Help..I only get 2 transponders on T5

[johnnyd]

Hello to everyone in the forum.

After being a long time forum reader and DVB researcher, I have finally taken the plunge and bought some equipment and set things up.

I have setup a DTV and DISH sytem in the past so I was fairly comfortable with aligning a dish and getting things working.

I used the calculator on Sadoun's site and on my first try whamo.. I was pulling in some channels on T5.

I went back up on the roof and tried to fine tune my installation for transponder 11874H . I wiggled the azimuth and elevation in all directions and the skew on the lnb until I get a 76% signal level and 76% quality. Not bad huh??

I also pull in transponder 11867V at 76% signal and 46% quality.

Here is my problem now. I am getting channels from these two transponders but no others!

I get 60% signal on most transponders but no quality! Thus no channels. :? I have double checked the other transponder values and all are good, just no quality.

I am a little confused now as how to fine tune my dish and get quality on more transponders. All I seem to do is knock out the two transponders that I am able to get now. The additional transponders are programmed into the receiver correctly, but no quality! Can someone help? Also, im located in NJ.

JohnnyD
My rig:
Winegard 76cm dish.

Samsung DSR 3700 Receiver

Samsung High Gain Standard LNB 11.70 - 12.20

[edited by bobkat 15AUG04 -- no links to other commercial websites]

[johnnyd]

I found a great link that gives screenshots and directions for my receiver.

I am confused about the settings on the LNB Setup screen.

What should my LNB Lower LO and LNB Upper LO be set to??

Currently I have them both set to 10750.

Should lower be 5150 and upper be 10750??

I have a Samsung LNB. Thanks for the help.

JohnnyD


[edited by bobkat 15AUG04: no links to other commercial websites]

[bobkat]

OK; let's get the ethical issues out of the way first....

1) There is to be no posting links to other commercial websites that sell equipment similar to what is carried at Sadoun; the FORUM RULES make this quite clear. I have deleted the links you posted.

2) You buy your hardware from a competitor and then have the nerve to come here for support!! Why don't you ask the people you bought from for assistance. I checked their site and don't see a forums section and I suspect that's why you are here -- not sure. On the other hand I see you joined our forums back in May in which case you had lots of time to buy from Sadoun. Whatever... :roll:


As for the problem you have; there are two possible reasons for good signal quality on some transponders and not others:

1) Poorly aligned dish, although you say you have tweaked it (azimuth, elevation, LNB skew) to the best of your abilities. Did you try adjusting the focal distance of the LNB? It should slide forwards and backwards in the holder.

2) Partial tree blockage -- are there any trees fairly close to your line of sight? I have had your problem before and solved it by relocating the dish even though it looked like the trees were not blocking the signal; in fact they were.

Of course, you've verified transponder data from lyngsat, right?

kat

[pmb1010]

Instead of scanning the satellite, scan the transponders you are receiving and see what channels you get.

Are they the same as Lynsat's channels for the couple transponders you get?

Could it be you're on an adjacent satellite that has similar transponders but the symbol rates are incorrect?

Try picking the 2 left and right satellites with your dish pointing (at what you think is T5) and see if any channels come up?

[bobkat]

Originally Posted by pmb1010

Could it be you're on an adjacent satellite that has similar transponders but the symbol rates are incorrect?

Try picking the 2 left and right satellites with your dish pointing (at what you think is T5) and see if any channels come up?

Good point pmb1010; I forgot about that problem... Haven't had to worry about it for a long time...Birdog doesn't falsely identify satellites... :wink:

kat

[johnnyd]

1) Sorry about the commercial links thing. Don't mean to cause any problems 4 Sadoun. I Did NOT buy from that compettitor that i linked to.
I was just trying to put a link to the tech specs of the equipment I purchased.
I picked up my equipment from a local guy here in NJ. I was going to let him do the installation, but after being a member of this forum which I thought served the DVB community I wanted to try things myself and get into this from a hobby, do it urself standpoint.
I figured if I hit some major tech problems, I can go back 2 the local guy for help. So, I hope u guys understand.

2) I don't expect this to be my last purchase. If i get things working good, i plan 2 get 2nd and 3rd receivers and possibly motorizing a system and recommendations to my brother-in-law etc.. The fortec star's with the Dolby Bitstream out is a great feature i dont have on the receiver i purchased. So it is in my sites if i get things working.

3) I really do appreciate ur willingness to help, even if I've peeved u off some. Having been reading this forum for a while, I think the service u r providing this community is fantastic. It, wont be forgotten.

4) There are no obstructions, trees..etc,,

5) Yes, I have verified the transponder codes against Lyngsat. They are correct.

6) Yes, the channels I receive on the Transponder match to the channels listed on that transponder on Lyngsat. So it is verified, I am on T5.

7) Going on the roof to try the focal distance LNB adjustment. I hope it works.

8.) What about the LNB Setup?
I am confused about the settings on the LNB Setup screen.
What should my LNB Lower LO and LNB Upper LO be set to??
Currently I have them both set to 10750.
Should lower be 5150 and upper be 10750??

Thanks again,
JohnnyD

[bobkat]

Originally Posted by johnnyd

8.) What about the LNB Setup?
I am confused about the settings on the LNB Setup screen.
What should my LNB Lower LO and LNB Upper LO be set to??
Currently I have them both set to 10750.
Should lower be 5150 and upper be 10750??

Thanks again,
JohnnyD

Shouldn't matter; you can set both to 10,750 MHz.

kat

[johnnyd]

I have been adjusting the LNB skew and focal length with no luck at all. I can not get any quality on any but the two transponders I have already mentioned. :? Any suggestions?

I am thinking about picking up the whole dish and moving it a few feet to see if that makes a difference. Anyone know what kind of signal I can expect in Northern NJ/New York City Area with a 76cm dish?

[bobkat]

Originally Posted by johnnyd

I have been adjusting the LNB skew and focal length with no luck at all. I can not get any quality on any but the two transponders I have already mentioned. :? Any suggestions?

I am thinking about picking up the whole dish and moving it a few feet to see if that makes a difference. Anyone know what kind of signal I can expect in Northern NJ/New York City Area with a 76cm dish?

Your Winegard 76 cm dish should be fine for NJ; they work great in Toronto. Check out this satellite's footprint.

---> http://www.intelsat.com/special/lora...tes/isat5.asp#

If you are sure there is nothing fairly close to the dish blocking the signal then don't bother moving it. The LNB skew for your area should be around +24 degrees -- that equates to around the 4:30 position as referenced from facing the dish. Try using transponder 26 (12,152 MHz, HOR, 20,000 SR) -- its a fairly strong transponder. If your receiver allows you to edit the FEC setting; put it to "3/4" or "AUTO". That's about all I can think of.

kat

[Sadoun]

+24 degrees -- that equates to around the 4:30 position

Kat, forgive me, just a small correction to the above statement. +24 is about 5:15 and not 4:30.

Every hour on the clock equals to 30 degrees. Hence, 3 hours = 90 degrees.

Just my 2 cents.... :lol: and by the way "you da man"

[bobkat]

Originally Posted by Sadoun

Kat, forgive me, just a small correction to the above statement. +24 is about 5:15 and not 4:30.

Awright.... so I'm 45 minutes early... :roll: :lol:

Its around 5:30 for Toronto (+18 degrees) so I figured NJ would be around 4:30; I notice the signal doesn't really fluctuate that much unless you get the skew way off like 2:00 or something like that.

kat

[Admin]

.. :-)

Actually, getting the skew right will provide the best signal to the receiver. That will make the receiver work less harder in processing the signal.

[bobkat]

Yeah, I suppose. Its just that I have played around with (and justified it by calling it "technical experimentation") the LNB skew when doing installs and frankly I find it makes little difference in signal quality until you get way off the mark. Could be the kind of LNB I use too; guess that makes a difference.

kat

[johnnyd]

Just a resolution to my installation saga. After unbolting the whole dish and moving it to another locaion, I still had my original problem of only getting quality on two transponders. So out of frustration, I called the local installer out to have a look at it. He fixed the problem in 10 minutes and basically charged me 75% of the price of a full install. It turned out that I was aligning the LNB skew incorrectly. Actually, I was aligning it to the correct skew angle, however I was incorrectly matching the marks on the LNB to the 0 degree angle. So while I thought I was starting with it at 0 degrees and skew it to 24 degrees, I was actually starting at 90 degrees and then skewing it. So, the problem was resolved rather quick when the guy got out there. I guess it goes to show you that there is nothing like seeing it done before. Oh well, I learned a lot and think I can handle it myself in the future to help out a relative or friend who is interested in getting this setup. Thanks for the help anyway folks.

Now, I have not touched the LNB since the installer played with it, but the video quality on some channels is really not that great..grainy and blocky in some cases. I get about 70% signal on all transponders, but quality is another story. One transponder gets 100% while most others get around 48%. Even the channels on that trasnsponder with 100% do not appear all that great in regards to video quality. Any tips to get a visually better picture? Thanks in advance for any advice.

Also, I asked the local guy about adding a motor to rotate the dish and he was advising against it.. Claiming that it doesnt work good or that it's a waste to do it or to put multiple dishes! I would be interested in some other peoples experience motorizing their dishes. I am currently fixed to T5, but I want more channels.

JohnnyD

[vj9999]

SOme transponders are stronger than others. Among other things, I think it is part of how much program providers pay the satellite company. If you want stronger signal, you pay more money.

[dtsexpert]

Pretty bad to see you need to pay 75% of the price of full installation. This guy is really greedy. This installer either has no clue about diseqc h-h mount or does not know how to install it, that's why he was advising against it.
Installing h-h mount is a bit tricky but doable. If you want more sats, go for it. Sadoun has pretty good instruction of how to set up h-h mount.
Michael

Originally Posted by johnnyd

Just a resolution to my installation saga. After unbolting the whole dish and moving it to another locaion, I still had my original problem of only getting quality on two transponders. So out of frustration, I called the local installer out to have a look at it. He fixed the problem in 10 minutes and basically charged me 75% of the price of a full install. It turned out that I was aligning the LNB skew incorrectly. Actually, I was aligning it to the correct skew angle, however I was incorrectly matching the marks on the LNB to the 0 degree angle. So while I thought I was starting with it at 0 degrees and skew it to 24 degrees, I was actually starting at 90 degrees and then skewing it. So, the problem was resolved rather quick when the guy got out there. I guess it goes to show you that there is nothing like seeing it done before. Oh well, I learned a lot and think I can handle it myself in the future to help out a relative or friend who is interested in getting this setup. Thanks for the help anyway folks.

Now, I have not touched the LNB since the installer played with it, but the video quality on some channels is really not that great..grainy and blocky in some cases. I get about 70% signal on all transponders, but quality is another story. One transponder gets 100% while most others get around 48%. Even the channels on that trasnsponder with 100% do not appear all that great in regards to video quality. Any tips to get a visually better picture? Thanks in advance for any advice.

Also, I asked the local guy about adding a motor to rotate the dish and he was advising against it.. Claiming that it doesnt work good or that it's a waste to do it or to put multiple dishes! I would be interested in some other peoples experience motorizing their dishes. I am currently fixed to T5, but I want more channels.

JohnnyD

[bobkat]

Originally Posted by dtsexpert

Pretty bad to see you need to pay 75% of the price of full installation. This guy is really greedy.

I don't know Mikey... I charge a minimum of $75.00 for a service call even if the actual work only takes 10 seconds. A full install varies between $125 and $150.00. A lot of custies b*tch about $75.00 being too much but I don't think it is really, especially when compared to other types of service calls like electricians or plumbers.

kat