Problem with HT System VIII Plus and Vbox II

[linuxman]

I thought of something while waiting for a reply.

I have hooked the KU cable from the dish to port 4 on the diseqc switch and now both KU channels and C-Band channels are playing on Galaxy 11.

I have the 22Khz tone turned off right now.

I will scan another satellite to see if this works. Then it is just a bad port on the diseqc switch.

 

[Shawn95GT]

Yeah, I'd leave 22k off. That switch is fine.

Is this how you are setup? (see attachment)

 

[linuxman]

Hi Shawn,

Sorry to bother you guys with this.

This is how my setup is wired.



I just tried to scan Galaxy 10 for KU and found nothing with it wired back as shown. I'll wait on your response before unhooking from the switch and bypassing it.

Thanks,

Fred

 

[Shawn95GT]

That'll work too, but since the analog box isn't controlling anything it just adds more connections .

Just be sure that your VBOX is connected between the Pansat and the DiSEqC switch.

 

[linuxman]

The Vbox is connected up between the Pansat and the DiSEqC switch.

The next step is to take out the Hi-Freq switch and hook directly from the dish to the DiSEqC switch and see what that does.

 

[Shawn95GT]

It's worth a shot!

Shawn

 

[linuxman]

Taking out the Hi-Freq switch didn't do anything for it.

When I am by-passing the DiSEqC swith, I am bypassing the Vbox too. But when I do that, I can scan in KU channels. The confusing part is when I get through scanning, I can hook everything back up and watch both C and KU channels.

I don't know what might be the problem.

 

[Shawn95GT]

Hmm Thaty certainly sounds like a bad DiSEqC switch (assuming the reciever is set to the correct port).

I've been using the same DMS DiSEqC switch for 3 systems now - lol. It just works. The good news is that DiSEqC switches are cheap .

 

[linuxman]

I just tried scanning Galaxy 10 R with the KU Lnb hooked directly into the Pansat. When tuning that satellite in, I only saw very low signal quality and that only on one tansponder when trying to peak the skew. I also tried nudging it from side to side like you suggested with the Vbox alone one click at a time.

G10R is out a ways from the center. I am going to try and scan in IA6 which is next to my true south sat where I am able to watch KU channels. It very well may be a dish peaking problem for KU digital.

I should know shortly.

 

[voomvoom]

Allrighty then!

Now I have a real problem!

I think my diseqc switch is bad, or I have it configured incorrectly in the Pansat installation for the satellite.

Here is how I discovered the problem.

The three satellites I had programmed into the machine that had supposed KU and C-Band digital all had the same channels which I didn't think too strange because I am new at this and thought well maybe they have something coming in on C and on KU for some reason. After looking them over this morning, I would choose a channel from C then choose the same channel from KU and the only difference is that the signal quality was a little lower on KU.

Here is the troubleshooting I have done so far.

I have run the KU input directly from the dish into the Pansat and have now scanned in a dozen or so real KU channels from Galaxy 11. These are totally different from what was scanned from the C side of Galaxy 11.

The good news is that the signal quality is in the 60's on all of them.

The only other thing is that the servo is not switching properly, but I don't think that is the case, because if it was, I couldn't get any KU channels.

If the polarotor wasn't working, you would get only vertical or only horizontal. One or the other, not both.

Those of you with Pansats, please answer the following:

Should the 22Khz tone be turned on in the setup? I have had it on when doing the scanning last night.

I have checked all the RG-6 connections, and redid a couple of them. I have eliminated the A-B switch to the polorator as well, just to be on the safe side.

No reason for the 22khz switch to be on.

Also, don't know whether this matters, maybe it is crucial, but the box the diseqc switch came in says, "Pansat 4x1 DiSEqC 1.0 digital satellite equip. control".

Does a 1.0 switch make it incompatible with what I am trying to do here?

If you have an answer, please share it.

Thanks again everyone for all your help so far!!!!

Fred

It is compatible, all the 4x1 switches are that way. Try using one of the other ports, if you think you've messed one up. There is only one input into the Pansat. The 4x1 switch has 4 inputs and one output. They should be listed 1-4 on the switch. In the Pansat set-up, be sure and use the number for the port you are using. If port 2 is coming from C-band, then in the Pansat set-up, it should be listed as 2 for C-band. And, if port 3 is coming from ku-band, then in the Pansat set-up, it should be listed as 3. Get the picture Fred. Most people probably use port 1 and 2, but whatever best for you, is what you should use. You do know, I hope, that C-band has 4-digit TP #'s and should have the L.O. set for 5150, and ku-band has 5-digit TP #'s and should have the L.O. set for 10750.

Al

 

[linuxman]

Hey Al,

I have it all set correctly. Port 1 is for C-Band, and Port 4 is now being used for KU. I did have KU on port 2, but it wasn't letting the signal through, so I moved it to port 4. I have it set that way in the Pansat as well.

The 22Kz switch is now set to off.

I just finished running a scan on IA6 next to my true south satellite with everything hooked back up as above.

When I ran the KU scan first, I had some channels that conincided with what lyngsat shows should be on KU (5 digit transponders with 10750 in the Pansat setup). When I ran the C scan (4 digit transponders with 5150 in the Pansat setup), I got pretty much duplicated channels. There doesn't seem to be nearly as many channels as what lyngsat shows there should be for either side.

It might very well be a polorotor problem.

I am going to delete all those channels, and hook each feed up directly to the Pansat and run separate scans on them again and see what turns up.

 

[linuxman]

Okay!

I think I have an explanation about the duplicate names in the satellite scan. This makes me feel like a real dumba**. With both LNBs hooked up, and I do a smart scan, blind scan or whatever it is called, I go with the defaults which is every transponder, every polarity etc. Consequently you get everything it finds on both KU and C-Band.:river

The good news is that the poloroter works I got 15 channels on KU hooked directly to the dish. I got 2 channels on C-band with both H and V transponders on both sides. The KU looks pretty much like what lyngsat says, although I didn't get all that is listed there. Didn't get Classic Arts Showcase but got 3 aztec, 2 irs,4 or 5 test patterns, macys, and the rest feeds.

So I think after all this work, and confusion for you guys because of my ignorance of what I am doing, it all boils down to there not being a mechanical problem here.

I think it is simply a dish peaking problem and my learning how to run a smart scan for the side I want to look at.

Thanks for sticking with me through this. I will check a sat or two to the east if I can walk my way over there and see if I have the same problem picking up KU digital out away from the center. If so, then I have to either move the elevation, or as Doc says, turn it on the pole.

 

[voomvoom]

You're quite welcome Fred, and when you see something on lyngsat that the Pansat didn't scan in, do a manual scan, sometimes it may take a couple of them. Then again, you may never get some to scan in. Also, even if it's listed on lyngsat, it could be gone or having problems. If it's something you really want, try again later.

Al

 

[linuxman]

I got over to AMC 6, and got the NASA channels and Pennsylvania along with a couple of others on C-Band, but couldn't scan in any digital channels. The ones I got have a quality signal of 75, so the setup can't be too far off.

Just how tough is it to get the KU digital channels to come in? Does it almost have to be perfectly on the money even with a 10' dish?

I would say just off hand, that I need to twist it a little one way or the other to get it to track a little better on the arc, and not necessarily have to change the elevation. I'll play with that tomorrow afternoon.

Meanwhile, I'll see what else I can get on C-Band.

 

[voomvoom]

Fred, the ku channels, at least most of them, are spot beamed to South America. Some of them are also in the lower Universal bandwidth (below 11700), you can't get them with your standard linear lnb. The one listed on lyngsat that you should get, is GBN. It will come close to pegging the meter. I had to do a manual to gat it though. Then there is a mux that's not listed on lyngsat, so I won't mention it here. But, that same mux of 4 channels can be found on SBS6 (hint).

Al

 

[linuxman]

Thanks Al,

I am slaving away at it.

I won't give up, it is not in my nature.

Yo're a life-saver. All of you are. Just look how many people you help in a single day. It is incredible.

Fred

 

[linuxman]

Holy Sh*t!!!

I have Intelsat 805 playing right now. Positive Id on the sat. I have it programmed in as Pas 9, but it is definitely I-805.

I have two watchable C-Band channels. and three or four scrambled channels that have the $ sign like $Canal 3 Guatemala from frequency 4084 V. The channel I am watching has soccer playing right now with a signal of 55 and quality of 15-20.

WooHoo!!! I didn't think I would get that far East. I still have an inch or maybe two left on the actuator. I would love to get to Hispasat at 30 degrees but I doubt I can make 25 more degrees with even two inches of threads left.

At least I have a sat in the East I can use to judge quality tomorrow when I try to peak the dish.