Signal on 82 Nimiq 4

[Jontas]

Has anyone noticed since last night signal dropping on North bird 82 HD ? On some transponders like 12239 or 12268 signal is at 79-80 while on others like 12414 or 12399 is around 60-61 and others like 12457 quite low at 54. In general there is a wide range of signal strength from transponder to transponder. For example tr 12618 is at 67 when before last night was around 82.
Other North bird 91 SD is got good signal as always,i wonder why that happened could it be a temporary issue with 82 sat ?

[Terryl]

Nimiq 4 has a special Canada only foot print, if your within 100 miles South of the US/Canadian border then you could be at the bottom of it's foot print, if your at or North of the border then you should be within it's prime footprint, however these footprints are not super accurate as to the location, and what size dish would be needed for error free signals, so you should go to the link below and take a look at your location to see what size dish may be needed for your location.

It also could be a weather related or seasonal problem with the signal, what is your dishes elevation for that bird?

And checking with the satellite's operators there have been no reported issues with the on board power nor its orbital location or stability.


http://www.satbeams.com/footprints?norad=33373

Just zoom into your location and click on it, this will give you the estimated dish size needed at that location for an error free signal.

[Hunter11]

Has your dish moved, ground thawing and temp changes could alter the position of whatever you have your dish attached to. Go lean on the dish without losening anything and see if your signal improves. If it does then you need to tweak your dish.
Has anyone noticed since last night signal dropping on North bird 82 HD ? On some transponders like 12239 or 12268 signal is at 79-80 while on others like 12414 or 12399 is around 60-61 and others like 12457 quite low at 54. In general there is a wide range of signal strength from transponder to transponder. For example tr 12618 is at 67 when before last night was around 82.
Other North bird 91 SD is got good signal as always,i wonder why that happened could it be a temporary issue with 82 sat ?

[Jontas]

Well i am on the North side so the signal had been fine for a long time,actually there was a pretty strong signal on all channels and transponders. Actually i noticed the difference after coming home last night,before that was fine. Using 1 small dish with 2 lnbs for 82 and 91 and mounted on wall so i dont think they moved.
The change in signal strength occurred only on the 82 sat on 91 its good as before. If i was getting weak signal on all transponders of the 82 sat it would be one thing,but how do you explain that i still get good signal on most of the lower ones like 12239-12268 and not as good on other higher number transponders.
Set up is with a 4 Diseq switch for sats 110-119-129 and on forth port are sats 82-91 through an Econda 22khz switch that switches both into port 4. Is it possible with this situation that there is an issue with the econda switch since 91 is fine and 82 has dropped signal?

[Mavrick]

Swap the 91 & 82 lnb's around and see if the issue jumps to the other sat, that will confirm or rule-out an lnb issue.

[Jontas]

Swap the 91 & 82 lnb's around and see if the issue jumps to the other sat, that will confirm or rule-out an lnb issue.

Ok i swaped the 82 lnb into the other port of the Ecoda switch where the 91 was working fine and the 82 signal went back up to normal and when i put the 91 in the other port that was not giving a good signal on the 82 it had the same issue with low signal. So i guess it has to be the Ecoda switch not giving out a good signal to the receiver from one of the 2 ports right? The port with 22khz switched on is giving good signal and the other one is the one with the issue.

[Mavrick]

Yes it does sound like a bad port on the 22khz switch. One think to keep in mind.......I have always found it problematic to run a SW21 or 22Khz switch into a diseq switch, I always reverse it and run the diseq into the other switch and have much better results so try that if your still having issues with a new 22Khz switch.

[Jontas]

Yes it does sound like a bad port on the 22khz switch. One think to keep in mind.......I have always found it problematic to run a SW21 or 22Khz switch into a diseq switch, I always reverse it and run the diseq into the other switch and have much better results so try that if your still having issues with a new 22Khz switch.

Ok i put on a new switch and it works good. I noticed that after i took out old switch it had rust residue on the port with the issue from the cable wire. So i cleaned the cable wire with WD40 before i hooked it up to the new switch. I also sprayed the old switch in the port with the rust with the wd40,hopefully that will get it to work again.
If i have any issue ever i will try as you said to reverse it from diseq to 22khz switch.

[Terryl]

Oh boy, a rusty cable connection means you have (had) water in the connection/coax, this will cause problems in the future, and don't use WD-40 on the coax again, it will destroy the internal insulation.(over time)

I would replace the coax and connectors with some good RG-6 quad that has the pure copper center conductor, the coax you have now is probably the copper plated steel stuff, that's why you have (had) the rust.

They make a special grease to fill the connectors with, DO NOT use the grease for automotive electrical connections as this will also degrade the internal insulation over time.

Use this stuff from DX engineering, it is specially formulated for coax connector sealant.

http://www.summitracing.com/search/brand/dx-engineering/product-line/stuf-coax-waterproof-fillers?autoview=SKU

[Jontas]

I think the reason the connection/coax cable had rust is because a couple years ago it was disconnected and was left exposed all year long. And when i connected it again to the switch last year it had accumulated some rust and dirt and i did not think to clean at that time so over the year the rust dripped slowly into the port of the switch.
So you think the coax should be ok in this case if i don't use anymore wd40 on it? And as you said i won't use wd40 again since it destroys the internal insulation and i will look into the special grease. Thanks for the input Terryl

[Terryl]

Rust only migrates when wet, the contacts inside the switch (or LNB) may also only be plated steel, it all depends on who manufactured them.

If the coax you sprayed the WD on is intact and you don't have any water down inside it then you should be OK, the WD should evaporate, but in some cases depending on the position of the coax/connector it will migrate into the dielectric insulation, some of the cheaper coax can't stand up to the stuff in the WD and will go soft, when it does the center conductor if in a tight bend will slowly move closer to the shield, in some cases it may even touch the shield.

And yes it was a bad idea to leave one end of the coax without a protective cover on it, (or taped up) the center conductor will rust (if it's the cheap copper plated stuff) or corrode and oxidize the copper center conductor, making for a bad connection.

If you have enough spare coax at that connection it would be a better idea to cut out about 6 to 10 inches of the coax and put a new connector on it, use a water tight connector for this.

Do this with the power to the satellite system totally off, and only if you have the equipment to do so.

[Jontas]

Ok will do,after i applied the WD i cleaned and wiped the inside of the coax well with a tissue paper so it looked to be dry before i connected it back to the port on the new switch. And its been working fine for 3 days now so i think it should be ok. When i had connected the rusty exposed coax it lasted for 1 year before it had an issue,don't think any water goes in from what i seen looks tight enough,so hopefully now that its cleaned it should be Ok !