125W and low Q

[bpalone]

OK, I'm getting Montana PBS with as high or higher Q than I ever have. But, the OTEA PBS channels are A.W.O.L. or just barely change the color of the strength and Q bars on my Micro HD and GeosatPro 90CM. The color change happened about sunrise this morning (6/18/04). The scrambled HBO, etc are hitting 75 to 77 on Q and the PBS feeds are in the 50 to 60 category.

I'm located roughly 44.25 N by 105.5 W. If they are capable of setting the footprint for a given transponder that might explain my Montana and the basically non-existent OETA. However, I used to be able to get the OETA stuff without much trouble.

I do have a small tree close to the dish off to the west side and had thought that it was possibly the cause. But, I've eyeballed and moved branches without any change. Besides, if it were the branches, I would think it would affect across the board.

Am I alone in the missing OETA channels or are others having issues as well?

Thanks in advance.

 

[FaT Air]

Everything is 'normal' on 125W with the 83e/soupcan LNBF/S9.
One way I 'see' what the the dish sees it take a picture of the face of the LNBF with the camera resting on the lnb lower support arm 'Resting' it at the lower lip of the dish if the support arm is not 'on' the lip of the dish. Would upload a pic but they are on another computer.
About all you can do if that looks 'clear' is try tune it up again. May have sagged enough for problems with OETA..

 

[xtgold]

I get no signal at all on OETA

 

[TRG]

I noticed that the OETA transponder was much lower and not locking very well last night.

 

[bpalone]

Probably got a bit to anxious with the issue. Took a few minutes about lunch time and played with where the satellite is in the list, i.e. 125.2 rather than 125.0 and in came the OETA channels.

Bottom line, either I'm off a bit on the latitude for the motor or dish elevation is still off a bit or all of the above. Everything else seems pretty good, so is probably just enough to be a bit of an issue.

Thanks for the input.

 

[TRG]

I wouldn't be a but surprised if my alignment is off a bit too. My dishes have been taking a beating this spring with high winds practically every day.

 

[FaT Air]

Ahha, Sounds like it's 'spring tweaking time'.

 

[Dee_Ann]

I can tell you from first hand experience, it’s tough work getting ALL the PBS stuff to lock in when you’re using a motorized dish.
I had a miserable time getting them to all come in at the same time. It can be done but it’s not easy.

 

[northgeorgia]

Yeah, I've got just enough signal right now to get all except one PBS feed channel with my PLL lnbf, but I'll have to try to tweak things a bit more when I'm not dodging heat stroke temps or lightning bolts. Gotta love summer in the South.

 

[lost_mesa]

I get kind of frustrated with OETA and Montana PBS because I assume that most full time up linkers would keep their down link power pretty constant, so the problem must be on my end.

I decided to start graphing the signal strength of the main PBS mux (12,180 MHz), Montana PBS, and OETA. This morning the signal from OETA started dropping quickly on my graph. My receiver showed no signal. The weather radar showed strong storms over Oklahoma. So now I know that the problem is not on my end and other than getting a bigger dish, there is nothing I can do about it.

View attachment 98548
Green-PBS 12180 MHz. Purple-Montana PBS. Blue-OETA

The graph is for about a five hour time period. Each vertical division is about 4 or 5 db. In order to keep the 3 channels from graphing on top of each other, I offset each one from the baseline. So it doesn't show that one channel is stronger than another, just how steady or not each individual channel is.

 

[FaT Air]

Gotta remember that they use much larger dishes. I kinda doubt that any of their downlink sites has anything smaller than an 8 ft. (just a guess tho-)
I think I'm lucky to get 'em on an 84e with the reliability I experience.

 

[Dee_Ann]

Yes, I’m getting them all on a 1m Primestar and it was a nightmare to make that happen. Also my dad is getting them all on a 1m Primestar as well.
I notice on both of our systems that the signals fluctuate wildly all over the place. After all the trouble I had with motorized dishes I would strongly recommend a fixed dish with a PLL LNBF dedicated to 125 if PBS is a big thing in your household. My dad is really a big OETA fan and he gets grumpy when he has to miss his shows.

 

[lost_mesa]

Yeah, I usually get it fine on my 1.2 meter motorized dish (but it looks like I now have some tracking problems with it). But the fixed 90 cm I have on 125 W often isn't enough. Both dishes have PLL LNBFs.

 

[jorgek]

Agree with all the comments and the way 125W Q is constantly fluctuating unlike the scrambled channels that are always Q 75 even during rain storms. 125W really requires extreme fine tweaking which equates to lots of patience. Currently my motorized 33" Fortec dish and Avenger PLL LNB is parked on 125W. The final tweak was to set, in USALS, the sats position as 125.5W for max Q. This setting is a compromise so that Montana and all the other channels lock in very well.

 

[KE4EST]

This is why I have a 1.2M dedicated to 125 now! That bird gets watched all day in this house, I got tired of the kids yelling "Daddy you need to go outside and fix the satellite".

 

[jorgek]

This is why I have a 1.2M dedicated to 125 now! That bird gets watched all day in this house, I got tired of the kids yelling "Daddy you need to go outside and fix the satellite".

Makes sense. With me its a hobby and I also enjoy some of the programs. But Its not my primary source for TV.

 

[hwm]

125w Ku PBS is marginal here in north central Idaho with a fixed 90cm dish. Any bad weather on my end will make the weaker transponders unusable. Also noticed the fluctuating signal levels on PBS transponders others have mentioned, even during perfect weather at my end.

Interestingly, I have noticed occasional problems related to poor signal while watching our local PBS OTA station. I have line of sight to their broadcast tower from my outdoor OTA antenna, and my terrestrial signal from them is always near 100%. KUID must be having intermittent issues with 125w reception too.

 

[jorgek]

So even with a 90cm dish signals do flutuate widely. I thought perhaps my 33" dish was the problem. Though a bigger dish would be better. 125W seems to be the only sat that behaves this way. My 25" aimed at 30W is rock steady other than during rain or snow storms.