Digital Breakup on 101 C Band

[TvMind]

Do not EVER attempt to contact these FTA channels via phone calls or emails! Not even if they put on a phone number. These signals aren't really meant for FTA'ers, and all contact does is push them to encrypt.

Just ask Dee Ann what happens, she's the last one to try, and she still regrets it...

Here , here..DO NOT contact any provider EVER. point finale ...stupid suggestion PLEASE IGNORE.

(Btw I meant if one can do it subtly, masquerading as a student interested in the engineering side of things....did it in the past. But no don't call up telling them you are pinching their signals , especially north of the border !!!)

 

[gpflepsen]

Don't even masquerade...

 

[bigg t]

I'm sure they are smart enough to read between the lines.

 

[TvMind]

Okay have succumbed and am off to the local (not so local) dealer for a new receiver.
He's got the HDVR3500 from GeosatPro and really like that it has all the features I need for an STB (RS-232 etc.) - couldn't care less about IPTV (told this is poor on this unit anyway). Only thing is I can't return it once I bought it sooooo...can one or two kind souls please check how this box does on these problematic channels *** when they are erratic ***. Oh and please mention size of dish time of day.... okay sounding like a shortwave QSL reception report now.

Edit: They've also got the Amiko A3. Is this one more solid? Solid is the operative word. Can you tell I am addicted to these channels? ;-)


Thanks all, esp. Titanium for testing the different boxes down in Cali.

p.s. See you listed X-squared stuff as 'down'. Can you confirm or deny this? Be cheaper for me and looking to save some dineros if I can.

10' Mesh Eagle Aspen C-lnb. Corotor II+, JNRD Ku lnbf
Startrak400 C-band receiver
microHD on June 6, 2013 f/w

 

[mother hubbard]

Okay have succumbed and am off to the local (not so local) dealer for a new receiver.
He's got the HDVR3500 from GeosatPro and really like that it has all the features I need for an STB (RS-232 etc.) - couldn't care less about IPTV (told this is poor on this unit anyway). Only thing is I can't return it once I bought it sooooo...can one or two kind souls please check how this box does on these problematic channels *** when they are erratic ***. Oh and please mention size of dish time of day.... okay sounding like a shortwave QSL reception report now.

Edit: They've also got the Amiko A3. Is this one more solid? Solid is the operative word. Can you tell I am addicted to these channels? ;-)


Thanks all, esp. Titanium for testing the different boxes down in Cali.

p.s. See you listed X-squared stuff as 'down'. Can you confirm or deny this? Be cheaper for me and looking to save some dineros if I can.

10' Mesh Eagle Aspen C-lnb. Corotor II+, JNRD Ku lnbf
Startrak400 C-band receiver
microHD on June 6, 2013 f/w

 

[mother hubbard]

Xsquare mini works. got mine from Amazon. 2 day shipping

 

[FTA4PA]

Okay have succumbed and am off to the local (not so local) dealer for a new receiver.
He's got the HDVR3500 from GeosatPro and really like that it has all the features I need for an STB (RS-232 etc.) - couldn't care less about IPTV (told this is poor on this unit anyway). Only thing is I can't return it once I bought it sooooo...can one or two kind souls please check how this box does on these problematic channels *** when they are erratic ***. Oh and please mention size of dish time of day.... okay sounding like a shortwave QSL reception report now.

Edit: They've also got the Amiko A3. Is this one more solid? Solid is the operative word. Can you tell I am addicted to these channels? ;-)


Thanks all, esp. Titanium for testing the different boxes down in Cali.

p.s. See you listed X-squared stuff as 'down'. Can you confirm or deny this? Be cheaper for me and looking to save some dineros if I can.

10' Mesh Eagle Aspen C-lnb. Corotor II+, JNRD Ku lnbf
Startrak400 C-band receiver
microHD on June 6, 2013 f/w

I don't want to talk you out of it if that's the box you want (HDVR3500) but if you haven't already done so please read these threads completely before buying (especially since you said you won't be able to return it):

http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/thr...-dvbs2-stb-photos-and-initial-testing.351697/
http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/posts/3891571/

I have an Amiko A3 and while it did well with most FTA channels it has problems with these channels. I can confirm that my X2 M1HD is able to get them (with occasional stutter) but as some have reported, myself included, that box tends to overheat requiring a cooling solution to be employed. Whatever your choice, best of luck!

 

[wvman]

I've had a lot of people ask about my satellite channels when they visit, but I offer little information and give them some phony bologna about subscription cost. I don't want FTA going the way of analog. Anyway, I ordered a Freesat V7 HD receiver since it seems to be locking these channels. I paid a whopping $27 bucks for it direct from China, and I figured I'd only be out $27 if it didn't cure the problem. I found a commercial grade FTA receiver that had a faster, more accurate blind scan, and a better commercial grade processor and tuner.

It's a $350 investment if I decide to get one, but I decided to wait until I see how the Freesat V7 works. In my travels this week, I ran across a 7 1/2 foot spun aluminum dish mounted on a pole behind a building that used to house a C-Band installer from the late 80's. I stopped to look it over and a guy came out and asked me if I was interested in that old relic. He gave it to me to get rid of it. I looked it over, and it's in great condition. No dents, no dings, and when I strung it, the string touched each other in the middle. I'll get it this weekend.

A few days ago, I posted the PID's for Marquee's Movies and MeTV that worked for me by tuning the channels in on Galaxy 16. Both are still working with almost no break up. Still haven't been able to use the same tactics to get H&I and Decades back in action. I'll let you know how the Freesat V7 works.

 

[beavs2112]

I found a commercial grade FTA receiver that had a faster, more accurate blind scan, and a better commercial grade processor and tuner. It's a $350 investment if I decide to get one.

wvman you didn't get a Cisco receiver from Reindeer Satellite did you? I hope not cause their "subscription service" is a scam. There are posts about staying away from Glen/GlenTech/Reindeer Sat.

 

[Titanium]

Doubt that it is the Rainier Cisco STB as they sell it for about double that price, it does not receive 16APSK and cannot blindscan.

 

[TvMind]

Xsquare mini works. got mine from Amazon. 2 day shipping

Thanks for your input. You meant HD right? (X2 mini HD)

 

[TvMind]

I don't want to talk you out of it if that's the box you want (HDVR3500) but if you haven't already done so please read these threads completely before buying (especially since you said you won't be able to return it):

I have read up on that box, and thanks for chiming in. The overheating reminds of the issue on the Coolsat 5000 Platinum. That was solved by a cpu fan.

 

[TvMind]

A few days ago, I posted the PID's for Marquee's Movies and MeTV that worked for me by tuning the channels in on Galaxy 16. Both are still working with almost no break up. Still haven't been able to use the same tactics to get H&I and Decades back in action. I'll let you know how the Freesat V7 works.

Hi wvman. Congrats on picking up that dish. I don't follow you PID solution however. I have those exact numbers on Galaxy 16 (PID's etc) and still get break up there, so I am guessing it's your box that is the reason. My microHD is still struggling with these. Please let us know how the cheap box works out. Can you PM the site where you bought this for $27 if it's inappropriate to post links here.

Interesting tidbit here..(from the Airhova AV2012 (successor to AV2011 in the microHD) spec sheet:

" a powerful LDPC decoder is integrated to 'guarantee' good performance under weak signal conditions".

Sure, sure.

My old SD cheap fta box gets the audio on these so no excuse for a modern HD tuner IC to have trouble with these.
Oh and in this long thread still we don't know what exactly is wacky about these signals - it's not , as implied , simply a signal level problem.
Obviously this ALi chip is being confused by it's ... and why does changing channel and coming back bring them back every time, only to go bad again... obviously we can't get our hands on the sdk for this chipset because I would love a stab at probing around there.

 

[mother hubbard]

yes

 

[Titanium]

Interesting tidbit here..(from the Airhova AV2012 (successor to AV2011 in the microHD) spec sheet:

" a powerful LDPC decoder is integrated to 'guarantee' good performance under weak signal conditions".

Sure, sure.

My old SD cheap fta box gets the audio on these so no excuse for a modern HD tuner IC to have trouble with these.
Oh and in this long thread still we don't know what exactly is wacky about these signals - it's not , as implied , simply a signal level problem.
Obviously this ALi chip is being confused by it's ... and why does changing channel and coming back bring them back every time, only to go bad again... obviously we can't get our hands on the sdk for this chipset because I would love a stab at probing around there.

I agree with your statement that it is not a signal level problem, but you are confusing demodulation / demuxing with tuner sensitivity. Signal strength and tuner sensitivity are not the issues. A few weeks ago we documented where the signal level dropped on these transponders, but other than the few days when this happened, the Signal Quality and display issues have been related to the demod and failure of specific chipsets to lock onto the digital stream and/or the bandwidth of the AFT circuit. The demux problem with affects only some receivers that have wide AFT or automatic PID updating and further complicates the problems.

Yes, the FreeSat V7 is still working great and has no break-up on these channels.

 

[. Raine]

Mucking around with the code in the MicroHD to get these channels wouldn't be a good idea, because once the problem's fixed by the uplinker, then the channels would most likely just mess up again and you'd have to change the code back. Might make other channels not work too, getting these messed up ones to work. My opinion is the problem isn't the receivers, but is something amiss with the transmission that will probably be eventually fixed.

Wouldn't need a SDK to muck around in the Micro. If I recall right though, the firmware of the MicroHD was locked down and protected when I checked it out a year or two ago, so I didn't mess with it.

 

[Titanium]

I agree, Raine. Likely an uplink encoder issue not providing a compliant stream. As hobbyists, guess we are just lucky that a few chipsets are capable of handling the signals. Must not be a problem with the commercial receivers that their downlinks use, otherwise we would have observed the problems on our local OTA sub channels and the problem would have been immediately resolved....

 

[pacificrim]

The X2 M1HD that I just got is getting all of the channels on 101, though Movies is a bit choppy, but I am now getting the Ozarks mux (including Movies) on 99w which has eluded all of my receivers for a while.

 

[billyboy_1]

I agree, Raine. Likely an uplink encoder issue not providing a compliant stream. As hobbyists, guess we are just lucky that a few chipsets are capable of handling the signals. Must not be a problem with the commercial receivers that their downlinks use, otherwise we would have observed the problems on our local OTA sub channels and the problem would have been immediately resolved....

Plus the down link sites are using larger antennas so a weaker signal might not be causing an issue.

 

[TvMind]

If this is a bug with this chipset (tuner/demodulator) then shouldn't the manufacturer (Airhova) be notified? Or is this all part of some planned obsolescence for the poor old uHD.