Question about FTA channel scans

[mct1]

Hi Guys,

Just found something perplexing to me and haven't seen any info that explains it.
I was scanning the southeast for the first time and got a lock on Ku circular at 77
or 73 (Echo 4 or 6) ? My Orasat gets a very strong signal, but when scanning,
all channels are received as radio and not video. If it were dish size that somehow affected this, then the signal would not be that strong. Anyone know
why the receiver would read all signals as radio ? I can scan all the Echo to the
west and they always give at least a couple of FTA channels as video and they
list all the scrambled channels as video as well.

Thanks for any response. Still trying to learn.

 

[gillham]

Hi Guys,

Just found something perplexing to me and haven't seen any info that explains it.
I was scanning the southeast for the first time and got a lock on Ku circular at 77
or 73 (Echo 4 or 6) ? My Orasat gets a very strong signal, but when scanning,
all channels are received as radio and not video. If it were dish size that somehow affected this, then the signal would not be that strong. Anyone know
why the receiver would read all signals as radio ? I can scan all the Echo to the
west and they always give at least a couple of FTA channels as video and they
list all the scrambled channels as video as well.

Thanks for any response. Still trying to learn.

I believe it is because those are all MPEG4 channels. So the receiver sees them as data and incorrectly categorizes them as radio. Check Lyngsat for an exact transponder that you found. EchoStar 6 at 72.7°W - LyngSat

 

[mct1]

Thanks for the help, gillham. Yes, it looks like that is the only Echo with all MPEG-4. I guess that is what everyone is talking about with 8PSK modules for FTA boxes. I thought the box
would still scan it and register as video, but if the box is only MPEG-2, then it is just like a
foreign language. Learn something every day.

Cheers