Is G10R reception difficult?

[pmb1010]

On my home setup (80cm dish, Fortec Ultra, motor) I cannot receive G10R due to tree in the way.

I setup a 2nd system (80cm Dish, 786NA, motor) at a new location. This site has clear view to everything. Got it dialed in, 90%-95% quality on AMC5 (my southmost sat) with TV on the roof of building.

I move w/USALS to G10R and get 90% quality. Scan, find some network channels, but they are tearing/pixeling/breaking up.

Q: my Ultra does not mess up until the signal falls at or below 60% (or whatever the "red" line is on the ultra info screen, it might be 40%...).
The 786NA is breaking up at 90% signal, but only on G10R. The other Sats seemed OK and stable in the few minutes I had to set the dish up so far.

Is this particular to G10R or what???

[ctg101]

Originally Posted by pmb1010

On my home setup (80cm dish, Fortec Ultra, motor) I cannot receive G10R due to tree in the way.

I setup a 2nd system (80cm Dish, 786NA, motor) at a new location. This site has clear view to everything. Got it dialed in, 90%-95% quality on AMC5 (my southmost sat) with TV on the roof of building.

I move w/USALS to G10R and get 90% quality. Scan, find some network channels, but they are tearing/pixeling/breaking up.

Q: my Ultra does not mess up until the signal falls at or below 60% (or whatever the "red" line is on the ultra info screen, it might be 40%...).
The 786NA is breaking up at 90% signal, but only on G10R. The other Sats seemed OK and stable in the few minutes I had to set the dish up so far.

Is this particular to G10R or what???

your motor may be off a little bit, you may need to tweak it a little

[pmb1010]

Originally Posted by ctg101

your motor may be off a little bit, you may need to tweak it a little

I did "tweak" a little while it was there (kinda pushed the dish a bit up/down/side/side) and although I might have gotten 2 points more signal, it did still break up...

Seems odd that I'd need to tweak a 90% signal at all....

[dtsexpert]

G10R is a strong bird, which covers all regions in the US. Footprint is below
http://www.panamsat.com/_media/globa...0r_ku_band.pdf
If you have problem receiving it, your dish is not well alligned.
Michael

Originally Posted by pmb1010

I did "tweak" a little while it was there (kinda pushed the dish a bit up/down/side/side) and although I might have gotten 2 points more signal, it did still break up...

Seems odd that I'd need to tweak a 90% signal at all....

[pmb1010]

Michael:

Yeah, that's what I was thinking when I was up on the roof.
Maybe the 786NA box is simply "generous" with it's signal indication.
Once the feedline gets routed to the spot where the TV set is by the building maintenance guy, I'll get to play more and see if it's particular channels or what.

Another thing I'll try is bring my Ultra and hook it up to this dish and see if it acts the same...

As I said, with no experience with G10R I didn't know if it is a "fussy" satellite or not.

Tks.
PMB

[pmb1010]

I had a chance today to fool with this 786NA setup...

The G10R reception problem is on G10's transponder 1 only.
The 786 claims it's 11717 (Lyngsat says 11719) and the symbol rate is off too (dont remember the exact numbers, but it's a lot on the SR value...)

The other transponders up the chart seem to come in OK (ie: TP5) the channels are stable.

I really need to hook up a serial cable & edit the data in the 786NA.
I think it is stale. I suspect the Fortec and Ultra have had firmware updates that wrap this updated transponder data in it.

[DruzeTito]

I once had a 786v3 and yes the signal meter is very generous. I had a signal of 86 % quality 100 % on a now extinct G10R tp. I switched to Fortec Lifetime and the signal was down to 69-70 % but no breaking up. So I dunno why.

[pmb1010]

Originally Posted by pmb1010

....... I really need to hook up a serial cable & edit the data in the 786NA. I think it is stale..........

For anyone with a 786NA, FYI:

I went over to the firmware download area on the Fortec website, I now see they have released a firmware update as of mid Sept 2004 for this box.

Lets see if this helps cure the woes with this receiver...

[pmb1010]

Results:

Used the channel editor software to push the new IMG firmware file to the Fortec 786NA box. Working great with updated transponder information!

Details:

Boy, was that scary. I attempted at first to use a notebook computer (running XP) with a USB to serial cable converter. Seems like no new notebook today comes with serial ports anymore. I tried to "read" the box to make sure it was communicating. Everytime, it would go to 15%, 22%, 45% - the point would vary each time, and then just stop... would tell me to turn off & on the box to try again. I tried a bunch of times with no sucess.

There was no way I was going to attempt to push a file to the box with spotty communications, so I found a desktop PC (XP) with real serial port, and installed the editor software on it. Same problem. In the software config, I fiddled with some settings in an attempt to slow down the communications, I found a setting to change set the thing to 1200bps and tried to communicate. Fail, fail, fail, then OK. Well I got the box read!

So here we go, push the IMG file - wondering if it was going to stop at 88% and create a doorstop. 70, 80, 90, 100% and done. The box turns off. And stayed that way. Push the on button, nothing... oh no...

Pull the plug. Plug back in. "BOOT" on the display, and "NOCHAN". Whew! Looks good from that perspective, re-read the box, and it reads all the way thru, and yes I can see updated S/R values for G10R TP1.

Hooked box back to TV, re-enter my LAT/LONG and go to G10R. Scan, and all those flakey channels are now working just fine. It was the Symbol Rate being wrong in the old transponder information for TP1. Works great on all 6 Sats I've scanned in so far...