New to FTA, having some issues with G10R...

[rkrenicki]

Well, I finally jumped (headfirst, without looking, I might add) into FTA, Picked up one of the $40 ebay recievers and some 80cm dishes from saudoun.com

I have the dish pointed at G10R, orbital position 123W.. the Signal meter I picked up (for $10) shows I have a decent signal. The receiver shows I have a Signal Level of 95 (out of 100), but a Signal Quality of 0

The equipment I have is as follows:
Fortec Star 80cm U-bolt Mount offset dish
Fortec Star Ku band Single Universal LNBF
Viacast VIStar 2000 DVB Reciever

I have the reciever set up as follows:
Record Number 0
LNB LO freq (kHz) 10700000
LNB Power 14V
Downlink Freq (kHz) 11720000
Symbol Rate 27691
0/12V Mode Off
DiSEqC 1.0 Off

This configuration should pick up Equity G10R Transponder 1Ku, I would think..

If my LNB Skew was wrong, would that make my signal quality go to crap, but still have signal strength?

The only other thing I can think of, is perhaps I am mispointed at Echostar 9, at Orbital Position 121W, since their Elevation and Azimuth is only off by one degree where I am.

I do not intend on keeping this reciever in the long run, I will eventually get a blindscan model and a motor. But I definately want to get this one working, so I can give my sister some G10R action at her house.

 

[rkrenicki]

Eh... I think I may have found the solution to my problem, I will double check when I get home, but apparently, to use the highband (11.7-12.75GHz) I have to inject a 22kHz tone, which is an option in my reciever (either 14V+22k or 18V+22k)

It would have been nice of the LNB said this somewhere on it, instead of having to visit their website that is for Internet Explorer only

 

[PSB]

Set the L.O. to......

09750-10600 for your Universal LNBF.

If the skew is WAY off it would stop you getting any quality.

Have Fun!

 

[rkrenicki]

I do not have a way to measure the angle, I need to find a protractor or something, but the skew for where I am is 44.1 degrees CCW, which is fairly easy to eyeball, I would think.. I have mine somewhere around 45 degrees by eyeball.

But how "way off" are you talking, 5 degrees? 10 degrees?.... 1 degree? I mean, if its generally right, it would at least lock, even if the quality is low??

The lack of 22Khz tone makes sense, since all of the transponders I am looking for are in the high band, so obviously it wont lock on anything..

As for the LO, it is labeled as 9.75GHz for Lowband, and 10.6GHz for Highband..

When I get home this afternoon (I was roped into working today), I will enable the 22Khz inject, and see what improvement happens. (if any)

 

[PSB]

Sounds like you are pretty close to the correct skew so hopefully a scan of the above will be all you need, if not slight movements of the dish until you see quality may be the way to go. G10R is the best place to start the FTA hobby, I am sure you will get it, when you escape from work : )

Universal LNBF are great, but unless you get the very best (Invacom) they are not as good as a regular/standard LNBF (of equal noise/db.), in my experience. When I use my Universal I lose some of my very weak channels/Transponders.

"A lot of motorised systems use a Universal LNB nowadays. This is good from the point of view of ease of installation and adjustment but it really is a compromise if you are dealing with any weak signals. Where a weak analogue signal might give a picture with terrible "sparklies", a weak digital signal can give a blank screen and no sound. You need to cut the losses as low as possible and provide an accurate adjustment for "skew" which is the rotational angle at which your dish receives the signal from the satellite."

 

[rkrenicki]

Grr.. still no love.

It seems to get better signal (on my craptastic signal meter) on horizonal frequencies, when I rotate the LNB 90 degrees, or switch it to 18v+22khz, my signal jump up, knowing that, I started looking for horizontal transponders, and still nothing.

I also tried inputting Transponders from Echostar 9 and Horizons 1, to see if I was mis-directed, but still nothing.

I noticed today, when I connected a different LNB, that my reciever reported a signal level of 95 even before I mounted it to the dish, when it was still in my hand, and no matter what direction I pointed it in (including straight into my hand), so that is more than minorly useless.

I guess the best thing to do now, is find someone with an FTA setup near me, and hook up my reciever there, to make sure that its ok, and get it configured for some channels on G10, to rule out configuration problems.

I may be in the market for a new STB soon.....

 

[rkrenicki]

Are there any FTAers here that live in connecticut?, I would apprecaite some local help on this one.

 

[carload]

I noticed today, when I connected a different LNB, that my reciever reported a signal level of 95 even before I mounted it to the dish, when it was still in my hand, and no matter what direction I pointed it in (including straight into my hand), so that is more than minorly useless.

If you dig into the technology involved with DBS, you'll find that most objects naturally emit energy in the same frequency range as DBS satellites. When you point at a garden or a wall 20 feet away, this weak transmission will look stronger than the satellite miles away. This is why most small dishes are offset; even if misaligned, the LNBF points up, away from the ground.

If you're sure that you're pointing at the sky, signal strength meters can help a little. But what you really need is signal quality, and pointing at a wall won't help with that.

 

[ken2400]

I fully agree! I can still remember tring to find out how many heads and cyls a hard drive has back in the early 90s. I would also like a "built on date" like TVs have BUT I know that is asking way TOO much from manufactures so when I buy stuff I put a date on it!

Eh... I think I may have found the solution to my problem, I will double check when I get home, but apparently, to use the highband (11.7-12.75GHz) I have to inject a 22kHz tone, which is an option in my reciever (either 14V+22k or 18V+22k)

It would have been nice of the LNB said this somewhere on it, instead of having to visit their website that is for Internet Explorer only

 

[Mr Tony]

Couple of thoughts

Use 11799000 for the transponder and 26660 for the S/R. 11720 is real low on the quality scale.

I have on of these....and you must have read the instructions (or my review) so you know how to program it

Program it this way on the screen
0,1,2
10750000
14+22k
11799000
26660
off
off

then hit OK and it should scan and maybe find something. You have to remember, KU is a lot more finicky and this receiver takes FOREVER to find a signal.

Leave the LNB straight down for now. We can fine tune later.

Are you sure you're in the right area for aiming?

 

[rkrenicki]

I will try those settings when I get home.

I have verified the azimuth last night using a compass, It looks to be right on the money. Using my signal meter, I peaked it out as much as I can tell.

 

[Mr Tony]

the elevation on the dish shouldnt be touched once set

I know this receiver can be a bugger. If a number is slightly off, the unti won't work. But 11799000 is a stronger TP than the other. Once you find it, you can always put the others in.

Once you set it and either it finds something (or nothing), if you can see the TV, hit "info" which will give you signal and quality. When you slowly start moving it, once you hit SOME qulaity, the bar disappears and you'll have to hit it again.

When I first started in FTA, I use to Ghetto move my dish around and used that meter. Once you get the hang of it, you'll be an ol' pro

 

[rkrenicki]

Now if something is wrong, like symbol rate or something, would it say that the signal quality is "Low" (aka, non-existant)?

 

[PSB]

Yes! It will say LOW........that means ZERO. (from Iceberg)

 

[Mr Tony]

Yes if the symbol rate is wrong, it willsay low, which means zero

But the info I gave above is what is on my Viacast right now (minus the 14+22k...mine is at 14..I do not have a 22k in my setup )

 

[rkrenicki]

Ok, I inputted it, and I get zilch.. I will try adjusting the dish in the morning. Thank you very much for this information, you guys are great!

It would be good to know if the reciever itself actually does work however.... Perhaps I can connect it to the C band dishes at work, and see if I can get something out of it. (I work for a cable company, so we have the big ole 20' Simulsats out there.

 

[PSB]

Worth a try! Make sure to use 05150 as your L.O. for C-band (4 digit freq)
And do a blind scan see what you get........please let us know : )

 

[Mr Tony]

Worth a try! Make sure to use 05150 as your L.O. for C-band (4 digit freq)
And do a blind scan see what you get........please let us know : )

Pete
The Viacast doesnt have a blind scan

 

[Mr Tony]

so to enter the info, the Lo would be 5150000

If you know which satellite the C-Band is aimed at, let us know and we can give you a channel on that bird that you should be able to pick up

 

[PSB]

OK make that a TP. scan then