What can I do with this lot?

[Twisted PR]

Through various endeavours and friends I have managed to acquire the following equipment and was wondering what exactly I could do with it and what channels I could get?

1. Hum*x IRCI 5400 (with built in Irdeto)
2. V*ACCESS cam (red I think).
3. Assorted LNB (no idea what type) with a 4 into 1 junction box
4. S*y digital dish (with LNB)
5. 1m dish
6. All the cables, connectors and sockets I could possibly want.
7. An Elvis with g*ldies.

I live in a south facing block that has 2 large grey dishes on the roof feeding to 50odd flats with sat sockets in each flat. I have no idea of the exact size of the dishes, or where they are pointing, but apparently we can pick up s*y. Is there a way of finding out how big they are or where they are pointing without finding and calling the company who installed them?

I have some experience with *tvD*gital stuff but know next to nothing about satellite stuff. Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

[rolfw]

With regard to the roof dishes, the easiest way to find out is to plug into the socket in your flat, it'll probably be pointing at 28.2E the sky digital satellites. As for the second one, it may be academic anyway if you have no connection to it (could be a legacy of the old Sky analogue system), it's unusual (though not unheard of)in SMATV systems to have more than one satellite represented on the main system.

Your Humax 5400 irci, if already patched will, with the right dish give you loads of channels from various satellites, so your main problem is getting the dish/dishes pointing at the right satellites and of course where and how you are going to site them.

Rolf

[Channel Hopper]

2 Large grey dishes - sounds like it could be even earlier - hotbird and Intelsat 27.5 West maybe. These were common seven years ago when lifesyle, Screensport and Premier were on the West satellite

If nobody can see you get on the roof, it might be worth checking where the connections go. If they look as though they are disconected, theres little reason why you should not 'tweak' them yourself for a set of frequencies off the more useful satellites.

Borrow a portable TV and an old analogue receiver to check when on the roof

[Twisted PR]

Thanks for the responses guys.

Flatmate has just told me that the master socket in the flat helpfully says "s*y" & "Philips" on it, so I guess that means it is probably pointing at one of their set ups.

1. When I plug the 5400 in will that tell me where the dish is pointing, or will I have to work it out from what channels are available?
2. How do I tell if the 5400 has been patched?
3. How do I tell what version of VIA cam I have (its got no labels) and how do I upgrade it? Can I just plug it into a laptop PCMCIA socket and run some app? If so what and from where?

Sorry if the questions are a bit dumb, but I've got no instruction manuals or disks and am new to all of this. The "roof" of the building isn't flat - it has two high stacks (for fire escapes) at the side, onto which the dishes are fitted. Quite how me and my compass are gonna get up there I'm not sure! Mounting of another dish anywhere is also gonna be a problem as the building is listed, still I guess the worst they can do is tell me to take it down.

Thanks again.

[rolfw]

Yes it's a bit of detective work to find out which satellite you're on, nothing more complicated though than either selecting the preset channels on the Humax for 28.2 or if they are not preset then doing a transponder search or entering a transponder frequency manually. You can find all of the available channels on http://www.lyngsat.com , from the sound of the output plate in the appartment it would appear likely that it is sky digital being piped around the building.

To find out about the embedded and external CAMs have a look in the section referring to them in the installation menus, these will indicate which version they are. The embedded cam can normally be flash upgraded by using a laptop and nulmodem cable (see excellent tutorial and discussion in software upgrades forum)


Rolf

[Twisted PR]

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 23-Apr-02 AT 04:51 PM (GMT)]Thanks again Rolfw,

Found a way up onto the roof and me compass tells me that the two dishes are indeed pointing in different directions - 1 is 28.2E ( Sky Digi) whilst the other looks almost slightly west. Playing hunt the cables and it looks like the slightly west dish's coax cables have been cut!! Guess this is probably a legacy of an analogue to digital upgrade. Humax has already been set up for Astra 1 and Hotbird, so to save hassle have decided to re-align the older dish, fix the cables, and me new monoblock (and basic sat finder) is on its way.

Also found the distribution box(es) - man they are complex - and the sat, dab, fm and terrestrial TV inputs. Was surprised to find my flat number was the only one marked on the board, so rushed home to set me system up for a check. Arrrgghh no damn signal, on TV, FM, DAB or SAT!! Am gonna try hijacking a neighbours connection (for testing purposes only ) to see if it is the board, socket or cable. If its the first 2 I'm fine, if its the cable that is a big problem as there are 7 storeys to negotiate!

Any advice on testing procedures/equipment I might need? Can I use the sat finder kit to test the connections etc? Sorry, a bit long winded but needed to explain the situation before asking the question.

Right, am off to read the tutorials on flashing the box to allcam and then download me some files!

[rolfw]

It would appear that you've made a fair amount of progress Twisted PR, what out of the DAB, FM, TV and Satellite are connected and does it appear that there is a direct feed from the head end to each individual apartment?

Rolf

[Channel Hopper]

Best way to check for connection without setting off any possible alarm in the building is to use a trusty old Ohm meter.

Whatvers is in ytour apartment (and same goes for the roof, can be checked at the distibution cupboard for continuity by shorting each of the ends of the coax together , and measuring them at the far end

If you can get both open and closed (short ) circuit readings, this will show that the cable is continuous and correct for the run.

Then its a simple case to make the right through connections to your flat from the roof with the appropriate connectors. No one else will find out.