Another Newbie needs HELP getting "Quality" and using DSB 5700

[ipsolutions]

First of all, I want to thank everyone for their helpful replies. Without your help, I would not have gotten out of the starting block. I am using USALS but have tried DisEq for Galaxy 19 in an effort to locate it, because with DisEq it allows me to adjust the position manually. I failed and returned to USALS.

Now, I took all your advice, looked at the line of site and determined some trees were in the way and "pruned" them. Now I've got 5 satellites and some bad-looking fruit trees! I also looked at the sun's path yesterday to get a good idea of where the sats are located. The sun outage calculator is terrific for this, thanks, as is the techique of looking through the axis of the LNB to find obstructions.

One of the issues was the mounting bracket of the dish to the motor stem alignment. I had to rotate the bracket on the stem several degrees to achieve the right arc. It is amazing to me that there is no locating feature on this gear!

But I still am unable to pick up Galaxy 19. Although I can see Galaxy 17 and SES1 which are on either side of it. It is possible there is still obstruction*, but I will have to raise the dish off the ground to clear it, and I don't want to do that until I am really done with everything else.

So here are my last (hah) questions:

1) Is there anything weird or tricky about the transmissions from Galaxy 19? Ary they weak, strong? Do they need anything weird as receiver input, like symbol rate or something else, or could these values have changed recently, since my receiver was manfactured (it is brand new)? Do they tend to overlap adjacent satellites, so that perfect alignment is necessary? Anything?

2) Why do I sometimes get lots of signal and lots of quality on the receiver but still detect no channels?

3) Does a strong sound or signal from my satellite finder really correlate with signal strength? I sometimes get successful reception of satellite signals in a signal strength range that seems rather low. I get very large signal finder output from AMC6 and SES1, but much less from Galaxy 17, but the reception nonetheless seems fine.

Thanks again, everyone.

*The only possible obstruction is a very tall tree far off, which certainly looks like if it were a problem for G19, it would also interfere with G17 and SES1. I can't prune this tree so will have to raise the dish to clear it. I only need 5-10 feet, I think.

 

[cyberham]

1) Nothing particularly tricky about Galaxy 19 although it was not among the first satellites I found when I started. It uses DVB-S transponders which are relatively easy to lock and their signal strength is typical. All transponders will blind scan without requiring manual entry. Between Galaxy 17 (91W) and SES 1 (101W) that leaves a big gap. Have you not found Galaxy 25 (93W with Azteca 13), Galaxy 3C (95W with several CCTV channels) or Galaxy 16 (99W with Shalom)? These three satellites are not difficult to receive once you are on the arc.

2) If you have signal strength and quality from a particular transponder but you can't scan anything in, those transponders are probably carrying data. Those transponders are good for orienting your dish, but that's about all.

3) I find with my S9 receiver that the highest quality readings will be from DVB-S signals. Those deliver good video quality and are easy to lock. However, DVB-S2 signals will deliver a lower quality reading and are more difficult to lock. So if possible it's best to orient your dish using a DVB-S signal from a strong transponder.

dishpointer.com has a useful feature that allows you to determine if obstacles near your LOS to satellite will obstruct that signal. Check it out.

 

[ipsolutions]

No, I haven't found these other satellites, but haven't looked very hard either. But this does suggest I may yet have an obstruction. Maybe the next step is to raise the dish, though I hate to do that unless I'm confident everything else is OK, as it will be much harder to work with. I am pretty sure I am close to the tops of some trees, and having their foliage come out will probably not help either.

 

[WhyMe1]

No, I haven't found these other satellites, but haven't looked very hard either. But this does suggest I may yet have an obstruction. Maybe the next step is to raise the dish, though I hate to do that unless I'm confident everything else is OK, as it will be much harder to work with. I am pretty sure I am close to the tops of some trees, and having their foliage come out will probably not help either.

Pictures are worth a thousand words!

 

[WhyMe1]

ipsolutions any progress on this?