PBS sound / What are: LPB? mux? MCPC? / My success...

[outdoordog]

I have 3 questions but direct me to a more appropriate forum for the first one if needed:

(*I think I found the answer to item #1 below: http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/172058-pbs-sound-problems.html. It turns out my receiver has an S/PDIF optical pass-through outlet and by TV has an S/PDIF digital coax outlet so I may need a respective cable for each and a Digital Coax S/PDIF To Optical Toslink Converter. I just don't know where to get that locally. *I also have an update to my warping issue below that I wasn't sure of before: I'm now sure the warping affects my signal because when on my roof and I bend it to the way I think it should be for a few seconds I lose the signal, but it just springs back and the signal comes back. The dish blew over in a storm when I had it on a weighted tripod on the ground and I also accidentally dropped it on concrete another time. It is secure now.)

>> 1) AMC 21: I get 12179/v/30001 (for PBS) at 36-46 quality. PBS World comes in great but there is no sound. In fact, there is no sound from about 10 of my 36 channels I get while aimed at AMC 21 and Galaxy 18. The common thing with these is a Dolby Digital icon in the bottom right of the bottom info bar on my Fortec Dynamic receiver. I get 11 TP's from Galaxy 18 and 1 is from AMC 21. I can't get any better than that so far even with an SF-95 finder. I'm really only trying for PBS and not Galaxy 18. My dish is warped and I'll get a new one soon because my tries at bending it back haven't worked. All the other channels that don't have that Dolby Digital icon do have sound. Why is this? My TV is an HD TV.

2) What is an LPB mux?

3) What is MCPC?

BTW, I've had my dish up for a month and with DOZENS of trips to my roof for re-aiming/tweaking/re-enforcing I've been successful at getting a total of 4 Satellites plus a 5th but that one (121.0W Galaxy 23) but that just shows a system msg. All Satellites were received one at a time though. I really enjoy the results. I'm ready for a motor after all that and I've ordered one.

OutdoorDog
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90x99 cm offset WS International dish / Fortec Star Dynamic Rcvr. / Univ. LNB
USA - Dickerson, MD 20842

 

[Mr Tony]

>> 1) AMC 21: I get 12179/v/30001 (for PBS) at 36-46 quality. PBS World comes in great but there is no sound. In fact, there is no sound from about 10 of my 36 channels I get while aimed at AMC 21 and Galaxy 18. The common thing with these is a Dolby Digital icon in the bottom right of the bottom info bar on my Fortec Dynamic receiver. I get 11 TP's from Galaxy 18 and 1 is from AMC 21. I can't get any better than that so far even with an SF-95 finder. I'm really only trying for PBS and not Galaxy 18. My dish is warped and I'll get a new one soon because my tries at bending it back haven't worked. All the other channels that don't have that Dolby Digital icon do have sound. Why is this?

most of the channels on AMC21 are in dolby digital (or AC-3) so you need a audio receiver that can decode it. You shouldnt be getting both G18 & AMC21 at the same time. Sounds like that warped dish is hindering the ability for AMC21 to work.
The only stations on AMC21 that arent AC-3 is Montana PBS

2) What is an LPB mux?

Louisiana Public Broadcasting. Louisiana PBS. Its in DVB-S2 which is a different setup than what most receivers can get (DVB)

BTW, I've had my dish up for a month and with DOZENS of trips to my roof for re-aiming/tweaking/re-enforcing I've been successful at getting a total of 4 Satellites plus a 5th but that one (121.0W Galaxy 23) but that just shows a system msg. All Satellites were received one at a time though. I really enjoy the results. I'm ready for a motor after all that and I've ordered one.

121 has just the "you are aimed at 121" screen. 123 has the most English channels of the 3

 

[B.J.]

Quote:
Originally Posted by outdoordog
>> 1) AMC 21: I get 12179/v/30001 (for PBS) at 36-46 quality. PBS World comes in great but there is no sound. In fact, there is no sound from about 10 of my 36 channels I get while aimed at AMC 21 and Galaxy 18. The common thing with these is a Dolby Digital icon in the bottom right of the bottom info bar on my Fortec Dynamic receiver. I get 11 TP's from Galaxy 18 and 1 is from AMC 21. I can't get any better than that so far even with an SF-95 finder. I'm really only trying for PBS and not Galaxy 18. My dish is warped and I'll get a new one soon because my tries at bending it back haven't worked. All the other channels that don't have that Dolby Digital icon do have sound. Why is this?

most of the channels on AMC21 are in dolby digital (or AC-3) so you need a audio receiver that can decode it. You shouldnt be getting both G18 & AMC21 at the same time. Sounds like that warped dish is hindering the ability for AMC21 to work.
The only stations on AMC21 that arent AC-3 is Montana PBS

Actually there is a 2nd channel. It should scan in with a regular DVB receiver, however it depends upon what time and day, whether it will have video that can be displayed by a regular receiver as it's sometimes in MPEG4 HD mode. I have no idea of where it's from, but it's PBS content.

Quote:
BTW, I've had my dish up for a month and with DOZENS of trips to my roof for re-aiming/tweaking/re-enforcing I've been successful at getting a total of 4 Satellites plus a 5th but that one (121.0W Galaxy 23) but that just shows a system msg. All Satellites were received one at a time though. I really enjoy the results. I'm ready for a motor after all that and I've ordered one.
121 has just the "you are aimed at 121" screen. 123 has the most English channels of the 3

Again, actually there is another fta channel (with real content) on that sat that's been there for at least a couple years. However it's hidden, and won't scan in via a regular blind scan. Funny thing is that it's on a transponder that Lyngsat says is empty.

 

[outdoordog]

Thanks all! That's cool that a warped dish can get 2 satellites at once. It also got 95.0 W and 97.0 W before.

1) What is mux?

2) What is MCPC? Does it have to do with S/PDIF or AC3 or TosLink? That may have been where I saw it.

3) I have my new dish up and it gets only single satellites at one time but with MUCH stronger signals than before. I also installed a motor. AMC 21 at 125.0°W comes in the strongest, then Galaxy 18, and as I get to more eastern satellites the signal gets so weak that I can't get anything east of SatMex 6 at 113.0°W. Why is that? My guess is that I have to adjust the motor latitude/elevation on the dish latitude/bracket-angle maybe it is not true south when at go to 0. I spent a lot of time and made my own tripod and used an elevation protractor so I know it is plumb.

 

[Mr Tony]

mux is a group of channels....a transponder that has more than one channel on it

 

[B.J.]

mux is a group of channels....a transponder that has more than one channel on it

Boy, I wish that there was a more correct way to say this. I use the word transponder the way you did, but it really bothers me when I do that, since it really isn't proper, but I don't know of a better way to phrase it. Often I just call them "signals" instead of transponders. Ie a transponder is a sort of repeater on the sat that retransmits everything within it's band, say 11700-11740. In most cases, on that transponder, we might find several, even dozens of signals, each of which we call transponders. Like for example, the 11729 LEO and the 11735 RTN signals, are both the same transponder, as are a half dozen other nearby signals, yet we refer to them all as separate transponders.
I know I'll continue to call these signals as transponders, but I wish there was a more accurate terminology.

 

[Mr Tony]

I know what you're saying BJ. I guess you are a little more old school then me

I dont think of the whole transponder (like the analog days) that way. If a frequency (say 11720 on G18) has 16 channels, I call that the "Equity mux".

But like last night when there was a sports feed that took up 3 frequencies (12182, 12188, 12194) with the same game (one was clean feed, one was english audio, one was spanish audio) I wouldn't call that a mux because it was one channel per frequency.....but others might since its within the "transponder" area of 12180-12200

 

[brentb636]

I'm with you, Ice. If a number of channels are multiplexed onto a single tp frequency, then I call it a mux . We have to have some sort of shorthand ( even if maybe a little inaccurate technically ) to be able to communicate at all.
Can't spend all our time typing.

 

[B.J.]

I agree re the mux definition, I was looking for another term for a signal instead of transponder, since a transponder could have a dozen signals on it, but we call them all transponders even when we see many on the same actual transponder. For example, on AMC-21, the 12150, 12163, 12169 and 12175 horizontal signals are all on the same transponder, but we call them all transponders. I guess there's no more appropriate term.

 

[brentb636]

A new acronym, "UDTF" , Uniquely Defined Transponder Frequency . ?
Somehow , I don't see it catching on !

 

[B.J.]

A new acronym, "UDTF" , Uniquely Defined Transponder Frequency . ?
Somehow , I don't see it catching on !

I'll try to remember that one.

You must work for the military. I used to work for the army, and we had a list that must have been 20 pages long of acronyms for different projects, devices, organizations, etc, etc. Nobody used words, just acronyms.

 

[zamar23]

Why "Signal or Channel Frequency" is an inconvenient term, when its short, simple, and reflects the fact that a single TP transmits in a range of freqs?

 

[outdoordog]

I got Sonic Voom and now DD sound. Still adjusting motor.

What a great purchase. I couldn't find another way to do it without paying $179-$350 for a Home Theatre receiver or getting another Sat receiver. I did have to get a 6' 1/8" to double RCA cable to plug it into my TV which doesn't have optical in or AC3/5.1channel surround sound.

I had to reenforce the Dish tripod support becaude it was rocking slightly and moving the plywoord roof about 1/8 to 3/16 of an inch. That stopped it and the signals stay locked in the wind now. I put 3 new cross-truss segments between th existing trusses and used longer bolts.

Then I realized that I had been tightening the dish bracket so much so often that I had bent the pole it's attached to. I couldn't get it exactly plumb with the pole being bent like that (about 1/16") all around the top. I made my own tripod using thick gas pipe and 1" EMT conduit legs. It's plumb now.

I've tried over several days but can't get my dish DiSEqC 1.2 Digiready H-H Motor to pick up more than a group of 5 Satellites at a time. After about 5 the signal goes below 30-35 so I set it at my 5 favorite Satellites and left it there. I've read everything I could find on DiSEqC 1.2 moto tuning but can't figure out what the problem is and I've spent a lot of time adjusting and rescanning. I do have 3 compasses and none of them show the same for north. They are about 3-4 degrees off even when away from metal. My closest Satellite to south is 182.5 degrees S,W so I have an idea of where south is. Next I'll try figuring the exact minute of high noon and drawing a long straight line over a Sun shadow. Is a USALS motor better than DiSEqC 1.2? What are the pros and cons for each? I wonder if a USALS motor would be less dependant on where south is.

 

[Tron]

USALS is a function of the receiver, not the motor. If your receiver supports USALS, that should work with your motor. Just select "USALS" in the positioner menu, and enter your latitude and longitude.

 

[melgarga]

Boy, I wish that there was a more correct way to say this. I use the word transponder the way you did, but it really bothers me when I do that, since it really isn't proper, but I don't know of a better way to phrase it. Often I just call them "signals" instead of transponders. Ie a transponder is a sort of repeater on the sat that retransmits everything within it's band, say 11700-11740. In most cases, on that transponder, we might find several, even dozens of signals, each of which we call transponders. Like for example, the 11729 LEO and the 11735 RTN signals, are both the same transponder, as are a half dozen other nearby signals, yet we refer to them all as separate transponders.
I know I'll continue to call these signals as transponders, but I wish there was a more accurate terminology.

Good to know I'm not the only one that turns a blind eye and conforms to the accepted reference terminology. It got to me at first, because it is not a technically accurate statement in a highly technical hobby, but WTH, we all know what we mean and the average newcommer will likely never venture in far enough to know the difference, much less care.........lol
Part of the 'growing pains' of satellite broadcast technology over the years.....as we all know, there are others......