Newbie quality question on 102g

[jhaap]

I have a Twinhan 102g PCI DVB card in a newer HP PC. I have experimented with universal and circular LNBFs, tried pointing at four different satellites, swapped out the Diseq 1.2 (now going direct with no switch), and nothing I do changes the signal strength (which is at 62-65%) or the quality (which remains at 0). Therefore, I can not scan a single channel. I have changed my LOFSW, tried RitzDVB, and MyTheater (both of which register 0 signal/0 quality). I have also tried running another cable from the LNB out port to the second pole on the circular LNB, to no avail. Yes, I have installed all the latest drivers.

Have I failed to hit a satellite, or is there another explanation for my inability to get any signal quality?

Yes, I bought the 102g off of ebay. No, I have not received any emails from seller or manufacturer to help. How can I know if the card is bunk?

Thanks in advance.

 

[starman345]

Need to know what you are trying to hit? What four satellites? What lnbf? What lof/sw settings? Its tough setting up a dish with a dvb-s card but can be done.

 

[jerryt]

I have a Twinhan 102g PCI DVB card

Have I failed to hit a satellite, or is there another explanation for my inability to get any signal quality?QUOTE]

Signal meters are your friend.

Your first mistake was to buy a twinhan.

 

[jhaap]

Need to know what you are trying to hit? What four satellites? What lnbf? What lof/sw settings? Its tough setting up a dish with a dvb-s card but can be done.

At this point I want to hit one satellite, with the coax connected directly to a circular LNBF. I am aiming at 110, with azimuth of 143.6 and elevation of 37.4 according to Satfinder for my location. LOF1 1125, SW 0, LOF2 1125 (or add 0000 in MT). I am using a 80cm Fortec Star Offset Ku antennae.

I have also tried universal KU LNBs pointed at 101, and 119, and have a curcular pointed at 91 on another oval type dish. All result in the same NO quality. The signal strength will change, but never get above 65%.

I have a cheap sat finder that seems to suggest there is a signal. I do question my methods of finding elevation (I assume the angle is the one from the point to LNB hits to the satellite). I am using a compass and level to aim the antennae and LNBFs.

 

[Mr Tony]

what size Dish?

There are KU band signals on 101 but none on 119

Make sure your LNB LO is setup right in the program....Universal is 10600 with 22K turned on

 

[jhaap]

what size Dish?

There are KU band signals on 101 but none on 119

Make sure your LNB LO is setup right in the program....Universal is 10600 with 22K turned on

I've tried multiple satellites without the signal meter changing much, as well as had them all hooked through a DiSeq 1.2 switch, and still 62% signal in the meter, and No (0) signal quality. Is it typical that there is such difference between strength and quality?

80 cm Fortec antenna. I've changed the LOFs and the signal meter in the Twinhan program is unaffected. In addition, there is no signal detected by MyTheater even though it sees the card. Why would the Twinhan meter not show signal strength in the MT meter? Thanks in advance.

 

[starman345]

You would have a really tough time trying to setup a dish with the meters in the Satellite software packages. Use your satellite finderl meter. If it is a cheap one, just set it so it is reading half scale and move the dish around to find a satellite. IF it jumps up keep moving it back to half scale until you have the max signal. Take out the switch for now and just hook the coax to a circular port on the lnbf. Set your lof to 11250 plus 000 for MT switch 0. Search for one of the Nimiq or Echostar birds, they are strong and easier to find. The problem with the dvb cards is you have to scan before you will see signal on the meters in the software. Once you get a signal with your satellite meter, scan until you can identify which bird you are on, then you can go from there searching for other satellites.

 

[jhaap]

Quality up then down...

You would have a really tough time trying to setup a dish with the meters in the Satellite software packages. Use your satellite finderl meter. If it is a cheap one, just set it so it is reading half scale and move the dish around to find a satellite. IF it jumps up keep moving it back to half scale until you have the max signal. Take out the switch for now and just hook the coax to a circular port on the lnbf. Set your lof to 11250 plus 000 for MT switch 0. Search for one of the Nimiq or Echostar birds, they are strong and easier to find. The problem with the dvb cards is you have to scan before you will see signal on the meters in the software. Once you get a signal with your satellite meter, scan until you can identify which bird you are on, then you can go from there searching for other satellites.

Thanks! I followed your advice, used the cheap meter, got a strong read, and scanned to discover, yes I had a satellite. However, when I awoke this morning, it was gone. With no physical changes, is there another explanation? Is it this PCI card, or did I lose my bird? Still have 70% signal strength in Twinhan meter, but no quality.

 

[starman345]

You might have been on a transponder that is not always on, try re-scanning. Wind could have moved the dish a bit, its hard to say, there are so many settings in the software, you could have set something up but not saved it. Almost everyone thinks there is something wrong with the hardware when setting up a pci dvb card but is is almost always "operator error", some setting is off. Everything needs to be set right or will not work at all. Keep working at it, you will get it

 

[jhaap]

Thanks again. It turns out that channels showed up after trying a different satellite. FYI, the Twinhan card still shows NO quality in the signal meter, but MT is still able to scan and come up with channels. I can't explain this, but I do appreciate the tip that MT and Ritz do not show quality until after the scan. In sum, Twinhan card good, operator full of errors.

No quality in the Twinhan signal meter required to scan for channels and find them!

 

[jerryt]

No quality in the Twinhan signal meter required to scan for channels and find them!

Signal meters are our friends.

 

[randomq]

Rat Shack to the rescue

My twinham vp-1025 w/ dish-500 was receiving ~ 60% signal on the dish FTA channels, but a cheap $11 sat amplifier from radio-shack (placed inline near the dish) boosted that to ~ 75%.

Now to get a real (3-ft plus) dish and a 0.3dB LNB, and I'll be picking up all sorts of FTA on other sats.

 

[WyrTwister]

I have a Twinhan 102g PCI DVB card

Have I failed to hit a satellite, or is there another explanation for my inability to get any signal quality?QUOTE]

Signal meters are your friend.

Your first mistake was to buy a twinhan.

The first Twinhan I bought was defective , would only find about 1/3 of the channels it should . Got it replaced under warrenty . The one they sent for a replacement has worked fine .

Wyr

 

[WyrTwister]

Thanks again. It turns out that channels showed up after trying a different satellite. FYI, the Twinhan card still shows NO quality in the signal meter, but MT is still able to scan and come up with channels. I can't explain this, but I do appreciate the tip that MT and Ritz do not show quality until after the scan. In sum, Twinhan card good, operator full of errors.

No quality in the Twinhan signal meter required to scan for channels and find them!

Never thought much of the software on the CD that came with the card . Figured the CD was only good for the drivers on it .

I use MT, now . But first starting out , it seemed that dream was easier to set up . Seemed like fewer choices to make ( fewer mistakes to make ) .

Wyr

 

[WyrTwister]

My twinham vp-1025 w/ dish-500 was receiving ~ 60% signal on the dish FTA channels, but a cheap $11 sat amplifier from radio-shack (placed inline near the dish) boosted that to ~ 75%.

Now to get a real (3-ft plus) dish and a 0.3dB LNB, and I'll be picking up all sorts of FTA on other sats.

My experience has been with cable runs not much greater than 100' . In that situation , an in line amp appears to boost sifnal strength , but from what I could tell , had no positive affect on signal quality .

Signal quality is what gets a picture .

On longer cable runs , I can not say .

Wyr

 

[randomq]

Signal Strength vs Quality

It's true that an amplifier amplifies both signal and noise, but in my case the signal was amplified enough to increase it's reliability. In fact, quality isn't necessarily higher than before, but it stays around 65% more consistently.

Too bad I'm not a soccer fan (GolTV). There is one other FTA that's kind of interesting called "Current.TV", where you can submit your own short video clips.

I basically just set things up on the Dish 500 to make sure my Twinhan card worked at all, since I figured the dish would still be aimed for me.

Are there many other circularly polarized FTAs out there? Could/should I remove the LNB's from the 500 and outrig them on a larger FTA dish now?

Also, are there any interesting (non-private) data feeds on Echostar 6/7/8, while I wait for my new dish?

And why is muzak free? Is it that bad?

 

[WyrTwister]

It's true that an amplifier amplifies both signal and noise, but in my case the signal was amplified enough to increase it's reliability. In fact, quality isn't necessarily higher than before, but it stays around 65% more consistently.

Too bad I'm not a soccer fan (GolTV). There is one other FTA that's kind of interesting called "Current.TV", where you can submit your own short video clips.

I basically just set things up on the Dish 500 to make sure my Twinhan card worked at all, since I figured the dish would still be aimed for me.

Are there many other circularly polarized FTAs out there? Could/should I remove the LNB's from the 500 and outrig them on a larger FTA dish now?

Also, are there any interesting (non-private) data feeds on Echostar 6/7/8, while I wait for my new dish?

And why is muzak free? Is it that bad?

Other than radio channels , there are very few FTA channels on circular Ku ( NASA , Angel ) . And you are not going to get any of the other Ku birda with a dish 500 .

If this is a hoby you want to continue with , get a 30" or biger dish or go scrounge a C band dish .

Wyr