Help with DiSEqC

jerryyyyy · 03-07-2006

I am helping a friend set up a dish in Privas (France), near Valence south of Lyon. It has been a comedy of errors, but we are so close we can taste it, but I have a problem with the switching.

The set up is as described in my profile. It was bought as a package from a French company Optex and the bits and pieces should go together.

Disk was installed professionally and oriented and worked fine when first set up, BUT, a series of storms last winter knocked it around and it did not work this summer. I have reoriented the dish and get a good analogue signal on Atlantic Bird and for two other digital receivers (Astra and Hotbird).... BUT.

If I use the OPtex Opti?set little blue auditory checking dingdong to connect the digital box directly with the receiver on the dish, I get Astra fine on the TV, but when I run the signalthrough the DiSEqC I only get analog and no satelite.

I have tried all settings on the digital box (Styx). There are setting under Installation where you can associate the DiSEqC Switch to the appropriate sattelite. According to the manual, I am supposed to associate "B" with ASTRA, "A" with HOTBIRD etc. At the connection to the DiSEqC at the Dish I have connected Sat 1 to the analogue, Sat 2 to the supposed receiver for HOTBIRD and Sat 3 to ASTRA....

I have tried all the connection variations in the set up that make sense, i.e switch A for B etc.

Ideas? Could it be the LNB frequency? It is set at "Universal". There are a lot of choices here.

I think I am missing something obvious, but rather that mindlessly tring possibilities, I thought I better pose the question here.

Thanking in advance for your help!

**rolfw** · 03-07-2006

Sorry, I find you post a little confusing.

Are you saying that you have a dish set up with three LNBs, one set at AB3, one at Hotbird and one at Astra 1?

jerryyyyy · 03-07-2006

Yes, we have three. The analogue works fine as does the Astra when it is connected directly to the Styx, but not when it goes through the DiSEqC it does not work andI do not seem to make the setting work for the DiSEqC.

**rolfw** · 03-07-2006

Still confused, is the Styx 9000 an analogue/digital receiver?

jerryyyyy · 03-07-2006

The Styx is the digital receiver. When I go directy there with the signal from the disk, I am fine. When I go through the DiSEqC, I get zero and cannot manipulate the settings.

**rolfw** · 03-07-2006

If you connect the styx receiver to the DiseqC switch, have you tried connecting the Astra LNB to both sides to see if either of them work?

What options do you have in your DiseqC menu?

jerryyyyy · 03-07-2006

Originally Posted by rolfw

If you connect the styx receiver to the DiseqC switch, have you tried connecting the Astra LNB to both sides to see if either of them work?

What options do you have in your DiseqC menu?

Thanks for the rersponse.

Note sure what you mean by "both sides". If I attach the Astra LNB directly to the Styx receiver I get a picture. It is only when I go through the DiseqC that I do not get a signal.

The options I have under the LNB setup are (copied from manuel)and [My choices]:

In this menu you can configure the LNB and switches for each satellite.

Satellite: Up to 40 satellite alternatives are available, and 29 satellite alternatives are already preprogrammed as Astra, Hotbird, Turksat, Arabsat, etc. Select one preprogrammed satellite that corresponds to your antenna. If you have a satellite configuration which is not preprogrammed, refer to the Transponder Edit menu. [Hotbird and Astra]

LNB Frequency: Selection is possible for different kinds of LNB’s. Select the frequency for the LNB, which is valid for your combination.
The LNB alternatives are: “Universal”, “5150”, “5750”,“9750”,“10600”, 10700”,“11300” MHz, If you select Universal, both 9750MHz and 10600MHz are supported at the same time, and 22KHz is set to “AUTO”. If you have a special LNB type, you can enter the new frequency with the numbered keys 0-9. [Automatic....I wonder if this is right...]

DiSEqC switch: There are in principle two kinds of external DiSEqC switches on the market. One for connection of two LNB’s, the other one for connection of up to 4 LNB’s. Select the LNB Input A/B/C/D for each LNB connected to the respective switch port of the DiSEqC Switch. [I have tried A B C and D for both Hotbird and Astra].

22KHz: If the STB is connected to a dual LNB or two antennas are connected to a 22KHz tone switch, select “ON”, in case of a Universal LNB, the mode is “AUTO”. [my selection is Off]

0/12V (option) : If you have connected a 0/12V switch, select between 0 and 12V. [my selection is Off]

DiSEqC Positioner: If you have connected a DiSEqC 1.2 Actuator system, salect the DiSEqC Positioner mode to “1.2”.If you have connected UCAS system, select to “1.3” [my selection is Off]

**rolfw** · 03-07-2006

You 22Khz switch should be auto as per the instructions and your LNB is almost certainly a universal. By have you tried both , I meant have you connected the receiver to the switch and then first tried Astra on input A, then B if it is a two way switch, or A, B, C and D if it is a four way switch.

jerryyyyy · 03-07-2006

Originally Posted by rolfw

You 22Khz switch should be auto as per the instructions and your LNB is almost certainly a universal. By have you tried both , I meant have you connected the receiver to the switch and then first tried Astra on input A, then B if it is a two way switch, or A, B, C and D if it is a four way switch.

I have tried to switch this with the software, but will go up on the roof and try two switch the leads and see what happends. At this point I'll try pixey dust.

**rolfw** · 03-07-2006

Pixey dust often works when nothing else will.

:

jerryyyyy · 03-07-2006

Originally Posted by rolfw

Pixey dust often works when nothing else will. :

Well, looks like I will need some strong pixey dust. My wife who was watching the screen was a bit optimistic about the signal strength we got with Astra. Where we are we have to get "Atlantic Bird" for the French analogue station... this is a MUST. Looks like the crude elevation I have to get for this is 38 degrees and when I get it well I only at best get a 40-42% signal strength on Astra... and notfor all the frequencies... without degrading the signal on Atlantic Bird (Realize this is being done by eye/ear and yelling up and down to the TV room). So, I think the problem with the switch is bogus until we have a very solid signal to test it with.

Tomorrow, back to the roof and I will try to get Hotbird, which may be closer to Atlantic Bird's elevation and is the prefered one anyhow if I get either this or Astra. I would do it now but it is dark as I am so angry at this set up.

I am using this funny little earplug to adjust the elevation and getting ringing in the ears. I know you pros have better equipment, but guess it would cost more than the whole set up did my friend?

Cheers and thanks for the support.

BTW, this "Optex" disk seems to be thrown together cheaply and is very hard to torque in any changes and make then stay solidly.

**rolfw** · 03-07-2006

What may be easier, is to set up the central LNB first, that I presume being the Hotbird one, then the others should slot into place. You can use the analogue receiver to align on Hobird, as there are still sopme analogue channels.

jerryyyyy · 04-07-2006

Originally Posted by rolfw

What may be easier, is to set up the central LNB first, that I presume being the Hotbird one, then the others should slot into place. You can use the analogue receiver to align on Hobird, as there are still sopme analogue channels.

Well, this AM I spent two hours trying to get the dish just between AtlanticBrid and Hotbird. At the end of the seance I have a 20-30% signal on Hotbird and 2 of 4 channels good on AtlanticBird (lost audio on the other two). AtlanticBird is actually the central one here (38 degress between 37 and 39).

I am now seeking professional help.... I am wondering is the equipment we have is of such low quality that this is an impossible task. In any case, if I can find a professional out in the boonies here, we will bring them back in. My home is California and I have DishNetwork (Echostar) and my installation is bombproof... but required milimeter by milimeter installation.

BTW, I can see you are a "futbol" fan and my condolances on the bad call in the World Cup game with Portugal.

**rolfw** · 04-07-2006

Those three satellites is a big ask for that type of dish, particularly given that there is an 18 degree gap between AB3 and Hotbird, for those three birds, Hotbird must be the central LNB.

See the attached diagram, looking from above the dish.

jerryyyyy · 04-07-2006

Originally Posted by rolfw

Those three satellites is a big ask for that type of dish, particularly given that there is an 18 degree gap between AB3 and Hotbird, for those three birds, Hotbird must be the central LNB.

See the attached diagram, looking from above the dish.

Thanks very much for the diagram. It does reflect what my set-up looks like. Hotbird is the central LNB. I understand the computation is that if AB3 is at 5W and Hotbird is 13E, you get the 18 degree gap and with Astra at 19.2E you would add on another 6 degrees and get a 24 degree gap, which I guess is really asking a lot.

I have read that polarization is an issue with Hotbird and Astra. Is it worth trying what I have calculated as the -8.39 degree rotation for the Hotbird LNB. Did not seem to make a major difference, though I am confused about which way to rotate the LNB, I tried both ways.

**rolfw** · 04-07-2006

The LNB rotation (skew), will be in the direction of the Earth's curvature, see modified diagram.

A picture/pictures of the setup may help to see what the problems are.

jerryyyyy · 04-07-2006

VICTORY:

It was a series of problems:

1. Another LNB was dead... so in reality we only had two that worked.
2. Using the two good ones, I could get both AB3 and Hotbird. I have some fine tuning to do as I lost the audio on two of the AB3 channels, but I have signal strength > 60 on a zillion Hotbird channels.
3. The local gurus said this was a miracle that we could get both of these here, but I am not convinced and expect it is just a bit of careful work required. I did note that the eventual place for Hotbird LNB was further over than I thought and if we try to get Astra, it will be just about off the dish. I think that if I reorient the dish itself I probably could get room, but I am down to two operational LNBs, so I think this is for future efforts.
4. After the good signal, switch worked fine.

I guess I can now look up the various details of the Hotbird satellites and the frequencies of their broadcasts.

Thanks very much for your help.

**rolfw** · 04-07-2006

Well done.

Why is it though, that the French always stick their dishes on chimneys?

***2cvbloke*** · 04-07-2006

Originally Posted by rolfw

Why is it though, that the French always stick their dishes on chimneys?

Erm, so that they don't have them on the walls???

**rolfw** · 04-07-2006

Crumbs, hadn't thought of that.

jerryyyyy · 08-07-2006

I'm back in the states now. My friends in France seem to like concrete and love to add it in various places to create monuments. Anywhay, when I left them their system was working and I was happy to find DishNetwork so easy to operate when I got home.

Thanks agian for the help.

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