Having major problems with all my linear sats

[762mm]

Hello everyone,

First off, let me introduce myself and say that I've been doing this for a while now (the whole FTA thing), but I'm seriously at a loss here.

A couple of days ago, I decided to go with a high end motorized setup, so I upgraded my 30" to a 33" and my old Diseqc motor to a Fortec Star USALS motor. I also got one of those Invacom double polarity LNBs (QPH-031, I think) so that I can scan across the sky and receive (almost) everything.

This is where my issues started. The motor is set up correctly as far as I know, as I can receive circular sats no problem (like Echostar and Nimiq, which get decent signal/quality and scan channels nicely). As soon as I lock on to a linear bird, the quality starts jumping between 0% and 50% like twice a second and won't stop... rearranging the elevation and azimuth on the dish itself doesn't help either, it just makes the quality disappear completely. In this condition, the receiver doesn't scan any channels and reports "fail" every time I attempt to scan. The view to the sky is not obstructed and I've already had very decent signal/quality from that same position on a fixed dish just a few days ago (with my old linear-only invacom LNB and same receiver).

So far I replaced the diseqc switch, put my old invacom linear-only LNB in there, replaced the cables, etc... but to no effect. The new linear Invacom LNB is set at universal lnb, 10750 (like it's meant to be) but doesn't get any fixed quality at all (just fluctuating all the time). Circular birds are ok on it though, with proper settings (standard lnb, 11250).

The box I'm using is a Viewsat Ultra. I tried several firmware files, including the original from Viewsat, but no luck. I also deleted all the useless satellites from the list and set the transponders according to Lyngsat, but still nothing. All diseqc switch settings are properly set too. I am primarily aiming at AMC4, by the way... TP 12120 V 30000 3/4.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance. Like I said, I am at a total loss here...

:(

[TurboPirate]

Hello everyone,

First off, let me introduce myself and say that I've been doing this for a while now (the whole FTA thing), but I'm seriously at a loss here.

A couple of days ago, I decided to go with a high end motorized setup, so I upgraded my 30" to a 33" and my old Diseqc motor to a Fortec Star USALS motor. I also got one of those Invacom double polarity LNBs (QPH-031, I think) so that I can scan across the sky and receive (almost) everything.

This is where my issues started. The motor is set up correctly as far as I know, as I can receive circular sats no problem (like Echostar and Nimiq, which get decent signal/quality and scan channels nicely). As soon as I lock on to a linear bird, the quality starts jumping between 0% and 50% like twice a second and won't stop... rearranging the elevation and azimuth on the dish itself doesn't help either, it just makes the quality disappear completely. In this condition, the receiver doesn't scan any channels and reports "fail" every time I attempt to scan. The view to the sky is not obstructed and I've already had very decent signal/quality from that same position on a fixed dish just a few days ago (with my old linear-only invacom LNB and same receiver).

So far I replaced the diseqc switch, put my old invacom linear-only LNB in there, replaced the cables, etc... but to no effect. The new linear Invacom LNB is set at universal lnb, 10750 (like it's meant to be) but doesn't get any fixed quality at all (just fluctuating all the time). Circular birds are ok on it though, with proper settings (standard lnb, 11250).

The box I'm using is a Viewsat Ultra. I tried several firmware files, including the original from Viewsat, but no luck. I also deleted all the useless satellites from the list and set the transponders according to Lyngsat, but still nothing. All diseqc switch settings are properly set too. I am primarily aiming at AMC4, by the way... TP 12120 V 30000 3/4.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance. Like I said, I am at a total loss here...

:(

My friend, as far as I know universal linear settings are 9750/10600 and 22KHz Auto, 10750 is for standard, try that setting first and let us know, I am sure Costactc, and Willdekard will help you a lot better then me, they are motor dish junkies, so far I have no dish with motor, yet, hope this helps.

[risk]

i also run a VS Ultra and i know what you mean by the quality jumpin, movin the dish never helped me before, but i know 'one' of the times it was my initial settings. . .like turbo said, standard 10750

i hope this helps some.

[Costactc]

I have my vs ultra with my 6' solid at the moment- running flawlessly. Your having the same issues with your standard linear lnb as well? It sounds like a switch issue but you stated you changed it, do you have another stb you could try it on?

[Terryl]

The Invacom QPH-031 LNB needs to be set to standard with an LO of 10750 for the linear side and 11250 for the circular side.

Example: (Yours may be a bit differant)

Satellite…………………………91W Nimiq 1 (Circular bird)
Transponder…………………….12224R (S/R 20000, FEC 7/8)
LNB power………………………13/18V
LNB Type……………………….Standard
LNB Frequency…………………11250
22 KHz………………………….OFF
Switch Type…………………….Motor
Motor ……...…………………… Adjust Motor*
Legacy SW………………………OFF


Satellite…………………………101.1W AMC-4 (Linear bird) (Sat ID using this TP is 3ABN)
Transponder…………………….11822H (S/R 5700, FEC 2/3) (Use this one to find the bird, it is a very strong TP)
LNB power………………………13/18V
LNB Type……………………….Standard
LNB Frequency…………………10750
22 KHz………………………….OFF
Switch Type…………………….Motor
Motor …...……………………… Adjust Motor*
Legacy SW………………………OFF


*Adjust Motor menu:

Move East-West ..............< >
Store Position
Go to Position
Go to Reference
Set West Limit
Set East Limit
Enable Limit
DiSEqC 1.0 - 1 (for circular) 2 (for Linear)
DiSEqC 1.1 - None (you may not have this)


You must set the DiSEqC switch for each satellite (1 for circular, 2 for Linear)

[762mm]

Thanks everyone for your quick replies and input.

Like the title says, I just figured it out: I kept getting good signal and quality on all circulars because... I was always EXACTLY 9 degrees off the mark. I couldn't figure it out until I installed a VS firmware file which shows you what bird you're pointing at in the corner of the screen.

As soon as I installed that firmware, I saw that my 101 was actually pointing at 110, that my 110 was pointing at 119, that my 82 was pointing at 91, etc.. in other words, the antenna was way off for the more sensitive linear birds and was getting circulars ok, but not the proper ones. The antenna was basically 9 degrees too far west.

I reset the motor to 0 (true south) and attempted to get my closest southern circular bird (nimiq 4) with USALS. Signal came in within just a few extra manual moves of the dish's azimuth and elevation, and topped right at 90% quality (and there was the mention "Nimiq 4" in the setup screen corner, so now I knew for sure I wasn't picking up something else up there). Antenna was tightened and then USALS moved it onto AMC4 (the one I was trying to get initially, which had jumping quality problems)... now quality was at 65-70% steady and all channels scan & work perfect! :D

So... lesson learned? Circular transponders can be so close that you can confuse one bird with another if you don't have any way to tell for sure what you're pointing at. I hope my experience helps someone else in a similar situation. Just because signal and quality come in doesn't necessarily mean that you're getting them off the right satellite.


P.S. The invacom dual polarity and the standard 33" FTA dish rock as far as signal strength and quality go... I never got quality this good before, plus now it's on a motorized setup (which are usually less fine-tuning friendly). I was very impressed with my first linear-only invacom LNB a few years ago, but this one is even more impressive! Money definitely well spent as far as I'm concerned... just as I was starting to lose all hope!

Thanks again guys for all the ideas & help, it is much appreciated!

:thumbsup:

[Terryl]

Excellent glad you found your problem, and even better reported it back, it may help others.

Enjoy the sky's there is lots of stuff up there to play with.

Next step is a BUD ("C" band dish)

[762mm]

No problem... I am glad to be able to contribute. There's nothing more frustrating than a good signal/quality that comes in only for only a second and then disappears constantly. Anyway, I am glad it's solved and that it turned out to be only dish alignment problems, as I honestly feared something much more sinister. :storm:

:)

As for the BUD, I wish I could set one up... but I'm really short on space for such a large setup. Some day yes, but not yet.

As far as a Ku FTA dish is concerned, are there any good english channels out there? I get History and Biography on AMC4 (which are pretty good), but would like to know if there are other good satellites I could point at. Thanks!

[Costactc]

Glad to hear you figured it out, happy scanning.