New LNB and AMC 3 problems

[Venner]

Hey everyone. I bought an Invacom QPH-031 LNB last week to replace my old 0.6dB universal LNB and so far I'm very happy. On my Fortec 90cm dish, I've already had the chance to test the new LNB in pouring rain and thick snow flurries (thank you Ohio weather). For the first time, G10 stays completely watchable, and most of my other channels were boosted 5-10%.

One big problem. Suddenly I can't get any of the PBS stations on AMC3, other than Montana PBS - and even that station isn't as strong as it was before. I've erased the satellite, reset all the settings, did a full blind scan, checked the dish alignment, and everything. I get 15-20% on the PBS channels at best now. This is a big deal to me because these are the channels I watch the most, by far and really the whole reason I decided to get a better LNBF (they have always been fairly low reception. 33-50%.)

Can anyone help? Any ideas? Settings I can play with, etc? I have a Fortec Lifetime Classic receiver.

By the way, while I am asking, what other satellites / transponders are in the clear for the circular side of my LNB, other than NASA TV?

 

[Mr Tony]

By the way, while I am asking, what other satellites / transponders are in the clear for the circular side of my LNB, other than NASA TV?

what you can get on the circular side
http://www.satelliteguys.us/showpost.php?p=308435&postcount=1

 

[Das Hammer]

Did you peak the skew? I just installed one of these this weekend and I needed to rotate the LNBF 5 degrees from where I THOUGHT zero was. There wasn't a very good indicator on the LNBF itself where zero was other than the seam between the two plastic halves. Adjusting it just that much changed my quality on G10R from ~72% to ~85%.

 

[Tron]

Its always best to tweak skew on the LNBF while you're tweaking the dish, just in case something like this will improve your quality. Also a good idea to tweak the distance of the LNBF from the dish, that can result in a substantial quality increase as well

 

[Venner]

Iceberg: Thanks, so....NASA basically

Das Hammer & Tron:

I tried moving the LNB in and out and was actually surprised that it didn't cause the signal to fluctuate at all, truthfully (although I tried on only one fairly strong transponder.) I didn't try skewing the LNB though, just kinda eyeballed it as in-alignment. I'll try tomorrow when I have a chance. (Where my dish is set up, I can make adjustments, take about 5 steps and look at the TV through the window. If it weren't so darn cold...)

I just find it odd that every other channel seems to be the same-as or improved over my previous LNB, and that the AMC3 PBS stations have next to no signal. (In fact, after I cleared the sattelite and re-scanned, they don't even register. I added all of the frequencies for the upcoming changeover. We'll see how that goes.)

 

[WyrTwister]

I just find it odd that every other channel seems to be the same-as or improved over my previous LNB, and that the AMC3 PBS stations have next to no signal. (In fact, after I cleared the sattelite and re-scanned, they don't even register. I added all of the frequencies for the upcoming changeover. We'll see how that goes.)

Sounds like a polarity problem . Either Sqew or low voltage problem ( check coax and connectors ) .

Wyr

 

[Das Hammer]

You say you're watching G10R, which is primarily vertical. The pbs mux is also vertical. So, I'd say your vertical polarity is definitely working.

You don't by chance happen to have the old PBS channels stored in your receiver from when they were horizontal, do you?