I'm a beaten man

[Iron City]

Well. I've been trying to setup my new system from Sadoun now for a couple weeks. I've read everything I've could on the web, including every post on this forum. I've bought to gravity protractor and the sat finder. For the installation, I've leveled the post perfectly, I've set the elevation of the dish using the protractor (taking into consideration the dish offset and used the angle calculator). I've fine tuned the azimuth (taking into consideration the magnetic deviation for my area), elevation, lnb skew, etc using the sat finder. I'm using a decent receiver, the BEC DBS2000, dish is Fortec Star 32'', and Fortec Universal LNB. I'm trying to get signal on 12177 V 23000 on Telstar 5. Next to my FTA dish I've have a Directv dish that receives strong signal, (I can set it up with my eye's closed) so I don't think anything is in the way of the signal.

I've spent countless hours on my roof staring at my portable tv attached to the BEC trying to get a lock. I've gotten the strength up to 85 and signal up to 45, but never a lock, even with the dish pointed at the exact right azimuth, the elevation set using the protractor and everything optimized using the sat finder. In short, I've never been more frustrated in my entire life. Sorry just had to vent, please forgive me, I'm a beaten man...

If anyone knows of a good satellite installer in the Pittsburgh, PA area, please let me know. Or I'll gladly take any more advice or encouragement.

Now please excuse me while I take several deep breaths and count to 30 to prevent myself from throwing this dish off my roof...

[Sadoun]

Iron Man

Sorry to hear your frustration.

~ FYI DirectTV and DishNetork satellites broadcast at a higher power (100W) than T5 (25W). Si the signal is more challenging to get.

~ Have you checked your receiver LNBF Setup? Since you are using a universal LNBF, the receiver is by default setup for Standard LNBF and not Universal.

For Universal LNBF, you will need to change the Local Oscillator (LO) frequency for the LNBF to:

LO Low: 9750
LO High: 10600
22KHz tone should be ON or auto.

If all else fails, you could try a standard LNBF.

Let us know or call our customer support if you need further assistance.

[Iron City]

Thanks for the reply, I have set up the LNB the way you specified above, so that looks good. When I look at the LNB setup screen, the parameter for the 22kHz tone says "None" and it is grayed out, it won't let me select it to change it. Could this be the problem? Thanks.

[Sadoun]

If it is grayed out, it means it is on Auto now. Was your LNBF setup correctly or did you change the setup after you read our message?

[Iron City]

The LNBF was set up correctly before my post, I just chose Universal and it put in the correct value of 9750 and 10600.

[Iron City]

Does anyone out there know of a good FTA satellite installer in the Pittsburgh, PA area?

[bobkat]

:wink:

Hi Iron City:

Don't give up just yet !!! These are very frustrating systems to align - I mean FTA in general - not just your receiver. I am a professional installer in Toronto, Canada and have aligned many BEC 6600 and 6800 receivers; although I'm not familiar with the 2000 that you have.

First, the 6600s have a signal strength and quality bar that turn YELLOW when you hit the right satellite - does the 2000 do the same? If you get both signal strength and quality but they are WHITE it means you hit the wrong bird.

Second, the 12177 xpdr on T5 is very weak compared to the others - I always use 12152 for alignment as it is stronger - then once I hit 12152 I check all other xpdrs for good strength.

Third, try (as Sadoun suggests and I agree with him) using a different LNB. I use the old Bell ExpressVu linear LNBs (before ExpressVu went circular a al DirecTV and DishNet); these old linears work beautifully on Telstar 5. Linear rotation for them (for Toronto - and likely for Pittsburg - is 5:30 o'clock - when facing the dish). Remember to change Local Oscillator frequencies - I use 10,750 for both low and high. Set your receiver accordingly.

Fourth - PATIENCE, PATIENCE, PATIENCE !!! It took me 8 hours to find T5 first time I tried - and I've installed thousands of 18" minidishes. These FTA systems are NOT easy. Also, when moving the dish looking for signal; use VERY tiny moves and WAIT a few seconds between each move for the receiver to look for signal.

Please ask me any other questions you want - I can help you out. I can also get you an ExpressVu LNB if you want to try that.

Good Luck

kat

[Sadoun]

Bobkat

Excellent response. Interested in a technical support position?? :lol:

[bobkat]

LOL !!

Thanks Sadoun for the offer...

but I am kept busy enough keeping my own customers up and running!!

BTW - great little forum you have going here.

Keep up the good work.

kat

[Sadoun]

BTW - great little forum you have going here.

Thank you. This has been a good forum so far.

[Iron City]

bobkat, thanks for the reply, you might have convinced me to give it one more shot. :wink:

Sadoun, did you ever think about letting people rent the Birddogs? or are they too complicated for the average user?

[Sadoun]

Actually the BIRDOG is as easy as pushing a button. Nothing to it and very straight forward. Once you have the satellite data stored into it (it takes 30 seconds), all you have to do is click the ON button, select the satellite you want to aim your dish to (i.e. Telstar 5), and adjust your dish until the LCD screen say FOUND. Then a quality meter will show up automatically. Peak the quality meter and BINGO you got the lock.

On average it takes us about 3-5 minutes to aim the dish, find and peak the signal.

About renting the BIRDOG, hmm that is a good idea.

However, here are the charges:

S/H To/From: $20
Rent $60 (for 10 days including transit time to/from - $20/day beyond that- Maximum 3 extra days.)
---------------------------
Total Rental Fee $80.00

Total cost ($460) will have to be pre-approved on a credit card. Once BIRDOG is returned, only rental fee and any extra charges (extra days, missing parts, damage) will be charged to the account.


Would that work for you??

[Iron City]

hmm, I don't know, kind of pricey, maybe for people who bought all of their equipment from you guys (like me), there can be a extra special rental price, as in the cost of shipping... :wink:

[bobkat]

Iron City:

To be real honest with you -- for those with little experience aligning FTA dishes a BIRDOG will not work miracles. I don't own a BIRDOG (its on my wish list) yet and I have done several hundred FTA dishes and thousands of 18"ers. I still drag a little TV and a beat-up Satcruiser around and align for T5 that way.

I think Sadoun is going out of his way to even offer to rent a BIRDOG; when I finally get mine it will never leave my toolbox unless its hanging around my neck!!

So give it another shot with your receiver and portable TV; you'll get it.

We are here to help, as usual.

Regards

kat
8)

[Sadoun]

Kat

Once you migrate to a BIRDOG you will never go back to the TV/Receiver combo. If you do that many installations, it is very much worth it and will pay for itself in no time.

We can't keep them on the shelves. They are going fast. After this long winter season calls are coming in for installation/service.

Cheers,
Sadoun

[bobkat]

I know, I know...

Its definitely my very next treat. Just bought a real nice cordless hammer drill so I must wait a little bit before making another major tool purchase. Wives just don't see these things the way we do !!!

:roll:

kat

[Sadoun]

:wink: