Nimiq 2 Signal Strength in Southern US

[clayface1000]

As many of you know, Expressvu shuffled things around recently on Nimiq 2, the result being, for those of us in the Southern US (I'm in Los Angeles), the loss of a number of HD channels.

I partially remedied the problem by purchasing a 90 cm dish and was able to get readings of around 45 on transponders 5 & 9, thus restoring SN-HD and CTVHD-E & W.

The past few days, my signal strength has dropped to around 40 -- the threshold of the receiver being able to "see" the signal -- and the receiver locks and unlocks constantly, thus rendering the channels unwatchable.

I've tweaked my dish and even replaced the LNB with no improvement.

Has anybody else down south experienced a similar signal reduction, or as the saying goes, is it just me? I don't think I have a cabling, switch or receiver problem, so the only other answers are the trees in the distance having grown tall enough to now affect the signal, or something going on at the head end.

I appreciate any feedback on this. Thanks.

 

[HDTVFanAtic]

Yes, I have lost T7-11-27-31 over the weekend as these are now in the 40s and cannot lock.

I know they were high enough last week to watch the channel.

Fox in Seattle I can live without. CityHD I am a bit more upset about.


Also, I have no basis for this, its only speculation - nothing more.

While watching some of the Dish Tech Chat tonight, they went off about Echo X which they stated had feedback with precise monitoring points in Cheyenne and Canada - so that the Satellite Beam could be very precise (.005 degrees I believe they said) which they stated was something very new from their other older birds.

Considering that Nimiq 82W is now an old Directv Bird, its safe to assume it probably does not have this.

As we know from the last 60 days, the line takes a sharp drop off south of me and is virtually gone 100 miles south of me.

This has me wondering if the satellite is simply "wobbling" a bit and the line moved up closer to me and got you as well.

Dunno, but makes for frustation.

 

[clayface1000]

Thanks for the reply Fan. I've been searching everywhere and even posted a couple of places, but you were the only one to confirm my fears. This is very maddening, as I've been an Expressvu customer for years and they seem to have repaid their southern subscribers' loyalty by spitting in our faces, repeatedly. First they messed things up a couple of years ago, with us losing soome SD channels on Nimiq 1, and now again with HD. Yes, I know, we don't have the legal right to subscribe so stop complaining, etc., etc.

Do you or does anyone else know if the 9200 will function on OTA only without a subscription? I really like the machine and am thinking about keeping purely that purpose. I know I'd have to keep it connected to one of the satellites, but does the newest firmware allow me to use as a straight OTA DVR?

 

[Kryspy]

clayface1000,

Yes how dare they cut off service to their southern subscribers that they refute exist.

I say give them a call and see if they fix it for you

Kryspy

 

[angiodan]

It looks like we're SOL until the new sat goes up in 2007. And now that HDTVFanatic has lost those transponders a couple of hours north of me, they definitely played around and adjusted the sat some more in the last few days.

Sorry to hear you've lost them Fan, it sucks for all Floridian Evu (as well as California) subscribers.

Kryspy, I did email Evu yesterday just for the hell of it. Started off with what Clayface said that we are not legally able to subscribe, snowbirds, etc., and simply asked why not swap channels from tps 5,7,9,11 and 27 with 16,19,20,26 and 32, and everyone would be happy.

Within 30 minutes, the response was "You are not legally allowed to recieve Evu signals in the US." Uh, yeah I know, thanks for the quick reply. I wonder how fast you would have had a response if it was for service issue!!

 

[HDTVFanAtic]

The way I would approach it, is saying that you are sub but spend 4 months a year in Florida and the rest at your home in Canada. You bring the STB with you down to Florida.

I KNOW that they are aware that MANY snowbirds do this and tell them that your neighbors have SC and and others might have to change.

 

[angiodan]

Fan, that is exactly how I worded it. I used my friends name and email account, so there would be no way they could track it to me. Told them that I have friends from Canada that spend some time in Florida, and are disappointed they have lost these channels. I was writing the email, because of Evu's position on service in the US, and they don't want their service turned off. I said these are legitimate subscribers, not hackers stealing the service, and the simple channel shuffle would make everyone happy.

They didn't give a rats ass, as you saw in their reply. Pretty stupid in my opinion.

 

[clayface1000]

Angiodan, what will be happening in 2007? I've read various threads about new launches, but I haven't been able to piece together specifically what we can expect. Do we know that new sat(s) have a footprint that reaches down to the lower US or is everything just speculation at this point?

I might be willing to stick it out if I knew there was hope around the corner.

 

[philhu]

I live in New England-Boston.

I was about to post that my signal strength on 82 went UP about 6 points!

So, I think they must have tweaked the signal, pointing it a bit more north.

 

[digiblur]

I did a recheck of the quality in the Louisiana area.

Lost 15 points on TP 2
Lost 10 points on TP 12
Gained 5 points on TP 23

No changes on any other transponders.

I've got a friend with a de-subbed 3100 that I might hook up to the 90cm and see what type of signals it gets. I will let you know....

 

[angiodan]

Angiodan, what will be happening in 2007? I've read various threads about new launches, but I haven't been able to piece together specifically what we can expect. Do we know that new sat(s) have a footprint that reaches down to the lower US or is everything just speculation at this point?

I might be willing to stick it out if I knew there was hope around the corner.

Nimiq 4 is supposed to be launched, but I was wrong on the year-2008.
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Telesat_Chooses_ILS_To_Launch_Nimiq_4_On_Proton_Vehicle.html
As to what orbital location it will actually go to is anybody's guess, but I would suspect that the footprint would be similar to the original Nimiq birds and cover the entire US.

 

[HDTVFanAtic]

I live in New England-Boston.

I was about to post that my signal strength on 82 went UP about 6 points!

So, I think they must have tweaked the signal, pointing it a bit more north.

I know where they took the 6 points from

 

[Bountykiller]

heheh welcome to life on the fringe boys ;0 It's pretty simple.... get a REAL dish... when your on ther fringe those tin can 18'inchers wont cut it... I use 6 or 8 footers where I am. sucks to have a BUD or three in your yard, but hey, if you want TV and you arent where you should be to legally pick it up, all the whining in the world wont sort it. If you get a bigger dish you will be fine... Simple as that! Get a 3 footer or something for where you guys say you are or a 4 etc. You will be getting decent signal again in no time! you need more gain to compensate for the loss. A better LNB also helps immensly on the fringe. Get an invacom quad polar 0.3db and you will be laughing.

-doggfather

 

[clayface1000]

I would go for the BUD, but I don't have a backyard -- only a common area condo roof! I already have four dishes up there, including the 90 cm, which sticks out like a sore thumb!

Your suggestion of a better LNB sounds intriguing. Before the recent signal drop, I noticed that the cheap no-name LNB gave me a signal of around 41, while duct-taping in a regulation Expressvu LNB gave me a signal around 45. Those four precious points made a huge difference at that time.

I'd be willing to purchase another LNB if it gave me the extra oomph I needed. Do you have any thoughts as to how much improvement I could expect with an Invacom over a garden variety Bell?

Thanks!

 

[angiodan]

heheh welcome to life on the fringe boys ;0 It's pretty simple.... get a REAL dish... when your on ther fringe those tin can 18'inchers wont cut it... I use 6 or 8 footers where I am. sucks to have a BUD or three in your yard, but hey, if you want TV and you arent where you should be to legally pick it up, all the whining in the world wont sort it. If you get a bigger dish you will be fine... Simple as that! Get a 3 footer or something for where you guys say you are or a 4 etc. You will be getting decent signal again in no time! you need more gain to compensate for the loss. A better LNB also helps immensly on the fringe. Get an invacom quad polar 0.3db and you will be laughing.

-doggfather

I'd happily put an 6 or 8 footer up, IF I knew for sure that I could get the remaining tp's from Evu 82. We even started a thread in the FTA forum to ask the guys with BUD's to see if you could help us out in how far the footprint goes to the south and west.

My gut feeling is, especially with Fan's loss of signal in the Tampa area, that a BUD of any size won't help me.

 

[Bountykiller]

I'm willing to bet you can... I cant say my location, but i can tell you that im much further than you guys from it and i can get it... ;0 Also to the guy asking about improvement with the invacom lnb.. it is very noticable. for me on the fringe i get stuff that the regular one can not at all. ie Zero on some transponders.. i get on average about 10% more where i am. It may vary elsewhere, but it is a huge difference. I would highly advise trying it as its the cheapest option. Get one, and retune with it using the IRd or a really good meter and you should be better than you are now for sure.

-Bounty

 

[HDTVFanAtic]

I'm willing to bet you can... I cant say my location, but i can tell you that im much further than you guys from it and i can get it... ;0 Also to the guy asking about improvement with the invacom lnb.. it is very noticable. for me on the fringe i get stuff that the regular one can not at all. ie Zero on some transponders.. i get on average about 10% more where i am. It may vary elsewhere, but it is a huge difference. I would highly advise trying it as its the cheapest option. Get one, and retune with it using the IRd or a really good meter and you should be better than you are now for sure.

-Bounty

Maybe you should follow your own advice?

http://www.satelliteguys.us/showpost.php?p=532367&postcount=9

 

[clayface1000]

I ran out and bought the Invacom LNB today and just finished a session up on the roof. Not only did it not improve the signal, transponders 5 & 9 are now gone completely, no matter what LNB is in place. I guess Bell tweaked the signal away from the south a little more -- or should I say, they twisted the knife in a little deeper -- the past few days.

Oh well, it was worth a try. I now have a nice LNB for when I decide to go FTA at some point. Thanks for everyone's advice and input.

 

[digiblur]

When I moved from an old DirecTV LNB attached to the side of my linear KU LNB to the Invacom. It helped out a good bit:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/showpost.php?p=536173&postcount=12

 

[HDTVFanAtic]

When I moved from an old DirecTV LNB attached to the side of my linear KU LNB to the Invacom. It helped out a good bit:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/showpost.php?p=536173&postcount=12

Curious what you readings are now.


7, 11, 27 and 31 are too low for the IRD now.

And 2 others are spotty at best