Starting again!

[Lew]

Well... going to try my luck again. Last year I purchased a complete system( Traxis 5500 DVB , SG2100 motor, a cheepo LNBF and a 30" Weingard dish) I spent weeks of spare time working on it. I did not get one satellite. I have the satellite finder and all the tools but to no avail. I checked and double check my settings nothing. I put everything away and have not touched it since Dec. '05
I have gotten more out of this fourm today than I have from others I read last year. Thank you for being here.
I found myself with some time due to having Knee surgery last week. Once I can get up on a ladder again I want to start working again!
My big question is should I upgrade my LNBF to the INVACON SNH-031 or the QPH-031 ?? My gut says the QPH-031. I think the cheepo I have may be part of the trouble.
Thank you, Lew

 

[VO1ONE]

I have both of those LNB's and they both work great. I'm currently using the QPH for a couple reasons. One being that the linear half of it is standard Ku instead of universal, which means that it only covers 11.7-12.2GHz and uses a LO of 10750. Why does this matter? A couple reasons. One is that it offers full compatability with my analog box (and starchoice box!) whereas with a universal I only get half the transponders due to the IF being out of my analog box's range. Another is that I could use a 22kHz switch later to cascade another diseqc switch easier, or actually I could use that instead of a diseqc to switch between circular and linear. Since universal LNB's use 22kHz to switch between high band and low band, it adds a small limiting factor to your switching options. I use a primestar dish with an HH120 motor and the circular comes in handy for watching NASA TV and listening to the free audio stations. Some of the FTA DBS stations you can get are Jesus Satellite TV, 2 polish radio stations, a radio station from Winnipeg, Uniprix French radio, Deutche Welle, Folk and Country Music radio, GOL TV, 59 muzak stations on 119WL, LDS Radio and Angel One TV. The DBS side of the LNB is probably the best DBS LNB on the market. I bet it is a hit for Bell ExpressVu customers who live far from the border.

So, if you have a use for the circular, and don't care about not having universal (which means you can't watch Cubavision Internacional, and that's about it!) then the QPH-031 would be an excellent LNB for you!

 

[dashaund]

I second the QPH-031. But, you say you didn't get ANYTHING? Might be more than just a cheap LNB. Keep checking those settings...if just ONE is SLIGHTLY off, it can screw you totally up. My motor elevation was off less than two degrees because I was reading the scale incorrectly and I was getting next to nothing. I would definately get the LNB regardless, but I'd make sure everything else is okay first. If it's a universal lnb make sure you'v e got the box set up for it. If it's a standard lnb, well, you get the idea.

 

[Tron]

Another vote for the Invacom QPH-31. It's probably the most versatile Ku LNBF out there!

 

[Lew]

Thanks for all your imput, I'm still green at this. I will be contacting Pete to get my new QPH-031 ! I will keep you all posted on progress. I get to go to see my doctor today and I will see when I can do the ladder thing again
PS: has anyone here had any experience with the Traxis DBS 5500CI ??

 

[Mr Tony]

Invacom QPH-031. Had one and loved it. My roof didn't (due to the lower elevation and the way I have my dish setup, the Invacom got real close to the roof line..I have it on the backside of my house looking up the roof)

 

[Lew]

Iceberg, what are you using now?

 

[Mr Tony]

I have a Sadoun dual LNB and a DBS hoseclamped next to it.

The way my house is set up, I had to put it on the back of the house facing up the roof. MN has a true south elevation of 38 so its pretty low to begin with. When I added the Invacom the unit is pretty big. I had to get some righ angle adapters so I could get over to 121 and west. Best I could do was 123 barely before the adapters hit the roof. And since we get a lot of snow here, it wasn't feasable for me. I'd have to clean off a lot of the roof there to see G10

 

[kurtsat]

Oh yea, I must say QPH-031 is best! I love watching NASA @ 119 this earlier morning when the space shuttle arrives!

 

[Trevorm7]

Make sure you have line of site, that's a problem I'm having. The only satellites I got were EchoStar7 and EchoStar3 but the signal is not very good, I can't get all the transponders.

First I got EchoStar7 and there were some stations from Miami and Fort Lauderdale that are unencrypted as well as the Nasa and Angel.

But I got bored of those and messed around moving the dish until I found EchoStar3, but the signal was even worse I couldn't get allot of the tp's.

I found another satellite but couldn't identify it, I tried both a linear and circular lnb and went through different Sat's and frequency's but go no quality.

I would have never found anything at all if I didn't have a SATELLITE FINDER.

The south side of the house (and basically all other sides) has lots of huge trees so I'm sure that's my problem.

I've learned allot, but the most important thing I learned is, you won't get S*** if you have no line of site!

 

[Lew]

I do have some line of site problems but I have a lot of open sky so... I should have got something As far as I know my Traxis 5500 doesn't have blind scan which would help some. If I can get some channels with the new LNBF

 

[Lew]

Ooops... wrong button
If I can get signals with a new LNBF I can justify getting a better reciever with my Wife know what I mean

 

[justdave]

Hey Lew When I first mounted my dish to my house I could not find ant satellites unless the the brackets where loose. The only thing i can think is that the gutter is 6 inches above and about 3 inches behind the dish and was causing me not to get any signals. I remounted the dish about 12 inches lower and I now can find about 3/4 of the satellites. I still need to fine tune but I am alot happier!!!

 

[dashaund]

Any obstruction may or may not be a factor is the reception of signals. We've heard of power lines causing problems. In my situation, I have tops of trees that look to me like they are blocking my LOS, but they're NOT! I know it's an offset dish, so that's probably why. Just never know...

 

[justdave]

I also have trees that look like they are in the way. No Power lines. But for some reason I had to lower my dish. The only thing I can think of and see is the gutter. Its only a guess.

 

[Lew]

When I get back from camp sunday or monday I will start working with my system and see what I can come up with. I appreciate so much the response I have gotten .... back soon with some good news.
Thank you all, Lew

 

[hantu]

Lew,

I have the SNH-031 and have been using it for over a year now. No problems! It does talke a little longer for blind scans, but at the time, I think it was one of the best .3db LNBs available. I'm not even sure that the "Q" was available yet a year ago (?)

Anyway, since you are in Md, you may want to consider a larger dish. A 30" is good, but from everything I've read around here, "The Bigger, the Better". I have a Fortec Star 90P (36") and I get great signal here in NY.

Good luck with FTA and with the knee!

Hantu

 

[Lew]

Tried to climb the ladder to get to my dish this morning.. wrong! Guess my knee isn't ready for ladders. I'll try it again next week but I'll be here reading everyday....