Question about installation

[jivv]

Hi,

As some of the people that have been visiting some of the FTA forums, I'm too having problems with my FTA installation.

I have a WS9036 hooked to an SG9120 (backyard). The motor seems to be working fine (I can move it using the receiver). I followed all the instruction to set the system up, but still have no luck (plumed pole) . I got a dual Universal LNBF and I'm still stuck with the same results (70% strength and no quality). If I connect the old DTV dish that I have on the roof I'm able to pick up the channels from DishNetwork (just the help ones).

Now, the weird part is this: when I grab the LNBF and connected directly to the receiver (inside the house), I'm still getting 70% of strength (!!!). Does that mean a bad LNBF?. At this point I'm running out of ideas, so any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Gary Z]

Universal LNB's (freq. 10.7-12.75mhz) have a LNB LO frequency of 9750/10600.

Check to see if those settings are correct.

 

[jivv]

Thanks Gary, yes the LNB frequency is setup to 9750/10800 in the receiver. Any ideas?

 

[Gary Z]

You have it set to 9750/10600 or 9750/10800?

Did you start with you true south Satellite? This should be the first on you try to get.
If this is your first motorized setup, you may have better luck taking the motor off and try you true south Satellite without the motor, once you have that locked in and verified working... you can them but the motor back on and try to align it... use dishpointer.com come for you settings.

How to set up a Ku Band motor

 

[jivv]

Thanks Gary. You are correct, the setting I had in the receiver was 9750/10600 (sorry for the confusion). I actually saw the video you posted (and several others as well) two days ago when I started the installation.

I did set up the dish (using dishpointer.com) pointing to the True South (in my case, for zipcode 01852, true south would be 72W). I tried to blind scan AMC6 (72W) with no luck at all (I moved the dish around with the motor and by hand as well but no luck). I also entered 12143 V 2573 and 12068 V 9755 TPs and tried to scan those (same thing for other strong Tps) but nothing.

If the LNB still shows the same strength inside the house (no dish just the LNB connected to the receiver), does that mean the LNB is dead?.

 

[hd fan]

No , it only means all the connections to the LNB are OK therefore there is Voltage "Strengh" at the LNB. You only worry about Quality from now on. If this is your firs time aiming a dish it always takes time and could even be days, so be patient.

Make sure the TP you use for aiming is active and very strong in your area. I would follow the suggestion to first only connect the receiver straight to the LNB (bypass the motor) and try to lock the first signal then. Also bypass any switch to make it simple. When rotating the dish move very very slowly in very short steps and always wait a few seconds for the receiver to lock.

As per Lyngsat the best choice should be 12148V SR 2573 but this is a low SR signal so it could take longer on some receivers and most will not even blind scan it probably. So use the Manual Scan settings using this TP and be extremely patient instead of blind scanning the bird. That bird is mostly feeds anyways and the other TP , KTFL, I remember was very weak at least for me.

 

[jivv]

Thank you hd fan!. I have been testing this the whole afternoon and nothing.

I took everything apart and re-assembled without the motor. I have been moving the elevation gradually and pointing the dish to different birds (from the string TP list) and nothing. The quality hasn't even moved, so at this point I'm not quite sure what else to do.

Any suggestion at this point would help (except my wife's one: "to the dumpster")

Thanks!

 

[Gary Z]

Don't give up.

When you move the dish to different birds do you change to an active transponder on the Satellite?

You true south bird AMC 6 has a fairly strong transponder 12148 V SR 2573

12052 v SR 06.890 also comes in strong here. I would keep trying until you can get AMC6 then get you motor going. One trick you can try is if you think you have it aimed correctly do a blind scan and see what you get.

 

[jivv]

Thank you Gary. I tried all of that changing every single possible variable, but it seems that it just wasn't meant to be.

Before I take drastic measures, is there any way to check if the LNBF is broken? I assume that my receiver is fine because I can scan all the Dish Network channels without a problem (with my old DTV dish on the roof) in both tuners (unless it only captures circular polarization signals?).

At this point, any idea would do, Thanks!

 

[Gary Z]

If you had a meter you could check the LNB. Are you sure you cable is good from dish to the receiver? No switches? If you have another LNB you could try that?

From the Tip of the Iceberg

http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/66143-tip-iceberg.html

when aiming a dish, move dish no more than 1/8th of an inch at a time, wait 5 seconds for receiver to notice signal, then move again

proper skew can make the difference in between no signal and awesome signal

check all coax connections. A bad connection can make the difference

Another tip from Iceberg is---When having difficulties setting up a dish, most people blame the LNB as not working and 99% of the time it is NOT the LNB

Main thing is don't give up. I am sure more of the guys will be on later tonight with some more ideas. We are glad to help here and the guys have helped many people get there dish up an running. If it gets too frustrating walk away for awhile. I can tell you it took me almost week to get mine set up properly a first. Now my son can go out there and move one of my dishes to another Satellite and get a decent signal in about 5 minutes a little longer to get it tweaked.

Thank you Gary. I tried all of that changing every single possible variable, but it seems that it just wasn't meant to be.

Before I take drastic measures, is there any way to check if the LNBF is broken? I assume that my receiver is fine because I can scan all the Dish Network channels without a problem (with my old DTV dish on the roof) in both tuners (unless it only captures circular polarization signals?).

At this point, any idea would do, Thanks!

 

[Lak7]

is there any way to check if the LNBF is broken?

If the receiver shows a Signal Strength reading, it's probably good.

Make sure you are looking in the correct place for the Dish Elevation and Motor Latitude, it's not always marked or clear.

Plumb Pole
Motor Lat scale set to your Latitude
Dish Elevation set to recommended
Have receiver drive motor to Zero
In receiver's setup menu, be sure to have Active / Hot transponder selected for your Ture South Sat (the Sat that is closest to you Longitude)
Loosen motor mount bolts just enough to twist on pole
Aim well East of your target, and slooooooowly twist the Motor / Dish to the West watching for the Quality meter to light up. If nothing, raise the Dish Elevation 2 degrees and twist back to the East. After a couple passes and nothing, return Dish Elevation to recommended, and repeat scanning process, but lower Dish elevation.

Good Luck

 

[Cham]

What model LNBF have you got there Jivv?
-C.

 

[jivv]

Thank you Gary Lak7 and Cham.

I'll give another try tomorrow, time is running out (wife is getting exasperated and is pushing for a removal)

I followed your procedure Lak7 with no luck (the night just caught me so I may continue tomorrow morning).

Cham, I'm using a "Pearl Edition" Twin universal (Pearl Edition- Universal Linear KU Twin LNB).

Thank you for all the help!

 

[Lak7]

What do you have entered in the Receiver for LNB settings?
Can you post pictures?

 

[jivv]

Hi Lak7,

I put "Universal" LNB (automatically adjust to 9750/10600). I'll post pictures tomorrow morning.

Thanks!

 

[Lak7]

Look at your LNB, it should be marked with the proper Freq (L.O.)
may look like:
9750/10600
or
10.750

It's not Plug N Play, you must enter all the correct info for it to work.

 

[jivv]

Hi Lak7,

The Local Oscillator frequencies for this LNB are 9.75/10.60 Ghz. Those are the values that the receiver adjust once you put universal. I tried using "Single" and adjusting the LNB frequencies manually but I got the same results.

I'll check tomorrow morning again.

Thanks!

 

[Lak7]

The Local Oscillator frequencies for this LNB are 9.75/10.60 Ghz.

That looks good. I didn't see your other post with the info.

Which Sat & TP are you trying for?

 

[jivv]

Hi Lak7,

I tried pretty much most of the ones posted in http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/85225-i-need-strong-transponder-aim-my-dish.html , but mainly I was concentrating in:

72 (AMC6)-12143 V 2573 or 12068 V 9755 12148 V SR 2573
107.3 (AnikF1)-11902 H 5859 or 11912 H 5859
111.1 (AnikF2)-11831 V 7300


Thanks!

 

[mikelib]

JIVV,
What receiver are you using?????????
Mike Lib