Using Bird Dog to aim Invacom QPH-31 Universal lnb

[stasram4000]

I have a bird dog with the 2.50 firmware. I bought a fortec 30" dish from
sadoun along with a Invacom QPH-31 universal lnb. I can not hit any sats.
I am trying to hit dish 119 and/or dish 110. I have a smaller dishnetwork dish mounted above the fortec, and it is locked onto 110. this dish has the dishpro plus lnb. I downloaded the dishpro 110into my bird dog & aimed
the dishpro with no problems, & a perfect signal. Now the fortec dish &
invacom lnb can not find 119. I scrolled through the bird dog sat list, and
there is no universal lnb selection for echostar 110 or 119.

[bobkat]

Originally Posted by stasram4000

I scrolled through the bird dog sat list, and
there is no universal lnb selection for echostar 110 or 119.

Of course not... 110 and 119 are not linear polarity satellites; they are circular. So your Birdog will be expecting circular polarity when set to 110 or 119. Is that LNB you talk about the one with both linear and circular outputs? I've never seen one.

kat

[Sadoun]

The Invacom QPH-031 has circular DSS side. So when you use the BIRDOG to aim it at 119, 110, use the DirecTV settings in your BIRDOG and it should work fine.

[bobkat]

Originally Posted by Sadoun

The Invacom QPH-031 has circular DSS side.

That's what I thought but wasn't sure. Thanks. How come you have to set the Birdog for the DirecTV satellites? Will it not find 110 and 119 when set to DishNet 110 or 119 (non-DishPro)?

kat

[bobkat]

Actually, come to think of it...my Birdog finds 110 and 119 (using ordinary DN LNBs) when set to either DishPro or non-DishPro modes.

kat

[stasram4000]

The invacom qph-031 has 4 outputs, 2 circular & 2 linear. I have tried
using the dishnetwork 110 & 119, the dishpro 110 & 119, the directv
110 & 119 sats. the signal gets up to 200 - 205, but will not lock on. I went to the bird dog website & emailed them as they instruct on their
config page, and am waiting for a reply. The local oscillator frequency of this lnb must not be compatable or something. Also when doing all of the above aiming, I was using the circular output of the lnb, not the linear output.

[Casbah]

Make sure you connect the circular output of the invacom qph-031 to your birddog. It should work. I use the same LNB and had no problem. At the base of the LNB the outputs are identified by a "C" and "L".

[stasram4000]

In my last post I stated that I am indeed using the circular output labeled
"C" for circular. I still can not get a signal lock. I even took an old directv
receiver and a dishnetwork receiver & hooked it up to the Invacom lnb, and used the signal meters on the units, still no luck.

[bobkat]

Then either its a dud LNB or the dish isn't aimed properly. You can rule out the Birdog being at fault.

kat

[stasram4000]

OK, there must be something simple that I am missing, or there is something wrong with the bird dog. Here's what I did so far;
I have 2 dish mounts on the side of my house above my garage approx 15' high. Both dishes have an unobstructed view of the soutwestern sky.
I live on top of a mountain with approx 260' elevation above sea level. I
have a clear line of sight at least 25 to 30 miles. So we can rule out any
signal obstructions. I mounted a dish500 with dishpro plus lnb & used the
bird dog. I succesfully aimed the dish to echostar 110. The bird dog
signal peaked & locked with nearly 200% for signal & 100% for quality.
I have 2 triple lnb directv dishes, a single lnb round directv dish & a 80mm
fortec star with invacom qph-031 lnb. I have mounted each of these 4 dishes above & below the dish500 dish, and can not get the bird dog to lock onto a sat, any sat. I am trying for echostar 119. But have downloaded every circular polarized dish in the bird dog config file, and still can not hit anything. Yes, I am using the circular output of the invacom, and yes I am trying every setting with each of the dishes. The
signal bar on the bird dog climbs up to 190's to low 200's but NEVER does
FOUND appear on the bird dog. I used four dishes to rule out any possibility of bad lnb's etc. All of these dishes were in working order when
they were taken down. Is there a secret combination of buttons to push on the bird dog to get it to work???. The thing that bugs me, is that it worked perfectly aiming the dish500 & dishpro plus lnb. And if you go to the bird dog home page, it states that the dishpro plus lnb has a high current consumption & is difficult to aim. But I had it aimed in less than 3 minutes. Is there any way to run a diagnostic on the bird dog to be sure it
is functioning properly.

[bobkat]

Originally Posted by stasram4000

I even took an old directv
receiver and a dishnetwork receiver & hooked it up to the Invacom lnb, and used the signal meters on the units, still no luck.

This tells me your Fortec dish is not aimed at the satellite you want -- namely Echostar 119. If the Birdog can't lock onto the signal and your Dishnet receiver can't lock the signal either, doesn't that pretty much indicate an improperly aimed dish or bad LNB?

I've been using a Birdog for a few years now and its normal for it to show a high bar graph when looking for a satellite but not beeping and saying "FOUND"; this is telling you it has 'found' a satellite but not the one it is set for (ie: Echostar 119).

In all fairness I have never worked with the Invacom LNB you have but I do know how to "read" the Birdog and its identify its behavioral patterns. From what you say, the LNB is working because the bar graph on the Birdog is fluctuating.

Just for fun, try setting the Birdog for AMC4 KU - HOR (download that satellite if you don't have it already programmed). Then connect the Birdog to the LINEAR output and try to find AMC4. It is at 101 degrees west -- same as DirecTV's main satellite. Set the dish elevation for your location, wherever that is. If the Birdog locks onto AMC4 then I think you can rule out a bad LNB or defective Birdog.

BTW I don't know of any diagnostic procedure you can run on the Birdog.

kat

[stasram4000]

Thanks, I will give it a try when I get home from work tomorrow

[bobkat]

Make sure you download the UNIVERSAL file for AMC4; on the Birdog config file its called "U H AMC4 101 WEST", because I think the Invacom is a universal LNB.

kat

[stasram4000]

Yes it is a universal lnb. I will also be using one of the linear outputs marked "L" for linear, not one of the circular outputs.

[Sadoun]

Note, the Invacom QPH031 has a STANDARD linear output NOT Universal.

[bobkat]

Originally Posted by Sadoun

Note, the Invacom QPH031 has a STANDARD linear output NOT Universal.

Ahaaa.... the plot thickens.... :-k

Sorry for the bad advice, stasram4000; but like I say, I've never seen one of those LNBs.

kat

[stasram4000]

OK, so since I am not having any luck using the circular outputs of the invacom with every circular dbs file made for the bird dog. I will try for a standard linear satelite. What is a reliable as lead, standard of the industry sat that I can try for???