in a way none of us here would expect or recommend.
This is a long read, grab some coffee, or...tell me to "just do your fixes" and not bother everyone.....
The dish farm at the radio station apartment for FTA contains quite a mix of dishes, see the picture attached.
For the LONGEST time, I've fought and fought trying to get the left stationary birdview to play nicely with the rest. I've got an 8-place Amiko diseqc selecting any of a possible 8 feeds. 1 and 2 from the c/ku on the movable Birdview; number 3 (the trouble child) being the stationary (left) Birdview, then 4 is the cozi dish between them, 5 is my 125 PBS, and 6-8 are reserved for 72w NBC, and a spare line.
I've written before about how a "ghost" of the very strong 101 appeared any time I tried to use the stationary Birdview dish. Never could get the actual left birdview signal through the diseqc. It was as if the #3 feed from the left dish didn't exist at all, but rather just played the strongest of the inputs from the movable one. Whatever it was parked-on at the time.
Today I solved that problem. I took a small monitor, and my spare microHD receiver out in the Renegade to directly connect to the stationary Birdview. With a 2-amp setting on an automotive jumpstart box, I was able to power the motor manually and hone in nicely on 103 west for networks, but upon hooking up to the diseqc which feeds to the apartment, issues arose including pixelation, or no signal at all. The same thing happened when I aimed the same dish it at the very strong 99 west. The odd thing was, this dish has new RG-6 last fall, new connectors, and obviously a known good LNB... and only about 25 feet to the main junction box with the diseqc, (mounted below the motorized birdview.)
With signal very strong when directly connected to the test microHD, ...I did the unthinkable. I took the new in package 50 cent garage sale satellite inline signal amp, and put it on that line only, at the input to the diseqc. After that, signal became crystal from the stationary dish became clear in the apartment, no pixelation. Putting the amp on that line only means we're not amplifying every LNB's signal, just that troubled one. I also learned that that signal hunting is best done first without the amp, then add the amplifier it as needed. If the amp is inline during signal tweaking, adjustments make NO sense and are not easy to pinpoint.
So, now the movable Birdview Will do most of the heavy lifting (needs a new Titanium positioner unit...V-box stutters and stops then restarts frequently. ) and we have diseqcs doing their jobs on 5 inputs quite nicely from 4 dishes. Tomorrow, with good weather, I'll continue and try to align the remaining dedicated dishes....
5) Ku dish for 72 west NBC (if feed are still active)
6) Ku diwh fo r87 west LPB if possible (same notation)
7) might stay "unused" and be changed to a C-band fixed on 99 next weekend or sooner...have one in mind.
I read many write-ups here about not using line amps before trying this today, then thought, "why not try!" Granted, it will pull a small bit of current, but it did solve the problem. Total cable run for me is around 100-150 feet depending on the particular dish, with the diseqc inline. Will dig deeper in to the cause of the signal loss later, but..at least the band aid is on the system.
Next weekend will be hopefully getting a Winegard dish from a friend, probably an 8 or 10 footer? with an edge bent from a forklift...I think it can be gently pulled back into shape, and will make a nice fixed dish for 99 or 101,and another house in town has a 6 foot dish on their junk pile with only minor panel repair needed I'm going to try to grab for the same purpose. I'd like my regular satellites which I use to be on fixed dishes, and the "occasional" ones to watch on the motorized birdview.
When I was playing with the left Birdview, for a time, I put a combination C/Ku in place and was able to pick up the beach cams, and some other channels with good quality, but on the MicroHD was unable to input or scan the Cozi signal properly, but there is hope...if I reinstall a combination LNB, I can free up that fixed Ku dish now aimed at Cozi for some more fun. Either the scanning on the MicroHD didn't work properly (frequencies didn't look right) or...even the new signal is rather elusive. I thought a 70 percent quality on both the C and Ku was pretty nice on 103! To do that, I had to use a 22khz switch, but it worked fine on the test box.
It's nice to be back working on these projects.....can't wait to do more....SPRING has arrived!
Might follow up as we change-to or add different dishes...and as we align the DTN ones on the right.
I think putting a small 6 footer and another C-band in may be best, seems most of the "action" these days is on C-Band.
Hope this wasn't too boring...been a long time since I posted anything here except asking for help!
This is a long read, grab some coffee, or...tell me to "just do your fixes" and not bother everyone.....
The dish farm at the radio station apartment for FTA contains quite a mix of dishes, see the picture attached.
For the LONGEST time, I've fought and fought trying to get the left stationary birdview to play nicely with the rest. I've got an 8-place Amiko diseqc selecting any of a possible 8 feeds. 1 and 2 from the c/ku on the movable Birdview; number 3 (the trouble child) being the stationary (left) Birdview, then 4 is the cozi dish between them, 5 is my 125 PBS, and 6-8 are reserved for 72w NBC, and a spare line.
I've written before about how a "ghost" of the very strong 101 appeared any time I tried to use the stationary Birdview dish. Never could get the actual left birdview signal through the diseqc. It was as if the #3 feed from the left dish didn't exist at all, but rather just played the strongest of the inputs from the movable one. Whatever it was parked-on at the time.
Today I solved that problem. I took a small monitor, and my spare microHD receiver out in the Renegade to directly connect to the stationary Birdview. With a 2-amp setting on an automotive jumpstart box, I was able to power the motor manually and hone in nicely on 103 west for networks, but upon hooking up to the diseqc which feeds to the apartment, issues arose including pixelation, or no signal at all. The same thing happened when I aimed the same dish it at the very strong 99 west. The odd thing was, this dish has new RG-6 last fall, new connectors, and obviously a known good LNB... and only about 25 feet to the main junction box with the diseqc, (mounted below the motorized birdview.)
With signal very strong when directly connected to the test microHD, ...I did the unthinkable. I took the new in package 50 cent garage sale satellite inline signal amp, and put it on that line only, at the input to the diseqc. After that, signal became crystal from the stationary dish became clear in the apartment, no pixelation. Putting the amp on that line only means we're not amplifying every LNB's signal, just that troubled one. I also learned that that signal hunting is best done first without the amp, then add the amplifier it as needed. If the amp is inline during signal tweaking, adjustments make NO sense and are not easy to pinpoint.
So, now the movable Birdview Will do most of the heavy lifting (needs a new Titanium positioner unit...V-box stutters and stops then restarts frequently. ) and we have diseqcs doing their jobs on 5 inputs quite nicely from 4 dishes. Tomorrow, with good weather, I'll continue and try to align the remaining dedicated dishes....
5) Ku dish for 72 west NBC (if feed are still active)
6) Ku diwh fo r87 west LPB if possible (same notation)
7) might stay "unused" and be changed to a C-band fixed on 99 next weekend or sooner...have one in mind.
I read many write-ups here about not using line amps before trying this today, then thought, "why not try!" Granted, it will pull a small bit of current, but it did solve the problem. Total cable run for me is around 100-150 feet depending on the particular dish, with the diseqc inline. Will dig deeper in to the cause of the signal loss later, but..at least the band aid is on the system.
Next weekend will be hopefully getting a Winegard dish from a friend, probably an 8 or 10 footer? with an edge bent from a forklift...I think it can be gently pulled back into shape, and will make a nice fixed dish for 99 or 101,and another house in town has a 6 foot dish on their junk pile with only minor panel repair needed I'm going to try to grab for the same purpose. I'd like my regular satellites which I use to be on fixed dishes, and the "occasional" ones to watch on the motorized birdview.
When I was playing with the left Birdview, for a time, I put a combination C/Ku in place and was able to pick up the beach cams, and some other channels with good quality, but on the MicroHD was unable to input or scan the Cozi signal properly, but there is hope...if I reinstall a combination LNB, I can free up that fixed Ku dish now aimed at Cozi for some more fun. Either the scanning on the MicroHD didn't work properly (frequencies didn't look right) or...even the new signal is rather elusive. I thought a 70 percent quality on both the C and Ku was pretty nice on 103! To do that, I had to use a 22khz switch, but it worked fine on the test box.
It's nice to be back working on these projects.....can't wait to do more....SPRING has arrived!
Might follow up as we change-to or add different dishes...and as we align the DTN ones on the right.
I think putting a small 6 footer and another C-band in may be best, seems most of the "action" these days is on C-Band.
Hope this wasn't too boring...been a long time since I posted anything here except asking for help!
