VIEWSAT MAXHD ISSUES

[LesDraper]

If anyone out the can assist with some theory I would surely appreciate it. I put up a Fortec Star 100 cm dish today with a Fortec Star motor drive. I use a circular and linear Invacom LNB connected to the Viewsat maxHD receiver. My previous experience was with a 10' c/ku band dish. A few things have changed over the years but the principles are the same.

I have super strong signals on several distinct satellites across the arc of the sky with come in the 80s (1-100 scale meter). I know I am hitting several birds just fine. I am stepping through on a blind scan with all polarizations and getting no channels.

I do not seem to have a way to indentify which satellite I am hitting yet is see several distinct satellites across the sky on the signal strength meter at the dish location as I go east and west.

After 15 solid hours of playing with this I can not seem to see a single video image. This must be broken out of the box or am I missing something? I even went so far as to take the coax directly to the LNB (bypasing all in between) to do a blind scan on each of the circular and linear LNBs. Still no channel hits. This is a virgin set out of the box. Oh did I mention with the motor hooked up it really drags and sometimes needs a push to get it to work? 500 millamps to the motor is simply not enough to power a 350 milliamp motor and the LNB too. Oh one more thing, Viewsat told me these are ONLY shipped with the 8PSK module preinstalled in spite of the fact that I was sent a 3rd party one packaged outside the box. I confirmed he was right so now I have a spare.

Any ideas on the blind scan and seeing anything that resembles channel assignments and video.

Thanks in advance,
Les

 

[Lak7]

Are you getting "Quality"?
Pick one Sat to start with:
Which Sat is it and what are the LNB settings in the Receiver's Setup Menu?

 

[vfrjim]

Blindscan does not work at all with that box, neither does DVB-S2. Try a known QPSK signal off of thelist and see what happens.

 

[LesDraper]

I have tried both LNB settings. Since I have no way of knowing what satellite I am focused on, I do not know which set of set of satellite parameters in memory to use. I have gone from short shotgun blasts of all that might be in the local over three different birds but have now gone to doing autoscan on every satellite in the sustem to prove there are none that will make this work. This is going to take all night but at least I will be absolute that it is not working for me and is not going to work for me.

I am getting ZERO quality but high signal ... in fact a few reached in the 90s!!!
I know it is hard to believe and I am sitting here in denial this can be happening.

At the present time the receiver is directly connected to the LNB on either the circular or linear connector. I just finished going through every last satellite profile and not I an going to connect it to the other connector and run it all once again. High signal but no action.

Les

 

[babcea]

if you are not getting Quality,then you will never get any channels.The signal is letting you know that you have connection with the lnb,and the quality is from the sat you are pointed at.In the usals set up when you select a sat the motor will move to that sat,If you have entered your latitude and longitude for your location.The linear sat lnb frequency is 10750,and the circular sat is 11250.there should be nothing in between the reciever and the motor,any switches should be placed between the lnb and the motor.

 

[Tron]

Babcea is right, you will have to tweak the aim of your dish. Quality is the meter to watch, not signal. You'll still get signal (as long as the LNB is connected) if you put your hand in front of the LNB and block it, or even aim the dish at the ground.

 

[Lak7]

C Band is much easier than Ku.
The Signal Strenghth meter just indicates that there is power getting to the LNB, if you pointed at a Cell Phone / Radio Tower it would probably jump. You are looking for Quality. The Quality meter will only react if you are pointed directly at a Sat AND the Transponder selected in the receiver's Setup Menu is Active. The Echo / Nimiq Sats are the easiest to hit, you may want to start there.
Sample Setup:
EcoStar 8/10 @ 110 west
LNB Power: ON
LNB: Standard / Single
LNB Freq: 11250
TP:12326
DiSEqCort 2 (don't connect switch yet)
Motor: USALS (enter Your Lat North and Long West)

Motor Latitude Scale is set to Your Lat., set it and forget it.
The Dish elevation scales are known to be off a few deg., set to highest Q.
Check a few of the other "Circular" Echo / Nimiq Sats, then move on to a Linear Sat. Linear Sat are more difficult / precise, remember to have an Active TP selected in the receiver's setup menu.
As you finish tweaking, check Quality often, tightening the Motor Mount bolts may change things.

Which Sat is you True South Sat and approx Location?

 

[greggor48]

Getting a good signal level does not mean that you is on a satellite. You will have an idea on which satellite you are hitting if you have the right azimuth angle and elevation. For example, if I want AMC4 at 101.0°W in my area. My elevation is 42.° and azimuth angle is 255.0°.

As mentioned before start with one satellite, a linear like Galaxy 19 at 97.0°W or AMC4 at101.0°W. You should know your longitude and latitude or list it here and someone will be able to help put you on the right track.

 

[guapoharry]

I went through what you're going through. The first time is the hardest. What might help is to make it work on one satellite to prove to yourself it can work. (before you try getting the motor going)

I'd go with what Lak7 recommended and will add the following:

The Echo / Nimiq Sats are the easiest to hit, you may want to start there.
Sample Setup:
EcoStar 8/10 @ 110 west
LNB Power: ON
LNB: Standard / Single
LNB Freq: 11250 (also called LO - Local Oscillator)
TP:12326 (Transponder frequency - sometines these numbers are different by a few digits 12325 or 12324 )
SR 20000 (Symbol Rate)
Polarity L/H
DiSEqCort 2 (don't connect switch yet)
Motor: USALS (enter Your Lat North and Long West)

This transponder might already be set up in your receiver. So, find it and and have the receiver looking at that one.

To simplify things, you might leave out the switch at first. Be sure the LNB cable is attached to a "C" port on the QPH-031.

When all of the above is set and you point the dish correctly, you will get both signal and quality.

When you start looking for linear polarization satellites, be sure to use an "L" port and LO 10750, not 11250.