar 20, 2005

3,635

128

Gibsonia, PA

• May 30, 2006

• #9

My friend Larry finally received a signal and scanned in channels, but no video appeared on any of them. The following transponders were found while performing a scan using a Pansat 3500 receiver. He believed he was on EchoStar 3, but these transponders don't seem correct. If he had been on EchoStar 3 he would have received Dish Net FYI at 12355 and JSTV (Jesus Satellite TV) at 12384. He is completely frustrated after trying for the past three days to receive a signal.

1 11717 H 5.750

2 11868 H 5.750

3 12447 H 20.000

4 12476 H 20

5 12506 H 20

6 12725 H 20

7 12754 H 20

8 12827 H 20

9 12122 V 13.021

10 12477 V 20.000

11 12505 V 20

12 12534 V 20

13 12724 V 20

14 12753 V 20

15 12878 V 20

Hang in there Larry, you will get a signal soon that provides video.

 

PopcornNMore

SatelliteGuys Pro

Mar 20, 2005

3,635

128

Gibsonia, PA

• May 30, 2006

• #10

Attached are photos of Larry's setup. I gave him the LNB arm length that I measured on my Star Band dish. Maybe someone can spot what is wrong. I never operated a PanSat 3500 receiver before so I can't help him out too much as far as the settings.

 

Attachments

• StarbandDish1.JPG

  89.6 KB · Views: 149
• StarbandDish2.JPG

  68.1 KB · Views: 158
• StarbandDish3.JPG

  61.1 KB · Views: 171

M

Mr Tony

SatelliteGuys Pro

Supporting Founder

Nov 17, 2003

1,957

7,765

Mankato, MN

• May 30, 2006

• #11

helluva mount for it (and a helluva LNB holder)

Looks like a Universal LNB so it has to be set to "Universal 1" in the setup

 

drhydro

SatelliteGuys Pro

Oct 19, 2004

1,572

0

• May 30, 2006

• #12

Right off I see there is no way to set skew. Could make all the difference.

 

M

Mr Tony

SatelliteGuys Pro

Supporting Founder

Nov 17, 2003

1,957

7,765

Mankato, MN

• May 30, 2006

• #13

Doc
The LNB can skew (via the clamp) but he is supposedly on his true south

 

M

Mr Tony

SatelliteGuys Pro

Supporting Founder

Nov 17, 2003

1,957

7,765

Mankato, MN

• May 30, 2006

• #14

if you're trying to get SBS6, you will have to skew the LNB

Numbers for St Pete, FL

56.2 elevation
166 azimuth
-16 skew
This is for SBS6

 

Elchucko

SatelliteGuys Pro

Aug 15, 2005

174

2

Full time RVer

• May 30, 2006

• #15

I think he is on 61 degrees and has his L.O. set incorrectly at 10600 instead of 10750, or some variation since it seems to be off by that much.

Chuck

 

PSB

On vacation

Nov 5, 2003

3

5

• May 30, 2006

• #16

Thats a Universal! Invacom SNH-031

 

M

Mr Tony

SatelliteGuys Pro

Supporting Founder

Nov 17, 2003

1,957

7,765

Mankato, MN

• May 30, 2006

• #17

chuck the LNB looks like a Invacom Universal, so it would be set for Universal (or standard with LO 10600 22k on)

 

hwh

SatelliteGuys Family

May 7, 2006

55

0

Lake Mead

• May 30, 2006

• #18

If it's got the original Starband mount on the back the entire dish will turn to skew it. Loosen four bolts on the back and it'll turn. It's not a very smooth movement but it can be set to the aproximate skew and then fine tuned on the lnb. That's how they're set when they're used for Starband internet.

Those frequencies look strange to me. Is the LO set right for the LNB? With all the 20 SRs I'd think this is a DBS sat but then it shouldn't go above 12500. The freq above 12750 is even out of the KU3 band and into the telemetry KU4 band.

 

Elchucko

SatelliteGuys Pro

Aug 15, 2005

174

2

Full time RVer

• May 30, 2006

• #19

Yep it is a universal but some of the freqs are dupes with the L.O. incorrectly set. It sounds strange but it also looks like multiple scans with the L.O. set at a different number each time. If he is getting a strong circular signal from nearby 61.5 degrees and constantly changing the L.O. to another number, then it could account for the high freqs at SR 20000.

Chuck

 

Last edited: May 30, 2006

M

Mr Tony

SatelliteGuys Pro

Supporting Founder

Nov 17, 2003

1,957

7,765

Mankato, MN

• May 30, 2006

• #20

If he is aiming straight south, it is very possible he is on Nimiq2 (his TS is AMC9 at 83...he's at 82.67