ASC421 Install getting UGLY

[sdoradus]

My son gave me his old 10 ft mesh this past year since it was light enough to get up on the roof with an existing 1 meter ku unit so I installed it by using parts from an old circa 1981 iron horse which had limited range on the arc due to a line of laurel trees. The 10 ft mesh works great with the 922 and corotor. However, I am now trying to get the old 10 footer going but have run into problems with a new asc421.
When I pulled the corotor from the old iron horse I left the unit fixed on g10r (dead south of me) so I simply should have been able to install the asc421 and be ready to go but no such luck. Started with the 0 mark at 12 o clock and gone through both complete rotations and 3 inches worth of focal length shifts both directions without success. The best I have been able to do is get strength readings in the 90s and quality readings around 45 on a coship 2300b but no lock (targeting the outdoor channel). Frustration is setting in and I would appreciate any suggestions. Will probably pull the unit later today (if rain holds back) and switch it with the corotor on the mesh just to see if it might be a problem with the asc421.

Sdoradus

 

[WyrTwister]

My son gave me his old 10 ft mesh this past year since it was light enough to get up on the roof with an existing 1 meter ku unit so I installed it by using parts from an old circa 1981 iron horse which had limited range on the arc due to a line of laurel trees. The 10 ft mesh works great with the 922 and corotor. However, I am now trying to get the old 10 footer going but have run into problems with a new asc421.
When I pulled the corotor from the old iron horse I left the unit fixed on g10r (dead south of me) so I simply should have been able to install the asc421 and be ready to go but no such luck. Started with the 0 mark at 12 o clock and gone through both complete rotations and 3 inches worth of focal length shifts both directions without success. The best I have been able to do is get strength readings in the 90s and quality readings around 45 on a coship 2300b but no lock (targeting the outdoor channel). Frustration is setting in and I would appreciate any suggestions. Will probably pull the unit later today (if rain holds back) and switch it with the corotor on the mesh just to see if it might be a problem with the asc421.

Sdoradus

Since you have rotated the LNBF , this does not help , but I have read of their polarity being off 90 degrees .


Best of luck ,
Wyr

 

[Shawn95GT]

With the dish at due south, '0' was at the 9 o'clock position on my ASC421. The performance of that LNBF was quite impressive for as inexpensive as it is!

On the 922, be sure you have it set to use a c-band LNBF vs a LNB.

 

[sdoradus]

Shawn

Tried 9 as well as the rest of the clock but still no cigar. Currently I use the 922 on the other C-band set up with a Coship slaved as well as operating a SG2100 on the ku 1 meter. Even have tried the line to the asc421 directly to both receivers bypassing my 12V and Dsq switches just to make sure it wasn't a switch problem with each receiver reset to lnbf. Darn thing still picks up zip but shoots back a 90 signal on the Coship and a 100 on the 922. Its frustrating.

SD

 

[Shawn95GT]

That is strange. Did you see the signal change as you clocked the LNBF? Did you get a quality number on the Coship / 922?

Shawn

 

[sdoradus]

It is wierd. Signal levels did change on both receivers. Best quality number I got on the coship was 48 but no lock so no picture. The 922 did not post a quality level since I was on transponder 19 at the time which is the only one I subscribe to on G10r. On the coship I was on transponder 24 at the proper frequency and SR which is in the clear on the mpeg receiver using the other C-band dish (newer mesh one) and corotor. I can't think of much else to try except to move the asc421 to the mesh dish and go through the same hoops befor assuming it is a pumpkin. At least I will be able to check several birds with it since they are locked in with the 922 and its actuator.

SD

 

[iammike]

I'm not familiar with the Coship, but assuming it has a loop-out of the satellite signal you might try connecting your 922 to that output and attempt to tune one of the analog channels on g10. You didnt' mention if you have a VC module, but if you do you can use it to tune with the analog channels even if you're not subscribed. Analog is always a lot easier to tune than digital. Since the Outdoor channel is on a H transponder, you'll want to use transponder 16 (MTV) or 18 (TMC). Once you get a lock, you can go to the installation screen on the VC unit and check the signal strength. Do some additional fine-tuning to peak the signal, and then try the FTA with the Coship. When I was peaking my dish, I found the best way to tune the dish was to take a TV out in the yard with me so I could see the picture while I made adjustments. Guess that might be a little trickier for you climbing up on the roof though.

 

[sdoradus]

Mike
I appreciate the suggestion but do not quite follow the reasoning. Age seems to have diminished what little mental ability I had. I have already wired directly to the 922 and tried transponder 19 with no success using a battery operated 9 inch portable tv. There is a VC module in the 922 so the only difference would be I tried to tune into a vertical analog channel on the 922 rather than the horizontal digital I used on the coship. I don't quite understand what advantage there would be in using the coship pass through as opposed to changing the cable between receivers and setting them to lnbf. The roof is really no problem for me since it has a 16 x 60 foot deck (Im an avid amateur astronomer so its used for my telescopes) between the two peaks running north and south so I thought it might be easier to check the lnbf on a dish that had all the satellites in my arc locked in with the 922 actuator. There really should have been no problem with the old 10 footer on the ground since it was peaked at g10r and locked in place with the old guide bar just so I wouldn't have to repeak the dish itself. Ended up trying anyway with no success. The lnb mount was also left in position although I tried shifting it by several inches during tuning. Thus if my corotor worked on that dish with good signal/quality with both the coship and 922 I can't figure out what Im doing wrong with the asc421. Even have gone so far as to put in an extra run of RG6 in case the old cable had failed in the few days I waited for the new lnbf to arrive. Guess Im going bonkers and just overlooking something simple but sure haven't figured it out.

 

[iammike]

Mike
I don't quite understand what advantage there would be in using the coship pass through as opposed to changing the cable between receivers and setting them to lnbf. The roof is really no problem for me since it has a 16 x 60 foot deck

At the time I wrote that, I was thinking the 922 might have trouble energizing the asc421 correctly. Now that I'm not about ready to fall asleep, I have to admit that I can't see the advantage either. It's amazing how many points 8 hours sleep will add to your IQ. Sorry for adding to the confusion. I would still suggest attempting to adjust your lnbf with an analog H transponder first, before trying to get the DVB channel. Analog is a heck of a lot easier to tune in.

By the way, your deck sounds extremely cool!