TP's on sats some come in good others flakey. How best to troubleshoot?

[guapoharry]

On my "production" antenna setup (HH120) some transponders on some satellites became flakey in July. For example on AMC3, I can't see the PBS channels anymore. But on the TIP/ Patient transponder, I get 84% level and 94% quality. The MTA arabic transponder and Bloomberg transponder come in well also.

On AMC3 TP 12180V, I get 80% level but the quality is inconsistent. Quality will stay at around 60% for 30 seconds and then it plunges to 10% for a 2-3 seconds. Then quality goes back to 60%. Rinse, Repeat...

I set up another motorized antenna (HH90). At first, I could see stuff on every bird from 72W to 129W and in between. ONN, Good. Galaxy25, Good. 129W White Springs, Good. However, I could not see the AMC 3 PBS channels (but I could see the other stuff on AMC3 listed above).

For fine tuning purposes, tugging on the dish East, West, Up, Down, didn't seem to make much of a difference. Do you have to wait two minutes for the quality to change or something? Also, in addition to the AMC3 problems, I could not see anything on G-18. So, I adjusted that antenna in an attempt to make things better. That made it worse.

The receiver I'm using for the tuning process (and what these numbers are based off of) is a CS 5000.

I'm looking for ideas. Is this just a matter of fine tuning things and trial and error, or should I be trying stuff like swapping out things to eliminate component problems?

Thanks.

 

[gabshere]

my coolsat 5000 has a threshold level around 63% and usually up to 66 picture isn't reliable
87W is known to have weak tp for PBS the other TP listed are a bit stronger

your Fortec Lifetime Classic might hold the threshold better but its still a factor of low signal quality. pick a satellite with a known weak transponder and tune to it and it should help
also try adjusting the lnb foward or out away from the dish. I still think its a problem of low signal and until PBS makes a move we all have to deal with it.

a bigger dish ( maybe stationary might help) also you can park the dish at 87 and remove everything ( including the motor ) and connect it direct and see if you gain any signal strenght.

 

[brentb636]

Personally, since I'm seeing the same you are on AMC3, I'd wait for AMC21 to go active and forget about AMC3. The problems on AMC3 are with the PBS tp's, I,m sure, and you're not going to solve the problem by playing with your dish. I've tried that on both my motorized systems, and had no success. My 90cm dish brings in TIP channel at 99% , and PBS is still sometimes frequently unwatchable.

 

[Anole]

I think Brent is right. -

But, I do have a solution, if you are just dying for reception.

Press your Prodelin dishes into service.
"1.1m Prodelin 1.8m Prodelin"
They are bigger than your 80cm and 90cm dishes.
They're probably more accurate.
They're bigger.
They'll probably stay on-target better 'cause they're heavier.
They are bigger.
With no motor under 'em, aim once and you're done.
... and the best reason of all: they are BIGGER ! -

edit: oh, and heed what Gabsphere said: get rid of switches 'n motor (try new cable, too) to see if it helps.

 

[rv1pop]

I talked to an retired broadcast engineer (KOMO-TV) that I worked with while I was in college. He had also been an engineer for a PBS station. His statement was that PBS was not interested in scrambling when they could just have the stations use 12 foot dishes and get the signal. Even moving to a new satellite may not solve the problem. You may need a much bigger dish, anyway.

 

[cracklincrotch]

AMC21 is supposed to be at 125W now, according to Lyngsat. Guess it won't be too much longer before we find that out.