Ku Receiption Prolblem

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Lone Gunman

Lone Gunman

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Mar 19, 2010
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p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } I've got a problem receiving Ku sats on my 10ft Winegard dish. That dish has a Chaparral Corotor II feedhorn with Norsat C and Ku LNBs. It would pick up some Ku feeds in the past but over time it's gotten to where I can't get any? I've tried blind scanning with my old Pansat 3500 and it will find TP numbers that “appear” to be Ku but when I save them and view them they are ALL CBAND channels with Ku numbers on'em?


I've tweaked on the dish the best I know how and have gotten it better than it was but I'm still not able to get any Ku feeds with that thing.


So, I've bypassed all my power pass splitters and went directly to the Pansat with the coax and STILL can't get anything so there's got to be something wrong at the feedhorn. Question is, WHAT?


Is there anything in the feedhorn that would cause Ku signals not to show up and allow the Ku antenna to receive Cband signals instead?


Thanks
 
but when I save them and view them they are ALL CBAND channels with Ku numbers on'em?
Click to expand...
Sounds like you are scanning with the wrong LNB L.O. setting in the receivers Sat Setup Menu.
Peak on a Sat that has both C and Ku.
Setup a new Generic Ku Sat in the Receiver, double check for proper L.O. setting
Connect directly to Ku LNB, no switches, see if you can get a signal
 
Lak7 said:
Sounds like you are scanning with the wrong LNB L.O. setting in the receivers Sat Setup Menu.
Peak on a Sat that has both C and Ku.
Setup a new Generic Ku Sat in the Receiver, double check for proper L.O. setting
Connect directly to Ku LNB, no switches, see if you can get a signal
Click to expand...

LO setting is 10750? That is default in the Pansat Antenna setup section when you choose a Ku sat. I also tried a scan with the coax from that LNB connected directly to the Pansat with no switches, etc in that circuit but same results.

Is there a chance that something in the rotating mechanism inside the feedhorn is screwed up and not positioning the antenna correctly?
 
Were you getting ku before? A 10' dish has a tight beamwidth at ku frequencies. Everything has to be dead on. Is your pole still straight?
 
truckracer said:
Were you getting ku before? A 10' dish has a tight beamwidth at ku frequencies. Everything has to be dead on. Is your pole still straight?
Click to expand...

LAK7 I can't remember the specifics and yes, I've tried on a couple of different Ku birds.

Truckracer, yup, pole is straight.

Was getting Ku stuff a while back (year ago). Dunno, may be that it's off just enough to have it NOT show up now. I did do some tweaking on some C birds a few months back to make sure I was on on those and I got it to where if I picked up on or pushed down on the dish signal strength got worse on sats that were about an equal distance in both directions from due south. That also followed to 139W which is as far west as I can see. Never did "tweak" on Ku though as I'm not sure that I could get it any better than it was on the C side?

I've got a second Cband only dish up now that is a SAMI 7.5 footer that I plan to eventually switch to Ku with a DMX 741 so maybe I can improve my tweaking skillz on that one.

Just was wondering what might be wrong with the feedhorn that could cause this problem. It's a shame that you can't "see" that little ball in front of the feedhorn, hey!
 
It is impossible to receive KU-band frequencies on a C-band LNB or C-band frequencies on a KU-band LNB. If you are blind scanning and finding C-band channels, then you must be connected to the C-band LNB.

Setting the LO frequency to 10750, connecting to a C-band LNB and blind scanning will produce C-band channels with incorrect KU-band frequencies. This is because the receiver is scanning the correct IF frequencies, but calculating the displayed frequency with the incorrect LO frequency added to the IF frequency.

Are you sure that you are direct connecting to the correct LNB?
 
Brian makes good sence!I have done this mistake a few times before (wasnt thinking):( Do you use a 22khz switch to control which LNB your using?If yes maybe your forgetting to turn it on or off.
 
Yup, pretty sure it's the correct cable as they are labeled from the original install when Ku was working and I haven't changed that. Will double check it tomorrow though.

This setup is on my 10ft Winegard with a Corotor II feedhorn and Norsat LNBs. They feed my 920 and I've got power pass splitters to isolate the voltage between the two recivers but those are NOT in the circuit when the cable is direct to the receiver. Then ALL switches are bypassed and coax is connected directly to the receiver. And yes, I made sure that LNB power was ON when that test was done.

Dunno, been thinking about just pulling everything out and starting over again one piece at a time. That may tell me what is really wrong, hey!
 
Is there any vehicles parked near your house or dish with radar detectors powered on? The local oscillator emissions from radar detectors will wipe out your ku reception.

Another thing is if you have a bad piece of coax that gas taken on water- it will show the 18-20 volts DC at the dish but may not pass the IF .

Possibly a bad ku lnb maybe?
 
Yeah, I'm gonna switch the coax between the Ku and C LNBs today to see if that changes anything. That could eliminate the cable as the culprit.

Got no spare Ku LNB but was wondering if that might be the problem. I've got a spare C but no Ku. might be time to find one though, hey.

This installation is 10 years old and it was new "direct burial" Cband ribbon cable that I buried about 18 inches deep when I installed it.

Not likely any radar stuff around as they are illegal here in Va. I threw mine away 12 years ago when I got a ticket for it. ;)
 
I also had ribbon cable but it was not buried in dirt but run thru abs conduit and I still replaced the coax with high grade rg-6 and compression fittings. Stay away from crimp fittings like you buy from RS. Spend the extra money and buy th coax, compression fittings, the compression tool and the coax cutting tool. You'll never regret it. Remember, you get what you pay for. It doesn't pay to scrimp. Speaking from experience.:D
 
I have used those weatherproof o-ring crimp ons that have silicone in them. They do so so. I have jammed the end of the coax plug in Vaseline the slowly connect it. Wipe off excess Vaseline and tape it tightly with scotch 3m electric tape.
 
Truckracer I started using Vaseline on F connections outside a few years back and it works to date. :up

FYI, I GOT Ku NOW! :D When I installed this system in 2000 I wasn't using anything on the connectors to stop corrosion and THAT is what bit me in the proverbial arse. That feedhorn has a cover over it so I never though of that being a problem. Took those fittings off at the LNB yesterday and replaced them with new screw on ones with lots of Vaseline and Ku came back so that was the problem. :up Made it 9 years like it was so I guess with some Vaseline in it I probably won't have to worry with it again in my lifetime. Yeah, I'm 65 and don't figure I'll last to 75. If old age doesn't kill me then a race car just might. I probably won't quit racing until I can't get in the car any longer.

Ennywhoot, thanks to all for the help.

Now, back to my SAMI and that DMX741U that isn't working right. Gotta love this technology stuff!;)
 
Kallesatman said:
Screwon connectors and Vaseline?:eek::eek::eek::eek:
Click to expand...

Hey, it's what I had at the moment and it works now so what can I say especially since that is what was on it to begin with? What you have to understand is that I don't do this for a living and I'm not going to spend $50+ in cable connection tools for this hobby. Another thing is that I'm old, retired, on Social Security and I'm also CHEAP! ;-)
 
Lone Gunman said:
Hey, it's what I had at the moment and it works now so what can I say especially since that is what was on it to begin with? What you have to understand is that I don't do this for a living and I'm not going to spend $50+ in cable connection tools for this hobby. Another thing is that I'm old, retired, on Social Security and I'm also CHEAP! ;-)
Click to expand...
:up

First of all, my sincere apology if I upset you with my comment. I too am, as you put it, old; but then I look at it as just numbers and not a condition or mental outlook. My philosophy. I also am surviving on " Social Insecurity ", but my house is paid for, wife and kids are out of the house and also am frugal. Past experience, professional, has taught me that there is a right time and a wrong time to skimp or be CHEAP as you call it. The material which I was referring to is much less than $50. If it works for you and obviously it does then that is all that matters. When somebody wants to throw something away and I see of a way to fix it because they don't want to be bothered with it then I do it for them or I get it and fix it up for myself. Amazing what you can do for a VCR with a tooth pick and superglue. In any case, I'm happy that you solved your problem and that you are happy. Again, my apology and happy viewing. :)
 
No apology needed Kallesatman! If I sounded like I was pissed by your comment, then may I apologize instead. ;) But for the record, I wasn't and it was mostly in jest. That's the problem with keyboards. It's really hard to show emotions from one.

But yeah, I'm a "fix it" kind of guy as well. That's the reason I posted the VonWeise actuator Acme nut fix in the 4DTV section as I had two of those that were in need of repair and figuring out how to replace that nut was much cheaper than a new VonWeise actuator, which I believe is a far better actuator than the cheap junk on fleabay. And not only that, but when I did repair them I actually made them better than they were when new by putting a bronze nut in in place of the plastic one that came in it.

RE: Old, well I keep trying to convince my body that I'm not old but each morning when I get up it keeps reminding me otherwise. I guess I'm pretty fortunate though as my Father was dead from a massive heart attack when he was only 45 years old. I turned 65 back a couple of months ago so I figure I'm on borrowed time but I'm enjoying every minute of it.:up

Yaw'll have a nice day now, ya hear! ;)
 
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