Strange signal readings on different receivers

J

jpsr

Regular Member
My Satellite Setup
1.2 channel master, cm polar mount, 12 inch actuator, Andrews feedhorn, Inverto lnb, Superjack positioner, Dreambox dm 500s, Protek 9600ip, 1m channel master with black ultra & 1m gibertini with technomate twin output lnb on astra 1/2, TM 5200 & 1000
My Location
Mullingar, Ireland
When i set up my 1.2 motorized system a few months ago i used my technomate5200 to track the arc, but got better readings when i connected my dreambox ( all the better as its the dreambox i use )

When i connected the technomate back up through the lnb loop on the dreambox i noticed the quality jump up and down from 80% to 98%, but when i connect my protek receiver its perfect like the dreambox. I thought maybe because i had set up the dreambox with the vbox to store positions caused that.

But i set up 2 fixed dishes yesterday for the upstairs bedrooms, a 1m channel master with black ultra and 1m gibertini with invacom 0.3db lnb pointing at astra 1&2.

When using the technomate again to locate the sats i was getting very bad readings for both sats 44% on kids channel tiny pop and 80% on bbc1, when i connected my dreambox i was getting 91% on tiny pop and 98% on bbc1.

Would the tuner be gone on the technomate, i only have it just over a year.
 
Unlikely.


There is no real correlation between Strength and Quality readings on different boxes - they all have their own peculiar characteristics and even when connected alternately to the same cable/dish/LNB will provide different readings.

They also behave differently depending upon myriad other system factors eg AGC, cable length, compatibility of tuner with LNB, frequency, symbol rate .............

So it is not possible to draw any meaningful conclusion from your findings.

The only real value in these readings are for optimising with a single box.
 
I know, but its strange as not so long ago when the 1m gibertini was motorized connected to the technomate i was getting better quality readings than now, also tiny pop on 28e should be better than 44% quality,i was getting more than that before, cant remember excactly what it was, but even bbc's, itv's all 98% quality.
Its still the same dish and receiver only no motor now.
 
Could be signal overload from the LNB if it's a short cable run. Perhaps the motor was attenuating the signal sufficiently.
 
Also i just remembered.
I was using a cm feedhorn and inverto flange lnb with the motorized gibertini and technomate, and i remember when setting up the feedhorn and lnb worked better than any other lnb i used.
 
It varies as my tm1500 does this but on my vantage x221 receiver the signal bar says over 94% on both signal strength and quality on the very strong transponders etc.

I take the sat meter readings more seriously over what the receiver says ber, mber, db level etc.
 
Have you got the LNB skewed correctly?
Like receivers, LNB's, perform differently, even two similar LNB's, same make/model, could give variations in performance.
 
Im worried the reading of 44% from kids channels tiny pop etc on the technomate will cause problems with the rain.
I havent it all connected up to the rooms yet to find out.
 
Mickha said:
Have you got the LNB skewed correctly?
Like receivers, LNB's, perform differently, even two similar LNB's, same make/model, could give variations in performance.
Click to expand...

Ye the lnb is skewed correctly.
 
I tried putting in an attenuator but somehow it didn't really help anything. After removing it and waiting a few weeks, the signal levels creeped back to the levels they should be at without me doing anything! No idea why - I did play with the dish's alignment plus putting up other dishes and switching things over, so maybe something "gave way"? Or the Ultra LNB lost its "gain"? Although the weaker TPs remain high... No idea basically :)

What's your LNB and how long is your cable run?
 
On the fixed 1m channel master it has the black ultra, and on the 1m gibertini i have an invacom 0.3db lnb.
When alligning the sats in the garden i used about a meter of cable.
I am waiting on a diseqc switch before i run cable to the house, which would be around 20 meters of cable, so maybe when its all connected up with the longer cable run levels might go back up.
 
I'll post back the results when its all cabled up.
 
Back
Top