Music Choice Galaxy 14 125W

[joshrr]

I have an 8ft dish pointed to Galaxy 14 with a DSR-4200V digicipher II box hooked in. Is Music Choice FTA/zero key? It looks as such on lyngsat. My DSR-4200V should be able to get this without an authorization. I have the DSR-4200v locked on, am getting 98 signal and I am getting digicipher messages. I get a channel map but all the channels are blank/black. Would I have better luck on AMC18 where lyngsat shows the channels as FTA/zero key there too?

I did a factory default and re-configured with same results.

Thanks for any info

 

[B.J.]

I have an 8ft dish pointed to Galaxy 14 with a DSR-4200V digicipher II box hooked in. Is Music Choice FTA/zero key? It looks as such on lyngsat. My DSR-4200V should be able to get this without an authorization. I have the DSR-4200v locked on, am getting 98 signal and I am getting digicipher messages. I get a channel map but all the channels are blank/black. Would I have better luck on AMC18 where lyngsat shows the channels as FTA/zero key there too?

I did a factory default and re-configured with same results.

Thanks for any info

It was always my understanding that a 4200V would receive both ZK without ANY authorization, however to get FP, while it didn't need a current authorization, that it had to have been authorized at some point in the past. I use a previously, but not currently authorized 4200V and get both ZK and FP.

HOWEVER, recently Iceberg reported that his NEW 4200V couldn't receive even ZK, so apparently the original assumption wasn't correct, and that the receiver needs to have had at least one authorization hit at some time in it's life.

This is too bad, because unless you can talk someone at NEbraska to send your unit an authorization, you may be out of luck. Perhaps if you told them you'd donate to their next pledge drive ??? My 4200 was authorized by GPTV.


BTW, 98 is pretty poor signal reading, assuming that you're getting that from diagnostic screen C , upper left. On a 4DTV that reading is high for good, and low for poor, but on a 4200 98 is pretty much marginal, and a reading down around 20-50 is good. I don't think I can generally get a lock on a signal above 92. So there's still a chance that it's a signal strength issue.

 

[Mr Tony]

Has the 4200 ever been authorized? I had one that was brand new (no authorization) and had the same issue.

Here is my thread on it.,..has some info to check on the reciever
Did I just get a 4200v doorstop?? - SatelliteGuys.US

 

[Mr Tony]

BJ beat me to the punch...was trying to find my thread

 

[joshrr]

Thanks for pointing me to that thread. Boy what a shame. Yeah I too get channel maps, a 7 for lock, a green light on the front, but no vid/audio.

Doorstop I guess. Thanks for all your help. Maybe I'll look for an authorized unit on fleabay

 

[B.J.]

I knew I was going to have to type fast to beat ICE on responding to this.


One other thing that's possible.
Both the G14 and G18 music are ZK, and on G14 the still video display for the music are also ZK, however the images on MY 4200 just blink on for a fraction of a second, and most of the time the screen is blank (whereas if I play from my GENPIX to VLC, the images are constant. So it's possible that you might get a predominantly blank screen. You should still get audio though, except that sometimes the 4200 will start up in an undefined audio mode. I forget the menu item, but it's in one of the first two menus, where there is an audio/video setup. You might try changing the audio "language" then go back to English. I've had times when I got no audio until I did that. That plus a blank screen might make you think you weren't getting the channel.

I'm also curious what firmware version you have? (it's near the top in diagnostic A.

EDIT: related to the firmware version, it MIGHT help if you could get the receiver to receive a firmware update, IF you can find a DCII signal that's giving firmware. I would recommend some time that you're not doing anything, lock in the Nebraska PBS signal on G28. Just leave it there for a while, particularly over the weekend, and watch diagnostic screen A. If by chance they are uploading new firmware, the numbers in the row that shows the firmware about 4 times should change indicating that it's found new firmware. It will start downloading automatically, and the download takes about 10 minutes if I remember right. I THINK that the newer firmware was specifically designed for FTA'ers. The original firmware was semi FTA friendly, but then they came out with firmware that made boat anchors out of the receivers, so GI made a special version that was FTA friendly. Perhaps this version would work better, however finding an uplink that has the firmware is not real likely, but it's possible. I really think that NET is the most likely place to find it, since they are uplinking to multiple sites around the state, some of which may still have 4200s.

 

[Corrado]

It would be great to have a fellow SatelliteGuy at one of those uplink facilities. Perhaps it would help if we could figure out who's still has them in service. I'm wondering if anyone is?? It seems like eBay always has them for cheap and never with remotes.

I've played around with my 4200V for the past year, here and there. I have never seen anything look as though it found any newer target firmware on any of the diagnostic or setup screens. I had it locked on G28 for a while last year.

On the 410s there is a separate field for it that is all 0000's until it finds something. I can't remember on the 4200s what's there without firing it up.

 

[joshrr]

firmware is 30 across the board. I did check the audio settings. It was on a funky surround sound setting. I did switch it to stereo though with no luck. I also flipped the language and turned on closed captions even. Nothing.

 

[joshrr]

Does anyone know of another model receiver that I could get (cheap of course) that could pick up the music choice feeds? Would be really nice to get these. Thanks for all your help so far. Very appreciative.

All the 4200 boxes on ebay now are being sold by individuals who are unable to test them or say if they have been authorized in the past.

 

[B.J.]

Does anyone know of another model receiver that I could get (cheap of course) that could pick up the music choice feeds? Would be really nice to get these. Thanks for all your help so far. Very appreciative.

All the 4200 boxes on ebay now are being sold by individuals who are unable to test them or say if they have been authorized in the past.

Cheapest is a 4200V that is used, and has been authorized. It used to be that virtually all that you'd find on EBAY were used and would work. These are the first 2 that I've heard that wouldn't work. There are other model GI/MOT commercial DCII receivers, but they tend to be more expensive. Any DCII receiver that isn't GI/Motorola will only get ZK, and won't get FP, because FP is really encrypted, but encrypted with a free key that's only found on GI receivers.

I use a Genpix. It does DCII (in addition to DSS, Turbo QPSK, Turbo 8PSK and DVB), but it only gets ZK. It DOES, however get the combo mode 29270 SR signals that the 4200 will NOT tune. The 4200 will do 29270 SR, but only in the split mode, or whatever it's called where they separate I and Q.
But the Genpix does a nice job on those music channels. Plus there are loads of other music channels that only it and the Twinhan can get. Pretty much the only thing the Genpix doesn't do is DVB-S2.