Can anyone diagnose my problem?

[highskies]

I have a 7.5' dish. My southern sat is 95W. Most of the time, I can't even see this sat because of leaves on the neighbors trees. But I have a clear shot year around on 137W to around 103W. What's weird about that, 103W has been causing me major problems lately. I used to be able to pick it and it's feeds up just fine a year or so ago. But I've done a few adjustments here and there since then, and now I can't seem to get that sat back to where I can watch anything on it. Sometimes I can't even find that sat at all. But when I do find it, I can't get enough signal to bring anything in without it tiling real bad.

As an example. Since the leaves on the trees have been thinning out as of late, I am now able to pick up the feeds on 99W without any issues. I can do this all the way to 137W, both dvb-s and S2, except I can't tune in the NBC S2 feeds at 105W or 101W, whichever sat they're on. Don't recall at the moment.. But when it comes to 103W, well it's like I stated above. I have an lbnf and not an lnb, and I have checked the skew on analog ch 9 and 10 at 135W on the 4dtv side of things. The skew seems to be spot on. So anyone have any ideas why the dish seems to be tracking fairly fine from 137W to 99W, but why I'm having issues with 103W, all the feeds on that sat? As of right now, I can get MeTV, RFD, but tiling rather badly, but I can't even remotely get any of the ION feeds, tho in the past when I used to be able to tune these in, these seemed stronger in signal strength than did RFD.

As of now, 95W is still a bit of a problem, leaves haven't thinned out enough on that portion of the tree that has been blocking this sat. So maybe I don't have this dish pointing as south as it should be?

 

[Pixl]

Are you talking about C band or Ku?
103w Ku has a different skew than all the other sats and does not work well on a motorized setup.

 

[highskies]

Are you talking about C band or Ku?
103w Ku has a different skew than all the other sats and does not work well on a motorized setup.

I'm meaning Cband. On my motorized offset dish, which I have at another location on my property, I never really noticed any issues with this bird as far as KU goes. So it's mainly CBand that is causing me issues. That sat has a clear shot of the skies year around on the BUD. So nothing blocking it or anything.

 

[FaT Air]

I think I'd check everything over carefully. Starting with the pole. Although, you say you get the S2 on 137, is the Q actually maximum? Think I'd do the azimuth on both sides of the arc, and mark the mounts position on the pole for each. If they don't align, the declination is off a bit.

 

[highskies]

Although, you say you get the S2 on 137, is the Q actually maximum? .

Actually, speaking of that, I can't get those feeds anymore, never could really. That's where all of these adjustments here and there that I was referring to eventually caused me problems with 103W. At one time I got a lock on the S2 feeds on 137W, but no video. So I tried adjusting things in order to up the signal, in order to get a picture. I eventually lost that lock and have never found it again. But the dvb-s feeds on 137W with RTN, they come in like a charm with Q way up there. On 135W, I get both the dvb-s and S2 feeds, with the Q way up there. This dish doesn't make sense. As far as the pole, according to the level, it's as straight as straight can be. But there is a possibility that the mount itself might not be level all the way around. I remember years ago having a local pipe fitting place make me up a pole, and I couldn't help noticing that their cut didn't seem all that square or perfectly level, since they cut me a piece from a longer piece. I had them weld some fins on the bottom in order for the pole not to turn in the concrete later on. So no way to have flipped the pole and put the cut side down in the ground instead. Does that sound like anything that might be causing some problems? I haven't checked the mount itself in order to determine if it's level. I've only checked the pole recently. Can't go outside at the moment, it's pouring down rain.

As far as S2 feeds, the ones on Satmex 5 and 6 for instance, they come in just fine, like the ones on 135W do.

 

[turbosat]

Top of the pole does need to be level, have to check that with a level before you put the mount/dish on , its a pain to do it later, as you know. If it worked out okay before, it probably is some other variable, like the elevation changed or the east/west axis has rotated a little bit. With a marginal sized dish all those factors become more important-everything has to be tweaked to the max.

 

[highskies]

Top of the pole does need to be level, have to check that with a level before you put the mount/dish on , its a pain to do it later, as you know. If it worked out okay before, it probably is some other variable, like the elevation changed or the east/west axis has rotated a little bit. With a marginal sized dish all those factors become more important-everything has to be tweaked to the max.

All I know is, this thing defies logic. Now I can no longer get the S2 feeds at 135W all of a sudden. I have a pole level. just checked mount. All the bubbles are level. So I think that can be eliminated as a possible problem. I rechecked my elevation and declination, these still appear to be pretty well spot on for my location. The CBand lnbf that I have is somewhat ancient. When the person that gave me this dish some 5 or 6 years ago, it seems he had it out of service for a number of years prior to giving it to me. So I'm not certain how old this lnbf would be. Just wondering if it's just not up to par with some of the digital dvb of today?

Another thing I've been pondering, maybe my RG6 is no longer up to par or something. It's about a 50 foot run that I have connected to the Openbox S9.
Speaking of that receiver, could anybody with an S9 tell me what the Signal Intensity should be on CBand? Does it vary on dish size? Mine always reads 42% regardless which CBand sat I'm on. Is that normal, or should the intensity be much higher?

 

[chaskuchar]

mine is 80 or above if i've got signal. even if the q is 12 to 20 and breaking up. i have been up to 85 once in a while. my dish is a little bigger than 7.5. maybe 7.8. do you get nbc on 105w? about 135w. i do watch bloomberg but did not know there were some s2 feeds there. will check it again. charlie

 

[FaT Air]

If you're not on a TP that's locked, the Signal on my S9 is around 40-45, As soon as there is lock and a Q reading the Signal goes to 80+.

RG6 is no longer up to par

My 100 ft run is 20+ years old. Just under the sod for about 50ft. Have only occasionally, when they "look" bad, replaced the fittings.

The CBand lnbf that I have is somewhat ancient. When the person that gave me this dish some 5 or 6 years ago, it seems he had it out of service for a number of years prior to giving it to me

Could be questionable. If your BUD tuning is "on"(??) Think I'd spring for a GEOSATpro C-BAND SINGLE OUTPUT to confirm, have as a spare, the LNB.

 

[highskies]

mine is 80 or above if i've got signal. even if the q is 12 to 20 and breaking up. i have been up to 85 once in a while. my dish is a little bigger than 7.5. maybe 7.8.

I'm not certain what to make out of it then, since I'm only getting around 42%. It seems to stay at that number no matter what.

do you get nbc on 105w?

Nope. Can't pick up any S2 feeds on that sat. I can still get the S2 feeds on Satmex 5 and 6, even tho I just lost the S2 feeds on 135W like right out of the clear blue sky. Can't even get a lock on them anymore. This is driving me crazy since I do know how to successfully track a dish, my motorized offset being the proof, since it tracks the arc almost perfectly. But this BUD I have, it defies logic.

 

[highskies]

Could be questionable. If your BUD tuning is "on"(??) Think I'd spring for a GEOSATpro C-BAND SINGLE OUTPUT to confirm, have as a spare, the LNB.

That looks like a good price for one of those. I might get one if they accept Paypal. If not, I guess I'll have to look on Ebay.

 

[highskies]

If you're not on a TP that's locked, the Signal on my S9 is around 40-45, As soon as there is lock and a Q reading the Signal goes to 80+.

Don't know what I was thinking. Just rechecked. On locked signals I get around 85% intensity. and around 70 or 75 Q on most feeds. That's why I'm puzzled about 103W, and now I've lost all signs of the S2 feeds on 135W that used to tune in like a charm.

 

[SatelliteAV]

That looks like a good price for one of those. I might get one if they accept Paypal. If not, I guess I'll have to look on Ebay.

FYI..... The GEOSATpro C2 has much higher performance than the C1. I recommend the C2, even if you do not need the second port.

We will accept PayPal. Just call our sales team, place your order and they will issue a PayPal request for the balance.

 

[highskies]

FYI..... The GEOSATpro C2 has much higher performance than the C1. I recommend the C2, even if you do not need the second port.

We will accept PayPal. Just call our sales team, place your order and they will issue a PayPal request for the balance.

I was looking at the specs on both, and the specs appear to be almost identical. So what is it about the C2 that gives it a much higher performance than the C1? The fact I'm having issues with some birds, and the fact my current lnbf is likely ancient by todays' standards, then every bit of performance gain I could get, I would think might be beneficial to me. So just wondering then. Thanks

 

[SatelliteAV]

Better build components and difference design gives an edge in the C2 performance.