Please help! I can not receive Astra!

Robert_winter_1000

Hello all,

I am new to this forum and I hope I am posting in the correct place. I have a Nokia 210S receiver and a satellite dish of 1 meter with a digital universal single Monoblock with 2 LNB’s with one output (6.2 degrees) for both Astra & Hotbird “Blue HD 2120 NX 0,2dB”.

I can have very good signal from the Hotbird but nothing from Astra!

Any one can help?

Thanks & best regards,

Robert

Huevos

Has this ever worked? Maybe diseqc port is set wrong in the receiver.

Tivù

If this is a new set-up, please Post some pics and we can tell you if the Monoblock is correctly fitted with respect to whichever Satellite the Dish is actually aligned to (Hotbird, I guess ...........).

Vipersan

..Inclined (pardon the pun) to agree Gordon ..
Chances are the the primary focus is on 13 deg ..and secondary lnb is focused on 7E ..
I guess that could be checked by attempting a scan of Eutelsat W3A on the second diseqc setting..
VS

Vipersan

Another ...perhaps 'silly' ....thought just occurred ..
You don't say which Astra bird you are scanning ..
Don't suppose you may be confusing Astra 19 with Astra @ 28 deg ???
rgds

Huevos

That wouldn't matter. He says he is getting nothing. The majority of transponders are duplicated exactly on those satellites so a scan of the "wrong" Astra (2 instead of 1) would still produce results.

More information needed!

JTA

Robert,
try switching the cables of the lnb's, and rescan.
if you are now getting the Astra1 channels then you have a problem with your disecq or yout disecq setup of your sat receiver.
if you are getting other channels then these are coming most probably from Eurobird at 7E, in which case your dish is badly aligned AND you still have a problem with your disecq or disecq setup of your sat receiver. In this case you must align this head (the one pointing most westward) to Hotbird (13E) so that the head pointing most eastwards comes aligned with Astra1 (19.2E).
after that you still have to check your disecq (probably a configuration question of your sat receiver setup).

Robert_winter_1000

Gentlemen, many thanks for all of you for your efforts to try to help me solving this problem. I am going to try to align the dish and rescan both Astra & the Hotbird. I will let you know the results.

Best regards,

Robert

Vipersan

Good luck Robert ..I'm sure you will figure it out ..
just as an extra aid ..
here is a quick ..simplified diagram showing principle of operation ..
always remember that the lnb which is not at the centre of dish focus ..
operates on the opposite side to that on which the secondary satellites signal is striking the dish..

Attached Thumbnails

 

Robert_winter_1000

Hello to everyone,

Today I moved the dish to a better open place in order to insure a good signal. Going to the receiver: when the setting is on “one satellite LNB --> hotbird” then the hotbird is ok and the signal is strong. On the same direction of the dish changing the setting of the receiver to one satellite LNB --> Astra then there is no signal and no picture.
Moving the dish to Astra and keeping the setting on one satellite LNB --> Astra then Astra chanals are ok but no hotbird!
Changing the settings to Multisatallite/Diseqc switch configuration ->Astra and Hotbird giving no picture or signal neither of Astra nor hotbird!

The point is: having a single LNB configuration with changing the direction of the dish to the correct Satellite, a picture/signal is present! Putting it on Multisatallite/Diseqc switch configuration, is no signal at all, neither for Hotbird nor for Astra. Does this mean that the receiver (maybe the software or the settings) is not working correct or wrong?

I hope to hear your opinion about it.

Many thanks & best regards,

Robert

Vipersan

Hi Robert ...it does appear your receiver is not controlling the monoblocs internal diseqc switch ..

I'm not familliar with the receiver ..
perhaps if you post your actual diseqc configuration settings ..as displayed on screen ..
Someone who knows the box will spot an error..
It could of course be that the monoblocs diseqc switch is faulty ..though I think is more likely to be setup or incompatibility error.
rgds

Vipersan

Hi again Robert ..
Just borrowed this info from wiki ..

maybe it will help you try the settings again ..

>This design consists of two independent LNBs in a single case. The two LNBs can be automatically addressed with any DiSEqC 1.0 or higher receiver. In some cases they can also be addressed with ToneBurst/MiniDiSEqC. However, they are only available for satellites with a fixed 3degree, 4.3 degree or 6 degree spacing. In Europe, for example, there are monoblock single, twin and quad LNBs for the Ku band, which have a pre-defined spacing of 6 degrees (for Astra 19.2°E/Hot Bird or Astra 19.2°E/Astra 23.5°E, for example)<

Point is ...you could try the alternative ways to control your switch ..including any diseqc variations ...if selectable in your setup menu..

rgds
VS

Robert_winter_1000

Hello Vipersan,

Thank you for your quick reaction. Before having the monoblocs I had two separate LNB’s connected with 2 input/1 output Philips Diseqc (type 7212/101), the problem started suddenly after it was working good for more than 2 years. I thought the Philips Diseqc was broken this is why I bought the monoblocs! Does this say anything?
Regards,
Robert

Robert_winter_1000

Hello Vipersan,

Actually now neither the Philips switch nor the monoblocs is working!

regards,

Robert

Robert_winter_1000

Forget to mention that the Philips switch is DiSEqC 1.0.
regards,
Robert

Vipersan

Well ...just working on logic ..and elimination ...
Since neither the origional setup .. nor the replacement monobloc is working ...and yet the tuner still functions when fed with a signal
..logically the assumption would be that the receiver is _not_ sending disqec commands ..
either a hardware failure in the form of a chip failure (assuming this is how the commands are produced) ..
..or software corruption or failure..
Thus producing no control over 'the diseqc command' chip ...
This assumes that there is a seperate device to produce commands in hardware ...and that the commands aren't software generated.
certainly a tricky one..
rgds

Huevos

It's always possible the your old diseqc switch and the switch in the monoblock are faulty but highly unlikely. More likely the command is not arriving at the switch, either due to a cabling problem or that the receiver is failing to send the command.

Robert_winter_1000

Vipersan & Huevos,

I agree, logically speaking is the fault in the Nokia 210S. What is further: Just throw it and buy a new one or there is any way else.
Regards,

Robert

Vipersan

...as an afterthought ..
Diseqc commands are modulated onto a 22khz carrier ...
The same 22khz carrier that is used for high /low band switching..
It could be assumed that if the 22khz tone generator had failed then there would be no transport medium to get the diseqc commands to the switch ..
(I have had tone failure back in the analogue days ..
which turned out to be an inductor open circuit which fed the modulated tone to the tuner ...and thus to the lnb)

However ..if this _was_ the case in your situation ...you would also notice that you couldn't scan all transponders ..both High and Low band ..
Assuming you can then ..you can assume the 22khz is present ..but that no diseqc commands are being modulated onto it ...and thus non sent..
Possibly a firmware issue ?
rgds

ps just digging into my distant memory ...the receiver which had 22khz tone failure ..was also a Nokia ..
but in fact was a 9600s ..

Tivù

Well I'm still not 100% clear from all that has been discussed whether the Monoblock has been physically installed correctly.

The piccies asked for earlier would be a great help ..............

BUT:

If the Dish is aligned to Hotbird, looking from the LNB towards the Dish, the right hand part of the Monoblock should be in the clamp. The entire device should be rotated slightly clockwise to optimise Astra 1 reception.

If the Dish is aligned to Astra, looking from the LNB towards the Dish, the left hand part of the Monoblock should be in the clamp. The entire device should be rotated slightly anticlockwise to optimise Hotbird reception.

In both cases, set Hotbird = Port A and Astra = Port B.

Please confirm which arrangement you are using - and that the Monoblock is correspondingly installed correctly.

One final point is that Monoblock are generally designed for use with 80cm Dishes.

They do work with slightly smaller or slightly larger ones, but there are limits. I have one working perfectly on an old Sky "Analogue" Dish. Not exactly sure what the upper limit is - but because the beamwidth of Dishes gets narrower as the Dish gets bigger, you will find that skewing the Monoblock becomes critical in order to get proper reception of the off-focus Satellite.

Actually, the term Skewing is slightly misleading in this case, as it is done primarily to ensure the correct effective "Elevation" for the off-focus Satellite, rather than simply to optimise H and V. Monoblocks are compromise devices, to some extent.

satelliteman

Good point raised, and to add; a disadvantage of using mono's being that in order to compensate for the El differences by "skewing" the assembly, the "real skew" setting for one or both satellites will certainly be slightly off to that of where it should be.

satelliteman . ..... A Detailed DiSEqC Motor Installation Set Up Guide > HERE Quick Reference Guide also > HERE Satellites UK site Advertisers . An Installers Choice ...... Follow us on .

Huevos

It's no big deal really. Here are the figures for the OP's location with Hotbird in the breech:

• -7.8º Monoblock skew
• -3.8º Astra skew
• -6.7º Hotbird skew

Obviously the most important thing to skew correctly is the monoblock itself. This would leave Astra 4º off and Hotbird 1.1º off.

Situation at Astra 2 and Eurobird 1 is much worse at 7.7º skew difference between the two.

Robert_winter_1000

Gentlemen, many thanks again for all your reactions. I made few photo’s for the Dish but I do not know how to upload it to the forum. I will be glad if someone will let me know this.

Thanks & best regards,

Robert

Tivù

When you create a Post, scroll down to Additional Attachments.

Attach your pics (may need to shrink them, but you'll soon find out!) then when happy, press the Upload button and then submit your Post

Vipersan

Hi Robert ..
Have your jpg images ready ..
During the post process ..
Open up the manage attachments box ..
select the images ..from your pc
upload ..
then submit the post with images attached

rgds

lol beat me to it Gordon ..
I had my answer ready to go ...but a customr came in for advice on freeview..