AMC1/103 W: Please post your results

[RT-Cat]

That was a good video. I only have and old Hughesnet dish at 103 for the horrible blue cast pier cams and the added great music. Can't pick up any NBC with it. I may move the Primestar over to 103 when I find some time to play.
Something I can not understand about the long wait to put SES3 into use. Those sats must cost a ton of money to build and get up/out there, so why wait so long before they(owners) can start to collect some $$$$$ off them? One would think the faster they can get them into use the better for the owners......
RT

 

[SatelliteAV]

The transitional delay is due to the large number of users on this satellite that will require feeds adjustments. 103w KU is one of the more popular business satellites for North America.

To minimize the impact on their clients, the transition period was extended to allow a controlled transition using regular maintenance schedules and service calls. The economic impact on a company to roll on tens of thousands of sites for an immediate transition would be incredible! This could be a deciding factor for a client to transition to another platform and service provider.

 

[RT-Cat]

Thanks, AV understood.
RT

 

[RT-Cat]

Well, 103 Ku became much better today after some sat moving. I had a Hughesnet dish on 103 for the Huntington Pier. All I could pick up with it. So I moved the 1M Primestar over to 103 and picked up a large number of the NBC channels. Put the Hughes on 83 for Tuff, PBJE, and RTV. Everything has a great signal. Happy to have finally picked up the NBC's.
.
RT

 

[Cham]

I pick up 103 11840H fairly well with a 1m dish but very intermittantly using a 36" dish. Even after spending an hour fine-tuning the 36" stationary it still doesn't quite cut the mustard up here. If it rains I get drop-outs on the 1m too. A 1.2m dish is the best for this satellite & TP.

 

[Magic Static]

I use an old Muzak dish (1m Prodlin) with an old primestar LNB. Works very well except in heavy downpour .

 

[radio]

My turn to try to do 103ku on a .75 channel master dish! I'm not doing well except when an openbox is directly connected! Here's the setup:

Ports on diseqc in birdview nosecone:

1: CBAND Birdview
2:KU BAND Birdview
3:125 WEST FIXED DISH KU
4: 72 WEST FIXED DISH KU

All the above working fine. Wanted to add

An ALIGNED/dedicated/verified aligned 103 ku dish (aligned with extra openbox receiver to the beach cams, to 89 percent signal 75 percent quality. I was impressed with that!

After knowing the dish was aligned....

Tried adding 22khz switch at dish 4 to select 72 on "22khz off" and 103 on "22khz on" and got no signal through on the 103. 72 remained fine. Must be the order of switches has to be 22khz first, diseqc second (after reviewing Anole's great wiring diagrams, this is confirmed.)

Today, I ran an ECODA switch ahead of the disecq at the birdview nosecone, with the "0" khz feeding the receiver from the 4-place diseqc, and the 22khz side going DIRECTLY to the (verified aligned) 103 dedicated ku. (my lines all go up one strut and into the nosecone. Got nothing. Used exact same cable as the one used during alignment of the 103 dish.

Checked that my MicroHD settings read NO diseqc and 22khz ON for the 103, since it's a direct line once the switch is "on"....no signal. Checked known transponders, no signal. All other settings for 1-4 as above are still FINE.

I'm completely baffled here It's almost like the microHD has no settings for 103ku working, as I also can enjoy 103 C-band beautifully, but also get NOTHING on the Birdview's ku LNB when I change motor/switch settings on the MicroHD to look to the birdview's Ku

So, in a nutshell, the 103 signal won't render from EITHER the aligned ku dedicated dish, or the Birdview's ku. I know that some signals on this bird are touchy, but when aligning the fixed dish to the beach cams, the skew on the lnb was not a huge issue and never cost me a signal, so I can't believe that changing that factor will be a huge issue, especially when dealing with a "zero vs. fine" picture scenario.

Any suggestions? I HAVE ordered an 8 place diseqc switch, to replace the 4-place one, eliminate using external 22khz switches, and that will allow more options down the road and the 103 fixed can be port #5.

The only option left to test is a straight shot, no switches whatsoever to the microHD to verify my suspicion that my unit has some funky firmware that won't work on that bird. I'm still on the ORIGINAL MicroHD firmware, as it has presented me with no issues. I'm skiddish about upgrading it, as I don't think I can go directly from my version to whatever is now out there without intermediate upgrades. Plus, why fix what ain't broke overall?

I'm stumped. And waiting for my 8 place switch, hoping that's the answer, knowing MicroHD can handle those commands.

 

[Balock]

What models of Ku LNBs are you using for 72W and 103W? Standard or Universal? LO frequencies?

Were any switches in the line when the 103W dish was aligned?

I would recommend trying a direct connection to the LNB (no switches) and verify that you have the correct Local Oscillator frequency (and LNB type) for the 103W LNB. Also, on the smaller dishes the LNB skew will make more of a difference because the dish captures less of the signal. As you're dedicating this dish for 103W Ku I would recommend using the corrected skew for that sat's Ku transponders.

I can receive the beach cams on a 55cm toroidal dish with my microHD, but that's it...not enough dish for the DVB-S2 stuff. The skew has to be correct or I get nothing. The original firmware should receive the signals on 103w just fine.

Good luck!

 

[radio]

I think the LNB is WSI branded, no switches, Standard LO frequencies.

NO switches when 103 was aligned yesterday. I looked so old fashioned for satellite with a little AC/DC set and an openbox on an extension cord,
aligning with the shade of the dish allowing me to see the 5" screen via an a/v input. was surprised at the signal on the dedicated dish! Skew didn't seem
?to affect the beach-cam more than 1-2 percent!

Hoping the 8 place switch (in its simplicity) will help, and thank YOU for responding. The hunt continues next cool, dry day to keep patience levels high.

 

[radio]

Updating the above: The Birdview's KU did get 103 to come in, but we need more resolution on the rotary encoder....Didn't get NBC...the beach cams were fine.

The smaller Ku dish .75 Channel master, (former DTN) got the NBC signals at 85-90 signal and quality bouncing around from the 30's-60's but had no active video at the time of testing, no Cozi when scanned. Used a straight line connection to the MicroHD, no switches, just some adapters from BNC to "F" as the extension I used was a former birdview short jumper with BNC's.

I'm concluding that I'll probably have to switch dishes for 103, putting this former DTN dish onto PBS with a PLL LNB, and use the larger Ku dish now aimed at PBS on 125 for 103. Does our assembled panel of experts think this would help....or......

Another option, not sure if it would be good....would be to take the far Left ("extra", not shown) Birdview which is not in use, and tweak IT for 103ku.....would that be better than the larger dedicated Ku dish? Opinions solicited! I can't tweak the motorized one shown on 103 for obvious reasons of skew, but a dedicated large dish, SURE!

Sounds like a day of swapping and aligning coming up after the 8-place diseqc arrives (to be installed in the nosecone of the Birdview where the 4-place is now. Like the temporary trashbag water protection?

At least I know the MicroHD has no issues!

?Birdview or Ku dish? Curioius what y'all have to say! (sorry bout the "y'all)......

 

[primestar31]

Ok, I live not all that far North-East of you and have a Prodelin 1.2m dish with the SatAv little dual bullet lnb on the dish fixed on 103W. I have it skewed to pick up Cozi specifically, and that comes in around 73, 74 quality-wise. That's with the MicroHD, running through 100ft quad shield Rg-6, a 4x1 diseqc switch, and the 22k ON side of a 4 x 8 switch.

IF we get our normal storm clouds in the South, and they get thick and dark, Cozi goes first. In fact Cozi can pixelate if the sun gets close to the same azimuth of the sat for me. It's S2 AND 8psk, so needs wads of signal quality to keep locked. But, the 1.2m dish does quite well 98% of the time.

 

[radio]

That's a good vote for a swap right there!

 

[primestar31]

By the way, I did have a SatAV KU pll lnb (I own several of them) on that 103W 1.2M Prodelin at first, until I added another receiver and needed dual output. The bullet lnb works just as well as the PLL one. I see no real difference in signal quality, and it holds or goes out during weather issues all the same.

 

[radio]

I hadn't noticed a huge difference on the PBS at 125, either..but was graciously given one bay a member who attended our gathering in Ionia, and thought I'd give it a try.

I'm thinking more and more that the spare birdview is going on either 137 to avoid travel on the motorized one or on 101, which is pretty much where she sits most of the time anyway. I'd probably watch more stuff from 137 if it was a simple "switch" away and not moving the big dish, which needs an upgrade to the counting system before winter. It'd probably work but be no better as a glorified ku dish, and waste it's C-band potential.

 

[Keith Brannen]

What size is the fixed KU dish you have at 72? If it is bigger than the .75 Channel master, I'd be inclined to swap it with that dish, rather than put the .75 on 125 (which are all S2, so require a good signal). I get all three NBC transponders on an LNB about 3 degrees or so off-centre on an 80cm. Drop-off/pixelation level is about 62-63, and I get 11760 at 76, 11840 at 74, and 11880 at 68 on the AZBox Ultra.

 

[radio]

The 72 is also a retired DTN (channel master .75 m).....

 

[Keith Brannen]

Naturally! LOL! Anyhow, unless you have to physical move the dish reflector from one location in your yard to another, I would first point the .75 dish at 125 and see whether the levels are acceptable or not, before I would re-point the larger dish to 103.

 

[Panavision]

Here's my new setup for AMC-1. The dish on the left is fixed at 103. When I select AMC-1 on the MicroHD, the motorized dish on the right moves out of its way. My 1.2m has to be aimed just right and the LNB skewed perfectly. As for results (quality)...

11885: 81%
11760: 78%
11841: 77%


As I write this, I'm noticing CoziTV starts out fine when I tune to the channel, but then breaks up badly after about two minutes. I can't figure out what causes that. Now it's back to normal. Must be some source of interference or the Micro can't keep up with the datarate.

 

[highskies]

My system. Motorized 31" dish. My location Texarkana, TX. My lnbf..it's a pll, though I don't recall the model number offhand. My receiver..an openbox s9.

The NBC feeds and Cozi are showing a steady 70%, pertaining to signal quality. I have the lnbf just slightly turned past center position to where it doesn't affect feeds on other birds. All I know is, if I leave it centered, I get no signal at all, in regards to these feeds in question. Cozi appears to be airing Highway to Heaven at the moment. And since I don't care much for that show, I had to switch channels to something else.

 

[radio]

Swapping dish update in West Central Michigan for 103/Cozi

In our last episode, we found user "radio" trying to add "Cozi" and NBC to the MicroHD. You might recall the idea was to swap the stationary dishes being used for Ku.... PBS on a 1.2m using the PLL LNB along with the second former DTN/Channel Master dish aimed at 103 with "average" LNB. (see labeled picture, taken at night.) Cozi was just NOT going to come in, no matter what...on that DTN dish!

In today's episode, it's a Saturday. Great weather, cool, and perfect "satellite fun" weather. First step: Switch PBS over to the dish still labeled DTN. Unbelievably, after loosening the mount, a random and firm yet gentle "yank" and a lowering of the angle, and PBS snapped right in! I didn't change the LNB over, figuring MOST of the PBS is good, strong lockable signal, and I locked my dish on the weakest of signals for me (Montana PBS)...So..at the right time, it's "on" with the recording of "History Detectives" as always, but from a different source dish!

With that done, it was on to finding COZI! I'm not sure it's clean living, I'm not sure it's that I'm even due an "easy" project for a change. I'm not even sure I'll want to keep this channel...it depends on what they carry and how I like the programming, but I'm not ABOUT to miss out on a channel so "elusive" to many and so "sought" by FTA'ers...so...I changed the settings for 103ku in my MicroHD to look to port 4 on the diseqc, a direct path to the 1.2 meter dish, formerly PBS.

My 1.2m dish was given to me by user "PIXL" ...and has been my PBS for a long time. Thanks to the very simple design of the mount, a loosening of the bolts allowed me to swing it randomly to approximately 103w, and the long threaded rod in back which holds elevation allowed a simple "pull up, pull down" adjustment for elevation. Amazingly, the tone of the signal meter for this dish ALSO snapped right in at the top end of the range I'd loosened on the threaded rod.

I should say, right about now that I CHEAT in how I align dishes. I have multiple small FM transmitters. The one I used today is a "Broadcast Vision" box, used by health clubs, etc...FCC approved, and a range of maybe a couple hundred feet at best. For each satellite I want to align, I go to a known working channel, plug this transmitter (shown) into my TV, and take a windup/solar radio outside. NO tv needed outside, no extra person on a 2-way, no "signal meter" needed at the dish, either. (I don't have a good one....just a cheapie I can't stand, and this works better.) Tone gets transmitted to my radio, UP goes the tone, and away we go! You can do the same with a $6 FM transmitter from dollar stores or Ebay! Any of those meant to send your mp3 player to your car stereo that have decent range....They'll usually get you far enough if you use a radio with a good antenna outside!

Anyway, 103 locked in right away as shown! I don't see myself using NBC due to the divided audio issue...(can that be averted using optical out of the TV adapting to stereo??) but...Cozi is "in"...and, I now know for elusive Ku finds, I'll be moving this dish, and using the DTN/Channel Master dishes for more "standard" finds.

What's next? Move the far left Birdview down to 137 and add it in via second diseqc or an 8-place diseqc switch. It's motor has not been switched-over to run with modern sensing parts, but It'll save running the motorized Birdview down low when I want 360 north, or other services down there.
So far, a good satellite day...and 103 locked nicely!

I love a challenge! I've joined the ranks of those who CAN pull elusive signals on 103!

Pictures show the dish lineup, the stationary Birdview on left. 1.2 meter now aligned on 103 between the BV's. Motorized BV is the right hand one. The first (unlableled) Channel Master Dish is on 72 (NBC/feeds) and far right DTN/Channel master now on PBS.
It's still daylight.....wonder what I can do outside next!

Tune in next time when we hear "Radio" say:

"It's time to run the other Birdview down to 137w, install the 8 place diseqc allowing the adding of more dishes, and get the cover on my nosecone!
... at least one more Birdview is on its way to me soon!"