Please! Help Needed

[hercules1960]

I have close to $700 stuck in a Sonicview HD 8000, a 33inch elliptical dish and a roll of cable. I'm just about ready to take a sledge hammer to it all!

The first day I spent 5 hours trying to locate a satellite. got dark so I gave up.
The second day I located 101 which I think was amc 4. Supposed to be a few fta channels on there.

I did a blind scan. Came up with 2 tv channels. One was a religious channel and the other was something in spanish. Also 2 radio channels playing some kind of awful noise.

These were the only channels found on 101 with a linear LNB. Just want to add I know the difference.

Basically it would only find one transponder on the satellite. The best "quality" I can get from 101 is "50". The LNB's included with the dish are branded "ROC" and made in china! Could they be substandard??

Anyone have any ideas why it won't find any more channels on 101? Got any suggestions for a better satellite ?

Thanks!

 

[turbosat]

Lnbs made in China?! I never (lol). Hey its possible they could be substandard, but most of the stuff we get is made somewhere else-if you got SOME tv on it maybe it just wasn't quite aimed right. What type of lnbf are they? Might be marked someplace as to whether they are linear lnbf or circular, standard or universal. Check for a sticker that gives you the LO freq (should be something like 10750 for standard, or 9750/10600 for universal types).
What settings did you have for that satellite with your lnb? You have to 'set up' the satellites you scan, to match your lnb type. I don't know if that box has blind scan or not, if it doesn't then it should scan for channels from the list of transponders that are in the receiver's tp list for that satellite. Try to look at the tp list for AMC4 and see whats in there. You may have to manually ADD all the active tps to that list in order to find the channels associated with them. The List, top of the page here will give you active tps , which are frequencies and symbol rates to check for, or enter into your rec.
Secondly, you may have to adjust the skew (tilt) of the lnb in its holder on the dish, if you aren't using a motor. Check dishpointer.com for your location, and see what the skew angle should be for that satellite, and any others you set up to scan.

EDIT: skip the linear/circular/universal explanation, I re-read your post and see where you know what the linear lnb means, lol!

 

[rv1pop]

Congratulations for locking onto a SIGNAL! Now, we check to see if it is on the satellite you are shooting for. If it is then tweak and adjust then scan again. I do not have that receiver, but with the good things I have heard about it, I would believe it has true blind scan. A normal scan may not get much on a bird because (if it is AMC4) transponders changed in December. What religious channel did you get and what are the info details? Transponder frequency - polarity - and sr. also PIDS if you can see them will confirm for sure.

 

[KE4EST]

Welcome to the site. Yeah what exact channel were you getting?

 

[turbosat]

sonicview HD

I downloaded the manual and yes it does claim to have blind-scan. The last firmware on the sv site is aug08. So if he's close enough to pick up a channel or two sounds like he just needs to adjust the skew and maybe tweak the elevation and azimuth.

 

[Gary Z]

The best "quality" I can get from 101 is "50".

If the freq is 11822H the you do indeed have AMC4 the quality should be much higher on that transponder. I get 95 quality. There are several other channels there that should come in... I believe you may need to tweak some. Elevation, declination, skew even sliding the LNB closer or further away in the holder.

 

[hercules1960]

First of all Thanks to everyone for their help! It is appreciated.

I'll try to answer some of your questions.

First of all the elliptical dish came with 5 LNBF's

3 ROC
DBS/ circular Dual LNBF Model CST 12 G
RF 12.2- 12.75 GHZ
LO 11.25 GHZ

1 ROC DBS Circular Dual LNBF Model CST 118
RF 11.7-12.75 GHZ
LO 10.75 GHZ

1 ROC LST 12G
RF 11.70-12.20 GHZ
IF 950/1450 MHZ
LO 10.75GHZ

The religious channel was 3ABN. The other one was in Spanish. No speakie Espaniol! I did try to manually add the transponder for the history channel as it was not in the Sonicview HD 8000. It would not pick up that transponder after I added it.


The dish is tweaked to the best quality spot I can find for 101. I used ww.dishpointer com with the google earth map. Showed a picture of my place with every building and tree. Just chose the spot where I had the dish located with a pointer and entered the satellite I wanted. Drew a line on the picture over a building or tree that I had to point the dish with elevation and skew. Yes the buildings and trees are not close enough to affect the signal. And yes the satellite was right at the end of the building where it said to point it.

I should add that I was intimidated by 5 LNB's at once with all the switches so I have just one LNB at a time installed on the dish. I used a circular one to find 110 and scanned it. Found a bunch of channels on there but all but a couple were scrambled.

I am not using the multiple LNB holder for now. It looks like a real piece of crap. The outside 2 of the five will never stay in place. If I put it on the LNB might be an inch farther from the dish. Will one inch make a significant difference in the quality signal?

Thanks again for your help.

 

[turbosat]

Yes, one inch can make a lot of difference in a linear ku digital channel, circular uses about 10 times the power of the ku-linear sats, hence you can be 'in the ballpark' and find 110 maybe, but hitting 101 takes some skill..
Don't know who sold you that rig for fta but I think I'd consider sending it back. A 1m dish with a regular lnb support and one linear lnbf is really all you need to get started. Sounds like some dealer who catered to customers who had other things in mind.

 

[boomer_106]

I have close to $700 stuck in a Sonicview HD 8000, a 33inch elliptical dish and a roll of cable. I'm just about ready to take a sledge hammer to it all!

The first day I spent 5 hours trying to locate a satellite. got dark so I gave up.
The second day I located 101 which I think was amc 4. Supposed to be a few fta channels on there.

I did a blind scan. Came up with 2 tv channels. One was a religious channel and the other was something in spanish. Also 2 radio channels playing some kind of awful noise.

These were the only channels found on 101 with a linear LNB. Just want to add I know the difference.

Basically it would only find one transponder on the satellite. The best "quality" I can get from 101 is "50". The LNB's included with the dish are branded "ROC" and made in china! Could they be substandard??

Anyone have any ideas why it won't find any more channels on 101? Got any suggestions for a better satellite ?

Thanks!

I think you're doing pretty good. Keep at it. You might want to try looking for Galaxy 17. It's fairly close to your true south plus it has quite a bit of activity on a given evening. Whatever satellite you choose to look for next, I think you'll find this post from Iceberg helpful.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/85225-i-need-strong-transponder-aim-my-dish.html

 

[badhat]

Not sure why you guys are tip toeing around on this one... but what you are trying to do with your setup has nothing to do with 'Free to Air'... especially when you are looking for paid programming channels such as History. Before you go on you may want to read one of Icebergs posts ( http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-ai...atellite-tv-you-will-get-you-banned-life.html ) prior to moving on here. If you didn't mean to stray into this realm my apologies and welcome to the forums! If you are looking to intercept paid programming free of charge you definitely came to the wrong place.

 

[Tron]

History is currently available unencrypted on AMC-4. UNFORTUNATELY, Lyngsat has it listed and it will probably soon be... well, History

 

[Anole]

dish ?

Could we get some pictures, measurements, part numbers, links to, or other info on this dish with five LNBs?
I'm concerned it is too small for FTA reception.
Also, the linear LNB needs to be mounted at the actual central focus of the dish for best reception.

And as mentioned by TurboSat, you may need to adjust skew (twist of LNB), or focus (in/out of the LNB) for best signal, once you find it.

Also, it wasn't completely clear, but initial setup should be done without any switches.
I assume you're connecting the one LNB directly to the receiver.

 

[hercules1960]

Not sure why you guys are tip toeing around on this one... but what you are trying to do with your setup has nothing to do with 'Free to Air'... especially when you are looking for paid programming channels such as History. Before you go on you may want to read one of Icebergs posts ( http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-ai...atellite-tv-you-will-get-you-banned-life.html ) prior to moving on here. If you didn't mean to stray into this realm my apologies and welcome to the forums! If you are looking to intercept paid programming free of charge you definitely came to the wrong place.

This reply is for the ahole badhat!

First of all the channels I was looking for came from lyngsat as being fta! Nowhere have I asked anyone for any information on how to get free paid programming! If that was what I was looking for I would be on a different site and not this one!

I was told to find 110 first as it would be easy to find compared to the others! I was wanting a 39 inch motorized dish with 1 universal LNB but I got steered towards this one. The seller gave me very short answers to my questions and since I really didn't know what I was buying I went with what little info I was given!

Since you obviously have problems comprehending what you read in these posts, you may want to limit yourself to answering posts of less than 10 words as it is obvious you don't comprehend what is being asked in longer ones!

In other words, you can stick your opinion where the sun don't shine!

Have a wonderful day!

 

[hercules1960]

Could we get some pictures, measurements, part numbers, links to, or other info on this dish with five LNBs?
I'm concerned it is too small for FTA reception.
Also, the linear LNB needs to be mounted at the actual central focus of the dish for best reception.

And as mentioned by TurboSat, you may need to adjust skew (twist of LNB), or focus (in/out of the LNB) for best signal, once you find it.

Also, it wasn't completely clear, but initial setup should be done without any switches.
I assume you're connecting the one LNB directly to the receiver.

The dish is 33 inches wide and 30 inches high. I had 1 Linear LNB mounted in the very center position with NO switches used for initial setup on 1o1. The receiver was located 5 feet from the dish with a portable tv. Cable was about 10 ft long.

I will try moving the lnb a bit farther out to see if that helps. Thanks

 

[TimLones111]

I think we need to back off on the nastiness just a bit..No need to accuse till one has the whole story. Welcome to the forums, Hercules..Just ignore those that think wrongly of you..This place is excellent for getting good help..

 

[hercules1960]

Yes, one inch can make a lot of difference in a linear ku digital channel, circular uses about 10 times the power of the ku-linear sats, hence you can be 'in the ballpark' and find 110 maybe, but hitting 101 takes some skill..
Don't know who sold you that rig for fta but I think I'd consider sending it back. A 1m dish with a regular lnb support and one linear lnbf is really all you need to get started. Sounds like some dealer who catered to customers who had other things in mind.

I've had it long enough to be past the return window. Bought it online. With what I know now, I kind of agree with what you said last. I was interested in a 39 inch motorized dish but was kinda steered towards this dish. I have lost patience with this whole thing. Not going to waste much more time with it! Thanks for your help.

 

[turbosat]

Hercules don't take it personally, you have to understand that this site has people daily who log on, giving hints and snippets of what they are trying to do, when what they are really after is somebody to help them setup their equipment in order to try to steal pay tv. There are dealers who assume, it seems, that everyone who wants to buy a system are looking to do just that. With the number of hacker sites on the web it really is hard for newcomers to get a good grip on just what equipment is really needed for free to air reception. I think those type of dealers capitalize on the this situation. But don't give up on what you have there, it is prob big enough to use for most of the signals available. Might just be a little harder to align the first few times. It's a great hobby but takes patience. Like another suggested it would work better for you to connect directly to the linear lnbf, if that's not how you did it already. That one sounds like one of the big DirecTV World dishes, or whatever they are calling them now.
I think you'll get it going.

 

[shultz]

Hang in there Hercules, you'll get it! I know my first time took me awhile to get things setup. And DON'T HIT IT WITH A HAMMER!! If nothing else, pack it up and give it to me
Good luck

 

[TimLones111]

Hercules don't take it personally, you have to understand that this site has people daily who log on, giving hints and snippets of what they are trying to do, when what they are really after is somebody to help them setup their equipment in order to try to steal pay tv. There are dealers who assume, it seems, that everyone who wants to buy a system are looking to do just that. With the number of hacker sites on the web it really is hard for newcomers to get a good grip on just what equipment is really needed for free to air reception. I think those type of dealers capitalize on the this situation. But don't give up on what you have there, it is prob big enough to use for most of the signals available. Might just be a little harder to align the first few times. It's a great hobby but takes patience. Like another suggested it would work better for you to connect directly to the linear lnbf, if that's not how you did it already. That one sounds like one of the big DirecTV World dishes, or whatever they are calling them now.
I think you'll get it going.

When I finally got someone to come out and peak my dish professionally the other day, he made it seem like he'd "look the other way" if I was trying for "Pay TV". I made it perfectly clear I was not looking for anything like that..I work in a regional grocery store as a stocker. My store manager showed interest in what I was doing..He said he used to set up people for illegal Satellite back in the day..I'm finding that reputation is hard to live down..I understand why some people can be touchy about the subject..

 

[badhat]

This reply is for the ahole badhat!

First of all the channels I was looking for came from lyngsat as being fta! Nowhere have I asked anyone for any information on how to get free paid programming! If that was what I was looking for I would be on a different site and not this one!

I was told to find 110 first as it would be easy to find compared to the others! I was wanting a 39 inch motorized dish with 1 universal LNB but I got steered towards this one. The seller gave me very short answers to my questions and since I really didn't know what I was buying I went with what little info I was given!

Since you obviously have problems comprehending what you read in these posts, you may want to limit yourself to answering posts of less than 10 words as it is obvious you don't comprehend what is being asked in longer ones!

In other words, you can stick your opinion where the sun don't shine!

Have a wonderful day!

5 LNB's and History channel was all that I was seeing. Apparently you didn't read my whole post or you just have anger issues.