can the LNB device be at fault?

[westkajun]

Hello everyone,

I lived SoCal too and lately a friend of mine who has SC, lend me his previous HD 505 receiver because he is now using a newer SC hard drive box (he can record his stuff now), So to finaly have canadian TV in my house, hockey, hockey and hockey! I only needed a 33" round dish w/ linear LNB and just plug it up, alined it to coordonates and there you go! Well, after jacking up the dish to the highest point of my house and aligning it, I get 80% signal. but the thing I don't understand is I get a very limited numbers of channels, can't even get the CBC well 1 or 2 , one SRC channel, I get Discovery channel but not TLC, anyway not many. So I went back to my friend's place to check the box with his antenna, he get 65-70% signal and he has all the channels. He is using the official Starchoice Dish. So I come back home, Realigne the sat @ 80% again, and still none of the other channel to be seen. It's always showing "getting or searching the signal" etc. and if I'm lucky, I get one clear channel while wondering through all the numbers...

So my questions are; Did I get this 33" round dish w/ linear LNB for nothing?
Could it be the LNB that is not up to the task?
(See the type of dish & LNB: http://www.groundcontrol.tv/ftareceiver/33-dish-with-linear-lnb.html )

Do I need a stronger LNB like this one?(is there such a thing as a stronger LNB?)
DUAL UNIVERSAL LINEAR KU LNBF COOLSAT FTA DVB TWIN LNB by Panorama.

Or is it just an alignement problem?

Thanks everybody in helping me out figuring out this mystery and sorry for the long read!

Much appreciated,

Mike

 

[Mr Tony]

broke off to its own thread

 

[Mr Tony]

what kind of setup does the other location have? If its a single LNB setup, I have some money riding that your buddy has a "Stacked" system. The LNB looks like a flashlight. That takes the H polarity channels, stacks them above the V side and turns them to V. The LNB's we use are non-stacked.

so basically you have to call starchoice and have them send a hit for a NON STACKED system.

easiest way to test...if you can get 306 & 307 (CBC Calgary & Edmonton) but not 301 & 302 (CBC Montreal & Toronto) then you most definitelly need a rehit.

edit: you said HD so he might have the quad LNB which is non stacked...I wonder if its not aimed 100% properly

 

[Satellite Expert]

lend me his previous HD 505 receiver

So did you open your own account with SC or using his?

 

[7ninty]

Starchoice does use "two" satellites if your using "one" LNB and only pointing at "one" satellite you will only see some channels - F1 at 107.3 most channels are here if you get 299 you are seeing F1 - E2 at 111.1 all the HD channels are on this one if you see 285 ABCHD I watch *C on a 10 ft dish with one KU-LNB and have to move it from one satellite to another

 

[westkajun]

Good evening gentlemens,

Thanks for your responses, So I guess it is the alignement of the dish OR the my dish is not eliptical enough to get both satellites signal from the sky...

The thing I don't understand is my friend that lend me his box has a similar dish (slightly more eliptical then mine)that he received from *C, it has a 4 entry LNB he now uses 2 entries because of his recent new box with the hard drive to record whatever shows he want.

Should I connect both entries of the LNB, and then both cables into a 2 in 1 spliter and then from the spliter, one cable to the Box?

Or try to pinpoint the dish between the two satellites so that I can get the two signals? Or like Iceberg said, my flashlight looking LNB is not worthy to do the job?

Boy... I was much more simpler when we were w/ Bell eX, Just got my own antenna with his box, aligned everything and voilà, hockey from across the country untill the day that 3/4 of our channels just dissapeared, the reason why we swith to *C, and now still not much...

Where could I get the same exact antenna dish that he got from Starchoice in Canada here in SoCal?

Again gentlemens, much appreciated!

Mike

 

[Mr Tony]

what does the LNB look like?
I'm too lazy right now to find the pics in my computer of the LNB's so here is a post that I made with the 3 different LNB's

http://www.satelliteguys.us/1118039-post3.html

 

[Jumbo Dumbo]

Sounds like you have one of the original SC/Expressvu 60cm round single satellite dishes that was used when SC and Expressvu first started and both used Anik E2 ku.

Does it look like this?
Star Choice 60cm dish with mount and LNBF - (eBay item 120188903148 end time Dec-02-07 20:06:29 PST)

If it is a single sat dish, you need an elliptical dish to get HD - just like your buddy has. You need the 75 cm version of this dish:
STARCHOICE quad feedhorn dish & LNB star choice FTA 75E - (eBay item 230197072652 end time Dec-07-07 20:42:23 PST)

There is another way to do it with 2 dishes like you already have. But given the issues you are having installing 1 dish, I won't suggest trying to do 2.