Slaved analog C band receiver, need to "simulate" actuator

[pmb1010]

I bought an old C/Ku band analog receiver. I have it slaved off of a Lifetime Ultra's IF passthru ouput port, so I get the raw C or Ku signal from it, and use it to change H/V polarity.

I expect to delete out all the old sats from the analog receiver, and will probably end up setting up 3 or 4 sats in it, one for standard C polarity and C reverse polarity, and Ku when I figure out that structure for whats left on Ku analog.

Question: If I try to change from the sat the unit is currently stuck on, I get "actuator error" and it will not change sat. It stays on (I think it's "X3") or whatever previous owner named this sat... I can go into configuration and change from Standard to Reverse, but that's kind of a pain.

How do I simulate an actuator so I can trick the receiver to think it's moving a big dish? Or maybe is there a way to turn off actuator in the receiver settings?

 

[Hermitman]

It depends on the make and model of receiver you have. Have you tried resetting the dish limits? That could cause the problem.

 

[Lynskyn]

Most receivers have a "program mode" to store the satellite positions. Just store all the satellites at the same position and that should stop the actuator error messages.

 

[pmb1010]

OK, I think setting them all to "5000" might do the trick. Will give it a try.

another observation,

I found this handy C band chart:
http://www.satcruiser.com/c-band_chart.htm

But I seem to be all mixed up on polarites...

Example: AMC3 University Network channel.
Chart says Sat should be "reversed" polarity.

But to get the station, I need to put:

- the Ultra is set to V
- the C band receiver has to be set to "Normal"
- on channel 20, it displays H on the C band receiver.

I'm confused. If I set the C band receiver to "reversed", (so everything is "V") Ch20 disappears.

More:

I changed to H on the ultra. Scanning channels, I find ABC good morning america feed on Ch14, and H on Ultra matches C band box with H showing on the screen.

More confused...

 

[awh]

I can't offer much help, but I can confirm that University Network (most C-banders will recognize this as "Doc Scott") is vertical polarity, and the ABC network feed on IA-8/14 is horizontal. The reference to reverse (or inverted) and normal polarity is an old designation that was used to differentiate between Satcom and Westar satellite transponder formats.


Tony
Home Page - http://www.cyberspace.org/~awh/
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