Need your Help setting up 97W AKA IA5

[Oube00]

Hello guys,

I've been trying to get a signal from 97 W with no success!
I am using a Pansat2500 Clone
Standard LNBF(Range: 11.7 - 12.75 Lo Freq: 10.7)
90Cm Dish

Here are my settings:
LNB Type: Standard
LNB Loc Freq: 10750
22KHz: Off
Diseqc: Off
Skew: 45
TP: 12152 H20000
positionner settings: Off
Sat Scan: All

I am also setting up my dish on a tripod, I have clear Line of sight, I tried to set up my elevation to what it says in the calculator (29.27 even if it looks kind of pointing too high) my LNB is skewed and reading 7 Oclock (I am in the west) I kept trying to get any signal changing the azimuthm the elevation the LNB skew.. but nothing .. my signal strength swings between 75 to 81 but quality is steady 0

I have just installed another dish last week for 110 & 119 I got the signal in 2 minutes but with the 97 W nothing!!

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks Guys

 

[english2fourth]

97 is weak...keep trying

i had some problems early in my "career" as a hobbyist to get the 97, but the best way to do it is get a meter, it is a small investment of ten bucks that makes it crazy easy to find sats. get the clarke belt, and then blind scan if getting compass reading is too tiring. good idea to correlate tps. if they are off, measure the differences and manually input the tps. scan tps, and voila.

good luck, don't give up. you'll get it. try the booming tps by researching ICEBERG's stroong tp list.

 

[N6BY]

I just checked 97W and for me the strongest transponder is 11867 MHz Vertical, Symbol rate 22000.

Dont give up -- you'll find it. And when you do, check out FTV on 12060 H, SR 22000. Tune in at midnight (Eastern Time) and check out 'Midnight Hot'.

 

[Oube00]

Thanks guys for the reply, I will not give up I'm just going to wait till the weekend and give it a longer try, I'll try the tronsponder you mentionned Brettbolt, Thanks
English2fourth, thanks for you reply too, I heared a lot about blind Scan! what does it do exactly ? Do I have to keep the same settings then "blindscan" while I m looking for the signal ? am I wrong?

 

[english2fourth]

blindscan

blindscan just tries to read the frequencies that it reads. the reason it can be good is that it just reads what it gets...so if it is focused at 95, even if you blindscan on 97 it will give you 95...the receiver doesn't know the difference. i like it because it will tell me what sat i am on...even if my aim is off. seriously, get a sat finder from sadoun, and find the clarke belt. once you get it it is easy. but be warned, 97 is WEAK. good luck!

 

[Sadoun]

Standard LNBF(Range: 11.7 - 12.75 Lo Freq: 10.7)

Check your LNBF again. Standard has a freq. range from 11.7 - 12.2 GHz.

If what you have is a UNiVERSAL LNBF 10.7-12.75, then your LNBF settings in the receiver are incorrect.

 

[pedrogarcia]

Skew

The skew angle you quote 45 is incorrect - it should be no more than 21 degrees ie towards the left looking from the LNB to the dish.
Your LNB also sounds suspiciously like a circular LNB not standard

 

[N6BY]

Thanks guys for the reply, I will not give up I'm just going to wait till the weekend and give it a longer try, I'll try the tronsponder you mentionned Brettbolt, Thanks
English2fourth, thanks for you reply too, I heared a lot about blind Scan! what does it do exactly ? Do I have to keep the same settings then "blindscan" while I m looking for the signal ? am I wrong?

Blind scan checks the entire range of frequencies, symbol rates, and polarities and records all the transponder info for you. Then it looks for channels on those transponders. It doesn't care where your dish is actually aimed at, and is a great way to find out if you are aiming at the wrong place.

If you are getting a strong signal strength, but no quality, then a blind scan will tell you what sat your dish is actually aimed at.

As for the LNB type and LNB Loc Freq -- those settings are critical. You probably wont get anything until those are set correctly.

 

[Oube00]

Check your LNBF again. Standard has a freq. range from 11.7 - 12.2 GHz.

If what you have is a UNiVERSAL LNBF 10.7-12.75, then your LNBF settings in the receiver are incorrect.

Hey Sadoun,

Thanks for the reply. My LNBF is :

MultiStar FTA Single LNB
[MSLS-107]
Standard Ku Band Digital Ready Single LNB for Satellite Systems Suitable for existing Analog and Digital systems. Low noise temperature. Economical. Easy to install. Lightweight.
Input Frequency: 11.7GHz~12.75GHz
L.O.Frequency:10.75GHz
Now I m confused! can you please tell me if my settings are correct!

Thanks

 

[Oube00]

Hey Sadoun,

Thanks for the reply. My LNBF is :

MultiStar FTA Single LNB
[MSLS-107]
Standard Ku Band Digital Ready Single LNB for Satellite Systems Suitable for existing Analog and Digital systems. Low noise temperature. Economical. Easy to install. Lightweight.
Input Frequency: 11.7GHz~12.75GHz
L.O.Frequency:10.75GHz
Now I m confused! can you please tell me if my settings are correct!

Thanks

BTW I copied this LNBF dscription from a site this is why it has too much details

 

[SatPhreak]

I googled that lnb and it is a wideband linear lnb with a LO of 10.75 GHz. I also read that is does work on linear sats with that LO freq. Keep trying to aim for a stong transponder on 97W. Signal is unimportant, only quality means you have a lock on the sat.

 

[N6BY]

.. my signal strength swings between 75 to 81 but quality is steady 0

One thing to try -- move the dish till your signal strength hits 81 (or higher). Then do a 'Blind Scan'. This will work even if you have your receiver set to the wrong L.O. frequency. (But the receiver will report the wrong transponder frequency where it finds a signal).

Then let us know what channels you get and the reported transponder frequencies.

 

[pedrogarcia]

Dish size

Sorry I think we may have overlooked your dish size, it could possibly be too small to lock on to a 97w signal. Satbeams recommend a 1m from around the Montana border up to Edmonton and there are only small areas of Montana where an 80cm works.

SatBeams - Satellite Coverage Maps - Sat Footprints

 

[N6BY]

Sorry I think we may have overlooked your dish size, it could possibly be too small to lock on to a 97w signal. Satbeams recommend a 1m from around the Montana border up to Edmonton and there are only small areas of Montana where an 80cm works.

SatBeams - Satellite Coverage Maps - Sat Footprints

In California (Latitude 38.8 Degrees) I used to use a 90 cm dish and got a good signal on 97W. Now I'm using a 10' mesh and the signal is not as good as the 90 cm because its not solid metal.

You should at least be able to get some signal quality with a 90 cm dish farther north. I think the O.P's problem is with the LNB settings.

 

[Oube00]

Sorry I think we may have overlooked your dish size, it could possibly be too small to lock on to a 97w signal. Satbeams recommend a 1m from around the Montana border up to Edmonton and there are only small areas of Montana where an 80cm works.

SatBeams - Satellite Coverage Maps - Sat Footprints

Actually I have already got 97W with the same dish and same |LNBF in another house in the same city (the quality of signal wasn't great but still it was around 50)
I will try again thid weekend and keep you guys posted

Thanks for your help guys

 

[pedrogarcia]

In California (Latitude 38.8 Degrees) I used to use a 90 cm dish and got a good signal on 97W. quote]

You may well be right on the LNB settings but California is on a 80cm hotspot for 97w and 00 is at least 1 band further out and depending on his location could be further.

97w has got standard Symbol and fec rates so if it the signal can lock blindscan will have them.

 

[Oube00]

I gave it another try today!! Nothing.
I think now that my lnbf is fried.. And that's why I'm not getting anything
Wherever I point my dish the signal level stays between 79 and 81 it never goes lower than that whish is not normal I think. The quality is just 0.
Is there any way to know if my lnbf is fried or not? If not I guess I ll grab a new one this weekend

 

[Lak7]

No real way to test an LNB, besides eliminate everything else.

Do you have another LNB to try, even an old DishNet or DirecTV?
You could try to hit Nimiq @ 91 and Echo @ 110. Mark the pole for each, 97 will be a little East of the Center point of the 2 marks. Switch back to the Linear LNB, double check settings, have a Live TP selected and try agin.

 

[N6BY]

I gave it another try today!! Nothing.
I think now that my lnbf is fried.. And that's why I'm not getting anything
Wherever I point my dish the signal level stays between 79 and 81 it never goes lower than that whish is not normal I think. The quality is just 0.
Is there any way to know if my lnbf is fried or not? If not I guess I ll grab a new one this weekend

That is unusual. Could be the LNB or your RG6 cable. I remember having similar problems that ended up being a bad coax connection (the ground shield had lost contact with the connector). So the LNB was not getting any power. You might want to get a voltmeter, disconnect the LNB and see if you can measure voltage between the center conductor and the ground. It should be 13 or 18 volts, depending on the transponder polarity.

No real way to test an LNB, besides eliminate everything else.

Do you have another LNB to try, even an old DishNet or DirecTV?
You could try to hit Nimiq @ 91 and Echo @ 110. Mark the pole for each, 97 will be a little East of the Center point of the 2 marks. Switch back to the Linear LNB, double check settings, have a Live TP selected and try agin.

If the voltage tests out OK, this sounds like a great diagnostic suggestion.

I hope you find the problem.

 

[Oube00]

That is unusual. Could be the LNB or your RG6 cable. I remember having similar problems that ended up being a bad coax connection (the ground shield had lost contact with the connector). So the LNB was not getting any power. You might want to get a voltmeter, disconnect the LNB and see if you can measure voltage between the center conductor and the ground. It should be 13 or 18 volts, depending on the transponder polarity.


If the voltage tests out OK, this sounds like a great diagnostic suggestion.

I hope you find the problem.

I am using a short RG6 with good connectors, I have a feeling that the LNB is not good anymore, I'll get a new one and see if it would help