GEOSATpro whelp. this noob can't get it to work

[latefordinner]

thanks for all the replies. i'm giving up and will try to find a local tv/sat installer since i also want a motor and this easier project is a mess. i hope i have better luck then when i tried to find a ota antenna installer and the only place i could find said no way would they install more than a omni antenna when i started to talk about rotor, ultra range, and masts and towers. even i can't fudge up a omni tv antenna by myself install i think.
i'm thinking like someone has said my amazon sat finder is only finding noise.

 

[cyberham]

I don't want to be a Negative Nelly or Debby Downer, but when I tried years ago to get a commercial installer (read pay tv service installer) to install an FTA dish, he nicely explained he was contractually bound never to work on FTA by the contract he had with his pay TV company. Those pay TV companies aren't dumb.

And so...I learned to do it myself. Another point is that ongoing maintenance is always required to keep an FTA system working correctly. I just came inside from fixing what a big wind storm disturbed a couple of days ago.

I recommend forgetting all about it, wait a few days, then pick a warmish day to go out and start from scratch with a fresh mind. You may find you have more luck then. For azimuth direction, use a physical pocket compass, if you have one. It should allow you to find something by using a blind scan.

 

[KE4EST]

....another thing. You would be surprised at how many "pro installers" these days have no clue what FTA is, much less how to set one up. Years ago, there were many, but sadly that is no longer the case. Also, the ones that do, unless they are your buddy, want nothing to do with helping you set one up.

As, it will lead to repeated tech support. Believe me, I have been through that myself. I try and help people out, but what they want is for you to do it all for them and don't try to learn it. So, what do they do? Call at least twice a week sometimes more. Can you run by again and show me this, can you run by and move the dish to another sat, etc etc. Which would be fine, but they don't want to pay a full service call fee for each trip. Believe me unless you just set it for one bird, FTA is NOT plug and play.

FTA(in North America) is a hobby and something you need to learn yourself. You can do it. Just take the time to learn it and figure it out, and don't be afraid to ask us questions. Even lots and lots of questions, we don't mind.

 

[arlo]

Agree with KE4EST. Not many around these days. That's why we group together and give advice.
How many Ferrari tech's are around? You either pay out the teeth or learn to do it yourself.
Like the guy up here with a dn dish mounted on a stump. He paid to have the dish tweaked when the frost line builds and heaves the ground. Then again in the spring. Rented a post hole digger and a chunk of pipe and bag of quickcrete. He had beer, I had the knowledge. Don't give up. Ever.

 

[FTA4PA]

thanks for all the replies. i'm giving up and will try to find a local tv/sat installer since i also want a motor and this easier project is a mess. i hope i have better luck then when i tried to find a ota antenna installer and the only place i could find said no way would they install more than a omni antenna when i started to talk about rotor, ultra range, and masts and towers. even i can't fudge up a omni tv antenna by myself install i think.
i'm thinking like someone has said my amazon sat finder is only finding noise.

If you are frustrated then definitely walk away for a bit. Come back after a while and look at things fresh. You may find something you missed the first time around.

 

[freddylq]

i meant i found 2 signal spikes on the analog sat finder. i don't know what sats they are yet. it looks like this receiver is more set up of the asian sats with only
2-3 western sats. i guess i shouldn't have bought the cheapest one on amazon.

You can delete all those sats and add the North American sats. That's what I do when messing with my receivers.

 

[clucas]

You are getting good advice here. I just hope you are not trying to find a satellite from in your garage as the first photo indicates. Take it outside with a clear line of sight to the sky.

I have set up dishes without a meter, only a receiver and portable television at the dish. Make sure you input an active satellite transponder into your receiver and keep watching for the quality to lock. This is just like Brct203 does in #1 in his post. I would start with a little lower elevation and SLOWLY rotate the dish on the pole. No signal quality-raise the elevation a tad and rotate again. It takes time to find a satellite and peak it.

Also, a blind scan looks for all active signals on a satellite and does take some time. A manual scan will only scan in the one frequency and symbol rate parameters you put in and happens in a second or two.

 

[jessica6]

....another thing. You would be surprised at how many "pro installers" these days have no clue what FTA is, much less how to set one up. Years ago, there were many, but sadly that is no longer the case. Also, the ones that do, unless they are your buddy, want nothing to do with helping you set one up.

Kinda like how nobody really understand what Linux is, and how it could be free. "Does Microsoft allow you to do that?"
It's all I use!

 

[jessica6]

thanks for all the replies. i'm giving up and will try to find a local tv/sat installer since i also want a motor and this easier project is a mess.

Don't give up! Really, 97w (Galaxy 19) should be super easy. It literally took me about 15 minutes to find that my very first try, when I had my dish literally sitting on some blocks in my back yard. Do send some pictures, like others have suggested. It's probably something really simple which is causing you trouble.

 

[latefordinner]

i finally found a sat. i had dishnetwork a long time ago and i installed it so i was surprised how much trouble i had. getting old stinks. the sat is east of galaxy 19 and all the channels are encrypted except for channel 200 in spanish that is a promo and mentions mvs-tv and net-tv often.
thanks for the help folks. now to find some more sats

 

[cyberham]

MVS-TV and Net-TV are Mexican TV networks. So my best guess from what you say is that you may be on the Sky Mexico satellite at 78.8W.

You need to swing the dish west.

Added: Do you know the frequencies/symbol rates (SR) you received?

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

 

[jessica6]

i finally found a sat. i had dishnetwork a long time ago and i installed it so i was surprised how much trouble i had. getting old stinks. the sat is east of galaxy 19 and all the channels are encrypted except for channel 200 in spanish that is a promo and mentions mvs-tv and net-tv often.
thanks for the help folks. now to find some more sats

You should have about 110 channels on Galaxy 19 (97W). Keep trying!

 

[latefordinner]

i'm hoping to get the old timey tv show stations that are also ota like me-tv retro antenna grit amg etc... if i understand correctly feeds for sports and events can be found
that might stay on for a little while for that game.
it looks like there are a few transmissions that are kinda linked to gambling sites like horse racing on telstar 14. oh boy. i'm a kid with matches.

 

[jessica6]

i'm hoping to get the old timey tv show stations that are also ota like me-tv retro antenna grit amg etc... if i understand correctly feeds for sports and events can be found
that might stay on for a little while for that game.
it looks like there are a few transmissions that are kinda linked to gambling sites like horse racing on telstar 14. oh boy. i'm a kid with matches.

I noticed most of the Galaxy 19 English stuff are religious channels. Not sure why. Maybe they get discounted/free satellite space. Other satellites at least have PBS and some of those classic stations.

 

[KE4EST]

i'm hoping to get the old timey tv show stations that are also ota like me-tv retro antenna grit

Your going to have to upgrade to C-Band dish for those.

 

[cyberham]

i'm hoping to get the old timey tv show stations that are also ota like me-tv retro antenna grit amg etc...

Aim for 91W Ku. For now, it has one of those old-time channels. It also has some sports feeds.

 

[Cham]

Yes 91W, try entering this transponder 12126 V 8749.

 

[latefordinner]

more problems. when i use the tv as a sat finder signal quality doesn't show up until after i do a scan. if i understand this signal strength basically means you have a lnb that is connected and recognized. i use the cheapo amazon finder and find a noise/signal. but the tv doesn't show a signal quality. it isn't until i set the sat info to galaxy 19 [sat name doesn't matter-the scan searches all freq reguardless] and do a blind scan does a signal quality shows up when i do find a sat. i get many false signals or goof ups. when i had a dishnetwork years and years ago the receiver would show signal quality the moment a sat was found and say if it was dish, another sat it receognized, or unknown.
receiver gtmedia v7s2x
i got a sat i don't recognize and the only other sat i found. it has besides encrypted channels
nhk world japan
cgtn
sbn
loop tv
fedex now
one or 2 more channels
i swear i had cozi as the first channel to show but can't find it now.
is it 103?

 

[clucas]

Yes, you are on 103 W. If you are getting COZI then you should also get NBC. DW is also on that satellite. You can verify by checking this on lyngsat.com. Some receivers will have a "Favorites" section so maybe COZI ended up there. Make sure you are seeing the "All" listings. If you lose any channel, just run the blind scan again.

 

[latefordinner]

ok. now i'm really confused. 103w info at lyngsat is showing a ton of channels that should be free.