TV TRWAM ON AMC4 (location Colorado)

[Golden]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I've been over your forums through and through and have not found what I am looking for, so I figured that it would be nice if someone could take a look at my settings. I'm trying to get AMC 4 (TV TRWAM) in Carbondale Colorado.

Here is what my hardware:

Dish: Sadoun 80t (32x30)
LNB: Sadoun ULN1
Reciever: Sathawk (Sadoun as well)

Here are my settings on the Sat Hawk

LNB Freq: Universal
Transponder: 12120 V 30000
22k: On
0/12v: Off
Polarity: Auto

Here is my dish setup (according to GeoSatFinder):

Compass reading: 163
Dish Elevation: 43.9
Skew: -7.5

I dont know why, but all I can get is 43% Intensity and 4-5% quality. For some reason I can't find the satellite. Any suggestions????????

Thank you guys in Advance!

 

[Kallesatman]

I checked the Lyngsat site and it shows AMC4 to be in a different position. Here is some cut and paste from there.

The EIRP values are for Colorado, United States

TV TRWAM © LyngSat, last updated 2012-10-14 - http://www.lyngsat.com/tvchannels/pl/TV-TRWAM.html
Satellite	Position	Frequency	System	SR FEC	Encryption	Packages	Lang.	Beam EIRP (dBW)	Source
Astra 2C	19.2°E	11186 V	DVB-S MPEG-2	22000 5/6			Po	Europe 0	F Dibba 120927
Astra 1L	19.2°E	12604 H	DVB-S MPEG-2	22000 5/6			Po	Europe 0	T Viererbe 101224
SES 1	101.0°W	12120 V	DVB-S MPEG-2	30000 3/4			Po	North America Ku 48-52	A Dejong 121010
LyngSat Stream
TV TRWAM © LyngSat, last updated 2012-10-14 - http://www.lyngsat.com/tvchannels/pl/TV-TRWAM.html

Colour codes on this channel page:

C band

Ku band

|

SD/clear

SD/encrypted

HD/clear

HD/encrypted

It shows it to be on the SES1 satellite. Beam power is good; 48 - 52 dBW I'm in Denver, where are you located? Send me a private message and I can then call you on the landline. What test equipment do you have if any? Where is the dish mounted and can you take a receiver and tv next to it so you can see what is going on. Have you tried to tweak the dish to see if the signal level / quality level improves? karl

 

[Mr Tony]

Most receivers still say AMC4 as that satellite was at 10W. They replaced it with SES1. So what it says int he receiver for a name makes no difference. My old Pansat still has T5 for 97W (which had been renamed IA5 then G25 and replaced with G19)

 

[DiscoLoveGrapes]

Hey, Golden - Welcome!

A few things just to be sure:

Are you aiming for 101 West? AMC 4 recently changed out with SES 1.

Otherwise, the best advice I can give at the moment is keep trying. Even setting up the dish exactly as told might need some tweaking. Try connecting the dish to a TV and cue in the TP. If needed, get someone on the phone watching the levels on the satellite box while you're gently moving the dish.

Good Luck!

 

[Golden]

Hey, Golden - Welcome!

A few things just to be sure:

Are you aiming for 101 West? AMC 4 recently changed out with SES 1.

Otherwise, the best advice I can give at the moment is keep trying. Even setting up the dish exactly as told might need some tweaking. Try connecting the dish to a TV and cue in the TP. If needed, get someone on the phone watching the levels on the satellite box while you're gently moving the dish.

Good Luck!

You know this is the confusing part. I should have mentioned that I personally am not doing the install and instead hired a guy that installed Dish/Directv systems to try to do this for me. Its been a very frustrating process. He knows where the Satellite is positioned as 101W I guess was also a DirecTV position as well. He confirmed he's using the compass and elevation headings that I mentioned above. We've tried a multitude of things, including adjusting skew, moving the dish around by up to 8 degrees in both directions and we got nothing. And yes, he's been doing this from the roof with a small tv and the reciever connected so he can monitor it.

I have the same reciever although a different dish and LNB in chicago looking at this satellite and no issues whatsoever. The situation here was that the old reciever broke and I needed something that I knew would work. It was as simple as chosing the satelite I was pointing at and doing a channel scan. Within 20 minutes I had everything working. It was that easy.

This thing in Colorado is a totally different story and I assume it has to do with locking onto the signal rather anything else.

The one thing I would love for somone to tell me is if my coordinates, i.e. position of the dish is correct. Also, if they are not what should I give myinstaller as the correct coordinates to get this channel?

Again, thanks for the help!

 

[rv1pop]

Ding ding! Is the LNB a linear or circular? Dish/Direct use circular. if wrong LNB you will get almost nothing!!! (That was my brain alarm going off). ALSO> If he is lining up with the subscription transponders, the aim could still be a long ways (ok tiny bit) off because of the power differences.

2nd edit... Because I get distracted some what easily, on the universal LNB during set-up at least, I would have the 22hz set to auto with the two LO frequencies selected, instead of on with 10600 - I would let the receiver handle every variable I could.

 

[Golden]

Ding ding! Is the LNB a linear or circular? Dish/Direct use circular. if wrong LNB you will get almost nothing!!! (That was my brain alarm going off). ALSO> If he is lining up with the subscription transponders, the aim could still be a long ways (ok tiny bit) off because of the power differences.

2nd edit... Because I get distracted some what easily, on the universal LNB during set-up at least, I would have the 22hz set to auto with the two LO frequencies selected, instead of on with 10600 - I would let the receiver handle every variable I could.

The LNB is a Universal type and I was told by that the best setting on the reciever is to leave it on Universal as well. The 22k I don't think matters, in either case the only option with this reciever is on or off.

 

[northgeorgia]

What size dish and what type of receiver do you have?

 

[Golden]

What size dish and what type of receiver do you have?

Dish is 32x30. Reciever is a Sathawk PVR100 (sold by Sadoun.com)

 

[nhulst]

You didn't mention trying a blind scan. There are other active transponders on SES1 besides the one you're after. A blind scan takes only a few minutes and would give us a hint of whether you're off by a little or off by a lot.

Even if, by chance, the only thing you can pick up is the encrypted transponder, you can lock that signal and use your receiver's quality meter to peak the dish. For digital signals, there's no need to see the actual video.

 

[Golden]

You didn't mention trying a blind scan. There are other active transponders on SES1 besides the one you're after. A blind scan takes only a few minutes and would give us a hint of whether you're off by a little or off by a lot.

Even if, by chance, the only thing you can pick up is the encrypted transponder, you can lock that signal and use your receiver's quality meter to peak the dish. For digital signals, there's no need to see the actual video.

So, I assume what I should try is to point the dish in the direction where I am thinking that the satellite is located, scan for channels, and see if anything comes up?

 

[northgeorgia]

Yep, go ahead and try the blind scan. If you get something, then the adjustment is easy to make. If you get nothing...well, it was worth a shot and we can go to the next step on troubleshooting the problem.

 

[northgeorgia]

Ah, yes. And according to the footprint on SatBeams, Carbondale gets a weaker signal from that satellite compared to what you had in Chicago. A 30" dish should, in theory, still be large enough to capture the signal, as SatBeams claims at least a 28 inch dish is needed. When you get your blind scan results, post them here

 

[danristheman]

I can pick up trwam pretty easy on my setup. its a strong transponder along with the BVN channel thats dutch.

dan rose

 

[Jim S.]

If the installer has only done small-dish systems before, chances are that he's just moving the dish too fast. Try nudging it in each direction without loosening the bolts to see if the signal increases. Otherwise, you might go right past it.

 

[Kallesatman]

Kamil,
I looked up Carbondale, CO Zip code 81623 based on that; the information that comes up in my Super Buddy is as follows for SES 1 101.0 W

Latitude: 39.2
Longitude: - 106.8

Azimuth: 170.9

Magnetic: 160.4

Elevation: 44.2

Polar offset: - 7.1

Use the magnetic heading ( compass heading ) of 160.4 Degrees to get your direction for the dish. Then check your elevation setting and maybe go slightly up or down to see if you get a signal. You have to do this slowly. Remember a minute change here on earth in inches will make a change in miles where the satellite is. Let us know how you are doing. karl

 

[Look Up]

I see that TRWAM comes in strong near Denver on my 24x29" dish so you should have no problem once you get proper aim. I agree with Jim S. to make small, slow moves to the dish while watching for signal quality. I have found that nominal dish elevation settings can sometimes be a little off (due to less-than-perfect plumb on the pole or a sagging lnb arm) so keep widening your range of adjustments until you get your signal. If nudging doesn't find it, I like to do a slow side-to-side sweep followed by a small elevation change and repeat the sweep until I find it. It is frustrating when the signal isn't there, but you can look forward to the good feeling you will get when the signal meter suddenly comes to life.

 

[Golden]

Thanks everyone for the helpful hints. I am not sure when I'll attempt this again, but once I do I will you all know. I think that for the most part this is probably just an issue with making sure he doesn't move too quickly when moving around the dish to try and lock the signal.

 

[Golden]

Ok, I'm back at this again, finally. I've figured out that they pointed the freakin dish towards 105W because I was able to run a search and MACY's channels came up which are on 105W! So my question now is should I move the dish to the proper compass heading first and then try to mess around with trying to lock in the signal by moving the dish to its appropriate elevation. I'm using my Dishpointer AR on my iPhone to try and find the satellite. Any other suggestions before I get back on the roof again today?

 

[Lak7]

What I would do......
Take a Pencil and make a reference mark on the Pole & Clamp and Dish Bracket, so you can return to where you started from.

Looking at your Reference mark, move the Dish 1/16" to the East - rescan, see what you get.

Keep in mind that a Compass or Phone will give a false reading if too close to Dish or Metal objects.