AFN Setup in Iraq

[dillonrw]

Hopefully someone can help me with this. I am currently deployed to Iraq and am trying to get AFN working on a PowerVu 9234. I have a dish with LNB that has the following written on it. Will this work with the receiver and the Eurobird satellite at 9E?

Digital Universal twin LNB
Noise Figure .1db
Input Frequency 10.70 ghz - 11.70
11.70 - 12.75
Model AT-3602 mini
Sn 1003G004225

I have tried many times to get this locked in on the 9E bird and can't get a signal at all. When I stick my hand over the LNB the signal jumps, so I know its working for some reason I just can't get it to lock. I have all the new settings in the receiver, I checked 3X now. Funny thing is we've setup 2 satellites for internet access that are working well, and the AFN is just not working for us at all. Any help is appreciated. To be honest, I hope its something simple at this point. I am in no way shape or form a professional at this, I do however understand the angles, azimuth and such in getting this in the vicinity and tuning from that point.

Thanks -

Richard

 

[ralphmagno]

hello,
the signal on the new sat is weeker than hotbird.
how big is your dish??

lnb on the dish may be bad.
it may be stuck in the horz possion and will not switch to vert or upper band.
cable lenth may be too long.

here is the information
set up frequency 12.342
pol v
net id 10 (not 6)
27.500 (not 28,000
lnb voltage 13 v
lo 9.750
lo 2 10.600
cross over 11.7

lo 2(not lo 1)

if the lo is wrong
cross over or anything is left out it will not work
do not change the azimuth if you did it will never work.
the azimuth did not change.
afn was supposed to stop on hotbird but they have extended the deadline a few weeks.

try to go back to the old config on hotbird and set it back up on hot bird.
look at sig and see what it is.
sig should be 60 plus and quality 6 or geater.
once you do that set it up on the new config and standing behind the dish and move it to the right 1/8 of an inch at a time.
it should work.
is there amyone in your area picking up the new bird??
what size dish and how long is the cable.

ralph

 

[Terryl]

According to satbeams you will need at least a 52" dish for that bird, I would go with a 5 footer at least.

You can look here for that beam _http://www.satbeams.com/footprints?norad=28946

 

[Llew]

Hopefully someone can help me with this. I am currently deployed to Iraq and am trying to get AFN working on a PowerVu 9234. I have a dish with LNB that has the following written on it. Will this work with the receiver and the Eurobird satellite at 9E?

Digital Universal twin LNB
Noise Figure .1db
Input Frequency 10.70 ghz - 11.70
11.70 - 12.75
Model AT-3602 mini
Sn 1003G004225

I have tried many times to get this locked in on the 9E bird and can't get a signal at all. When I stick my hand over the LNB the signal jumps, so I know its working for some reason I just can't get it to lock. I have all the new settings in the receiver, I checked 3X now. Funny thing is we've setup 2 satellites for internet access that are working well, and the AFN is just not working for us at all. Any help is appreciated. To be honest, I hope its something simple at this point. I am in no way shape or form a professional at this, I do however understand the angles, azimuth and such in getting this in the vicinity and tuning from that point.

Thanks -

Richard

Have you followed the instructions given for your D9234 on AFN's site?

_http://www.afneurope.net/tabid/1995/Default.aspx

 

[Analoguesat]

hello,
the signal on the new sat is weeker than hotbird.
how big is your dish??

Shouldnt be - shes the old Hotbird 7A & has a huge signal across much of Europe at least.

Afghnanistan is under the 40dbW power line so that suggests a minimum of 1.2m is required.

 

[ralphmagno]

hello,
in order to fix your problem we need some more info.
dish size
cable run
lnb single or dual
how many afn decoders are hooked up.
if you are running a dual and 2 afn decoders that is one possibility.
if you are running 4 afn decoders and have a dual lnb thats why its not working.
will check in the morning for more information
ralph

 

[dillonrw]

Wow.. thanks for all the responses. This is actually a new install and not one that was pointed to the hotbird. The LNB and dish (approximately 20") are from an old satellite setup and I honestly didn't know if it would work, hence why I am here.

If I need at least a 1.2m then that answers a lot. Unfortunately I have NO idea where I will find one of those here.

The coax run is pretty short, say 15 meters? So that shouldn't be an issue. Anyone got any good suggestions on where to pick up a dish and LNB that will work once it is delivered?

Thanks again for the responses, Looks like I have found the right forum!

Btw, I am in Iraq, not Afghanistan.. Already been there in 06'

 

[ralphmagno]

hello, there is a lot here.
15 meters run is no problem.
20 inches is less than 60 cm more like 50 cm.
small.
i have mounted 40 cm here in naples with a small run and it worked.
80 cm dish new with lnb runs about 20 to 25 euro.

look at your afn decoder level whan it is connected.
you will get a level of 40 and quality 0.
if you get 0 and 0 on both the lnb is bad or the cable connoctors are not done correct.
the decoder must send a dc voltage up the coax line to power the lnb on thedish.
if the coax outer brad is shorted or not making contact with ground of the box there will be no power to the lnb at all.
lnb should be in the down possion on most dish systems.
if the lnb is twisted right or left it will be out of phase and will not work.

can you post a picture????

here is a rundown:
dish should be as close to 36 inches in diamater.
lnb threded area where the coax connectes should be down.
measure the dc voltage at the dish it should be 14 or 18 v dc.
lnb power should be on look on the back of the box.
older ones have an on and off switch.
once connected look at the signal strength.
there should be a level.
probably 40 and as you find a signal it will go up .
look at other afn dishes in your area.
they should all be pointing the same way.

looking for the picture
ralph

 

[dillonrw]

Ralph,

Thanks for the quick response... Again.

Everything you have stated I have tried. The switch on the back is on, the feed shows 60 when it is on, nothing when it isn't so I'm fairly certain that it is working. The dish itself I did measure and it is just over 18" in diameter. So this could very well be the problem. I am hunting around post for a bigger one now. The LNB according to satsig was to be placed at 45 degrees and that is where I put it. I will try tonight to adjust it back to 0 degrees and see what happens.

I'll post pictures as soon as I can. It's pretty dark out there where the dish is so they won't come out well until daylight comes.

Should the LNB work with the specs I provided assuming I can get a bigger dish?

Thanks -

 

[ralphmagno]

hello,
if you are looking at the mark on the top of the lnb it should be at 0.
send up a picture amd we can go from there.
ralph

 

[dillonrw]

Well I found a dish, 2 meter, put the lnb on it and no change in results. Can anyone verify that the lb will work with the new bird?

thanks

 

[ralphmagno]

hello,
we have untill 31 aug 2011 then afn sill stop on hot bird.
your lnb should be universal.
it should sat 9.750/10.600 ghz
are there other afn systems there or near by there?
look in the general directions they are in.
is your dish prime focus or offset.
how is your lnb on the dish set up?
can you post a picture??
can you take the box to another friend who has afn working and verrify the box is good.
if the lnb says 3.4 to 4.7 ghz its c band and will not work.
if the lnb is twisted the wrong way it will not work as well.
the top mark on the holder should align up with 0 on the lnb.
the threded end on the lnb on most should be pointing down.
i check this site 2 times a day so post pictures as soon as possible
ralph

 

[dillonrw]

Unfortunately there isn't anyone that I know of here outside of the AFN crew that disperses the signal everyone uses antennas to point to that I could use as a reference. Getting anywhere near that place is trying at best. That is my next step to go over there and see what they have theirs pointed at. I did take a picture (at night) of the dish.

according to the coordinates we used to set up the dishes we use for internet access we should be at 232 Magnetic, 36 degrees and -45 on the LNB. The LNB is set to zero (straight vertical with the coax connectors down) and have still yet to get signal.

Thanks -

 

[ralphmagno]

hello,
thanks for the picture.
looks up to high.
in badgdad it should be elevation 224 and not 232.
azmeth 38 and not 36.
thats if the base is correct and plumb.
you dish looks like it is pointing up to high.
can you take a picture without tiping the camera?
can you get a closer pic of the lnb area something does not look right.
it is probably to late now but i will check here in the morning.

i would say your dish needs to come down 5 inches.

ralph

 

[dillonrw]

Ralph,
I am hoping that you have the azimuth and elevation switched in your reply.. I am actually in Tallil and not baghdad. I used the same site you referenced to get the parameters based on my GPS location. I'll get a better pic of the LNB. My problem with this particular dish is that I can't get it to 36 degrees without rigging the base, I suppose this could be a problem as well considering the mast is no longer plumb when I do that. It took some adjusting just to get the base of the dish plumb on the mast, it was around 86 degrees instead of 90.

Thanks

 

[rolfw]

Looking at that photo, your dish is an offset dish (it has around 24 degrees of elevation when the dish face is vertical) , at the moment it is pretty near pointing straight up, elevation from your location is 39.2 degrees for Hotbird, your dish face should not be more than 15 degrees or so off the vertical.


Address: tallil, iraq
Latitude: 30.9519°
Longitude: 46.1396°

Satellite: 13E HOT BIRD 6 | HOT BIRD 8 | HOT BIRD 9
Elevation: 39.2°
Azimuth (true): 231.8°
Azimuth (magn.): 228.0°

 

[ralphmagno]

hi ,
thanks for the information the dish looked like it was pointing too high.
ralph

 

[dillonrw]

Here are some more pics. Thanks for the heads up on the elevation offset. According to my math using the tiltmeter it should be at 51 degrees? keep in mind that we have to move to the eurobird right?
thanks.

 

[dillonrw]

I think it just hit me.. sorry a little slow. With a 24 degree offset that adds 90 to begin with, math = 90+24 = 114. 114 - 36 = 78. So the tilt meter should read 78 degrees elevation for the eurobird 9a right?
thanks

 

[dillonrw]

sorry, forgot the pics.