Can find fta sats

[bevshadow]

Can't find fta sats

First like to say hello to everyone as this is my first post here, I been trying to get some FTA channels ( for a couple weeks now) or signal and cant seem to find anything.

i have a viewsat ultra, 1.2 meter non skew able dish, sf-95c+ sat finder, standard single lnbf digiwave DGS-03s, and star choice 60E dual lnb.

sat from 94 degrees on are block by big hill so can see but 94 down in clear sky
i live in St. Johns Newfoundland Canada at 47 degrees north and 53 degrees west

some i were trying were AMC 3,4,5, IA5, IA6, and was trying anik f1, but no luck some of the settings i was using

AMC 3 12040 elevation 14.6 azimuth 242.3 skew 27.1
AMC 4 11704 elevation 18.4 azimuth 236.7 skew 34.3
AMC 5 11742 elevation 29.6 azimuth 213.8 skew 21.8
IA5 12177 elevation 20.7 azimuth 232.9 skew 32.5
IA6 11877 elevation 22.9 azimuth 228.9 skew 30.5

on the ultra set
lnb power => on
LNB type => standard ( had universal for star choice 60E lnb)
lnb freq => 10750
tp => shown above for each one i tried
22 khz => off
diseqc 1.0 => off
motor => off
legacy SW=> off

looked at (read) different guides that said dish was big enough but can find anything, are my settings ok? and how do you skew the star choice 60E ie if i move it to the next bolt pattern how much of a skew is that? (it has 4 small bolts at 90 degrees apart) and the notches on top of the digiwave lnb are they 5 or 10 degrees each?
was looking for English feeds any help/ suggestions would be great also first time trying to get a fta linear sat. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Anole]

couple of things:

Let's see . . .

To know if you can see over that hill, you might use a compass and this home-made inclinometer:

ThisBUDsForYou and his soda straw inclinometer
http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-ai...a-straw-inclinometer-line-sight-pictures.html


Then, tune your receiver to a strong transponder on the satellite you are trying to locate:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/85225-i-need-strong-transponder-aim-my-dish.html


To get a PDF printout of the satellites, elevations, direction, and skew, you might try this site:
GeoSatFinder - Satellite Finder Calculator - Satellite AV
It's just one of many good ones, but it's a place to start.


ALSO, we have TheList, which also has strong transponders and aiming info.


Okay, anyone.....what did I forget??

 

[bevshadow]

Thanks for your reply i like the straw gauge I will be trying that, the list of strong transponders from Iceberg i have also, Thanks, and that sat calculator gave me all info i need on all sats i can get, Thanks, and the dish size list have that, Thanks.

The only thing i need now is the markings on the lnbf do anyone know what each mark represents on a digawave DGS-03S for skewing not sure how much each one is, and the star choice 60E lnb settings to use IE: (standard/universal) (10750 or 10600) and any skewing tips for it.

Thanks again Anole

 

[bevshadow]

Tried the straw thing and like i said no line of sight after 94 as i thought and i think i have the skew figured out if i turn it 90 degrees then it is skewed 90 degrees (i think) thats what i'am going with now anyways gets lots of signal (91-92) but no quality still. Anyone know what a 60E star choice is standard or universal?

 

[SpiffWilkie]

Thanks for the inclinometer. I can use that and strap a green laser to the top.

 

[Tron]

Bevshadow, what is the model number of your LNB on the 60E? I believe some Star Choice LNBs are stacked.

 

[bevshadow]

The info on the star choice lnb 60E

Part NO. 150462
us patent #5,737,698, #5,898,455
made in U.S.A
California amplifier
143

thats whats on back of the cans so to speak
and on the small arms going to end of eye i have
60E on one and 3041211 on the other

Thanks

 

[amc1]

welcome bevshadow nice to see another fellow newfie,im from corner brook ,glad im not alone ,dont mean to take over the tread just happy to see a fellow nflder. pm me some time we can compare notes ,lol.i forgot to add i did never had much luck with s.c. lmbf.

 

[bevshadow]

Thanks AMC1
Will do, not much here either with star choice, been reading your posts about getting a bigger dish a while back and been thinking i'll have to do the same, I was going to pm you the other day but never, good to here from another Newfie also don't worry about the thread unless it bothers someone else not I, i pm next time i'am on have to go wife wants to use phone.
Later

 

[amc1]

ok bro later.

 

[bevshadow]

Pm sent amc1

Found out the marks ontop of the digiwave DGS-03s are 5 degrees apart -45 to +45
now i need to figure out what settings for the star choice lnb. (only one cable output per can) if that helps been reading just can't find the info on this lnb if universal or standard.

 

[bevshadow]

Also how important is it to use rg6 over 59 for FTA sats for the cables the ones I'm using 59 and are only about 5 and 10 feet long?

 

[Tron]

Those are stacked LNBs, so they send down both horizontal and vertical polarity at the same time (no voltage switching of polarities). You can use a L.O. of 10750 and blind scan (if your receiver supports this) to find your horizontal transponders, which will be above your verticals in frequency.

Or calculate 24600 minus the horizontal transponder frequency.

RG-6 is definitely recommended for any permanent/long runs of cable from your LNBs, especially with stacked LNBs, since the frequencies will run up to around 2 ghz. I would not be surprised if RG-59 did not work at all for those LNBs, or if it did, you might lose the horizontal transponders since they are at higher frequencies.

 

[amc1]

RG-59 did not work at all that well for me i swapted out for rg6,i had better results .

 

[bevshadow]

Thanks for the input Amc1 and Tron wasted alot of time on that then weeks have to make up a couple rg6 cables and try all over. Good to know, been using it with circular lnbs and didn't find any difference at all same signal levels (short runs also), and thanks Tron for the lnb info been looking a while on net for something on that same exact model found others but not the one i have.
Well time to give it a go again anyone know where i can find patience forsale lol
Later

 

[bevshadow]

Well made up the cables and nothing yet except for shorter long piece LOL let ya know if i find anything
thanks again for the help

 

[Luv2Travel34]

Unlike trying to catch a signal from a circular polarity satellite, you either have to skew your dish or rotate your lnb (the 5 o'clock or the 11 o'clock position would work best for the east coast of canada for AMC4 and Telsat 5/Galaxy 25) to catch the correct polarity of the linear polarity (fta) satellites otherwise you will be scanning the sky forever looking for a signal. Apply the same for AMC 4, however you may need to manually input the tp information especially if you have a viewsat ultra because all there is for AMC4 is C Band tp info, nothing for AMC4 KU band unless someone has a sat file they would like to share. The FTAlist website should have the tp information. I think the tp with the strongest signal is 11819 mhz and that is the one you want to be on when scanning the sky and tweaking your dish). It's the TP with the 3abm channel on it. I have had some luck with my 36 inch dish receiving some channels on amc 4 (3abm and gospel music tv) and telsat 5/galaxy 25 (foreign language channels and MHz worldwide), however I found the signals not to strong enough here in the east coast of canada to my satisfaction. Perhaps you will have better luck with your 1.2 metre dish. I suggest you scrap the starchoice lnb. I have yet to be able to find the correct lnb settings (under antennae setup because that lnb contains a switch and 2 eyes). So I recommend that you acquire a single linear LNB with a 0.2 db low noise factor firstly before you try looking for those satellites. Best of luck.

 

[DishDigger]

Hoping to Help

I hope my ignorance isn't showing too much, but I didn't notice any mention of whether or not the dish is an offset type. This might be part of your problem as the offset dishes receive signals about 20 to 25 degrees higher than they appear to be aimed. I think it's generally about 22 degrees (the more knowledgable folks here can straighten that out).

I too am a newbe at this and mostly read to get educated, but thought I'd throw this in & hope it helps....

 

[Luv2Travel34]

Apparently you may be able use a starchoice quad lnb to tune a fta satellite. One website I found describes how to tune the Starchoice satellites with a fta receiver (for wildfeeds). "Using the Star Choice elliptical dish (60cm or 75cm), set 22KHz to "0" on your FTA receiver if you are trying to lock on Anik F1 Mpeg-2 DVB carriers. Set 22KHz to "22Khz/On" on your FTA receiver if you are trying to lock on Anik F2 Mpeg-2 DVB carriers.
The L/O should be set to 10750 (Standard on most FTA receivers).
You can use any of the outputs of the Quad LNBF (they're all the same)."
So it may be worth a go after all, however remember to either skew your dish or rotate your LNB to the 11 o'clock or 5 o'clock position (east coast of canada) to compensate for the skew on the linear polarity satellites. It should work out better this way because Intelsat 5 (Galaxy 25) and AMC 4 are 4 degrees apart, the same gap as the starchoice sats are, so perhaps you may be able to get 2 sats on the same dish.

 

[funkypc]

My 60e SC LNB was not stacked. You need 22khz ON so it uses the "center" lnb. It worked great for FTA, just the 60e was a little small of a dish.