Zinwell Quad LNB problem

[cmuzik]

Upgraded my Humax freesat receiver to a Foxsat HDR last week. Had a fitter out on Friday to change the old LNB to a quad LNB. When the new receiver was connected it would not connect to the LNB. The suggestion from fitter was that the Humax receiver was faulty and I should take it back and change it. I did this but the result was the same with the replacement. The fitter came back and swapped the LNB to a different make and, hey presto, it worked. The conclusion we came to was that the Zinwell quad LNB (do not know the model) and the Humax Foxsat HDR are not compatible.
BEWARE!

 

[satelliteman]

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[PaulR]

The Hiumaxes are known to be a bit picky about which LNB they connect to. This is another name to add to the list.

 

[Zorba]

The Hiumaxes are known to be a bit picky about which LNB they connect to. This is another name to add to the list.

What other makes are on your list ?

 

[Lazarus]

Golden Interstar doesn't work with mine for frequencies over around 12.2 GHz.

 

[wod]

i've had issues with this lnb, since the cold weather we had its just been messed up so not only humax but my amstrad hd box has random issues with it ie no signal message

 

[fergyc]

How do you know the LNB is not just faulty?

 

[Lazarus]

Well in my case it was proved by substitution ie trying it on another couple of dishes.

 

[rolfw]

I had problems with a Zinwell quad on Bush and Grundig Freesat receivers, showed no signal, but a Triax FTA receiver and of course my spectrum worked fine, swapped out the Zinwell for a WNC and all was well. Used the Zinwell on my next Sky installation/upgrade and worked fine, there are known issues with these Freesat receivers.

 

[cmuzik]

How do you know the LNB is not just faulty?

Both cables from quad LNB worked when connected to old Foxsat HD. The problem occurred when the new Foxsat HDR tried to connect to quad LNB during set-up wizard. I accept that this could still be a faulty LNB with output working but not input.

 

[CaptainFaff]

Both cables from quad LNB worked when connected to old Foxsat HD. The problem occurred when the new Foxsat HDR tried to connect to quad LNB during set-up wizard. I accept that this could still be a faulty LNB with output working but not input.

Just had a similar experience with a Quad LNB Zinwell on Foxsat HDR. Existing system working with a an old Sky single LNB and loop through to the second. Bought a kit (avaoid trouble with LNB mount adapters for my old dish, by getting a matching set) to upgrade to quad LNB to be able to use both tuners fully

When it was all connected up and aligned, the picture was fine and the diagnostics showed 85/60 for Strength/Quality. To try and get the system to recognise that it now had two feeds I started the Freesat Tuning option. Now the signal would show 85/60 for 10 seconds or so then drop to zero while in the 'detecting satellite' step and would eventually fail.

I spent a lot of time up and down the ladder rechecking everything and retrying. The box was effectively dead as I could not even view previous recordings until it recognised some channels. Although you can exit from the 'detecting satellite' step you just get stuck when it can't verify the postcode. It looked quite bleak...but

I tried using exit to get to the postcode then waiting until the signal was showing and then entered the postcode (success) then tried the channel search (fail). After a few more tries I got lucky with the timing and got the channel to start being recognised. Once this had started it seemed to hold the signal and complete. Not all channels were detected, but all the ones I have any interest in watching were.

After the channel detection had completed the box worked as normal. Diagnostics steady at 85/60 for Strength/Quality.

I am still in single LNB loopthrough mode, but at least I can watch new and recorded programs.

Next step is to get the system to recognise the dual input...hopefully without needing a full reset, but that is another thread.

FYI the box was on 1.00.17 firmware which is the current latest.

I suspect that I will replace the LNB as others in this thread seem to have done. The workaround may get somebody else out of a hole.

 

[aceb]

I also had a problem with one on a Bush Freesat box although swapping to another port and reconnecting the Thomson Sky box to two of the other ports sorted it out. Anyone actually know what causes the problem?

 

[rolfw]

Think it's a voltage switching problem, the Zinwell may switch bands on a lower voltage than some other LNBs and the Bush/Grundig Freesat boxes may provide a higher vertical band voltage than usual, thus arriving at horizontal rather than vertical for the default transponder.

 

[Lazarus]

As for getting out of single feed loop-through mode on the Foxsat without a full reset ... you can''t.

You must power down, connect both feeds, power up then do a factory reset.

 

[Hughes]

The problem I've noticed with my Foxsat HD is no signal on Vintage TV on Astra 2. On the sky HD box it comes in loud and clear. For Christmas I received a Foxsat HDR, which has the same problem, and a Technisat HDFS which doesn't! The LNB is a single Black Ultra. After so much plugging in and unplugging of F connectors, I've ordered a couple of A-B switches to make life a little easier.