Long time locking!

[goaliebob99]

Anyone else have this issue with their AZbox? After a blind scan, the reciver will often not lock onto transponders and show up that there is nothing on the bird. I will have to often manually scan in a transponder after its found by going into the transponder setup, wait one min for the transponder to lock, and then scan in the missed channels.

I'm just wondering if this is common.

 

[mr3p]

yes, i frequently enjoy this feature

 

[AcWxRadar]

yes, i frequently enjoy this feature

Yes, This is one of the wonderful features that I also enjoy! Ha!

I generally blind scan to acquire the TPs, then for the channels which are not scanned and logged in, I revert to the individual TP scan. pretty much the same as you did. The total satellite scan usually works as well, rather than scanning individual TPs, but if there are only a few TPs, I prefer to use the TP scan method. I think that this is the most accurate, although I cannot actually prove this.

This specific signature glitch of the AZBox really is most prevelant regarding the DVB-S2 signals. The SD channels and TPs appear to be less prone to this frailty.

RADAR

 

[stanleyjohn]

Yea i just love it when i do a new blindscan and many TPs are found but very few channels are produced for my channel listings.

 

[i4tas]

this happens here all the time

 

[Keith Brannen]

I think part of the problem is that after it has done the initial blind scan (finding the active old/new transponders), when scanning for channels it also checks the transponders that are currently in the list (previously found and stored, but not necessarily active). If a new transponder is only a few numbers different from an old one not active, and it has tried that old number first, it sometimes doesn't seem to re-set itself in time to lock on to the new one. For the "feeds" satellites, I try to keep the transponder list fairly clean (and it seems to help).

 

[Cham]

Yes I try to delete unused TPs to minimize issues, seems to help.
Also when blind scanning on C-band I use a polarotor to switch polarities, so I blind scan horizontal and vertical separately. However when the azbox goes into TP scanning mode it scans both polarities, which lengthens the scan time considerably. Would be nice if it would only scan for transponders (all modes) and then after you could pick the ones you want to individually look for channels.
-C.

 

[AcWxRadar]

Yes I try to delete unused TPs to minimize issues, seems to help.
Also when blind scanning on C-band I use a polarotor to switch polarities, so I blind scan horizontal and vertical separately. However when the azbox goes into TP scanning mode it scans both polarities, which lengthens the scan time considerably. Would be nice if it would only scan for transponders (all modes) and then after you could pick the ones you want to individually look for channels.
-C.

Cham,

You can do this. After the blind scan is completed, for either or both polarities, you can use the TP SCAN mode and put a checkmark on the individual TPs that you want it to scan. So, you can check off all the horizontal or all the vertical TPs here and make it scan within those confines.

RADAR

 

[Cham]

Radar,
Will the AzBox save the TPs if you stop the blind scan process after it has finished logging the transponders (before scanning for channels)? Would be great if it did then one could go back to the TP scan and check off tp frequencies from the list. That would help. I might try this..

Glad I don't have to work on the dish outside, -24C here hate to see the windchill!
-C.

 

[stargaze]

Will the AzBox save the TPs if you stop the blind scan process after it has finished logging the transponders (before scanning for channels)?

yes it will save them under the tp list and you can then manually scan them in.

 

[AcWxRadar]

yes it will save them under the tp list and you can then manually scan them in.

Yes, this is correct. You can EXIT the BLIND SCAN process once the process has finished seeking and logging all the TPs Then move on to individually scanning each TP or scanning "sets" of TPs as you desire. The TPs that were found during the blind scan process will be recorded or logged into the receiver's memory. I would wait for it to just begin trying to scan the channels before exiting, though. From then on, you can exit at any time.

I personally don't do it quite this way. I generally blind scan with the setting to scan for H or V TPs only (one or the other) and let it go completely to the finish. Then restart the blind scan process for the alternate polarity and let it go to its finish. Then, if I desire, I go to the TP scan mode and scan the TPs that I am most interested in or those TPs that I don't think that it picked up all the channels from.

After all this, if there is a TP logged in that doesn't scan any channels and I know that it should have, then I start playing around a little with the TP frequency and the symbol rate manually to coax it. This is not anything unique from other FTA IRDs that I have used. Many do "lock and log" a TP with a little offset frequency or a slightly offset symbol rate. This is due to at least four main things. Starting at the dish, the accuracy of the alignment can affect this if it is not optimum. If the signal is borderline in strength and quality, it will affect the performance of the downstream components. The LNBF local oscillator's frquency can drift with temperature or simply just the quality of the LNBF itself. The tuner's sensitivity and accuracy can play a role here, too, but normally that is not a temperature related affect if you always keep it at the same temperature (I leave mine running 24/7 so it should always be at the same temperature). Then, how the processor handles it all afterwards can play a role, too.

That's just some information for you to chew on.

RADAR

 

[Cham]

All makes sense Radar.
Temp here is in the -20 range so the LNB LO might be a bit off but it is a PLL unit so there should be some compensation (on the Norsat anyway). I've often played around with the frequencies and symbol rates to get a better "lock" or sometimes just bring up the signal a bit. Scanning at 5MHz increments leaves quite a chance for error so lowering the scan increment to 2-3 MHz helps somewhat but fine tuning is not difficult when you can manually input the frequency etc. Also to continue on this frequency thing, I often notice a subtle difference between the Norsat LNB and the Invacom LNBF on Ku, the latter is often 1-2MHz higher in frequency. I usually blind scan Ku with the Norsat and switch to the small dish and LNBF for watching, much more convenient than switching polarity. Sometimes I will raise the frequency by 1-2MHz to increase the %Q reading...; sometimes I can squeeze 3-4% by doing that depending on the transponder.
Time to check... I left the azbox scanning amc-2..
-C.