FTA disappointment

[Mark2074]

I have been to a few other internet forums with the same dilemma. Most forums are concerned with hacking chat, not many concerned with free-to-air talk, I guess they don't find it as an interesting hobby. I would like to see if you guys can help me. I have an FTA / MPEG-2 receiver. I bought an 31" (80cm) Ku-Band Fortec Star dish with a Universal Single LNBF a few weeks ago. I installed it on the south side of my house (I can see most satellites, except Galaxy10R due to a pine tree). Dish is as solid as a rock. The arm is plum. I have been trying, in vain, to receive any "in-the-clear" channels from any visible satellites. I have been following www.Lyngsat.com. closely. Inputting the freq. to the correct transponders and so forth. Trying to bring in Ku-Band freq. I have, with the help of others, made sure my LO is set to the proper GHz. I don't believe I need the 22Khz tone on, as others have suggested because the dish is connected straight in the receiver. I've tried tilting the LNB, but I get no constant quality.

Tonight I tried to get AMC-5. This satellite is directly south from my location. I live in Toronto, Canada. The Conus footprint for this satellite should be the strongest for me to pick-up. I should be getting 50 Dbw with my dish. I get a signal of 77% but the quality goes up and down and NO lock. I have been using a compass to get the correct Azimuth and I use the elevation from another website that has calculation for skew as well. All I find is myself going up and down the ladder (halfway) to see through the receiver meter thru the window. I inch is ever so slightly each way. I know that these signals are not as strong as DBS signals but, come on, I must get this one.

At first I was excited at the idea of getting channels, up and above my subscription service. All I am now is frustrated.

 

[PSB]

Hello Mark and welcome to the forum, I hope we can help you get your system up and running, the first thing that jumps out at me is if you are using a Universal LNBF then the 22khz tone should be on, on most receivers as soon as you choose the Universal LNBF option and have your LNBF L.O. set to 09750 (-10600)for a Universal, the 22khz tone defaults to the on position, can you confirm its a Universal LNBF.

The 22khz tone has to be on as there is a switch in the Universal LNB that switches bands.

 

[Mark2074]

Yes I can confirm it is a universal LNBF. I have the orginal packaging right in front of me. It says "Fortec Star FSKU-V" universal single LNBF.

My receiver does not automatically set the 22khz tone to "on" when selecting "Universal". See, I am using the "BlackBird" receiver. I have to manually input all the frequencies and setting. When setting the LNB frequencies 1 & 2 the same dish setup page has "turn tone on or off" option. But, when I am in the transponder setting page, there is another setting for tone. But, if I choice a universal LNBF, in the dish set-up page, I don't have an option to select it in the transporder page. An "x" where the option would be. That is only selectable when setting a standard LNB dish in the dish set-up page.

 

[PSB]

Sorry I cant help much more as I have no experience with your receiver but on most the tone is setup with the LNBF in the antenna set up screen, maybe it is auto set thats why it cant be changed. Maybe a good idea to start with a standard KU LNBF if in doubt, its always a good idea to have a spare and its useful if you ever have to use a signal meter to find satellites.

 

[TuxCoder]

Hi Mark,

That sounds about right regarding the 22kHz tone selection being disabled there... it's because that function actually can serve two different purposes. You need to turn it on in the LNB setup page. That's for the universal LNB usage of the tone. The other one in the transponder setup is probably for the other possible use of the tone, and that's when you use an external 22kHz switch to select two different LNBs.

 

[Mark2074]

Thanks TuxCoder & PSB for your quick responses. (Haven't had that happen to me in a long time). So when I set-up with a universal LNBF I should always have the tone on. Ok.

PSB I understand that this receiver is mostly used for other purposes, by other people and you may not have knowledge. But, my intention is to use it for "in-the-clear" purposes. A friend of mine didn't what it anymore.I've read the forum rules.
Maybe I will have to buy another FTA receiver, I went to the Fortec Star headquarters located here and the saleperson said that they have a Lifetime Ultra for a good price. I wanted a demo to see what they can recieve with the same dish I had....I was impressed at the preformance.

Oh BTW, the "MAST" in plumb not the arm. The angle for the AMC-5 is almost 40 degrees. LOL I doubt if that will be straight.

 

[PSB]

Glad to hear you are using the receiver for legal purposes : ) But since you got it from another source it may have been zapped before you got it, we are hearing a lot of that, at least you did not get ripped off like so many horror stories, remember the dish elevation markings may be off slightly, we would be interested in how you get on and we are glad to help! We have heard all about the receiver and as you have said it is not inherently illegal and the moderators here have voted to let people mention these hackable receivers as long as there is no actual hack talk. Good luck.

 

[Mark2074]

If I have any problems with a Fortec Star Lifetime Ultra could you help then?

 

[PSB]

I don't have that receiver but they are all much the same and the guys here are eager to help, I am sure a few have the Fortec Star Lifetime Ultra. Must be nice to live close to the HQ. I would imagine it would be a great place to work and visit.

 

[maddawg]

Mark2074, I'm also in Toronto and receiving FTA with a pansat. I love my pansat and would not trade it for anything. I would recommend getting a motor which will allow you to scan the skies. Only dish I would recommend is a wineguard 2076.

 

[TuxCoder]

I second maddawg's comments.

 

[Mr Tony]

The Winegards are very good dishes. I have one on a motor and a HotDish that is fixed on Galaxy 10. The Hotdish is a cheaper made dish and could be bent with strong winds.

Get a Winegard...you won't regret it

 

[Mark2074]

Wish I knew that before I bought the Fortec star dish :-(

what does the Pansat 500CI do, can you sub with this receiver?

 

[Othea]

Suggestion

"All I find is myself going up and down the ladder (halfway) to see through the receiver meter thru the window."

I'm not familiar with Fortec, but I suspect your equipment is all fine and that your aiming method needs a little refinement.

I don't have a signal meter and have a similar problem each time I realign my satellite. If you are "blindly" adjusting your dish setting then going down the mast to see if you have a lock, frankly you could do this a gazillion times and just miss the proper angle by a fraction each time. What you need to do (in my opinion) is one of the following:
a) use a signal meter, or
b) place your receiver in your line of view so that you can see when you have a lock (that's what I do; it takes only a few minutes to get a lock), or
c) have a friend watch the receiver and tell you when you have a lock.

Using one of the methods above, you can manually turn the dish until you have a lock. Sometimes the satellites just turn up a few degrees beyond what you might expect using a compass.

Hope this helps.

 

[maddawg]

Wish I knew that before I bought the Fortec star dish :-(

what does the Pansat 500CI do, can you sub with this receiver?

I would recommend a 2500a. Lots of them on ebay. FTA is amazing and you should definately consider getting a motor. My settings are all off, but finally found Galaxy 123 fully tuned and The Tube is amazing.

 

[Mr Tony]

The Tube is pretty good

Also, there's Mas Musica....its in Spanish but for some of those videos you dont need to speak Spanish to enjoy the videos

 

[TuxCoder]

I'm not familiar with Fortec, but I suspect your equipment is all fine and that your aiming method needs a little refinement.

a) use a signal meter, or
b) place your receiver in your line of view so that you can see when you have a lock (that's what I do; it takes only a few minutes to get a lock), or
c) have a friend watch the receiver and tell you when you have a lock.

Or, if you already have a lock but want to fine-tune it with your current arrangement:
d) open your window and put the receiver into "beeping" signal quality meter mode and listen for improvements while at the dish

I'm not familiar with the Fortec or Blackbird either, but I would imagine it has a mode where it can beep while showing the signal quality meter. With the Pansat 2500A, faster, shorter beeps mean higher quality. On some units it might be a higher pitched tone (like the Dish Network receivers).

Oh yeah, and The Tube rocks!

 

[Mark2074]

Ok, what I will have to do tomorrow is bring the ird and power to the roof of my solarium with my 13" TV and check the signal up there. It should not be cold for the ird. It should be 10 degress tomorrow. I would consider this effort my last chance with the blackbird peice of @$#^*.

TuxCoder, this IRD has no beeping sound to it. Just graphic meters for strength and quality. Quality bounces around slowly (like a drunk prostitute)

Othea, if I would install a motor with this receiver, I would probably never get this system to work.

Thanks for the reply guys.....Please see the attached photos I took tonite. Some are a bit fussy. It was getting dark.

Photo Dish 2: Shows the LNB
Photo Dish 3: Shows the LNB (further away)
Photo Dish 4: Shows the dish pointing due south
Photo Dish 5: Shows side shot of Dish setup
Photo Dish 6: Shows another side shot
Photo Dish 7: Shows dish again
Photo Dish 8: Shows a fuzzy shot of the angle :-0
Photo IRD 1: Shows Transponder setup screen for AMC 5, Tp16
Photo IRD 2: Shows LNB Setup page and freq. 1 & 2
Photo IRD 3: Shows Dish Setup page

Any comments would be appreciated.

 

[PSB]

Looks to me as if the mast is not square or plumb/level, the top of the mast has to be checked with a bubble level, seems to be a tad off, its always a good idea to take into account the weight of the dish, I offset the level slightly then when I put the dish on the weight pulls it bang on horizontal, may be the picture but I would take the dish off and use a bubble level, it has to be bang on or your elevation angles will be way off, even more important if/when you ever add a motor.

 

[Mark2074]

Cool, good to know. I will try that tomorrow. When I installed the dish I checked the plumb with a bubble level "before" I put the dish on. The weight could have pulled it down. I see it now. You think I should install the support arms? That came with it. I didn't want to drill more holes thru the brick.

What about the LNB settings on the IRD? Any problems with that?