Magicsat not locking on to Astra 28,2E

[Analoguesat]

I wonder - having glanced back through the posts on this thread Its possible the 28E position is looking for out of date frequencies, or ones where the transmission parameters have changed.

For instance if its looking for 10847V which was SR 22000 & FEC 5/6. Its been SR 23000 FEC 23000 transmission mode DVB-S2 for a few months.

Similarly 12129V is now using a data transmission format that normal receivers just ignore

Check your frequency details here:

http://www.flysat.com/28east.php

 

[Rvator]

Hello again Analoguesatc and thanks for that info.

I guess on what you suggest that the issue I have where the antenna just won't lock on despite the correct research criteria as provided by Scan Terieur being entered into the settings means that logically the frequencies don't match that expected to be received from the Astra 28e satellite.

I have taken a look at the web link and at a quick glance at least one of the frequencies as given by Scan Terieur doesn't exist also several more appear to be associated with Sky and not Freesat which our digital receiver uses so on that basis it might be that the antenna is not locking on because all four of the frequencies in the settings don't cross check for Astra 28e but do if I enter those for JULY 2010 for Astra 19e hence it will lock on to that satellite and the digital receiver scans in non UK channels.

That is my theory however if I am correct how comes other folk are not suffering the same issue?

Unfortunately I am not going to be able to test the theory as not due to go back on board till end of June but will so so then and feed back one way or the other.

 

[Analoguesat]

Dont worry about the Sky / Freesat differences. Both systems use exactly the same transponders for their services, just the data stream that powers the epgs on the receivers is different.

Assuming you can edit the frequencies the magicsat is looking for try these:

10714H 22000 5/6 (Channel 4)
10788V 22000 5/6 (BBC West Midlands)
12207V 27500 2/3 (Sky News)
12610V 22000 5/6 (RT)

Certainly up the top of the band there have been a lot of frequency changes in recent months. This was caused when SES took over a big block of frequencies from Eutelsat and aligned the frequencies in use with their normal band plan.

 

[Rvator]

[Assuming you can edit the frequencies the magicsat is looking for try these:

10714H 22000 5/6 (Channel 4)
10788V 22000 5/6 (BBC West Midlands)
12207V 27500 2/3 (Sky News)
12610V 22000 5/6 (RT)]

Ok thanks again Analoguesat for that addition info.

Research Criteria is edited manually on the MagicSat 2002a for Frequency, Polarisation, Signal and Mode. The 12207 and 10714 frequencies you mention and respective polarisation have been given by Scan Teriuer previously and I will edit the other two frequency settings when I next return to the boat to be 10788 and 12610.

Can you me tell if the frequencies should be listed in any particular order as the data from Scan Teriuer in the past has had 12207 as the first in the table.

What I am not sure of from the frequencies you have provided is what for example the numbers 22000 and 5\6 refers to and how I might relate them to what is needed in the edit menu of the MagicSat as after frequency and polarisation the value for 'Signal' would be either a Yes, No or *** (three asterisks meaning no signal) and the value for 'Mode' would be either Digital or Analogue.

As a further question am I correct in assuming that an automatic satellite location system would need to have at least four frequencies of which both horizontal and vertical polarisation are needed in order to align itself to a particular satellite and would it be also be correct that these days for Astra 28e the frequencies are more likely to be Digital?

Sorry for all the additional questions, I am new to this and apart from being really frustrated by the issue I am having and wanting to resolve it I am also interested in trying to understand why it has happened and about satellite system a bit more.

Rgds
Rvator

 

[Analoguesat]

No ideas about the technicalities of the receiver - Ive only ever been on a narrow boat once (not a huge success as the prop shaft sheared in the turning area above the Falkirk Wheel! )

SR is the symbol rate - how many bits are transmitted in each second, FEC is the forward error correction. A 5/6 fec means for ever 6 bits sent 5 are data and one is correction to stop transmission errors (These are a bit of a generalisation, but its close enough - the exact details dont matter!) These days many receivers ignore the fec completely and just find it themselves, so you may not need it.

It should be pretty obvious where they go, although 22000 is sometimes written 22.0, 27500 as 27.5 on some equipment.

All modes for any satellites in Europe are now digital - the last few analogue channels were shut down April 2012.

If you need H & V on hi and lo bands (the cut off is normally 11700) then try

lo band
10714H 22000 5/6 (Channel 4)
10788V 22000 5/6 (BBC West Midlands)

hi band
12207V 27500 2/3 (Sky News)
12032H 27500 2/3 (QVC)

 

[Rvator]

Hi again

Appreciate the additional info. My feeling at the moment is on my next visit to the narrow boat towards end of June is to take those alternative frequencies you have provided and put them into the MagicSat 2002a Research Criteria and see what happens.

I appreciate your help and will get back and post an update which hopefully fingers crossed will have the issue sorted.

Rgds
Rvator

 

[cortez1000]

Hi again

Appreciate the additional info. My feeling at the moment is on my next visit to the narrow boat towards end of June is to take those alternative frequencies you have provided and put them into the MagicSat 2002a Research Criteria and see what happens.

I appreciate your help and will get back and post an update which hopefully fingers crossed will have the issue sorted.

Rgds
Rvator

Hi there,
I also have a teleco 2002a Magicsat. Its on a motorhome thats been in storage for 8 years and am trying to get it up and running. Everything seems fine and Ive inputted the new research criteria as provided. All seems fine and it seems to be locking onto astra 28. When I hook up my old sky box (old PACE box) its showing as having no signal. I'm going to try a new freesat box to see if I can get a signal?
Any ideas appreciated. Please let me know how you get on with your setup RVator.
I also read in another forum that because the magicsat is an analogue setup that its now defunct and wont work with any new digital channels, ergo: buy another system!!!
Hope not! I'm going to keep trying to fix it and will let you know the results!

 

[Analoguesat]

When was the old Pace box last used?

As long as the lnb is suitable for the full range of digital signals theres no real reason why it wont work (analogue only used the bottom half of the band).

 

[cortez1000]

The pace box was last used about 8 yrs ago. I've also tried it with a fortec 4200 box about 5 years old. Got some channels with that, all German and a lot of middle eastern channels which makes me think that I'm not properly dialled into astra 28. I'm not very good with this stuff and I'm in the middle of nowhere so I either work it out or learn how to play the banjo.
I'm going to try a new box and hope that it magically starts working!
Thanks for the help!

 

[Analoguesat]

German stuff = 19E

Arabic stuff - almost certainly 13E

http://www.flysat.com/satlist.php should help

 

[Analoguesat]

Its quite possible the Pace has suffered terminal power supply issues - we had a Pace Sky+ box that died of this.

However if the dish aint pointing at 28E it wont show any activity.

 

[Rvator]

Greetings cortez1000

I am travelling up to the boat next weekend and will be using the advice given by Analoguesat with high anticipation (hopefully not misplaced) that I can achieve success.

I shall be reporting back the results.

I have to assume that there are a good few folk out there with the MagicSat 2002a and these systems continue to operate without needing to amend any frequencies which leaves me confused why my box won't play in May but had no problem in April.

It would be useful if someone with a functioning system could divulge their settings to confirm what Analouesat is saying or supplement his suggestions.

Rgds
The Rvator

 

[Analoguesat]

We wish you all the best Rvator.

 

[Rvator]

Hello Analoguesat and cortez1000

I can report some success. Initially my first attempts using the provided frequency criteria just ended up with the antenna locking on to a satellite but an auto scan of my Maxview MXL020 FTA digital receiver only resulted in non UK channels being tuned.

However the following has given a resolution and I am back on UK channels again.

First I put 12volts on the MagicSat 2002a green wire in an effort remove all the existing satellite details and then followed through the standard Scan Terieur method of modifying the criteria of the Astra 28 satellite.

Second I used these settings in this order

Criteria Frequency Pol Signal Mode
1. 10714 H Y Digital
2. 10788 V Y Digital
3. 12207 V Y Digital
4. 1261o V Y Digital

The other thing I did on the MagicSat control box was to setup the 'Clock' from the Main Menu although I have never done that before and the Antenna used to lock onto Astra 28e and the Maxview MXL020 picked up the UK channels without issue.

In addition I diverged from the standard procedure by changing the 'Signal' details for both the Astra19e two criteria to three dots this was in an effort to make the antenna not lock onto Astra 19e.

Finally after much frustration I am back on to using the satellite Freesat again and many thanks to you Analoguesat for providing the frequency suggestions.

Hopefully cortez1000 this will give you some help in sorting your problem.


The Rvator

 

[Analoguesat]

Hooray!

Great news Rvator. Im so pleased we have been able to help you.

Enjoy your viewing, and thanks for detailing how you have fixed the problem - no doubt it will help someone in the future.

 

[HelenH]

I'm also having the same problem with our system. Having read this I'm going to try again this weekend, thanks to everyone for all their comments and suggestions.
How else are we going to watch the Tour de France in the heart of the deepest darkest Lake District!
I can't believe that the other option to upgrade to an Easy Box thing costs over £750!
Fingers crossed.......

 

[Rvator]

Hello HelenH

Assume you have a motor home installation in which case your green wire should already be connected to the ignition switch as a safety precaution to lower the aerial before driving the vehicle.

After going back over the historic entries on this forum posts my feeling now is that clearing the MagicSat 2002a control box of existing satellite details is a necessary step.

Another observation is that the 2012 satellite research frequencies given by Scan Terieur are no longer valid because at least one does not feature in the listing of satellite details that Analoguesat gave me and this logically would result in the dish not being able to lock on and the symptons of just continuously searching as happened when I tried entering those frequencies.

Interestingly the frequencies I did use resulted in the dish swinging round and locking on very quickly also I wonder by using these maybe some of the rubbish channels that get loaded into the digital receiver might not now come in which is hopefully the case as I could do without some of the stuff that gets downloaded.

Good luck HelenH may the force be with you!

Just noticed you are located Warwickshire so possibly not far away from where our boat is based.

The Rvator

 

[Analoguesat]

Well I knew it would help someone sooner or later - I hadnt expected it to be quite so quick!

Good luck Helen, please let us know how you get on

 

[HelenH]

No joy
It won't find anything now!

 

[Rvator]

No joy
It won't find anything now!

Hello again Helen.

Contrary to your issue our system was finding satellites when selecting 402 on the MagicSat 2002a control box with whatever frequency that was entered into the research criteria but only non UK stations were scanned in by the digital receiver but that as I said was resolved by using the frequencies provided by Anologuesat.

I am no longer up on our narrowboat however I will endeavour to help you with some troubleshooting stuff.

From your image the message of 'no satellite found' and that you say 'it won't find anything now' the first question that I would ask is can you confirm that the line input coaxial cable from the LNB brining the signal in from the dish is connected to the back of the control box and to the LNB on the dish? The conductor in the cable could be broken (especially when it has been twisted or bent sharply) or you could have a bad connection either end.

Can I ask you to confirm the type of installation, is it free standing in a caravan or installed in a motor home?

At what point did you notice your initial issue that you mentioned in your original message post? Has the system been functioning correctly with whatever frequency criteria you had entered in the control box and the started giving the same symptoms as ours of locking onto what was supposed to be Astra2 28.2 e but only scanning non UK channels?

Rgds
The Rvator