Complete newbie

[northgeorgia]

Hi everyone,

I would like to test out my Openbox S10 -- I bought it off amazon, returned it to the seller who tightened the loose tuner, installed the s10 firmware (it had s9 installed), and said it tested fine (probably on 97W, judging from the channels preloaded when I received it the second time). My brother has an old WorldDirect oval receiver with a linear LNB on it, so I thought about testing it out when my satellite meter arrives, and then later on (when I have the money) getting a proper Ku dish and lnb.

Anyway, my parents have Dish Network. Originally, we had two receivers set up, but we cancelled the one in my room (since I never really watched Dish). However, I still have a coax line to the satellite (there's a splitter from the main feed on the outside of the house). The old DishNetwork receiver still reads the EPG from some of the channels on 119W (a few shopping and religious channels, holiday audio channels), even though a message pops up, "Your card has expired." So, that tells me there's still a signal from the satellite. However, I can't seem to get the Openbox to find any transponders (I've entered them manually from Lyngsat). Is it possible to get something (a scrambled channel, a promo channel, shopping channel, anything) with Openbox on 119 with the circular DishNetwork lnb? I just want to test out this receiver and see if it works on a satellite that I know is pointed in the right direction.

Unfortunately, I can't read what's on the lnb as the dish is mounted on the roof of a barn. Any ideas about what I'm doing wrong? Perhaps everything? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[KE4EST]

Welcome to SatelliteGuys!

No unless your parents dish is a old system, no it will not talk to the dish and/or switch involved. You just need to get you a proper set-up for FTA. You also went backwards. You should have bought a dish and lnbf first. You have a meter built into the receiver.

 

[KE4EST]

.........tightened the loose tuner........

Was it physically loose?

 

[northgeorgia]

Thanks for the welcome. Yes, the tuner was physically loose, according to the seller. I'll certainly be more careful about where I buy my lnb from

What sort of set-up do you think would be relatively inexpensive for a basic Ku-band FTA system? I wonder if I should go for a larger size dish, too. I'd love to eventually get C-band SatMex6, but you think a scalar kit with a C-band lnbf on a 1 meter dish would work for that or am I being a little ambitious?

 

[KE4EST]

Yeah 1 meter is too small for C-band. There have been some that have experimented and got a few signals with a one meter, but it is just not reliable and something I would not recommend for a newbie. What part of North Georgia are you in? You may not be too far from me.

 

[northgeorgia]

I live around Gainesville/Buford. I went up to Franklin and Highlands back in late October when the leaves were still on the trees

 

[KE4EST]

Yeah not too far I will be going to Gainesville this weekend to visit wife's family.

 

[northgeorgia]

Small world! I hope we keep in touch. I'd love to get into FTA as a hobby -- but can't invest too much right now (no BUD for me yet), as I'm trying to start my own business and save up for my own place. I'm thinking a small Ku dish and lnb won't break the bank, and is "somewhat" portable when I finally do move out

 

[KE4EST]

Yeah that is a good start and then you can add a motor....Then when the bug bites you will have to go C-band

 

[hd fan]

if you have a satellite 2 way splitter you can split the dish network line and then connect 1 output to the S10 and the other out to the DN receiver. The original DN receiver will control the switch so at least you get something down the coaxial line , therefore if you blind scan with the S10 (using 11250 as the LO frecuency) it will scan those channels on that same SAT/polarity the DN receiver selected. Select ch 101 (DN promo) on the DN receiver so at least the S10 will scan that one and then you can test its audio/video decoder circut also works fine. Hope it all makes sense. I do not think TV providers receivers have loop outs so that is why you need a satellite splitter (cable tv splitters are not good for satellite).

 

[turbosat]

Keep your eyes open for a used dish nearby, watch craigslist and maybe post your own ad. You probably will gets lots of replies with folks giving away pay-tv dishes, which are usually too small, but you never know what you might get. The old primestar tv dishes made by channel master are excellent fta dishes, and lots of us use them today. The lnbfs are tough and even though a bit aged, most of the time they still work fine for free to air. And the dishes are easy to install, can be motorized later on if you want another project.

 

[cyberham]

Christmas is coming...a brand new 39" dish with single output 0.3dB universal LNB costs $89 with local pickup so no shipping charge. Not sure it's a stocking stuffer though!

 

[cyberham]

I pointed my 39" dish with linear universal LNB at Echostar 14 (119W) while connected to my FTA receiver. A Blind scan picked up nothing, but doing an Auto scan which checks programmed transponders locked onto 12297 / H or V / 20000. So if you program these transponder parameters into your Openbox, you should be able to lock onto the scrambled channels, especially since you have a circular LNB which would provide an even stronger signal. That would verify your Openbox was basically working. Of course, you can't view or hear any of the channels since they're scrambled.

 

[northgeorgia]

hi hd fan and cyberham,

Thanks for your suggestions...I'll try them out tomorrow morning and let you know what happens.

 

[Tron]

The Dish Network dish uses a circular LNBF and is probably a stacked LNBF, meaning that both horizontal and vertical signals travel down the same cable at the same time at different frequency ranges. You can try to set the Openbox with a L.O. of 11250 and activate the DiSEqC 1.0 switch setting to either 1 or 2, depending on which satellite (1=119W, 2=110W) you want to receive. Unfortunately, you will have duplicate transponders since the LNBF is stacked and there is no option to scan for vertical or horizontal only on the Openbox. I don't think there's anything in the clear on the Dish satellites anymore, but it never hurts to try...

 

[northgeorgia]

Tron and cyberham,

Thanks for the advice, I tried it and unfortunately, no luck. Hopefully it's an issue of the S10 not talking to the Dish Network dish when there's a DN receiver on the other line? I haven't had a chance to try out hd fan's advice yet....

On a related note, I have a chance (don't want to jinx it) of getting a cheap 36" dish for Ku this weekend with a universal LNB holder (but no LNBF). What kind and brand of LNBF do you like or recommend? Right now, I'm only interested in having one linear on it.

 

[cyberham]

...What kind and brand of LNBF do you like or recommend?

The inexpensive kind! I like the price of single output port LNB, if that's all you need. Realistically, you probably won't ever need a universal variety so standard is fine.

 

[mjac]

If you can use this, come and get it, its free for the taking. It is a ChannelMaster 75e and I *might* have an LNBF and the bolts for it. It can be in SE TN about 118 miles from you. I'll be there the Fri after Thanksgiving for about 3 weeks. Let me know before Thanksgiving and I'll take it to TN.

 

[FaT Air]

If your brothers WorldDirect oval receiver(dish??) with a linear LNB is available for testing. Try aim it at 97w (G 19) Satellite Finder / Dish Pointing Calculator with Google Maps | DishPointer.com will give you an idea of where to aim. Heck, if it's still installed, it might be aimed there already.

 

[northgeorgia]

Thanks mjac, that's very kind! I'll let you know in case I'm not able to get the other dish this weekend.