Free-to-Air Setup Problems

[Mark2074]

Ok, you might have heard this thousands of time, but I just don't know what to do anymore.

I want to set-up my Blackbird ST1000 to receive "in-the-clear" DVB. Has anyone been able to get AMC-1, AMC-6 or Telsat 6 with this? I live in Toronto and I bought a 33" dish about 2 weeks ago. The guy at the store said to me that I should be able to get all satellites and 99% of Telsat 5 within this area. I haven't been able to lock in quality at ALL! The following is what I have up until now:

Bought
1- 33" Dish
1- Fortec Star FSKU-V Universal Single LNBF

Setup 1
LO for LNB 1 - 09750 Mhz (Low) for Universal
LO for LNB 2 - 10600 Mhz (High) for Universal

Then Setup 2

LO for LNB 1 - 10750 Mhz (Low) for Normal
LO for LNB 2 - 10750 Mhz (high) for Normal w/ 22Khz

I looked up for eg. AMC-3 for a high freq. like PBS (112110 H - tp 21)
and got nothing. I skewed the LNB as per calculation chart. Signal was somewhat high at 80% but quality was bouncing around. Could not stablize it. I tried others and got same results. Could someone help me please? What am I doing wrong? Is it the dish size? I see most people on my street having the same size dish and they appear to be ok for them.

Also, when I took out the Coax cable connector out of the LNB, to see if it was bent, I placed it back in and it sparked. Why did that happen? My IRD re-booted because of this.

[bobkat]

Dish size is fine. Set LNB1 to 10,600 MHz and LNB2 to OFF and make sure you select an active transponder on whatever satellite you are trying to aim at. Your cable sparked because the receiver puts out 13/18 volts at the IF IN connector -- normal.

kat


http://www.lyngsat.com/america.html

[malkocoglu]

im trying to test my ss2 pci card on an already aligned dish(friend's)
i catch evrything on t5...but no luck on transponder 12177 ..
but the guy can watch on his decoder?
plz don't tell me ss2 don't support 12177

lof settings are..
lof1=10750
sw=0
lof2=10750

[Mark2074]

Thanks for replying kat. Actually I should have been more clear. Those were LNB Freq. 1 & 2 not LNB 1 and 2. I still need to give value for the high and low freq. Are they both supposed to be 10600? Or 09750 & 10600 for Freqs. 1 & 2. Those are the defaults that come up when selecting universal LNB.

Thanks

[bobkat]

Originally Posted by malkocoglu

im trying to test my ss2 pci card on an already aligned dish(friend's)
i catch evrything on t5...but no luck on transponder 12177 ..
but the guy can watch on his decoder?
plz don't tell me ss2 don't support 12177

lof settings are..
lof1=10750
sw=0
lof2=10750

You should get the 12,177 MHz transponder if you get all the others. Leave the LOF settings alone. Make sure your card has the correct data for the 12,177 MHz transponder. See link below. If that doesn't work then try tweaking your dish a little to improve signal.

kat

http://www.lyngsat.com/ia5.html

[bobkat]

Originally Posted by Mark2074

Thanks for replying kat. Actually I should have been more clear. Those were LNB Freq. 1 & 2 not LNB 1 and 2. I still need to give value for the high and low freq. Are they both supposed to be 10600? Or 09750 & 10600 for Freqs. 1 & 2. Those are the defaults that come up when selecting universal LNB.

Thanks

I think you can leave the default values as they are. Try setting the LNB to a different number, like 2, 3 or 4, rather than LNB 1. Sounds weird but it might work. Also try setting the 22 KHz tone to ON.

kat

[Mark2074]

Thanks Kat,

I tried that as well, I left it alone and then also change the tone to 22Khz. I'm at a point where I am just going to give up...I've spent a $114 for basicly nothing.

[bobkat]

Originally Posted by Mark2074

Thanks Kat,

I tried that as well, I left it alone and then also change the tone to 22Khz. I'm at a point where I am just going to give up...I've spent a $114 for basicly nothing.

Well, try this. See if the store will exchange your universal LNB for a "standard" LNB. Then set the L.O. frequency to 10,750 Mhz rather than 10,600 MHz. Try to find Telstar 5 (now called IA5). It is fairly easy to find compared to the other sats you mentioned earlier. For Toronto IA5 comes around 215 degrees on the compass and 35 degrees elevation.

kat

[Mark2074]

Actually, I would like to go back to my original post and make a correction. I bought a Fortec star 31" (80 cm) dish not a 33". I first thought I bought a 33" dish because that is what I asked the sales guy at the store. Will this make any difference for someone in Toronto? Or would a 36" (90 cm) dish be better?

[cleosong]

Hi,

I'm using Traxis DBS-2500 as the receiver and trying to aim at Galaxy 3C in San Jose, CA. I selected transponder 2 (preconfigured in Traxis), and
got a 82% Level, but Quality stays on 0%.

What does "Level" and "Quality" mean? And how do I bring up the
Quality?

Transponder 2 has the following parameters preconfigured:

Frequency 11780
symbol rate 20679
polarization H

I also tried scanning through using all preconfigured transponders,
but it failed to find a channel. Another thing I tried is AMC4, with
different elevation/azimuth/LNBF tilt of course, and it own set of
preconfigured transponders, but no matter what I try, "Quality"
stays 0%, even though Level changed from 63% to 83%.

I'd appreciate any suggestions.

cleo song

[bobkat]

Originally Posted by Mark2074

Actually, I would like to go back to my original post and make a correction. I bought a Fortec star 31" (80 cm) dish not a 33". I first thought I bought a 33" dish because that is what I asked the sales guy at the store. Will this make any difference for someone in Toronto? Or would a 36" (90 cm) dish be better?

Of course a bigger dish will get you more signal and make it easier to find the satellite in the first place but a 31" dish is fine for the Toronto area.

kat