Troubleshooting help please

[boomer_106]

I've recently had my signal level on H2 at 74*W go way down. ONN is only about 30%. I've waited a few days to see if it's weather related. I also had asked around here if anyone else was experiencing it. That thread is here http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/130388-any-experiencing-weak-ku-h2-tonight.html if you need more info.

I've come the conclusion no one else is experiencing significant problems with this bird. I've went out and done the pushing and pulling on the dish trick without any real improvement.

I'd like to know a good way to start troubleshooting this. For instance should I check signals on a bird in the middle of the arc? Maybe the West end of the arc? Maybe that doesn't matter? So far I'm not noticing problems with reception from other birds so I'm a little stumped. I will say we had alot of wind the day before this started. All bolts were good and tight though.

I'd love to hear from the tuning pros here.

 

[SATisfied]

I've recently had my signal level on H2 at 74*W go way down. ONN is only about 30%. I've waited a few days to see if it's weather related. I also had asked around here if anyone else was experiencing it. That thread is here http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/130388-any-experiencing-weak-ku-h2-tonight.html if you need more info.

I've come the conclusion no one else is experiencing significant problems with this bird. I've went out and done the pushing and pulling on the dish trick without any real improvement.

I'd like to know a good way to start troubleshooting this. For instance should I check signals on a bird in the middle of the arc? Maybe the West end of the arc? Maybe that doesn't matter? So far I'm not noticing problems with reception from other birds so I'm a little stumped. I will say we had alot of wind the day before this started. All bolts were good and tight though.

I'd love to hear from the tuning pros here.

It seems I read somewhere in another thread that you need a universal lnbf to pick up 74W. My first lnb was a universal and the first channel I ever watched on fta was ONN. I broke down and bought an Invacom QPH-031 and I lost all channels on 74W, not really knowing why. If you are using a universal, and you lost signal, I would try tweaking the dish with Diseqc 1.2 instead of USALS. I am still learning here myself.

 

[gabshere]

if you noticed a drop , and no one else has noticed
is there anything in the LOS that may be causing the trouble.
its getting warmer and things are budding out.

if not hows the other end of your arc has there been a drop on that side?

 

[Mr Tony]

It seems I read somewhere in another thread that you need a universal lnbf to pick up 74W.

nope. Standard LNB works just fine on SBS6/G17/H2 whatever its called today

PAS9 at 58W needs a Universal

 

[gabshere]

I broke down and bought an Invacom QPH-031 and I lost all channels on 74W, not really knowing why

if you bought a QPH-031 one port on the diesqc switch will be C and the other will be L and then you would have to select the port in the setup menu to match that 74 is a L satellite. if you are still having trouble with it. it is possible that the weight of the QPH is lowering the dish lnb arm.

 

[SATisfied]

if you bought a QPH-031 one port on the diesqc switch will be C and the other will be L and then you would have to select the port in the setup menu to match that 74 is a L satellite. if you are still having trouble with it. it is possible that the weight of the QPH is lowering the dish lnb arm.

I was thinking the same thing about the weight too, but I get quality signal from sats east and west all up and down the Clarke belt. I am using the L port, although I tried the O port just for the heck of it to see if I might be missing something. I went through all the LO frequencies on all the TP's, and got nothing ( meaning no red bars ). Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[boomer_106]

if you noticed a drop , and no one else has noticed
is there anything in the LOS that may be causing the trouble.
its getting warmer and things are budding out.

if not hows the other end of your arc has there been a drop on that side?

Hey gab, I've got quality of 70-83 on White Springs. That's the farthest west KU satellite. I have no problems with C band.

 

[gabshere]

this is with the c-band dish and co-rotor ? if it is can you adjust the skew while watching ONN?

also if adjusting the skew has no effect can you bump the dish east or west a notch and gain quality?

 

[gabshere]

i was re-reading the other thread

can you write down the signal & quality then delete the transponder and then scan it back in ?

 

[boomer_106]

i was re-reading the other thread

can you write down the signal & quality then delete the transponder and then scan it back in ?

Hey gab, adjusting skew doesn't really help. I tried your trick of deleting and rescanning with no luck either.

 

[Larry1]

Does adjusting the skew have any effects? I'm thinking maybe the skew motor is sticking and not rotating properly? Check for any debris around the feedhorn as well. Maybe the feedhorn has been knocked out of alignment ever so slightly. Ku signals need the feedhorn positioned exactly. Checked the coax connections at the LNB?

 

[boomer_106]

Does adjusting the skew have any effects? I'm thinking maybe the skew motor is sticking and not rotating properly? Check for any debris around the feedhorn as well. Maybe the feedhorn has been knocked out of alignment ever so slightly. Ku signals need the feedhorn positioned exactly. Checked the coax connections at the LNB?

Thanks Larry, skew isn't really helping. If the feedhorn went out of alignment wouldn't that affect other satellites as well?

On the bright side my ONN signal right now is 36-43. Slightly better.

I'll add that I've always had a nice clear view of the sky pointing at this bird

I just did a blind scan and there is a 4:2:2 finding that has between 59-68 quality.

AMC 6 KU which is 2 degrees further east. 12143 V 2573 is showing quality of 90. Weird

 

[James leandre]

I experienced a similar problem.I was tracking the whole arc,and after a couple of weeks the quality level of G25 went down from 85% to 65% on my coolsat 6000.
The weird thing was all the other FTA satellites signal quality didn't go down.I got G25 back to 85% and saved it under 1.0 instead of USAL.Since then, I haven't had that problem with G25.May be that might work for you.

 

[James leandre]

Sorry, I meant to say, "I said G25 under 1.2 instead of USAL."

 

[boomer_106]

I experienced a similar problem.I was tracking the whole arc,and after a couple of weeks the quality level of G25 went down from 85% to 65% on my coolsat 6000.
The weird thing was all the other FTA satellites signal quality didn't go down.I got G25 back to 85% and saved it under 1.0 instead of USAL.Since then, I haven't had that problem with G25.May be that might work for you.

Thanks James, I use my analog receiver to move my BUD so, I don't use USALS.

 

[gabshere]

I tried to think of several things that would make a difference but can think of none

only other thing i can think of is removing the ku lnb and ensuring the area is clean and if the probe junction area is a clear plastic probe (where it meets the feedhorn not the ku probe) you might clean it with a cotton q-tip.

if you have someone handy or can easily remove the feedhorn ftom the scaler another test on the servo to check if the skew is working.

other than that i will keep thinking but can't see anythnig out of the ordinary

 

[boomer_106]

I tried to think of several things that would make a difference but can think of none

only other thing i can think of is removing the ku lnb and ensuring the area is clean and if the probe junction area is a clear plastic probe (where it meets the feedhorn not the ku probe) you might clean it with a cotton q-tip.

if you have someone handy or can easily remove the feedhorn ftom the scaler another test on the servo to check if the skew is working.

other than that i will keep thinking but can't see anythnig out of the ordinary

Thanks George, I took the feedhorn cover off made sure things were clean. I then took the little blue cap off the throat and, verified it was clean and the skew is working. I have a UHF remote so it was no problem to change polarity and watch the probe move.

My quality on ONN is about 39