Globecast receiver says "No program found"

[hbroek]

From Sadoun last week I bought:
the Globecast Satellite package which consists of:
1) Globecast receiver.
2) An upgraded FS90P Dish.
3) A Universal 0.4dB Single KU LNBF.

Installation took some time, attaching it to the wall, finding Telstar 5 (Which I think I am pointing to now).
Using the preconfigured Globecast settings, except changing the LNB type to Universal, I get Quality readings on all preconfigured Transponders ranging from 30-70. I know this has to be better but Transponder TP1: 12152/20000 gives me a consistent quality signal of around 70.

I learned a lot this weekend reading through the forums and trying out all the tips, but I am still not seeing channels.

When from the Channel Search menu I do a TP Search on TP1 (quality reading 70) it says: "No Program Found". What is the cause of this?
1) Is the quality level still to low? A friend of mine got channels at a much lower quality level (+/-45).
2) Am I pointing to the wrong satellite? I read you don't get a quality reading at all when you point to the wrong satellite.
3) Do I need to activate a Globecast account even though I will just use it to watch the Free-To-Air Dutch Channel BVN-TV. I may later on add for- pay channels such as Setanta TV, but first want to make sure the Free-to-Air channels work.

Thanks
Henry

[bobkat]

You should be getting programs with quality readings of 30-70. Are you sure you are not confusing "quality" with "signal strength"? BVN-TV is on transponder 11. See this chart: ---> http://www.lyngsat.com/ia5.html

kat

[hbroek]

On all TPs the signal strength is 99 and the Quality ranges between 30-70. I got these readings from the Globecast Receiver screen Setup/Channel Search. On that screen the first bar says Stren... (abbreviated) and the reading is always 99. The second bar says Quality this is the one that varies per TP and also varies within a TP (updates in real-time). Since it really is the quality of the signal I don't understand why I don't get Channels?

The predefined Globecast receiver settings have the TP 11 settings 11929/22000/Ver/22Khz off under the Globecast Transponder item TP2. Do the Globecast Transponder items in name have to match the ones from lyngsat? Because if I map the transponders from Lyngsat based on the Frequency/Symbol rate it looks like this:

No Globecast -> Lyngsat -> Freq/Symb/Pol
-- --------- -- ------- -- -----------------
1) TP1       -> TP 26   -> 12152/20000/Hor
2) TP2       -> TP 11   -> 11929/22000/Ver
3) TP3       -> TP 24   -> 12123/22000/Hor (Lyngsat says it is 12122)
4) TP4       -> TP  8   -> 11873/22000/Hor (Lyngsat says it is 11874)
5) TP5       -> TP  7   -> 11867/22000/Ver
6) TP6       -> TP 15   -> 11991/22000/Ver
7) TP7       -> TP 19   -> 12053/22000/Ver

Seems that the Globecast receiver TPs are merely a mapping, is this oke?

Henry

[bobkat]

Nothing has to match except the frequency, polarity and symbol rate.

Did you try typing in the VPID and APID manually and searching, if the Globecast receiver allows an "advanced search"?

Otherwise, you seem to be doing everything right.


kat

[bobkat]

One more thing I forgot to mention...

Does the Globecast receiver allow you to choose when searching for FTA & CAS channels? I've never seen a Globecast box but many receivers allow this choice. If so, make sure you select "FTA" or "FTA & CAS" or "ALL" or something like that.

kat

[hbroek]

Thanks for the tips

I tried setting the PID but it says "set PID failed!" for BVN I set:
Video PID: 4021 (from lyngsat)
Audio PID: 4031 (from lyngsat)
PCR PID: 4021 (not sure what to fill in here. Set it to VPID value).

I also looked for the Search option. It has an option 'FTA only' which was unchecked. Assuming it searches for all channels with that option.

I send an email to Globecast support today and they mailed back saying that I'm pointing to the wrong satellite if the signal quality percentage bar is displayed in the color blue or gray(which is the case). It has to be displayed in orange or yellow. They say I have to search more to the East first.

Which confuses me a bit is the wrong satellite part, how does the receiver know it is on the wrong satellite. Or is it hardcoded to work with just Telstar 5? Or is the signal not a TV or Radio signal?

So tried to find a signal that colors the quality bar yellow or red but always end up with a gray bar. Verified compass direction and setting the azimuth right but no luck.

I wonder if it is the Universal LBN I got from Sadoun. I did change the Antenna setup so the LNB Type is Universal. Anyone got the GLobecast receiver to work with a Universal LNB?

Thanks
Henry

[pictureon]

Globecast receiver is designed to work with more than one satellite but it's usually programmed for Globecast (T5).
There are more than one receiver kind that Globecast uses. I did install a globecast satellite with universal LNB and it did work when the lnb setting was changed to Universal 9750/10600.

[hbroek]

Good news,

Finally got it working :-), got all the channels to show up.

Lessons learned:
1) Make sure you to have the right elevation, I was constantly aligning the elevation fastening bolt with the elevation scale instead of the fixed inner plate (hard to explain, but looking back into the dish installation manual they point out what to look for). As a result of this I was constantly aiming lower than I was supposed to.
2) When putting the signal meter (free gift from Sadoun) on the line between the dish and the receiver it, the signal quality was always zero. So if you are not aware of that you'll never be able to find a quality signal with that thing in between. I ended up not using the signal meter at all but through the window looked at the tv showing the receiver strength and quality.
3) Even though you have a quality signal that does not mean you have the right satellite (During my research that was what I thought it meant), but the bars need to change color as well (from gray to yellow in my case). Globecast support pointed that out to me. This will probably be different on different receivers. The Globecast manual does *not* mention this at all. One of the crappiest manuals I have seen.

Anyway I am happy I got it working with the Globecast setup I purchased from Sadoun (see earlier in thread for details).

Thanks to all that helped out and provided useful tips.

Henry

[dbergler]

Originally Posted by hbroek

Good news,

Finally got it working :-), got all the channels to show up.

Lessons learned:
1) Make sure you to have the right elevation, I was constantly aligning the elevation fastening bolt with the elevation scale instead of the fixed inner plate (hard to explain, but looking back into the dish installation manual they point out what to look for). As a result of this I was constantly aiming lower than I was supposed to.
2) When putting the signal meter (free gift from Sadoun) on the line between the dish and the receiver it, the signal quality was always zero. So if you are not aware of that you'll never be able to find a quality signal with that thing in between. I ended up not using the signal meter at all but through the window looked at the tv showing the receiver strength and quality.
3) Even though you have a quality signal that does not mean you have the right satellite (During my research that was what I thought it meant), but the bars need to change color as well (from gray to yellow in my case). Globecast support pointed that out to me. This will probably be different on different receivers. The Globecast manual does *not* mention this at all. One of the crappiest manuals I have seen.

Anyway I am happy I got it working with the Globecast setup I purchased from Sadoun (see earlier in thread for details).

Thanks to all that helped out and provided useful tips.

Henry

Congratulations. And I envy you. I am now, 6 months after purchasing an FTA system, after Dishnet dished out BVN-TV, and having enjoyed 2 months of signal strength of 45%, struggling with 16% to 28%, which is way too low to have consistent video. After April 2005 when something changed, I am watching either blockiness or "Scrambled DSShelper.com". I switched from an 80 to 90 cm dish, purchased an H-H motor, moved the location from the roof to the wall of my house. Nothing helped.
Perhaps Vancouver requires a 3 m dish, with which a dealer here showed me a strength of 45%.
What is your strength there, by the way?
Don

[hbroek]

Sorry to hear that,

I got 45% on BVN-TV and 60% on Setanta sports. So I hard notice a glitch :-). Haven't had an opportunity to check it out yet with rain. I am pointing barely over the top of a tree, so that may impact signal. Will see when the leaves are gone if it increases. May have to move the dish when the tree gets taller after a couple of years.

Henry