Fortec Mercury II -- iS Everything on IA5 Scrambled?

[bwernicke]

I just setup a Fortec Mercury II for my father-in-law. I purchased the system from Sadoun. A few questions... I did a power scan on IA5, after getting both quality and level at 80+. This is all accomplished using Foretec M2 package (yes, the system also has the HH90 motor).

It found 33 TP's, and a bunch of channels, but everyone of them says "scrambled". After messing around with it for awile, I hooked up a different Mercury II, followed the same process, got the same results.

I have the Universal Quad LNB. This was the LNB shipped with the purchase. I found that odd, as I don't remember ordering that LNB. One related question... I only have one receiver connected, with four ports on the LNB. Is that OK or do they need to be terminated?

Any advice is appreciated!

Thanks.

Brad

[satnutwillb]

If it's a universal,check in setup menu and make sure you have it set to 10600 instead of 10750.If you just have 1 receiver hooked up make sure the port you're using is hook to receiver.Most people say to block the unused ports.Hope this helps,if not maybe someone else will have some more information to help track it down.Alot of chs.are scrambled,but there is alot in the clear too.

[pmb1010]

I suspect you might not be on IA5 if "everything shows scrambled".

Look at the channel information you are getting, compare to
www.lyngsat.com and try to verify any channel title info, or frequencies found match up with what they show.

It is possible to get the system (what you think is correctly) lined up, but in fact you are pointing at a different satellite than what you have selected on the sceen.

Although IA5 is a good sat to scan, compare wiht lyngsat for channel identification, AMC5 has the Utah education channels at 11742V that are always there. I'd suggest move to that satellite with USALS and see if you are tracking the Clarke belt correctly.

[Sadoun]

You must not be on IA5ku. Check the signal level and quality for all the transponders in your Antenna Setup menu for IA5 to make sure your dish is aligned correctly.

[bwernicke]

Interesting... one of the channels in the list is WSEE. The only satellite I see that on is primetime24. I must have the alignment off pretty bad.

Thanks for the suggestions. I will dig into it.

[pmb1010]

this might help:

http://www.lyngsat-address.com/uz/WSEE-TV.html

you can rule out AMC3, as this channel is on C band (big dish)
So you are on one of the Dish satellites I would suspect.

[rainman]

WSEE is showing up on echostar 9 at 121 degrees if this is the sat you are on. you will need to move east.

[bwernicke]

I am at 41.8N and 87.7W. I have determined that AMC 3 would be my true south satellite. Setting the dish elevation to 38.5 and my motor elevation to 42, I can't hit it to save my life.

Using a compass, I lined up true south, plus three degrees for magentic deviation, I am located in Bensenville, IL 60131.

I have tried dish elevation from 35 to 42, moving in very small increments. Same with my east to west rotation turning the entire motor on the shaft.

I am using 12110H14025 for the TP.

It seems to me that this should be the easiest satellite to find. Any suggestions?

Thanks again for all the help!

[elgemcdlf]

Try this for kicks. Raise dish elevation 5 degrees from what this site states correct should be. The fact that you hitting 121 which for you would be lower on the arc (assuming this is with manual movement of the assembly) says to me you are to low to hit your true south sat. Not knowing where you are exactly I would guess recommendation is somewhere around 37-42 degrees. I am near the IL line and I am at 45 degrees for Fortec dish elevation (80cm dish).

[wejones]

Originally Posted by elgemcdlf

Try this for kicks. Raise dish elevation 5 degrees from what this site states correct should be. The fact that you hitting 121 which for you would be lower on the arc (assuming this is with manual movement of the assembly) says to me you are to low to hit your true south sat. Not knowing where you are exactly I would guess recommendation is somewhere around 37-42 degrees. I am near the IL line and I am at 45 degrees for Fortec dish elevation (80cm dish).

The 5 degrees off thing is probably a good idea. There were so many people reporting that the dish measurement was off by 5 degrees, that is why I posted that " Misc alignment issues/data" thread, which showed that different dishes have different offset angles, even the different Fortec dishes, and yet Sadoun seems to sell mounts to use on whatever dish they buy, so I have to wonder if those mounts are really matched to the dish or just generic. {sorry, not sure how I turned bold on... I can't turn it off}....
But also, like I mentioned in that other thread, some motors have an "elevation" scale, and some motors have a "latitude" scale, and some have both. If you have your motor set to 42, then you want that to be a latitude scale NOT elevation as was stated earlier, otherwise you want 90-42=48 for an elevation. This could be another reason that a lot of people are 5 degrees off.

[bwernicke]

The HH90 appears to use a latitude scale. I just spent another two hours trying to hit AMC 3, based on the suggestins here, and I just can not get it.

1. Line of sight is not an issue.
2. I have had a dish elevation as low as 35, and as high as 45 and not hit it.
3. The recommended dish elevation is 38.5.

This has been a very frustrating project to say the least, I have 48 hours invested just trying to hit one bird

Crazy stuff. What else could I be doing wrong here?

[wejones]

Originally Posted by bwernicke

The HH90 appears to use a latitude scale. I just spent another two hours trying to hit AMC 3, based on the suggestins here, and I just can not get it.

1. Line of sight is not an issue.
2. I have had a dish elevation as low as 35, and as high as 45 and not hit it.
3. The recommended dish elevation is 38.5.

This has been a very frustrating project to say the least, I have 48 hours invested just trying to hit one bird

Crazy stuff. What else could I be doing wrong here?

You never said whether you set your LNB LO to the universal type, like satnutwillb said earlier. Since you are now trying to find one transponder, you need to be sure you have your LO freqs (the universals have 2 freqs). When you do a blind scan, it will still find channels if you have the LO set wrong, but if you're trying to find a single transponder like you're doing now, you need to have that set right.

[pmb1010]

bwernicke,

are you using USALS?

if so, is your long & lat set into the receiver?
I read your earlier posts, but did you do this:

1. Move motor to "reference" or center setting.
2. Line up using your compass, to magnetically adjusted position (183 degrees)
3. At that point, use USALS to drive the motor to AMC3. (did it move a lot? How much did it move?)
4. Do you have a small tv out by your dish looking for the signal on the screen?

[bwernicke]

Originally Posted by pmb1010

bwernicke,

are you using USALS?

if so, is your long & lat set into the receiver?
I read your earlier posts, but did you do this:

1. Move motor to "reference" or center setting.
2. Line up using your compass, to magnetically adjusted position (183 degrees)
3. At that point, use USALS to drive the motor to AMC3. (did it move a lot? How much did it move?)
4. Do you have a small tv out by your dish looking for the signal on the screen?

1. Lat & Long entered into receiver previously and correctly. USALS is what I am using.

2. The motor was centered at 183 degrees after zeroing.

3. When selecting AMC 3, the motor moves just a little bit, which is expected? I mean, it barely moves.

4. Yes, I do have the TV and receiver out by the dish It makes this much easier.

[bwernicke]

Originally Posted by wejones

You never said whether you set your LNB LO to the universal type, like satnutwillb said earlier. Since you are now trying to find one transponder, you need to be sure you have your LO freqs (the universals have 2 freqs). When you do a blind scan, it will still find channels if you have the LO set wrong, but if you're trying to find a single transponder like you're doing now, you need to have that set right.

Sorry, I failed to clarify. LNB type is set to universal, and has the correct settings.

[bwernicke]

By the way, to achieve 183 degrees, I am putting the compass directly in the center of the arm which the LNB attaches to.

Is that acceptable? Seems to me like it should be.

[boroda1]

If that arm is made of steel, I would not do that.

[bwernicke]

It is made, of steel, so I set the compass on top of a small block of wood (2x4)