Multiple Port/Multiple dishes STILL puzzling me..

[radio]

Help me keep my sanity over 8-place diseqc feed and multiple dishes feeding single Amiko Mini receiver:

Setup at present:
port 1: C of C/Ku feed Birdview
port 2: Ku port of C/ku Birdview
port 3: Fixed Birdview on 103 C-band
port 4: Fixed Ku on 103
port 5: Fixed Ku on 125
Port 6: Spare: To be 97 ku, not used now
Port 7 Spare: To be fixed 99 C Band, (manual crank/6 footer) replaced Ku shown in picture.
Port 8: Spare: to be used for any Ku

I've followed the 101-C band thread on intermittent signal on retro and specialty networks. I have the same issue as everyone, But Me-TV locks fine. “normal” is how I'd describe it. (port 1)

Meanwhile, the FIXED 103 for Ion, PBS, etc with new feedline (which I thought was a problem) acts like T-I ( iClosest analogy I can give) is causing it to dip signal regularly, but unpredictably. (port 3)

Thought I'd swap-in the MicroHD in for the Amiko. Just the reverse happened. After proper port settings were input to the MicroHD, my 103 on the fixed dish port 3 for Ion became steady, and the 101 feed port 1/motorized dish couldn't even show a 45 percent “yes, you have LNB” noise signal! All other fixed dishes feeding BOTH receivers worked fine. I even rotated through all the transponders shown to see if ANY would make the signal meter respond. Nope. I'm hoping that rules out loss of a polarity voltage.

It seems like on the Amiko setup that the 103 and 101 are interfering with each other... and one receiver reads the issue differently than the other! The Amiko seems to impress the bouncing signal issue of 101 onto the fixed 103....meanwhile the MicroHD recognizes a strong 103 on the fixed dish with no problems at all, but 101 does not exist!

I've not changed any wires, I've verified my motorized dish port 1 C-band LNB is okay, rotating to 95, 99, 101, and 103.

Why in the world will two different receivers have completely opposite symptoms? One gets 101's Me-TV steadily with the usual signal dropouts & the same issues were all having on the others, and that same receiver has signal dips on 103's ION from my fixed dish, while the other receiver sees NO Me-TV (not even the LNB) but gets a steady and strong signal and lock on all the 103 Ion and other transponders?

In this hobby, about the time you think you understand enough to handle anything, you're knocked back down the ladder and asking your Satellitguys friends for advice! Is it possible I have T-I that is more noticeable on certain receivers than others and on different transponder frequencies? Hopefully it's something ELSE...

Hopefully I've put this logically enough to follow...

So, I'm asking....what in the WORLD is going on?

 

[FaT Air]

First thing I'd do is Verify operation, Run direct to each dish, with each receiver.
Then add just the switch. Then an LNB, then another.etc. Might find a certain combination that has issues. Maybe moving the fixed 103 C-band to another (spare) port?
Might be the diseqc switch 'leaks' from one port to another?? A few times while using a cheap diseqc switch, I couldn't use port 1. It would interfere with the others.
Ended up putting a 22khz sw on port 2. This worked albeit a bit more system loss.
Solved for good when I removed any and all 22khz switches when I got an Amiko 8x1 diseqc.

 

[wvman]

I am certainly no expert being new to FTA, but I've seen enough to be suspicious that there are no industry standards in the architecture surrounding receiver design. Even Cisco with all their experience in the industry suffers the same ailments as the cheap Chinese receivers such as the $26 Freesat V7. I'd guess the Cisco D9865H commercial grade receiver incorporates two different and separate processing circuits, one for FTA and another for PowerVU capable of decoding commercial broadcast channels.

Unlike the early days of C-Band, there are no major players in the game like R.L Drake, General Instruments or Scientific Atlanta producing equipment for the FTA market. I would venture to say some of the issues with multi-dish hook ups would still be present if all the receivers in a system such as yours were all of the same manufacturer. I've seen weird anomalies running two receivers of the same manufacturer on a simple dual output LNBF hook-up on a single dish, which would indicate the lack of consistency between supposedly similar components, such as processors and tuning circuits.

I'm sure Titanium and some others in here are far more capable of hashing out your problem than I am. I guess it's why they call FTA a hobby. Even after being in the satellite business for 30 years, I end up scratching my head more often than I'd like when you have a half dozen different receivers, each with its own unique problem. I love playing with this kind of stuff, so I don't get frustrated to the point of pulling my hair out. Hang in there, I'm sure someone in here has the knowledge to find a work through for your problem. Good luck

 

[radio]

First thing I'd do is Verify operation, Run direct to each dish, with each receiver.
Then add just the switch. Then an LNB, then another.etc. Might find a certain combination that has issues. Maybe moving the fixed 103 C-band to another (spare) port?
Might be the diseqc switch 'leaks' from one port to another?? A few times while using a cheap diseqc switch, I couldn't use port 1. It would interfere with the others.
Ended up putting a 22khz sw on port 2. This worked albeit a bit more system loss.
Solved for good when I removed any and all 22khz switches when I got an Amiko 8x1 diseqc.

Thank you! Glad for the ideas, sadly, I'm already running an Amiko....but will dig in more on Sunday.

 

[radio]

I am certainly no expert being new to FTA, but I've seen enough to be suspicious that there are no industry standards in the architecture surrounding receiver design. Even Cisco with all their experience in the industry suffers the same ailments as the cheap Chinese receivers such as the $26 Freesat V7. I'd guess the Cisco D9865H commercial grade receiver incorporates two different and separate processing circuits, one for FTA and another for PowerVU capable of decoding commercial broadcast channels.

Unlike the early days of C-Band, there are no major players in the game like R.L Drake, General Instruments or Scientific Atlanta producing equipment for the FTA market. I would venture to say some of the issues with multi-dish hook ups would still be present if all the receivers in a system such as yours were all of the same manufacturer. I've seen weird anomalies running two receivers of the same manufacturer on a simple dual output LNBF hook-up on a single dish, which would indicate the lack of consistency between supposedly similar components, such as processors and tuning circuits.

I'm sure Titanium and some others in here are far more capable of hashing out your problem than I am. I guess it's why they call FTA a hobby. Even after being in the satellite business for 30 years, I end up scratching my head more often than I'd like when you have a half dozen different receivers, each with its own unique problem. I love playing with this kind of stuff, so I don't get frustrated to the point of pulling my hair out. Hang in there, I'm sure someone in here has the knowledge to find a work through for your problem. Good luck

All very good points. I like to have as little motorized watching as possible...on my regular channels. The dual LNB idea from the 103 fixed dish is not a bad idea!