Dish alignment or faulty tuner?

[rkbwap]

Hi guys, I’ve got a 80cm motorised dish set up. Not really used it for 12 months but wanted it back up & running, think it was was slightly out of line, to get decent signals I had to mess around with my longitude. So realigned myself, but my proper coordinates in & done some fine adjustments. I get about 90% signal on Al Jazeera 0.8. I get a good signal on BBC News 0.8 but no picture. Could this be a tuner problem with my 10 year old Technomate Single? I purchase a new inverto LNB thinking it might solve this, to no avail. So I get a good signal on Al Jazeera 0.8 & All the DigiSports working great but not much else, then the motor moves & it picks up 13, 19.2 @ 28.2 but loads of FTA channels won’t clear despite decent signal. Used to get 23.5 fine 12 months back & try as I might I just can’t get a ‘lock’ on it at all. I’ve had an engineer booked & been let down by him 2 days running so I’ve told him to leave it. Was costing £100 but before a rebook another one, might I need a new box or is it more likely to be dish alignment? I wanted to get the dish serviced before I get a VIARK box but I’m thinking it might be the tuner in the receiver?

 

[manic01]

Hi guys, I’ve got a 80cm motorised dish set up. Not really used it for 12 months but wanted it back up & running, think it was was slightly out of line, to get decent signals I had to mess around with my longitude. So realigned myself, but my proper coordinates in & done some fine adjustments. I get about 90% signal on Al Jazeera 0.8. I get a good signal on BBC News 0.8 but no picture. Could this be a tuner problem with my 10 year old Technomate Single? I purchase a new inverto LNB thinking it might solve this, to no avail. So I get a good signal on Al Jazeera 0.8 & All the DigiSports working great but not much else, then the motor moves & it picks up 13, 19.2 @ 28.2 but loads of FTA channels won’t clear despite decent signal. Used to get 23.5 fine 12 months back & try as I might I just can’t get a ‘lock’ on it at all. I’ve had an engineer booked & been let down by him 2 days running so I’ve told him to leave it. Was costing £100 but before a rebook another one, might I need a new box or is it more likely to be dish alignment? I wanted to get the dish serviced before I get a VIARK box but I’m thinking it might be the tuner in the receiver?

Loads of channels have changed their transponders, do a blind scan

 

[bmitie]

What is the make of the receiver and motor. 90 is good on 0.8 and as said bbc news may have changed frequency. Can you say the image you are uisng as well. I would put a new motorised settings file in box as well. There are not a lot of FTA left. 23.5e is very strong,. Remember when you change lnb you have to set the correct focal length. I'll check a FTA on 23.5 e and report back.

It goes without saying everything has to be plumb and dish and motor dead straight when on 0.

 

[rkbwap]

Thanks for the quick replies guys 👍. All frequencies for channels are correct. The receiver is a 10 year old Technomate Single. Not sure of the motor make but it was installed about 13 years ago by a well known CS pioneer in Stoke.
Focal length of LNB? Never heard of that, thought it was just a case of replacing it & finding the right skew! I shall read up on that. I’m confident that everything is plumb. So if bbc news on 0.8 is correct frequency, good signal but still not clearing, also loads of bbc channels on 28.2 too. What could the problem be?

 

[manic01]

Thanks for the quick replies guys 👍. All frequencies for channels are correct. The receiver is a 10 year old Technomate Single. Not sure of the motor make but it was installed about 13 years ago by a well known CS pioneer in Stoke.
Focal length of LNB? Never heard of that, thought it was just a case of replacing it & finding the right skew! I shall read up on that. I’m confident that everything is plumb. So if bbc news on 0.8 is correct frequency, good signal but still not clearing, also loads of bbc channels on 28.2 too. What could the problem be?

BBC SD is no longer on 28.2e
There is no FTA BBC channel on 1 west anymore afaik
1W
BBC News HD
11278 V 25000
Encrypted in
Conax
Nagravision 3
VideoGuard

 

[manic01]

Thanks for the quick replies guys 👍. All frequencies for channels are correct. The receiver is a 10 year old Technomate Single. Not sure of the motor make but it was installed about 13 years ago by a well known CS pioneer in Stoke.
Focal length of LNB? Never heard of that, thought it was just a case of replacing it & finding the right skew! I shall read up on that. I’m confident that everything is plumb. So if bbc news on 0.8 is correct frequency, good signal but still not clearing, also loads of bbc channels on 28.2 too. What could the problem be?

BBC SD is no longer on 28.2e
There is no FTA BBC channel on 1 west anymore afaik
1W
BBC News HD
11278 V 25000
Encrypted in
Conax
Nagravision 3
VideoGuard

How did you get on?

 

[bmitie]

Id say weather poor. a few hints with a motorised system you don't worry about skew, all you do is make sure the lnb is dead straight on the lnb arm when motor at zero. the motor takes care of the skew. focal length is the distance from the dish to the front of the lnb, you do that when on your setup sat, say 0.8west and use 2 channels one that is horizontal and the other vertical and are free to air ie you can see picture. When you say technomate single you mean one tuner as actual reference brings up lnb. I think you are using signal meter as a reference to receiving a channel, the picture is always best. As i said there are not many fta channels. when you say bbc channels on 28e they are not encrypted but all sd ones changed frequency. motorised is tricky for a beginner so ask away and thats how you learn.

Using KIngofsat you can get it to show all the fta channels for each sat and the sat beam to see if they are receiveble at your location, for sat bigger the dish better the chance of reception. I use a 1.10cm triax

 

[manic01]

When you say technomate single you mean one tuner as actual reference brings up lnb.

TM single is E2 stb

 

[manic01]

Must of fixed it, been back on forum and not responded soon must be ok now.

 

[rkbwap]

Thanks guys, I d/loaded a up to date channel list & installed. Got a tutorial for setting motorised set up. The guide said use BBC on 0.8 as a reference so tried that but not clearing (it’s not there anymore!!! thanks Manic)). So used Al Jazeera as the reference. , went to signal finder on my box & messed around a bit to get best signal, got 96% SNR & 85sh AGC was the best I could I get. A few channels clear but not all. Digi sports is great + a few others but loads not clearing. My providers details appear on some of the channels that don’t clear so I take it it IS connecting to his server? Move dish to 13, a few channels clear but loads don’t, the same on 19.2, despite decent signal strength. get a few channels on 16 too. Get a few ‘tune failed’ on a few channels too despite the right frequencies. I’m thinking the tuner in my box is knackered. BUT, I just can’t get a lock on 23.5 which leads me to believe it’s my set up but I’m getting a ‘lock’ on all the other sats in the ark. Why not 23.5? I’m thinking off just getting the Viark sat 4k & just go from there. I’m not great at all this although I’ve tried to educate myself over the years, the Viark box concerns me as there seems to be a lot of maintenance to do regarding updates etc? As well as not having a decent pc! I got a pc for when I’m desperate but it takes hours to boot up! I’ve been on the forum lots reading up on it, might bite the bullet this week.

 

[bmitie]

We need more information and then you get better help. The guide that said BBC is old but Al Jazeera is a good start. Now we know why response is slow ie the Pc. If you can say exact model of the technomate then updating to a new image may solve a few problems. Why you are not getting means the rig is out and as you got channels on other sats box is ok. This is what I want you to do, drive the dish to 23.5E, then look for these 2 channels on your list, Canal digitaal infokanal. Its V and DVB -S2 while on it wait and then its only a splashscreen. The next one is RTVS 24 HD and its H. 23.5 is very powerful. With USALS you can tweak dish but making small adjustments.

And I meant to say when you put rig at 23.5e move whole rig like you did for 0.8w but move lnb in and out first. Push the like button so I know you have read this.

I would use the technomate to make sure you are getting the sats before hooking up the Viark. I don't know if you are reading the info, you should press like then I know you have read it. If I am confusing the life out of you you can say so, i dont mind.

 

[bmitie]

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[bmitie]

deleteed

 

[rkbwap]

We need more information and then you get better help. The guide that said BBC is old but Al Jazeera is a good start. Now we know why response is slow ie the Pc. If you can say exact model of the technomate then updating to a new image may solve a few problems. Why you are not getting means the rig is out and as you got channels on other sats box is ok. This is what I want you to do, drive the dish to 23.5E, then look for these 2 channels on your list, Canal digitaal infokanal. Its V and DVB -S2 while on it wait and then its only a splashscreen. The next one is RTVS 24 HD and its H. 23.5 is very powerful. With USALS you can tweak dish but making small adjustments.

And I meant to say when you put rig at 23.5e move whole rig like you did for 0.8w but move lnb in and out first. Push the like button so I know you have read this.

I would use the technomate to make sure you are getting the sats before hooking up the Viark. I don't know if you are reading the info, you should press like then I know you have read it. If I am confusing the life out of you you can say so, i dont mind.

Thanks so much for your help, I have tried them 2 channels on 23.5 to no avail, I was up the ladder moving my dish to get some sort of signal to no avail, wasn’t moving the lnb in/out though. The STB is a Technomate Single, probably about 10-12 years old, the image on the box is well out of date, vix image 5.1.033, installed in 2019! When I switch my box on, sometimes I have to turn it on/off 2 ir 3 times as it gets stuck on a loop on boot up. Also, if I leave it on it for a long period of time it freezes & has to be rebooted, so I know I need a new image but doing it is a different matter! And very time consuming. But it’s been manageable & I’ve been able to watch the footy I want so I’ve persevered. Is it possible it could be the image & not my rig? I’ve ordered the Viark. Does the Viark have a ‘signal finder’ in its menu like the technomate? Hopefully I can get it before the weekend so I can give it a good go. Again Thank You. Hopefully I can manage without 23.5, If I can’t resolve it, as there’ll be more channels available to me on the Viark.

 

[bmitie]

When you say moving the dish, I hope you mean moving the whole rig ie motor and dish! I get 90% on 23.5. I wonder is your box dvb-s only, look at back of it or underneath and try and get a model number. I know sod all about Viark and I dont know if it can drive a dish. manic should know

 

[rkbwap]

When you say moving the dish, I hope you mean moving the whole rig ie motor and dish! I get 90% on 23.5. I wonder is your box dvb-s only, look at back of it or underneath and try and get a model number. I know sod all about Viark and I dont know if it can drive a dish. manic should know

I was getting 23.5 10 to 12 months ago. When I say I was moving the dish, I was driving it to 23.5 & then just flexing the dish left/right, up, down to see if I could pick anything up & which direction it needed moving, as I figured as I was getting all the other sats on the arc it was only a fine movement needed? The Technomate Single is a DVB-S2 Tuner. Thanks for your replies 👍

 

[bmitie]

ah flexing no good but i can see your logic, is it easy to reach the lnb, note when you move rig to 23 skew will be correct or nearly, the move in and out could be the fix. Are you positive your usals is spot on, ie your co-ordinates. I use a vu+ duo2 but when moving from sat to sat I get a pic of dish on screen and it says moving to and from and it shows time and a signal meter, so I can say go to 30west and keep an eye on the screen and can see when it hits 30 west. I can also move the whole rig with the remote. I'm on 6.3 vix so yours couid be the same, go menu tuners and look for the word positioner, click then a menu appears but go slow as you can send the dish whizzing, use fine movement first, that will nudge the rig.

So send dish/rig to 23, then go to positioner setup and move dish either east or west in nudges and see if you get a signal but you cant save those settings so if you get a signal after nudging right you are too far east and vice versa. Its worth a try.

And the fact you were getting 23 and changed the lnb made me think focal length. I will find a pic to show what i mean or you could look at old lnb and see where the ring mark is.

 

[rkbwap]

ah flexing no good but i can see your logic, is it easy to reach the lnb, note when you move rig to 23 skew will be correct or nearly, the move in and out could be the fix. Are you positive your usals is spot on, ie your co-ordinates. I use a vu+ duo2 but when moving from sat to sat I get a pic of dish on screen and it says moving to and from and it shows time and a signal meter, so I can say go to 30west and keep an eye on the screen and can see when it hits 30 west. I can also move the whole rig with the remote. I'm on 6.3 vix so yours couid be the same, go menu tuners and look for the word positioner, click then a menu appears but go slow as you can send the dish whizzing, use fine movement first, that will nudge the rig.

So send dish/rig to 23, then go to positioner setup and move dish either east or west in nudges and see if you get a signal but you cant save those settings so if you get a signal after nudging right you are too far east and vice versa. Its worth a try.

And the fact you were getting 23 and changed the lnb made me think focal length. I will find a pic to show what i mean or you could look at old lnb and see where the ring mark is.

The lnb is within easy reach, my coordinates are spot on ala Dishpointer.com. When the motor moves I get an image of the dish saying it’s moving to/from and shows the time it takes to move, no signal meter though, although I can get the signal metre in the settings. I’ve tried the ‘positioner’ setting in the menu, fine movement east/west but nothing, which leads me to believe it might be elevation……….but all the other sats are ok 🤯
I was using it last year & was getting every satellite but had to alter my coordinates to do so. But loads of channels still weren’t clearing so thought I’d ‘calibrate’ it. Took it the dish must have blown off course. So put my exact coordinates in, drove the motor to 0.8 & got the best signal I could on Al Jazeera, thinking everything else would just fall into place. But no!

 

[rkbwap]

ah flexing no good but i can see your logic, is it easy to reach the lnb, note when you move rig to 23 skew will be correct or nearly, the move in and out could be the fix. Are you positive your usals is spot on, ie your co-ordinates. I use a vu+ duo2 but when moving from sat to sat I get a pic of dish on screen and it says moving to and from and it shows time and a signal meter, so I can say go to 30west and keep an eye on the screen and can see when it hits 30 west. I can also move the whole rig with the remote. I'm on 6.3 vix so yours couid be the same, go menu tuners and look for the word positioner, click then a menu appears but go slow as you can send the dish whizzing, use fine movement first, that will nudge the rig.

So send dish/rig to 23, then go to positioner setup and move dish either east or west in nudges and see if you get a signal but you cant save those settings so if you get a signal after nudging right you are too far east and vice versa. Its worth a try.

And the fact you were getting 23 and changed the lnb made me think focal length. I will find a pic to show what i mean or you could look at old lnb and see where the ring mark is.

Was using an old Technomate lnb. I installed it a few years ago, only cost about a fiver & just swapped like for like. Can I alter the focal length? The fixing for the lnb is the same as the old one so thought it was universal? Got an inverto after reading reviews it can improve poor signals but can only affix it to the ‘bracket’ that was already there?

 

[bmitie]

I cant figure out that bit at end of lnb. I have the inverto black ultra quad and my initial look makes me think lnb needs to be pushed towards dish face. Here is a pic my ultra, note the fact the back is at the end of lnb holder, this is a traix dish and looks similar to yours.