Hispasat 30.0 W/ Pansat 9200-HD Questions

[mario315]

Hi everyone, I just got into FTA a few weeks ago after visiting a friend's house and seeing and loving his FTA set-up for picking up the Cuban and Spain channels off Hispasat 30.0 W... I live in Southern Florida so Hispasat is doable.....

My set-up is now complete and operational with 2 Pansat 9200-HD receivers and 2 Pansat 3500 receivers (all 4 are new)... I've got a Standard LNB and a 36" Ku dish giving me pretty good signal quality on Cuba, Spain, the Middle East, and Colombia (70%-75%)... I'm also getting 40% quality (avg.) on Argentina and Uruguay channels... My multi-switch is an Eagle Aspen powered DTV 4 x8....

So far so good, however.... there are 2 problems I've encountered:

1. The 3500 Receivers have scanned and show 1 Cuban Channel (ACN- a News Text Channel) with both video and audio, while the two 9200 Receivers show this channel in the Guide but there's no video nor audio. No matter how many times I scan (both blind and manual input of transponder) I get the same result from the two 9200's.... All the other 6 Cuban channels come in perfectly on both the 9200's and 3500's... But this 7th channel (ACN) is always missing on the 9200's (even though it's on the same transponder 11884 V/27.500 as the other 6 Cuban stations) ...

Additionally, the 3500's bring in the 9 Cuban radio stations perfectly but the 9200's show the 9 stations in the guide but there's no audio at all, so no Cuban radio at all from the 9200's.

Does anyone here have any idea why the 9200's are unable to bring in these Cuban stations (while the 3500's are able to) in a situation with pretty good signal quality ? Any trouble-shooting ideas will be most welcome !

2. The 4 stations from Argentina are coming in with only 1 audio channel on the two 9200 Receivers while the 3500's bring those in with the 2 audio channels.... I have the 9200's wired with component cables and the 3500's with S-video cables....

Again, any trouble-shooting ideas as to this audio issue will be most welcome !

Thanks so much... I'm looking very much forward to posting in these forums often now that I've joined this unique FTA "club"....

 

[delta_charlie]

Hi, I just checked and find ACN on 11884/V/27500 with an video PID of 106, audio 216 and PCR of 8191

Maybe try and manually enter the PID info if the 9200 does not list them correct.

BTW - I'm using a 30 inch dish and get signal quality of 60% on my Pansat 3500. That's a very stron TP.

Hope this helps, DC

 

[jogon64]

Mario, I'm getting two different audio options for Canal Luz on my pansat 3500. The second one is some other audio not of the video being displayed. You might try checking that.

Sersat and Canal6 come in monoaural on left channel only.

Supreme has both left and right.

Did you scan 12162 V 3030, 4194,4195,4194?

Luck!

 

[mario315]

Hi, I just checked and find ACN on 11884/V/27500 with an video PID of 106, audio 216 and PCR of 8191

Maybe try and manually enter the PID info if the 9200 does not list them correct.

BTW - I'm using a 30 inch dish and get signal quality of 60% on my Pansat 3500. That's a very stron TP.

Hope this helps, DC

Thanks, DC for this tip.... I went ahead and entered all the PID info you listed (with audio and PCR-- thanks !).... The scan picked it up as "Channel A" but still no video and no audio... Plus, all the 9 Cuban radio stations are still missing...

Is this common for a particular FTA receiver (ie. the Pansat 9200-HD) to not be able to bring in specific strong signal quality stations while another receiver (ie. Pansat 3500) is able to do it without any problem ?...

The ACN channel and the 9 radio stations are on the same strong transponder as the other Cuban channels, but the 9200 "arbitrarily" is skipping over them and refusing to deliver their video and audio... Yet, the 9200 picks up everything else off Hispasat without any problem...

Could the fact that ACN is a News Text Channel have anything to do with this anomaly ? And could the troubled ACN feed be the one causing the blockage of the 9 radio stations ?

 

[FaT Air]

Confirmed here. ACN on 11884 V 27500 MUX does not produce audio or video with the 9200HD, although it scans in just fine. PIDs are as reported by DC. The slaved 3500 has it. OK you guys with the means, what's the difference causing this?? Some codec in the 3500 that's not in the 9200? A glitch in the firmware?? Something Pansat should fix???
BTW, I'm got firmware version 1229 in the 9200HD.
The radio channels on the TP scanned in here on the 9200. (???)

News Text Channel

is similar to the GCN ch on 137W I.E: it is not just text(like an old MSDOS or CPM computer) Anyone with a 9200HD on 30W, do you get A/V on ACN?

 

[mario315]

Mario, I'm getting two different audio options for Canal Luz on my pansat 3500. The second one is some other audio not of the video being displayed. You might try checking that.

Sersat and Canal6 come in monoaural on left channel only.

Supreme has both left and right.

Did you scan 12162 V 3030, 4194,4195,4194?

Luck!

Thanks, jogon for confirming that these South American stations are not sending out left and right audio channels..... It's not very enjoyable to watch these networks with only one audio channel operating....

Yes, I've scanned 12162 V 3030 and get --given the location--very good 45% quality on Canal 11-Telefe from Salta, Argentina.... I get no quality with 4194 or 4195, only get it with 3030.... I really enjoy watching Canal 11 but having only 1 audio channel is bothersome....

Thanks much !

 

[mario315]

Confirmed here. ACN on 11884 V 27500 MUX does not produce audio or video with the 9200HD, although it scans in just fine. PIDs are as reported by DC. The slaved 3500 has it. OK you guys with the means, what's the difference causing this?? Some codec in the 3500 that's not in the 9200? A glitch in the firmware?? Something Pansat should fix???
BTW, I'm got firmware version 1229 in the 9200HD.
The radio channels on the TP scanned in here on the 9200. (???)
is similar to the GCN ch on 137W I.E: it is not just text(like an old MSDOS or CPM computer) Anyone with a 9200HD on 30W, do you get A/V on ACN?

Thanks, FaT Air, for confirming this 9200 HD issue.... I'm brand new to FTA so this problem has been keeping me up very late at night the last 2 weeks trying to figure out how to solve it.... I should've come here much earlier !... The assistance is very much appreciated !

Also, in regards to the 9 Cuban radio stations, are you picking up their audio on your 9200 HD ?... I couldn't tell from your answer whether you are or not.... They scan in, just like ACN, but there's no audio on the 9200 HD, while the 3500 has no problem delivering their audio.... Same glitch as with ACN...

 

[FaT Air]

in regards to the 9 Cuban radio stations, are you picking up their audio on your 9200 HD ?.

9200 = NO
3500 = YES :up
All radio channels on 11884 V 27500 are quiet on the 9200, beautiful music : on the 3500.
From pansat sites spec for each box:
9200
Audio Decoding : ISO/IEC13818-3(MPEG-2 audio/MUSICAM) Dolby AC-3
3500
Audio Decoding : MPEG layer I and II
I think their MPEG-2 = MPEG layerII so they both decode this.
But the 3500 also decodes layer1 where the 9200 doesn't.

Bet the ACN problem is along the same line, Hardware incompatibility.
THink that only the PCI FTA'ers can confirm this. Maybe a post in the PCI area asking about these channels will confirm what the cause is. IE video and audio type.
I've heard this for various other situations: " that's the reason for having multiple receiving solutions"
NOT a very elegant solution in my view. But what can we do??
From all my experience, and reading forum posts, about the only solution " to get everything" is the PCI route, or maybe an AZbox.

 

[mario315]

9200 = NO
3500 = YES :up
All radio channels on 11884 V 27500 are quiet on the 9200, beautiful music : on the 3500.
From pansat sites spec for each box:
9200
Audio Decoding : ISO/IEC13818-3(MPEG-2 audio/MUSICAM) Dolby AC-3
3500
Audio Decoding : MPEG layer I and II
I think their MPEG-2 = MPEG layerII so they both decode this.
But the 3500 also decodes layer1 where the 9200 doesn't.

Bet the ACN problem is along the same line, Hardware incompatibility.
THink that only the PCI FTA'ers can confirm this. Maybe a post in the PCI area asking about these channels will confirm what the cause is. IE video and audio type.
I've heard this for various other situations: " that's the reason for having multiple receiving solutions"
NOT a very elegant solution in my view. But what can we do??
From all my experience, and reading forum posts, about the only solution " to get everything" is the PCI route, or maybe an AZbox.

Yeah, it looks like the 3500's audio decoding is broader than the 9200 and thus, all the missing channels on the 9200.... Thanks for figuring this out !

As for your PCI solution, please forgive my limited understanding of FTA but I have no idea what PCI is... Is it a type of FTA receiver like the 3500 and 9200 ? And do they do HD ?.... I looked around these forums and could not find anything other than PC-related FTA, not "PCI".....Thanks again !

 

[FaT Air]

Conventional PCI - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:32-bit_PCI_card.JPG" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/32-bit_PCI_card.JPG/200px-32-bit_PCI_card.JPG"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/6/62/32-bit_PCI_card.JPG/200px-32-bit_PCI_card.JPG
PC FTA. DVB receiver that is a PCI internal card, or one that connects via USB, All the decoding is done in the computer, not the receiver.
With a PC based receiver you can run software that can display the stream type and therefore know, or find out, which codecs are required for decoding. One popular USB receiver is the Prof 7500, either the USB and internal PCI version.
EDIT) just looked at the Sathawk/Solomend?Openbox specs:
Audio Compression MPEG-1 & MPEG-2 Layer I and II, MP3
Looks like it would work.
Another green mark for what's going to replace my 9200 as primary.

 

[mario315]

Conventional PCI - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
PC FTA. DVB receiver that is a PCI internal card, or one that connects via USB, All the decoding is done in the computer, not the receiver.
With a PC based receiver you can run software that can display the stream type and therefore know, or find out, which codecs are required for decoding. One popular USB receiver is the Prof 7500, either the USB and internal PCI version.
EDIT) just looked at the Sathawk/Solomend?Openbox specs:
Audio Compression MPEG-1 & MPEG-2 Layer I and II, MP3
Looks like it would work.
Another green mark for what's going to replace my 9200 as primary.

Thank you for explaining it !... I'm going to start researching this PCI aspect of FTA after this experience with the 9200....Will also look into other receiver options...

Never would have thought that the 3500 Pansat model had broader scanning abilities (versus Pansat's latest 9200 model)... Oh well.... Live and learn...

 

[AcWxRadar]

There is (was) a great movie on Sunday night... Chaos (2006), on Cubavision.

I tapped in a little late, but got to see most of it.

RADAR

 

[FaT Air]

I wouldn't characterize the 3500 abilities as wider, just different.

 

[hd fan]

Well the AZbox reports audio on all those TV and Radio channels as MPEG-2 and it does not have MPEG-1 Layer I or II even listed on the posible options so maybe someone with a PCI based system will be able to analize this further but as per the Pansat specs posted here and on their website apparently the 350 is able to decode MPEG-1 Layer I and II but the 9200HD only works with MPEG2 audio (it does not mention MEPG 1 layer 1or II). Contradictoriyly my AZ P+ list all audio on all channels as MP2 in the first screen but MP2 should not be confused as MPEG 2 since MP2 in the industry should refer to MPEG-1 layer II (and as such the famous MP3 is acctually MPEG1 Layer III)

So I am thinking that the radio channels and the ACN TV channel (basically a PC running a software with presentation slides and audio) are using the old MPEG-1 layer II for audio while the rest of the tv channels on the cuban mux probably use MPEG-2 for audio and video and since the 9200HD only claims MPEG-2 audio compatibility (which is backwards compatible in its specs but only to allow an MPEG1 only decoder to be able to decode the 2 channel stereo from an MPEG-2 source) therefore has no hardware or software to decode MPEG-1 Layer I or II. It will be interesting to compare this pansat 9200 versus other tv signals potentially using MPEG-1 Layer I or II. You shoudl let pansat know about this since they maybe can upgrade the software to allow MPEG-1 Layer I and II if that was the case.

All TV channels in Cuba use mono aural transmitters with the exception of the new addition Multivision (encrypted in the mux) as I read somewhere although only the FM national stations I beleive are stereo. The ACN channel is the creation of students from the Communications faculty (commun in this case as in journalists or public relations and the likes) therefore done with very limited resources so I suspect they are using old MPEG-1 equipment. This is all speculation as I have no means to analize the signal further too bad I got rid off the CW-650 premium as I remember that one listed the type of audio and video as well with more details.

 

[FaT Air]

I think the AZbox and sathawk/solomend/openbox decodes some formats that are not listed in their specs, as I think it will also decode DTS audio.(at least the L-R stereo channels if a surround stream)

 

[hd fan]

The Azbox acctually lists not only DTS but also ACC (Bolivia TV on 55.5W uses ACC and it makes the CS8100HD do funny things) on the side of the cardboard box it comes inside.

I just checked with a friend's CW and all TV and Radio channels on the cuban mux use the same MPEG Layer II at 128kbps rate with the audio source digitized at 48 Khz. they are all Mono and only a few National Radio stations are Stereo like Progreso and CMBF (24x7 clasical music or relex music , it is called Radio Enciclopedia). Well I am trusting the CW list that info appropiately but that could not be the case. I really have no idea now what could be wrong or happening with the Pansat 9200HD and those channels on the cuban mux since all are the same and just a few are stereo as the only difference in their audio.

Maybe someone else can chime in and shed some light or a call to pansat and ask them.

 

[FaT Air]

call to pansat and ask them

I wonder how they could see the issue, as 30W is well below the horizon in CA? Nothing gets fixed unless a problem is reproducible.
(Sidebar) Brought my car to the shop twice. Said they checked this and that but couldn't "see" any problems. A few days after the last visit I took the service writer for a trip around the block. It's fixed now, but those first two trips to the shop cost a Franklin more than if they would have fixed it on the first trip.

 

[Jim S.]

I think the AZbox and sathawk/solomend/openbox decodes some formats that are not listed in their specs, as I think it will also decode DTS audio.(at least the L-R stereo channels if a surround stream)

When the Russian mux on 99 Ku was unencrypted, the Solomend would claim on the channel banner at the bottom of the screen that the sound was DTS. If you hit the Info key til you got to the signal meter and PIDs, it would claim that it was AAC. Maybe DTS incorporates AAC? I have no idea, but either way I was shocked to see that anybody was even broadcasting such a thing, let alone that a cheap box would decode it, unadvertised. I'm pretty sure this was even before it was upgraded to decode AC3!