Slaved analog C band receiver, need to "simulate" actuator

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pmb1010

SatelliteGuys Guru
Original poster
Nov 10, 2003
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I bought an old C/Ku band analog receiver. I have it slaved off of a Lifetime Ultra's IF passthru ouput port, so I get the raw C or Ku signal from it, and use it to change H/V polarity.

I expect to delete out all the old sats from the analog receiver, and will probably end up setting up 3 or 4 sats in it, one for standard C polarity and C reverse polarity, and Ku when I figure out that structure for whats left on Ku analog.

Question: If I try to change from the sat the unit is currently stuck on, I get "actuator error" and it will not change sat. It stays on (I think it's "X3") or whatever previous owner named this sat... I can go into configuration and change from Standard to Reverse, but that's kind of a pain.

How do I simulate an actuator so I can trick the receiver to think it's moving a big dish? Or maybe is there a way to turn off actuator in the receiver settings?
 
It depends on the make and model of receiver you have. Have you tried resetting the dish limits? That could cause the problem.
 
Most receivers have a "program mode" to store the satellite positions. Just store all the satellites at the same position and that should stop the actuator error messages.
 
OK, I think setting them all to "5000" might do the trick. Will give it a try.

another observation,

I found this handy C band chart:
http://www.satcruiser.com/c-band_chart.htm

But I seem to be all mixed up on polarites...

Example: AMC3 University Network channel.
Chart says Sat should be "reversed" polarity.

But to get the station, I need to put:

- the Ultra is set to V
- the C band receiver has to be set to "Normal"
- on channel 20, it displays H on the C band receiver.

I'm confused. If I set the C band receiver to "reversed", (so everything is "V") Ch20 disappears.

More:

I changed to H on the ultra. Scanning channels, I find ABC good morning america feed on Ch14, and H on Ultra matches C band box with H showing on the screen.

More confused...
 
Last edited:
I can't offer much help, but I can confirm that University Network (most C-banders will recognize this as "Doc Scott") is vertical polarity, and the ABC network feed on IA-8/14 is horizontal. The reference to reverse (or inverted) and normal polarity is an old designation that was used to differentiate between Satcom and Westar satellite transponder formats.


Tony
Home Page - http://www.cyberspace.org/~awh/
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