Please help with Fortec Star satellite dish.

[khanhdu]

This is my first time to get a satellite dish. and when it arrive, it have a big bump on it (Probably shipping damage). I did push it back to the curve shape. Now, after i installed the dish (with a fortec lifetime ultra, universal LNBF) I got 60 % level and 0 % quality. My question is: is this something wrong because of the dish? or because I can't get the right way for the satellite yet? Please answer my question, thank you.
K.

[wejones]

Originally Posted by khanhdu

This is my first time to get a satellite dish. and when it arrive, it have a big bump on it (Probably shipping damage). I did push it back to the curve shape. Now, after i installed the dish (with a fortec lifetime ultra, universal LNBF) I got 60 % level and 0 % quality. My question is: is this something wrong because of the dish? or because I can't get the right way for the satellite yet? Please answer my question, thank you.
K.

95% of the time what you describe means that either you aren't aimed at the satellite properly, or you don't have the parameters set up right on your receiver (ie lnbf type/LO freq, etc, although this is less likely with a blind search like the Ultra).
Basically, most of the time, the "level" reading is meaningless, unless you can see it going up and down significantly as you move the dish. Level will often be 50 or 60% when you aren't even aimed at a sat. The quality reading will always be zero, unless you are locked on to a transponder, and typically, the transponder that pops up as default when you select a satellite in the antenna screen, is not even an active transponder. I'm not sure which type scan you are trying to do, or from which screen you are reading the level/quality numbers, but unless you are pretty sure you are aimed at the satellite, from some other method, I'd recommend setting the receiver on the freq and SR value of a known good transponder on the satellite you are trying to get, rather than fooling around with the blind search method. If you are tuned for a known signal, you can move the dish around and watch for the quality to go to some non-zero value, which means you are close, and then fine tune to get maximum values. Once you confirm that you are aimed at the satellite via a quality reading on known transponder, or by use of a portable signal meter, then you can try using the blind search function. But in my opinion (I know other people disagree) it is a waste of time doing a blind search if you don't know you are aimed at a sat.

[mikey]

I agree with everything wejones said above, but I have to emphasize that my big rookie mistake in setting up my satellite dish was assuming that the default transponder frequencies pre-programmed into the Lifetime Ultra were active.

Nope. Many were not! So, be sure to go down the list and pick an *active* transponder for the satellite you're aiming at (check lyngsat's website for this info).

Once I was set up to look for an active transponder, I found that aiming the dish (and getting the green "quality" bar to light up) wasn't too tough after all. But it took me days to figure this out!

Also, I'm really not sure if the dent in the dish will cause you serious problems. It may still work fairly well, but I doubt that it can work as good as an undamaged dish, even if you've pounded the dent out. Any dish experts out there with an opinion on this?

[Slinky]

Was the dish bent around the edge or in the middle? If around the edge, most likely you have no problem with it. You could take the reflector off the bracket and lay it flat on a kitchen table or floor. Check if there are any warpage. If none, you should be fine.

[bobkat]

Originally Posted by Slinky

Was the dish bent around the edge or in the middle? If around the edge, most like you have no problem with it. You could take the reflector off the bracket and lay it flat on a kitchen table or floor. Check if there are any warpage. If none, you should be fine.

Good advice; a warped pan will cut your signal 70% or more and make it next to impossible to align the dish.

kat

[khanhdu]

Thanx all for helping me out with the problem. I could able to get my level up to 74% as I turn my dish, however still working on the quality. And would you explain about the transponder? I will try to work on that. Thank you.
K.

[mikey]

What satellite and station are you particularly interested in? Once we know that, we can look up that satellite, and then find out what frequency that station is on.

You'll then need to select that frequency (transponder) on your Lifetime Ultra receiver.

Also, of course, you have to be sure that you can receive (in your area) the satellite you're interested in. Where are you located?

[pmb1010]

Originally Posted by khanhdu

And would you explain about the transponder? I will try to work on that. Thank you.
K.

Here is an analogy:

You have an FM radio receiver at home. It's hooked to an outside antenna.
The antenna rotates on a motor 360 degrees.

There is a station directly south of you, at 97Mhz on the radio dial.
There is another station directly north of you, at 104Mhz on the dial.

Assume that when your antenna points north or south, you will not hear the opposing station off the "back" of the antenna.

Your antenna is currently pointing due south. You tune around the band at 104, but don't hear a thing. In corresponding dish terms, you are not on an "active transponder".


So the same thing with setting up this dish. YOu need to be pointing at the correct satellite (or trying to aim at it) and have the Antenna Settings page on that satellite, and the Transponder setting to an "active channel" or frequency for that satellite. THe box has a bunch of pre-programmed transponder settings in it for each satelite, and some of them might not be active or transmitting. If you go to that settings page, scroll down to where it says "TP" and use the left/right arrow on the remote control to change the transponder settings. You need to set that to an active channel for the satellite you are trying to point at.