Problem Setting Up Portable Satellite Receiver

[Detlef]

As well as LNB rotation you also need to try moving it fore/aft in its clamp once you have got a signal. That alters the "focus" and can give great benefits in signal level and quality. Once it is optimised, make some lines with a marker pen so that it is easy to position it again if the kit is dismantled.

BTW that horizontal bar almost doubles the weight of the whole package; I'm sure they could have made it lighter without losing strength.

 

[Katie]

Hi All,

Thanks for your help last night and I will give it a go when it stops raining. I have no desire to set this up in the rain.

I will take on board the necessary info about the dish angle and the LNB settings.

I will post my results.

Thanks

Katie

 

[frikoriko]

I bought one of those too. Tried fiddling with it this morning but no luck.
I have to say that this is my first experience with satellite equipment.

I'm in London and all I want are the currently free digital French channels on Atlantic Bird 3 (5deg W). Someone mentionned that the receiver needs to be set to Amos satellite. Does anyone know where on the compass I should be pointing it to? I'm in North London and the dish has a clear view of South and South West but I don't know exactly where it should be pointing to.

On the receiver it said that signal was 73% but there was with 0% quality. I assume it could be the LNB setting which is wrong as Kungpo mentionned earlier. Will the quality go up if I have properly aligned the dish?

 

[closetosoton]

I'm in London and all I want are the currently free digital French channels on Atlantic Bird 3 (5deg W).

point south, then 5degrees to the west.
pre-set channel to: - 11590.00Mhz Vertical - DVB/MPEG2 - Symbol Rate: 19636 FEC: 2/3

(details taken from _http://www.kingofsat.net/en/freqs.php?&pos=5.0W&standard=Digital&filtre=Clear)

and scoot around with the dish.

the only issue is your dish might be too small for this satellite.... dunno.
i use a 60cm dish for analogue transmissions on the south coast of uk.

-cts

 

[closetosoton]

Will give this a try tonight when I get home. Fingers crossed. Thx

you might consider starting off with some stronger signals to get your self acquainted with it: consider FTA german stuff from astra1 at 19.2E - look for MTV germany on - 11739.00 Vert - S/R 27500 FEC: 3/4. just have a play.

-cts

 

[frikoriko]

you might consider starting off with some stronger signals to get your self acquainted with it: consider FTA german stuff from astra1 at 19.2E - look for MTV germany on - 11739.00 Vert - S/R 27500 FEC: 3/4. just have a play.

-cts

Thx, will do

 

[Katie]

Hi All,

It has stopped raining and I have tried out the suggestions etc from the group and I have to say, NO luck.

No matter where I point the dish, or what LNB I use there is 0% quality. I have used both the compass again and the 'Sat Finder' and even manually swept the sky and nothing. The system didn't ever manage a single percent of quality.

At this point, I am officially giving up and returning the unit as defective. I think that I have given it a fair crack of the whip and it's plain just not working. From the experiences of others in the group, I think it should have been working correctly much easier than this and to be honest, if this is the kind of hassle needed to make it work, I don't think it is suitable as a portable device. Of course from the others here with one, it is quite possible that mine is actually broken, either way, it goes back. I don't know what else to do.

Frustrated...

Katie

 

[frikoriko]

Katie I am having the same problem as you.

I get Signal is Weak message on the TV in channel mode.
Do you get that?

 

[Katie]

Hi Friloriko,

I do get that, but additionally, within the signal parameters bars, which you can get by pressing the 'Info' button, I have good Strength (75%) but no quality (ie 0%) and I have not been able to boost the quality above 0%.

I would suggest that you read through the forum and try the things suggested to me. I have tried them all and have no luck, but others have had their systems work.

Good luck.

Katie

 

[frikoriko]

Firstly, with the receiver set to Astra2, I get signal (60%) but no quality at all, with the only changine being the satellite. I then changed the LNB to LNB1, and suddenly I get 60% quality. Change to LNB2 and no quality, LNB 3 60%, LNB 4 no quality. DisEQC is set to disabled.

I left LNB Frequency set to Unviersal
I have tried DiSEqC as LNB1, LNB2, LNB3, LNB4 and I get no quality at all.

Anymore help is most welcome

 

[frikoriko]

Hi Friloriko,

I do get that, but additionally, within the signal parameters bars, which you can get by pressing the 'Info' button, I have good Strength (75%) but no quality (ie 0%) and I have not been able to boost the quality above 0%.

I would suggest that you read through the forum and try the things suggested to me. I have tried them all and have no luck, but others have had their systems work.

Good luck.

Katie

I tried all of them and I get the same problem as you (which is nothing on screen at all and no quality but 70%+ strength constant). I'm starting to think that the coax cable or LNB isn't setup correctly.

 

[Katie]

Hi Frikoriko,

I have tried all the same things and I even went to the trouble of mounting the dish 20ft in the air to make sure that it was clear of any and all obstructions and still I get nothing. If I could help I would.

I have sent an email to the Tech Support people at Comag with the hope of them either helping set up the sytem or giving me the necessary info to return the unit.

I understand how frustrated you are as I spent 6+ hours on this yesterday and another hour today.

Commiserations

Katie

 

[Katie]

Well,

According to the book, the Strength is a measure of how good the signal between the LNB and the decoder is, so 70+% is good. With my understanding of how coms systems and electronics in general work, I am of the belief that there is something wrong with the LNB.

I don't have a good explanation of what could be wrong, the chance that I have spent all this time pointing a dish at the wrong part of the sky is very low. I have used the 'Sat Finder', a real compass and the by eye method using the Sky dishes other people around have and I have never had a peep of quality.

So the connection to the LNB seems to be good and we get nothing, I would say the LNB is defective. This would seem to be born out with Kungpo (I think it was) setting it up and having it work in a couple of mins. He might be more experienced with the equipment, but afterall this is supposed to be portable equipment that you can setup to watch TV out and about. This is a bit of a nightmare for that.

Stuck and unhappy

Katie

 

[rolfw]

A couple of tests to see if there is a problem with the LNB, when you disconnect the cable, does the signal drop to zero? When you are getting a low signal strength showing on the receiver, say when you are poining directly up into the air, does the signal strength increase when you put your hand over the end of the LNB?

PS. When you are moving the dish, do you have sight of the TV display?

 

[frikoriko]

Yes the signal drops when I unplug any side of the coax cable (receiver or LNB side)
The signal doesn't increase when I put my hand over the LNB.

EDIT: The signal does boost up a bit (from 68 to 72% constant) if I take the dish indoor pointing at the ceiling

 

[rolfw]

Are you 100% sure that you have put the "F" connectors on properly, you should get a change in siignal, either up or down when covering the LNB with your hand.

 

[Katie]

Hi

I have not tried your test by covering the LNB, but I am 100% that I have both coax connectors correctly attached to the cable.

I have my system packed up now, there seems little point leaving it out when it doesn't seem to work.

Katie

 

[frikoriko]

I've ordered a satellite finder, hopefully it will help.

 

[T_G]

Well back home - set up dish on the conservator glass door and as you can see was pulling a good signal of Hotbird within a few minutes (picture on TV).

Must admit I did use the Lidl Satellite finder from the last offer.

I have included a couple of pictures showing the LNB skew.

As you can see you get a lot for your money (as you can see from the kit shot).

I don't have any connecting with Lidl just love a bargain - well I am Scottish.

You can see the dish is almost vertical - Kate

Nice one Gameboy. What is that TV you got hanging on the wall?

 

[gameboy]

What is that TV you got hanging on the wall?

Philips 42" Plasma - Costco, great deal, it was in their money off voucher book then wrongly price at checkout - another £100 off - I sold the stand for £100 - jammy B!

See the main Comag forums site has exceeded bandwidth - must be all those Lidl customers who managed to get hold of the portable kit.

Hope they all come here....