Trying to add Ku

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Monkeygirl

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May 17, 2007
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I hope this is the right place to post this- I've got a 4dtv setup with a 10ft dish. As most of the channels I watch have moved to X4 I bought a Ku lnb and chaparral corotor feedhorn to add Ku to my system. I had to do this myself as no one local does big dishes anymore. Now I've got all the new stuff installed, but I'm still not able to find the Ku signal. What am I doing wrong? The X4 shows up on my guide, but when I go to it - no signal. There is part of a tree that may be blocking some of the signal (it has never affected the cband) Is there any way I can check this without dropping this poor tree? Thanks in advance.
 
To reflect Ku band signals off a BUD you need the very small hole mesh or solid surface.
What type of dish surface do you have ?

An option would be a separate Ku dish - 30" would probably be sufficient.
 
I have a 10 ft. Paracom mesh. The holes are extremely small. Much smaller than 1/4 inch. Everything I've read leads me to believe that this shouldn't be a problem. At least I hope not.:(
 
if you go to settings and look under dish settings maybe your setting isnt set for c band lnb and ku band lnb that would make it not work on the 4dtv. good luck...forgot to add press options then go to change system settings then go to change installation settings then go to change dish settings then you should see lnb type change it to cband and ku band lnbs then you should get something :)
 
Coax on both ends are tight. It's part of the ribbon wire I've been using since the system was installed. All other wires on it are OK. Are there Ku satellites other than X4 that I can tune to? I hate to drop the tree just to find out the LNB I bought was bad. Or do I need one of those meter things to measure my signal? My reception of the 4DTV Cband channels are crystal clear.
 
Coax on both ends are tight. It's part of the ribbon wire I've been using since the system was installed. All other wires on it are OK. Are there Ku satellites other than X4 that I can tune to? I hate to drop the tree just to find out the LNB I bought was bad. Or do I need one of those meter things to measure my signal? My reception of the 4DTV Cband channels are crystal clear.


you can try the the ku side of W3 which is k3 (PBSX channel 600) Free Digital channel

and i forgot to add Ku signal is more sensitive than C-band Signal so maybe the feedhorn isnt adjusted right maybe you may have to rotate it alittle if the signal doesnt come in. take some pictures of your setup so we can help more with this problem. as far as your feedhorn and dish. :)
 
Coax on both ends are tight. It's part of the ribbon wire I've been using since the system was installed. All other wires on it are OK. Are there Ku satellites other than X4 that I can tune to? I hate to drop the tree just to find out the LNB I bought was bad. Or do I need one of those meter things to measure my signal? My reception of the 4DTV Cband channels are crystal clear.

Tune in G4 the best you can then switch over to X4 603. Watching your signal meter on the 4DTV (take a tv out to the dish) push up and down on the dish and see if you get any quality. If so then adjust your elevation in that direction.

When you installed the new feed did you make sure you centered your feedhorn and set the focal distance correctly? This is very important, Ku is 3 times more critical to align then C band.
 
Thanks for all the good ideas. We've pushed and wiggled and measured everything we can. I couldn't get channel 600 on K3, couldn't find anything between 24 and 640. I guess we'll have to bite the bullet and drop the tree if we want Ku. If it's a bad LNB I'll be mighty ticked!
 
Thanks for all the good ideas. We've pushed and wiggled and measured everything we can. I couldn't get channel 600 on K3, couldn't find anything between 24 and 640. I guess we'll have to bite the bullet and drop the tree if we want Ku. If it's a bad LNB I'll be mighty ticked!

what type of lnb is it for the ku ?
 
ok . try to rotated the feedhorn untill you get some quality its best to take a small tv out with u . it would be way easy for u i was out all day the other day adjusting my satellite . take some pictures of ur dish and post them so we can see more of the setup you have ok. and i wanted to add did you put the wire to the Ku on ur self or did u put ends on it ? or was they already on it ?? cause sometimes if im right if the ends on the wires arent on the right way they will ground it self out and wont get power to the receiver from the Ku or C-band lnb's :) try to check ur wires also maybe they are cut or broken. try to run a new wire out to it and see if that works. it would be worth it before u cut the tree's down you know :)
 
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Just a thought....

Is there any chance the Ku is 90° off.
i.e. horizontal is vertical and vice versa ?

you can try changing it in the receiver setup = rotated 90°
not sure if that option works with a corotor - I know it works with LNBF when using voltage switched polarity.
 
Try K3-640
600 is no longer available.

Try for W3-20 first, does it work. Then switch to K3-640
Hit the Enter button to bring up the Signal Strength and watch it as you adjust dish position East / West.
Also try small adjustments in the SKEW.

Ku is VERY sensitive compared to C-band.

While adjusting the dish make small adjustments and wait a couple of seconds. It takes a bit for the signal to lock in.
C-band can look ok and you have no Ku signal. Move a few clicks east or west and c-band is still ok, KU has to be right on.

For X4 - Try G4-17 first. If it's ok, switch to X4 and bring up the signal strength and make small adjustments.

Another one to try is K5-600 (W5)
 
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On my 10' mesh, the X4 side is usually a bit further east (or is it west?) than the G4 side of the satellite. Try bumping the dish towards the east a little and see if you can get something? If not try bumping it to the west. There's one thing I know for sure, it's there, because I'm watching it right now. Good Luck!

Al
 
Haven't been able to climb up and work on the feedhorn assembly. I have tried rotating 90 degrees and searching in the vicinity of G4. Only get a 10. I'm planning to try swapping the coax between cband and ku to make sure the cable is ok. After that I guess my next step may be to try to test the lnb. Thanks again for all the suggestions. Since I've been unable to locate any Ku sats I'm beginning to think the LNB may be bad.
 
yeah the swap is a good idea , it could have bad connectors or something
i have an old ku lnb if you need to test it out , i don't need it anymore , i switched to the bcs621 and like the results ... just need to hook the 4dtv up and see how it does with it :)
 
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