Pansat 9200HD + DVB-S2 Blind Search Module

[Gordon Corbett]

Dear All,

I hope that I am posting this query in the right place.

I have been struggling with my Pansat 3500s for four years now. I have had it repaired once, and those repairs are still working; nevertheless, the machine has aged. If I want to watch MPEG-2/DVB transmissions, I must occasionally kill and re-start it with its rear-mounted rocker switch. Otherwise, its quality meter will not work, and the receiver will reject the broadcaster's signal.

So, reluctantly, I am considering buying another receiver. The Pansat 9200HD has been out for two and one-half years. Pansat finally gave it a board that offers genuine "smart" search for DVB-S2. Presumably, the original machine has had a lot of its bugs fixed, and maybe the new board also functions reliably?

Should I soldier on with my 3500s, hoping that eventually we will see a receiver having the AZ Box's capacities, lacking its faults, and possessing blind search and reliability? Or, mindful that Santa Claus might be tripping over his beard when that new "Wundermaschine" comes out, should I buy a new Pansat 9200HD and board combination, trusting that our ten-foot dish will overcome its tuner's alleged relative insensibility?

Or, has a new receiver that features reliability, DVB-S2, blind search, and maybe even 4:2:2, already arrived?

Thanks, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Gordon F. Corbett

 

[sleeper]

Gordon, I recently bought a Pansat 9200 with S-2 plus tuner and the biggest problem I had was overheating, once I solved that problem it turned out to be a decent receiver. But.........at $400+ I don't know if it is worthy.

 

[cowpres]

9200HD

I also have just purchased the 9200HD and have to say I really like it. One of the things I like about it is that it has a terresterial tuner in it as well, and it integrates the channels it finds OTA into the mix. I can also tune in to locals while it is doing a blind scan of FTA channels! Multitasking! I have found that when I blindscan, if there is a channel to be found, it finds it and I can watch it. Overall, I'd give it a 9 only because it did freeze on me once (not sure what happened).
Hope this helps you in your decision.
-cowpres

 

[Mr Tony]

Or, has a new receiver that features reliability, DVB-S2, blind search, and maybe even 4:2:2, already arrived?

nothing yet....sadly

closest is azbox but that has no blind scan

 

[Gordon Corbett]

Dear Everybody,

Thanks so much for your responses. It is wonderful to obtain insights from those who have experience.

Gordon

 

[Gordon Corbett]

To Owners of Pansat 9200HD Receivers

Dear Owners of Pansat 9200HD Receivers,

I forgot to ask you something.

I have found that my Pansat 3500s receiver, which allegedly can hold 5,000 channels, starts malfunctioning wildly if I load into it more than, say, 350. Currently, it has only around two hundred thirty.

Now, as I said, I am considering the purchase of a 9200HD, which can not only receive normal SD transmissions on C-Band and Ku-Band, but can receive HD as well. I do not know how many extra these HD broadcasts comprise.

I know that the alleged total possible for the new 9200HD is 10,000. Given my experience with the 3500s, I figure that the 9200HD's actual usable total might amount to five to six hundred plus.

Please tell me how many channels your 9200HDs have stored without malfunctioning.

And, thanks.

Gordon F. Corbett

 

[pendragon]

I've had a couple thousand channels running on my 9200HD without any problems.

 

[Gordon Corbett]

Use of S2 Module

Dear PENDRAGON,

Now that I have unpacked my 9200HD, I see that the manual seems to lack special instructions on how to use the S2 module. Have I missed something, or must I do something, e. g., call Panarex in Sun Valley, to obtain the special instructions I read are necessary? I thought that the S2 module would be accompanied not only by an installation guide, but also by a special manual.

I say all this because I think that I have read forum entries concerning the use of this module in which words unfamiliar to me, for example "Pilot," appear.

I have yet to plug in the machine because I still must obtain the right length of "S" cord.

Thanks.

Gordon F. Corbett

 

[Mr Tony]

The pansats have been notorious for transponder overload where if you do lots of blindscans it stores all those TP's and makes the reciever do funky stuff

I've worked with a 1500,2500,3500,5000,6000,9200 and all had that issue.

Do you have KU only or C & KU Band? The easiest way to solve this is to delete transponders in the system. The channels will not be removed but it solves the problem.

If you are KU only, on all the C-Band satellites remove all the transponders but one. I remove all TP's but one in my 1500 & 2500 and that solves the issue.

 

[pendragon]

Now that I have unpacked my 9200HD, I see that the manual seems to lack special instructions on how to use the S2 module. Have I missed something, or must I do something, e. g., call Panarex in Sun Valley, to obtain the special instructions I read are necessary? I thought that the S2 module would be accompanied not only by an installation guide, but also by a special manual.

Assuming the installation instructions are sufficient for you to get the S2 board up and running, there are only a few minor differences in operating procedures to take advantage of it. Primarily if you set the "Smart scan" display to search "DVB-S2" instead of the default "DVB-S", everything will work the way you want. When you search "DVB-S2", the 9200HD will search both DVB-S and DVB-S2. The other option is for legacy scanning, which is generally much poorer and only does DVB-S. If you have any questions, please ask. Good luck!

 

[Gordon Corbett]

Dear PENDRAGON and All,

Thanks a lot. The ability to learn from those who know is invaluable, and I will try your suggestion later today or perhaps on Saturday morning. I bought my receiver brand new from Panarex in Sun Valley, so its freshness seems solid.

I plan to obtain my forgotten "S-cords" today, and after setting up my 9200HD, to begin loading the data from my sector of the Clarke Belt, which in my case stretches from AMC6 to AMC7 and maybe even to AMC8.

We change satellites and polarities with our DSR-920 4DTV because we like watching several of the 4DTV channels still available: TCM, Fox News, Fox Movie Channel, TNT, and the Denver 5, among others. Soon, I fear, these will be restricted to the SLD, forcing us to stop using our 4DTV receiver and either subscribe to one of the SLD companies or depend on DVDs and our computer.

Nevertheless, we will still want to watch MPEG-2/DVB. I know that we could still use our DSR-920 only to change satellites and polarities, but Lyngsat shows that there are several more satellites in our sector than there are blue satellite tiles in our DSR-920's control screen. Those other satellites could host channels I might like to see.

My issue is, if or when this choice becomes necessary, how we will change polarities. Although "boxes" that let the user change satellites exist, I have never heard of any that lets the user change polarity. If my 9200HD cannot change our ten-foot dish's LNBs' polarities, how might I do that?

Thanks again.

Gordon

 

[Gordon Corbett]

"Do you have KU only or C & KU Band? The easiest way to solve this is to delete transponders in the system. The channels will not be removed but it solves the problem.

"If you are KU only, on all the C-Band satellites remove all the transponders but one. I remove all TP's but one in my 1500 & 2500 and that solves the issue."

Dear ICEBERG,

We have a ten-foot dish with standard linear C-Band and KU-Band LNBs.

My 3500s's meager capacity, nowhere near its claimed five thousand channels, forced me to be very choosy. I wound up having under two hundred forty active channels. To do that, I deleted almost every unobtainable or undesirable channel and transponder, but disliked having to do so. A given broadcaster who sends only junk could be replaced by another who sends only gold, but my deletions would prevent my finding him.

So, please tell me what your 9200HD's practical limit has turned out to be.

And, thanks.

Gordon

 

[Mr Tony]

So, please tell me what your 9200HD's practical limit has turned out to be.

I havent had my 9200 in a long time (got mad at the firmware bugs at the time and sold it. They since fixed them) but I had around 600 channels in it at one time. Mix of everything (24/7 channels & feeds)

I know my Coolsat 5000 I've had almost 1000 channels in it when I was scanning updates to thelist.

I think if you delete the Transponders that should help the issue.

 

[Gordon Corbett]

Dear ICEBERG,

Thanks a lot. It always helps to ask people who have the moxie.

Gordon

 

[Gordon Corbett]

Dear ICEBERG,

Pardon me, but I forgot to ask about one element of your message. You said, "The easiest way to solve this is to delete transponders in the system. The channels will not be removed but it solves the problem."

I thought that I had to delete both transponders and the channels they carry.

Do you mean that after I delete Channel X's transponder, that I could click on Channel X and the receiver would retrieve the transponder and let me look at the channel? Sorry about the ignorance, but asking questions is the only way I have to dispel it.

Thanks, in advance, for answering.

Gordon

 

[Mr Tony]

Some receivers if you delete the transponder any channels associated with that transponder will be deleted. My Coolsat 5000 if I delete a transponder and there are 2 channels that are scanned in the list on that TP, they get deleted
Pansat & old Fortec units do not do this.

I could have 25 channels on (example) 91W KU and only have one transponder loaded in there (for the motor to move to that satellite).

Do you mean that after I delete Channel X's transponder, that I could click on Channel X and the receiver would retrieve the transponder and let me look at the channel?

correct
My Coolsat 8000 when I manually scan in a transponder doesnt "save" the TP in the list but stores the channel. So on one satellite I have 1 TP stored and 19 channels. I havent got around to deleting the channels as they were sports feeds

 

[Gordon Corbett]

Dear ICEBERG,

Thanks again.

By the way, I read a test-report you wrote about an approximately four-foot dish equipped with LNBFs. Given its size, this dish attained what looked to me like high quality readings; and, if I recall correctly, these readings were made possible by equipment accompanying the LNBFs. (You can tell that I do not understand a lot about electronics, but please bear with me.)

Should deals excluding most of our favorite channels from 4DTV reception turn our DSR-920 into an economic doorstop, we might want to change our LNBs for LNBFs so that an azimuth-changing "box" could let us continue to use our Pansat 9200HD with our ten-foot dish. Would I be able to buy similar quality-reading-boosting equipment for those LNBFs? And, presuming that I could obtain it, how much do you think that that equipment would boost my 9200's performance?

I understand that using the LNBFs with the "box" would let us change our 9200HD's polarity.

Thanks.

Gordon

 

[Mr Tony]

Dear ICEBERG,

Thanks again.

By the way, I read a test-report you wrote about an approximately four-foot dish equipped with LNBFs. Given its size, this dish attained what looked to me like high quality readings; and, if I recall correctly, these readings were made possible by equipment accompanying the LNBFs. (You can tell that I do not understand a lot about electronics, but please bear with me.)

I did take a 4 footer and got some C-Band on it but not a whole heckuva lot. I needed a special conical scale ring to get decent results. For KU the signal were very good.

Should deals excluding most of our favorite channels from 4DTV reception turn our DSR-920 into an economic doorstop, we might want to change our LNBs for LNBFs so that an azimuth-changing "box" could let us continue to use our Pansat 9200HD with our ten-foot dish. Would I be able to buy similar quality-reading-boosting equipment for those LNBFs? And, presuming that I could obtain it, how much do you think that that equipment would boost my 9200's performance?

I understand that using the LNBFs with the "box" would let us change our 9200HD's polarity.

There really isnt a definite answer as some older LNB's (the ones with 3 wires that a 920 would control) have worked better than the voltage sensored ones. I have a few voltage sensored ones and they all seem to work really well. They're C-Band only. My KU setups are separate from C-Band

 

[Gordon Corbett]

Dear ICEBERG,

Thanks again.

Gordon

 

[Mr Tony]

The one thing I have had happen on the newer coltage sensored units is being in Minnesota it can get COLD in January....like -30F is having one side (usually horizontal) just die on me.

Had one short out on me (more like freeze up) in the winter.....its my "spring to fall LNB"