Newbie, No Signal and Frozen Bits.. :)

joeuk2000

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Dear All

This is probably something really simple that you lot would laugh at and be able to solve in a millisecond, so if you can help, I would really appreciate it!! :) I've looked through the FAQ's etc.


I have bought a Manhattan Plaza 3300 Receiver:


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5723398982



And a monoblock LNB, thinking I could get the Astra 19.2 E and Hotbird 13E Satellites without a motor:


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5723727987

http://www.golden-interstar.com/index.php?lang=en&content=products&id=30


also an 80cm dish from lidl. (15 quid bargain!)


I connected it all up, using http://www.satsig.net/ssazelm.htm , entering my longitude and latitude I worked out Astra was a dish Azimouth, 158.61deg and Hotbird at165.96 deg.


Putting the LNB in the holder, looking from behind the dish, towards the LNB’s, the LNB in the clamp (the left one) is for hotbird (weaker signal, so gets prime focus of dish), aligned the dish to 166 deg, with an elevation of 27 deg

Looking at the receiver, its giving me a Level of 15%, very low, and Quality at 0. I tried doing a channel search, nothing, there is a symbol of a satellite with a red cross next to it constantly flashing, which means no satellite signal I presume!


There is a transponder list for each satellite, I have not amended these as I presume these are ok. The search goes through them all.

Actually no matter where I point the dish I get this reading, so I think I have the set up incorrect.

I’ve tried looking on the net for guidance but can’t find anything, and the user guide is useless can anyone help please?


The setting to search for channels are selected below:

Diseqc: None, switch SELECTED, Motor (Diseqc 1.2) NOT SELECTED

Select Astra Satellite:
C/KU Switch: None, 0V/12V, Toneburst. TONEBURST selected (not sure what this is)
LNB: U-LNB (9450, 10,600) – ties up with numbers on LNB box
C-LNB Freq: C Single Solu, C Norm LNBF, 5750. CNORM LNBF selected, might be wrong?
LNB Power: 0N Turning this off gives a level of 0%
Diseqc: Diseqc B


Select Hotbird Satellite:
All same except, Diseqc: Diseqc A. Have changed the diseqc settings round too, no change.

Has anyone got any idea’s why I don’t seem to get started?


Faulty LNB, faulty receiver? Incorrect settings. I wired up the F connectors correctly, so know its not that that

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated and taken on board J

Joe

PS this was done with me rigging a TV into the shed freezing me bits off for 6 hours!
 

loftyj

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What longitude and latitude are you working from, to give you an example 165.96 would have me looking in the direction of Sirus not hotbird, so there is no way anyone can check any of your figures for you.
 

joeuk2000

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Hi Lofty

Using Multipmap and typing in my postcode, my latitude is 53.0662 (53:03:58N)and longitude is -2.1627, (2:09:46W) i.e Stoke on Trent :)

Does this help, cheers for the help, much apprecaited!

Joe :)
 

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joeuk2000

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Get:

Name County Latitude Longitude Elevation
Stoke-on-Trent Staffordshire 53.024 -2.186 144 m

Which is more or less what multimap gave me, would think multimap was more specific due to searching on a post code?

Have done some pics of the menu options will try and get them on line :)
 

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LNB settings should be 9,750/10,600 Universal.
 

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joeuk2000 said:
Get:

Name County Latitude Longitude Elevation
Stoke-on-Trent Staffordshire 53.024 -2.186 144 m

Which is more or less what multimap gave me, would think multimap was more specific due to searching on a post code?

Have done some pics of the menu options will try and get them on line :)

Are you using Northings and Eastings joeuk?....lat longs should read:
Lat 053'00.450N Long 020'10.300W
 

joeuk2000

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Hi Rolfw.. sorry my typo, yes i have the setting as for the LNB 9,750/10,600 Universal (not 9450/10,600 as originally stated) As per LNB box, see pics.

Wave rider "Are you using Northings and Eastings" I dunno, just type my post code into multimap, I will email you postcode if you want, we are getting similair latitude, but different longitudes....what tool did you use to work your readings out with?

I have uploaded some pics..technology is good when it works! Hope they help :)

http://uk.briefcase.yahoo.com/joeuk20002002

Looks like another day of taking everything out to the shed!! I'll let you know how it goes!
 

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Hi joeuk.

I seem to use a different means of finding the magnetic variation OS map shows that where the A52 crosses the A54 in the center of Stoke. the readings give 53deg 1min N
2deg 1min W with a magnetic variation of -3_56_57. You are just about there and slight tweeking of the dish should bring you in a signal.
 

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waverider said:
Are you using Northings and Eastings joeuk?....lat longs should read:
Lat 053'00.450N Long 020'10.300W

020W Wavey? - Don't think he's in the middle of the Atlantic! :D

Llew
 

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Hi Lofty & All :)

Ok, will tweak the dish see what I get, I have uploaded more pics this morning showing what the error messages are! Any thoughts?

Is it worth getting one of those satellite signal finders off ebay? Orpossible getting a single LNB to rule out Diseqc variable? Does anywhere sell them cheap?

Right, back out to the shed!

Feel like the saddo new boy at school :) :)

Joe

Update: Interestingly I took off the F Connectors and just tried inserting the single wire into the LNB sockets. (None of the outer wire/sheath touched the sockets) doing this on the receiver took the level down to 0, but on the LNB it fluctuated between 8% and 12%, therefore with it all rigged up correctly and only ever acheiving 15% level, I'm starting to think th LNB isn't pushing enought signal out? Thoughts?
 

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joeuk2000 said:
Hi Lofty & All :)

Ok, will tweak the dish see what I get, I have uploaded more pics this morning showing what the error messages are! Any thoughts?

Is it worth getting one of those satellite signal finders off ebay? Orpossible getting a single LNB to rule out Diseqc variable? Does anywhere sell them cheap?

Right, back out to the shed!

Feel like the saddo new boy at school :) :)

Joe

Update: Interestingly I took off the F Connectors and just tried inserting the single wire into the LNB sockets. (None of the outer wire/sheath touched the sockets) doing this on the receiver took the level down to 0, but on the LNB it fluctuated between 8% and 12%, therefore with it all rigged up correctly and only ever acheiving 15% level, I'm starting to think th LNB isn't pushing enought signal out? Thoughts?

Are you sure your dish is spot on Hotbird? You're making it difficult without being able to position it without some means of checking the signal at the dish (e.g. a meter).
You should be 13' + (3 or 4 ' to account for magnetic variation) east of south.

Llew
 

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Llew said:
020W Wavey? - Don't think he's in the middle of the Atlantic! :D

Llew

Sorry Llew I meant 002 ! :-ohmy
 

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waverider said:
Sorry Llew I meant 002 ! :-ohmy

A typo of course - unless that seawater's got to you :D
 

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Llew said:
A typo of course - unless that seawater's got to you :D

Nah it's all this RYA yachtmaster stuff i'm goin through at the mo Llew!
 

joeuk2000

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Well no sucess today :( As I live on top of a hill, its quite windy, noticed today the dish was vibrating in the wind, so even the smallest tweak was shifted by the wind, so am going to find a better place to mount dish, probably towards the back of the garden, lower down & sheltered.

What is the longest length of cable you would recommend? I know ideally it should be kept short.

I'll also will invest in a signal meter!

Looking on ebay I see you can buy inline amplifiers for the signal, has anyone ever used these? Are they any good?

Bye for now!

Joe

PS Good to see some yachters, BG Spirit for challenge 2004!!!!
 

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joeuk2000 said:
Looking on ebay I see you can buy inline amplifiers for the signal, has anyone ever used these? Are they any good?

Online amplifiers will not improve a weak signal.

They are OK if you have a strong signal in the first place - like cable boxes, etc.

A cheap sat finder should do the job if you're looking for Astra, Hotbird - they are high powered satellite (that's 500w to you and me - same as a light bulb!)
 

joeuk2000

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Ok won't bother with an amp, thought it was too good to be true!!

hehehe cool, the satellite 22 thousand miles ?!?! (or whatever it is!) above the earth has less power than a hair dryer!

I'll see how it goes with a meter!

Joe :)
 

joeuk2000

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Well good news.... my system is up and running!! :)

I bought a signal meter and repositioned the dish and within half an hour of "tweaking" I was up and running!!

I've mounted the dish on a concrete fence post on a bracket and post system my mate made for me. See new pics.

http://uk.briefcase.yahoo.com/joeuk20002002 directory: New Satellite Pics

With the dish at a low level it was easy to tweak the dish to get the strongest signal as indicated by the meter. The meter was absolutely key! :) I also had to tweak the elevation angle of the dish too.

I initially lined up the Hotbird LNB in the monoblock and got a signal and was able to download the channels, however then switching to the Astra Satellite I got a 15% signal as before, no picture, nothing :confused

For my system to work.. I had to turn the "C/Ku Switch" to "off", it was previously on tone burst (I thought this tone was used to switch the diseqc switch) I then had to rotate the LNB so that Astra LNB is higher than the Hotbird LNB fixed in the holder. (See pics) Moving this higher I presume focused the signal better and then I was able to download the Astra Channels! Great!!! 600 Free to Air Channels!

Now I've just got to get my head around CAMs!!!

Summing up, the website correctly told me the azimuth and elevation positions of the dish using the longitude and latitude reading given by multimap, this was checked using a mates GPS system. Moral of the story for me was to get a satellite meter and position the dish so that it can be tweaked, perseverance paid off!!!

Many thanks for you previous comments!

Joe :)

 

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Hey, we all like a success story.

That's a very neat setup :)
 
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