Need help with new Viewsat VS2000 setup

[gringoloco1]

I received a viewsat package from ftadirect with a vs2000 receiver, a stab hh90 rotor, and a 80cm fortec star dish and I cannot get a single channel
I live in zip 34287 and I seem to get a signal from a lot of the satellites, however, when I try to do a search for channels, it always fails.
One thing that is not clear in the directions is, what do I set the dish's elavation to? My lat is 27N so I set that on the rotor, and I've tried randomly setting the dish's elavation but have had no luck. Another thing that puzzles me is that I can manually point my dish in all different directions and it still show signal??? Is the reception really that good, or is my receiver just screwed up? Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[PSB]

Hello and WELCOME to the SatelliteGuys.US FTA forum

It may be an idea to find a few satellites before adding the motor to the setup, it makes your first install a lot easier!

Here are all the angles to the satellites from your area.

          North Port, FL 34287
           Latitude 27° 2.868'N Longitude 82° 14.496'W

                         Sat Name Sat Lng Az(t) Az(m)   El  Skew
----------------------------------------------------------------
                                 
                                 
                     Intelsat 901   18.0W 102.4 107.1 14.3 -60.5
                                 
                     Intelsat 603   20.0W 103.5 108.1 16.2 -60.0
                                 
                            NSS 7   22.0W 104.6 109.3 18.0 -59.5
                                 
                     Intelsat 905   24.5W 106.0 110.7 20.2 -58.9
                                 
                     Intelsat 907   27.5W 107.8 112.5 22.9 -58.0
                                 
                   Hispasat 1C/1D   30.0W 109.4 114.1 25.2 -57.1
                                 
                     Intelsat 801   31.5W 110.4 115.1 26.5 -56.6
                                 
                     Intelsat 903   34.5W 112.4 117.1 29.2 -55.4
                                 
              AMC 12 & Telstar 11   37.5W 114.6 119.3 31.9 -54.0
                                 
                          NSS 806   40.5W 117.0 121.7 34.5 -52.5
                                 
                        PAS 6B/3R   43.0W 119.1 123.8 36.6 -51.1
                                 
                           PAS 1R   45.0W 120.9 125.6 38.3 -49.8
                                 
                     Intelsat 705   50.0W 125.8 130.5 42.5 -46.3
                                 
                     Intelsat 707   53.0W 129.1 133.8 44.8 -43.7
                                 
                     Intelsat 805   55.5W 132.1 136.8 46.7 -41.4
                                 
                            PAS 9   58.0W 135.3 140.0 48.6 -38.8
                                 
                         Amazonas   61.0W 139.5 144.2 50.6 -35.4
                                 
           EchoStar 3 & Rainbow 1   61.5W 140.2 144.9 50.9 -34.7
                                 
                 Estrela do Sul 1   63.0W 142.5 147.2 51.9 -32.8
                                 
                     Brasilsat B2   65.0W 145.7 150.4 53.1 -30.1
                                 
                     Brasilsat B1   70.0W 154.5 159.2 55.6 -22.6
                                 
                 Nahuel 1 & AMC 6   72.0W 158.3 163.0 56.4 -19.2
                                 
                            AMC 6   72.0W 158.3 163.0 56.4 -19.2
                                 
                        DirecTV 5   72.5W 159.3 164.0 56.6 -18.3
                                 
                            SBS 6   74.0W 162.3 167.0 57.1 -15.7
                                 
                            AMC 5   79.0W 172.9 177.6 58.2  -6.3
                                 
                          Nimiq 2   82.0W 179.5 184.2 58.4  -0.5
                                 
                            AMC 9   83.0W 181.7 186.4 58.4   1.5
                                 
                     Brasilsat B3   84.0W 183.9 188.5 58.3   3.4
                                 
                           AMC 16   85.0W 186.0 190.7 58.3   5.4
                                 
                            AMC 3   87.0W 190.4 195.1 58.0   9.2
                                 
              Intelsat Americas 8   89.0W 194.6 199.3 57.5  13.0
                                 
                 Galaxy 11/Nimiq1   91.0W 198.7 203.4 56.9  16.6
                                 
                     Brasilsat B4   92.0W 200.7 205.4 56.6  18.4
                                 
                        Telstar 6   93.0W 202.7 207.4 56.2  20.1
                                 
                        Galaxy 3C   95.0W 206.5 211.2 55.4  23.4
                                 
              Intelsat Americas 5   97.0W 210.1 214.8 54.4  26.5
                                 
                        Galaxy 4R   99.0W 213.5 218.2 53.3  29.5
                                 
                            AMC 4  101.0W 216.8 221.4 52.2  32.2
                                 
                            AMC 1  103.0W 219.8 224.5 50.9  34.8
                                 
                           AMC 15  105.0W 222.7 227.4 49.6  37.1
                                 
                          Anik F1  107.3W 225.8 230.5 48.0  39.7
                                 
         DirecTV 6 & EchoStar 6/8  110.0W 229.2 233.9 46.0  42.4
                                 
                          Anik F2  111.1W 230.5 235.2 45.1  43.4
                                 
                    Solidaridad 2  113.0W 232.6 237.3 43.7  45.0
                                 
                         SatMex 5  116.8W 236.6 241.3 40.6  48.0
                                 
          EchoStar 7 & DirecTV 7S  119.0W 238.7 243.4 38.7  49.5
                                 
  EchoStar 9/Intelsat Americas 13  121.0W 240.5 245.2 37.1  50.8
                                 
                       Galaxy 10R  123.0W 242.2 246.9 35.3  52.0
                                 
                        Galaxy 12  125.0W 243.8 248.5 33.6  53.1
                                 
             Galaxy 13/Horizons 1  127.0W 245.4 250.1 31.8  54.1
                                 
 Intelsat Americas 7 & EchoStar 5  129.0W 246.8 251.5 30.1  55.0
                                 
                           AMC 11  131.0W 248.3 253.0 28.3  55.8
                                 
                        Galaxy 1R  133.0W 249.6 254.3 26.5  56.6
                                 
                           AMC 10  135.0W 250.9 255.6 24.7  57.3
                                 
                            AMC 7  137.0W 252.2 256.9 22.9  58.0
                                 
                            AMC 8  139.0W 253.4 258.1 21.1  58.6
                                 
                     EchoStar 1/2  148.0W 258.4 263.1 13.0  60.8

        Satellite Finder is (c) Copyright 2004, P. Lutus

I would use AMC 9 @ 83.0W as a true south satellite.

SATELLITE SIGNAL MEANS NOTHING, you are only watching for signal quality. You will need to enter the Freq. Polarity and SR. of a LIVE channel before you will see any signal quality.

 

[gringoloco1]

I took off the rotor and I'm setting the dish to the coordinates you gave. However, when I manually search for channels on AMC-3 using these numbers, it is still failing.
87.0 West AMC-3
H-11712 0962 7/8 02.445 4130 4131 TIP TV
H-11716 0966 7/8 02.445 4130 4131 THE PATIENT CHANNEL
H-12110 1360 3/4 14.028 0049 0052 PBS-EAST AC-3 Audio
0065 0068 PBS-YOU AC-3 Audio
0081 0084 PBS-X AC-3 Audio
0097 0100 PBS-KIDS AC-3 Audio
H-12128 1378 3/4 14.028 0049 0052 PBS HDTV AC-3 Audio
H-12162 1412 3/4 04.340 4194 4195 MONTANA PBS
V-11726 0976 2/3 01.725 0512 0650 NEW MEXICO STATE EDUC. TV
V-11736 0986 1/2 05.666 4130 4121 MUSLIM TV AHMADIYYA Multiple language Audio on various APIDs
4134 0037 MTA INFO CARD
V-12115 1365 3/4 02.222 4130 4131 WYDN-TV Worcester-Boston, MA


Are these channels FTA if not, where should I be searching?

 

[PSB]

Yes most are FTA, this one is live and I get signal quality of 99%

DFreq. 11714 / SR. 2.449 / Polarity. H THE PATIENT CHANNEL

 

[gringoloco1]

Still failing...

Could it be because I'm entering 2449 for SR rather than 2.449? I didn't see any way to enter decimal.
Also, is there some sort of signal meter on the VS2000?

 

[gringoloco1]

Has anyone ever seen a viewsat receiver work?? I have looked thru many threads and it seems like a lot of people are having the same problem I am, but the threads seem to die without any resolution. Robert from FTADirect told me that this was the best recevier out and very easy to setup, yet no one can get it to work. I tried calling for support but I keep getting told to come here. Has anyone had a good experience with viewsat or FTADirect for that matter?

 

[MrMylesG]

decimal

My Megasat Pro is the same way. Just precede the number with a zero for those symbol rates with 4 digits. 02449 comes out 2.449 which should work.

MrM

 

[gringoloco1]

Preceding with 0 didn't make a difference.

 

[gringoloco1]

On the antenna config, should I have LNB type set to standard or universal?
I have a Fortec Star LNBF
R.F. 10.7-12.75 GHz
L.O. 9.75/10.60 GHz

And what should the settings be for LNB high and low or LNB freq depending on type?
Also, do I need to have a coax cable for LNB connector, there are 2?

Sorry to sound so stupid but I have been working at this for almost 3 weeks and have seen nothing yet. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Jim

 

[PSB]

Universal with the above L.O. (high and Low) 9.750 - 10.600

If its a dual output LNBF only one port is needed, if you are getting nowhere try swapping to the other output on the LNBF, don't give up!

 

[gringoloco1]

Thanks for your help so far Pete, but I'm still not getting anything. How do you think I should troubleshoot this, maybe there is a bad piece of hardware involved, but I don't have any extra receivers, LNB, etc. I already removed the rotor.

 

[PSB]

The viewsat is REAL tough to install, it does not even have Blind scan. If you were close to a satellite you could have tried that!

I would enter a LIVE TP. and keep watching for signal quality. Hopefully you do not have a bad part, good idea to remove the motor for now.

I would watch out for a cheap receiver as it will be a lot easier to install and get up and running!

 

[voomvoom]

gringoloco1,
I don't know if this will help, cause I know nothing about a Viewsat reveiver, but on my Pansat, it came from the factory with AMC 9 preprogrammed at 85.0w degrees, which is where it used to be. Now, it's located at 83.0w degrees. I had to reprogram my Pansat to get AMC 9. Maybe that's what your problem is. Currently, I don't think there is any bird at 85.0w degrees. Maybe your Viewsat is programmed correctly, maybe not. Just a thought.

Al

 

[gringoloco1]

Al,

Should it matter what the receiver has it set to. I removed the rotor and I am moving the dish by hand.

Jim

 

[voomvoom]

Al,

Should it matter what the receiver has it set to. I removed the rotor and I am moving the dish by hand.

Jim

Jim,
It probably don't matter without the rotor, but I'm sure you will want it to be correct when you put your rotor back on. And, it may already be correct. As I said before, I know nothing about a Viewsat. Sorry I can't be more help. But, don't give up. It'll work out eventually.

Al

 

[gringoloco1]

So far I am still getting 0 signal strength for quality. While attempting to connect to AMC 3, I have moved my dish from 180 degrees to 210 degrees, I've adjusted the elavation from 56 to 60, and my pole is plumb.
My receiver is configured as follows:

Satellite=AMC3
LNB Power=On
LNB Type=Universal
LNB High=10600
LNB Low=9750
TP Freq=11716
Search Option=All
DiSEqC 1.0=None
Motor=Off
S/R=2446
Pol=H
FEC=7/8

Does the dish have to be dead on for the signal quality to show anything?

Would a satellite meter help?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[PSB]

The dish has to be bang on to get signal quality(both Elevation and Az.). A satellite meter is not as good as watching the signal quality on the TV after entering a live TP./Channel on the receiver.

 

[voomvoom]

Change your TP frequency to 11724 and your S/R to 3676, while leaving your polarity on Horizontal. This is a Bloomberg feed. There is usually something there. Or, put your TP on 12110 and S/R at 14025, polarity still Horizontal. There are 4-5 PBS feeds here, you may not get sound if you can't get AC-3 audio.

Al