Visionsat...we have an issue with blind scan

[Mr Tony]

Well I thought the Visionsat was the best box I worked with....until tonight

Up to today I have worked with a 4x4 multiswitch on it or a feed from the motorized (for blind scan purposes). Well tonight I tried to hook up something different...a 8x1 switch
port 2 was G4...22k on was AMC1
port 4 was Dish 119
port 6 was G10
port 8 was a feed from motorized

Receiver does acknowledge all ports except 1 (which on the switch is bad)....but ran into an issue

If you do a blind scan on any port the box gets confused and goes to no ports.....you have to power off on back and power on. Also the box won't acknowledge the 22k off the 8x1 switch

So I thought it was the switch...swapped to a 4x1 switch
port 1 was G4/AMC1
port 2 was 119
port 3 was G10
port 4 was motor

Scanned G4...worked fine
scanned AMC1....acknowledged 22k switch
auto scan on 119 for free....works fine
manual scanned 123...worked fine
brought up SBS6 (G17) and scanned in ONN.

Now to blind scan....and it comes up with 0 channels and gets confused (again)....flipped to channel 1 (CBS off G4) and it worked fine. Blind scanned G4 and no issues

So right now here is the issue and I guess if anyone else has one please comment...If you do a blind scan on a satellite that ISNT in port 1 of a diseqc switch, the box will not scan any new TP's and get confused.

-port 1 works fine
-manual, auto, advanced works fine
-22k works fine

Has anyone with the Visionsat seen this and hopefully they can fix that issue.

 

[Mr Tony]

well its definitely the box. Hooked C-Band to port 4 (from 1) and same thing....scans 0 channels

For most people this wont make a difference as they either
-use a 22k switch
-have no switch involved

But for me this changes how I was going to do the setup. Like I say, it works fine on all other scans BUT blind scan. I scanned SBS6, G10, DIsh 119 and G4 and flipped between channels with no issues...but if I blind scan a satellite not on port 1 of switch, it won't scan properly

 

[CharredPC]

Understand this is from my few hours I've had time to play with my new unit! I'll check out anything else you like

I received my Visionsat yesterday. I haven't gotten my dish yet, but that (of course) wouldn't stop me from playing with it After putting the latest factory firmware on it, I dug up an old Dish 500 just to try out my first Blind Scan. It worked great and found tons of scrambled stuff on 119 (LOVE the interface, btw!) After reading your problem, I tossed a Diseqc switch on, hooked up the 110 LNB, and tried another Blind Scan of both ports.

Port 1 (the "default" port) blind scans fine. Port 4, where I have the other LNB, finds nothing with a blind scan. That confused me because I had verified a strong signal from the menu. It seems you're right, when blind scanning it won't switch ports properly. The only way I found to add channels for port 4 is to scan the known transponders... which is not what I bought the Blind Scanning Visionsat for I guess as a workaround for now we can temporarily use a barrel connector instead of the switch to BS extra LNB's / dishes, then replace the switch and adjust the Diseqc setting in the menu? That said, I hope they fix this issue ASAP. Seems a kind of obvious problem...

This will also change how I planned my setup. The Invacom I bought needs some kind of switch to have a single receiver utilize both circular and linear LNB ports. I guess I'll have to invest in a 22khz switch instead of a Diseqc in order to BS on both?

 

[Mr Tony]

Charred

Yep. Now that the rain subsided I tried it today
-port 1 from motorized
-port 2 from G10
-port 3 from G4

Port 1 scans on auto, manual and scanned AMC5 and found about 1/2 dozen news feeds...same as the Coolsat. Tried SBS6 and AMC3 and all scanned the same amount of TP's as the Coolsat.
Port 2 & 3 will only scan auto & manual...blind scan gets nothing

Like I say if you have a motorized unit this wont be much of an issue as port 1 could be KU and port 2 be DBS (if using a QPH). But if you use multiple dishes then we have an issue

 

[Mr Tony]

This will also change how I planned my setup. The Invacom I bought needs some kind of switch to have a single receiver utilize both circular and linear LNB ports. I guess I'll have to invest in a 22khz switch instead of a Diseqc in order to BS on both?

DBS won't need to blind scan as they use the same transponders across the board. The same 32

Use a 2x1 diseqc...port 1 is KU and port 2 DBS.

 

[Tron]

I've found that the perfect switch for the QPH Invacom is a 4 x 4 22k multiswitch. This allows up to four receivers to see both polarities of both circular and linear satellites at once. The switches are also relatively inexpensive, and the better brands are more reliable than DiSEqC switches

 

[Mr Tony]

very true

Also I got a e-mail that Visionsat is working on the issue

 

[CharredPC]

One other thing- you may have noticed this, Iceberg (if it's truly a universal issue)... does yours keep accurate time? I've set the time on mine three times so far in the past two days, and it keeps going off for some reason. The funny thing is, I haven't even gotten to really use it yet (just got the dish today and had no time to put it up) but every time I walk by the tv area I look at the clock display. I thought at first my kid had played with it, but it happened again today... ?

 

[Mr Tony]

I'll have to check. I think it shows it by military time

 

[TRG]

One other thing- you may have noticed this, Iceberg (if it's truly a universal issue)... does yours keep accurate time? I've set the time on mine three times so far in the past two days, and it keeps going off for some reason. The funny thing is, I haven't even gotten to really use it yet (just got the dish today and had no time to put it up) but every time I walk by the tv area I look at the clock display. I thought at first my kid had played with it, but it happened again today... ?

Now that you have your system connected to the dish is your timekeeping issue better? I'm wondering if the receiver needs to take a time signal off the satellite. Having an inaccurate clock would make for some frustrating unattended recording.

 

[Tron]

BUMP

I am very interested in this receiver, it seems to be the "silver bullet" for standard definition FTA, but I'm hoping that they are going to fix this issue

 

[Davage]

I don't know if this issue with blind scanning through diseqc switches has ever been fixed. ?

Up till this point, I've been using my Visionsat receiver on Galaxy 28 and haven't been using the blind scan function on it a whole lot. My Fortec Classic NA has been my blind scan workhorse, but I am planning on moving my Fortec receiver into a C-Band blind-scanner and using the Visionsat receiver as my motorized Ku AND fixed dish unit.

I tried doing some blind scanning on the weekend and was surprised at how badly the Visionsat performed when blind scanning through a diseqc switch.. I went to the visionsat site and downloaded the 'latest' version 120 software, re-flashed the receiver to see if that would help at all. It still isn't working well. I am also finding that the motor control on the visionsat isn't nearly as good as the Fortec receiver.. I might end up keeping the visionsat receiver as a non-blind scanning fixed dish unit, and getting my hands on a Coolsat 6000 receiver as an additional blind scanner...

 

[guapoharry]

I prefer using a Coolsat 5000 over the Coolsat 6000's I have tried.

Would anyone who has used both care to tell about their experience of one versus the other?

 

[Davage]

I have heard good things about Coolsat 5000's and 6000's. (With the exception of those who have got stuck with clone units)

From what I've heard through the grapevine, we should all be able to get our hands on some really inexpensive free-to-air equipment in Late May after Dish Network has finished their card swap..

This Visionsat unit is a fantastic PVR and works very well for me on a fixed dish setup. I am just really disappointed in its ability to blind scan accurately through a Diseqc switch, and as I had mentioned in my previous message - the motor control seems to be buggy to me... I am sure that I will end up using the Visionsat on a fixed dish setup for 97 and 123, and then get another cheap FTA box for C-Band blind scanning.. I'll go back to my Fortec Classic for hunting out feeds on my motorized Ku setup.

I saw a used Coolsat 8000 advertised locally for $120 Canadian today.. I wish that they had blind scan capabilities.

 

[Tron]

That's strange... This is an old thread, and I always thought this problem was fixed... I don't experience it on my Visionsat. Does the problem still exist?

I have my 1 meter Channel Master on port 1, the DBS from my QPH on port 2, and the FSS from my QPH on port 3. I have no problems blind scanning on any of the three ports. I am sure of this, since I deliberately edited the heck out of my channel list to rename all satellites to their current names, and deleted all transponders on each satellite except for one. I did this to streamline and modernize my list, and blind scan seems to be finding everything it should be finding. It has a problem with low symbol rates such as WSTV, but that's always been an issue.

 

[Davage]

Tron - What version of factory firmware are you running? Are you running the version that supports CAMs for subscription services, or just the regular version? I am running version 120, but when I was at the Visionsat site, I saw a version that supported the subscriber cam and one that didn't. I am not subscribing to any of the services with my Visionsat receiver, so I didn't see the need to have cam support embedded in the software..

 

[Tron]

Using the CAM version, 1.45 I believe.

 

[Davage]

Thanks Tron.. I'll try that same version on my visionsat..

 

[SatelliteAV]

Problems were fixed LONG LONG ago.......................

http://www.satelliteguys.us/fta-mpeg2-equipment-reviews/101350-visionsat-iv200-pvr-plus-6.html#post1113824


Both firmware versions in the post below have similar features, but mx adds IRDETO support.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/fta-mpeg2-equipment-reviews/101350-visionsat-iv200-pvr-plus-10.html#post1238191

 

[Davage]

Thanks Brian... I tried version 1.45 this morning on 101 West, and it still isn't finding some of the signals that I *know* are there.

I am going to double-check and replace the RG6 coax that is going from my LNB to the diseqc switch on the motorized dish and see if that helps. I have a shiny new RG6 crimp tool and a whole bunch of ends. I'll get a piece of high quality coax and make a new cable to see if that helps.

I have the Visionsat receiver hooked directly to the motor, and then the other side of the motor goes to the diseqc switch where I've got 2 other fixed dishes attached.

Tonight I am going to try take the diseqc switch out of the equation and see how the blind scan works without having a switch involved..

Again... I may be having a few quirks with the blind scan, but other than that I am extremely happy with this Visionsat receiver. PVR functionality is awesome!

I've thought of one more thing... I am using a universal LNB on this setup. I might give a Standard LNB a try to see how it reacts too.