New lnb?

[mickstery]

Hey guys,

I think ive gone and damaged / blown the lnb on my motorised setup ... Not for the first time. I am able to move the dish east and west ocassionally but unable to pick up any signal.

So looks like I will need a replacement, I have been looking at different lnb types at what is best to have. Two in particular are :

Inverto Black Premium 0.2dB Single Output LNB

&

Invacom 0.3dB Single Output LNB

Ive used the Inverto before and it was good , and it had HD capability as well. What do you guys think ? What would be the best lnb for a 1.1m motorised setup here in the UK? Preferably with HD capability as well.


Cheers guys.

[TonyO]

try to borrow an lnb first to try and test, just in case you've damaged your reciever by shorting the lnb lead.

[mickstery]

I wont be able to borrow an lnb , dont know anyone with a spare ... So I could of damaged the reciever ? I have a humax 5100 reciever locked away , could I test with that? My current reciever is a tm9100.

[mister-t]

any receiver should be ok just for a test.

mister-t

[echelon]

you can test it with a standard sly lnb , or any other modern universal lnb

all the modern universals will carry HD so no worries there

and any digital receiver can be used for testing , even a sly one , never mind an old humax

I have an Inverto twin 0.2 universal lnb on my 1.1m triax , but I also use sly quads or have used sly singles with good results , so almost anything can be used for testing

[veron57]

Check the connection from the motor to the LNB, make sure the cable is perfectly in place. If this is in place and everything looks ok... it could be that your LNB is indeed broken.

Make sure none of the shielding is touching the core on your cable run. If you are using screw on F-Connectors, unscrew them and make sure this is the case.
If you have a short on your shielding to core, it can degrade your tuner and/or overload your LNB. This is the main reason for damage. If you deliberately try this on a Humax stb for a second (will not cause damage over a few seconds) for example, you will notice an on screen error message.

Another question I have, is your power source stable? A power surge is another possible way to damage your LNB.

[Giga]

when working on sat equipment: always power of your receiver even in standby you can have power on the satellite coax cable.
Check connection between motor and LNB, use a new working lead between motor and lnb: oxidation, water got inside cable, ...
Is the dish inclination still correct? Wind, prankster, ... If the dish is no longer properly aligned you don't get a signal.

[mickstery]

I was working witht the motorised system last night, reset the tm9100 with original images then re-installed edg nemisis 4.4.

I re-scanned in all satellites which i use (1west , 13east , 16east , 19east), tested each satellite to see if working on bbc world news. Everything was ok.

I have a sky mini dish for sky uk on 28.2 east as my motorised dish is in such a position that it cannot get a clear line of sight. I bought an a/b switch to connect the sky mini dish and motorised dish to the tm9100 reciever. So I was removing the coax cable from the reciever a couple of times (while it was switched on) to connect to the the switch and then to reciever.

After all this I noticed that the motorised dish wasnt pulling in any signal on any satellite at all but was able to move east and west (this was intermitent)... I always thought that if the lnb was damaged that it wouldnt be possible to move the motor in any direction?

I disconnected everything , took the motorised coax cable and stripped it back for a new piece and re-connected the f connector ( I did check for insulation touching) , re-connected to reciever , powered up and tried moving the dish to no avail.

I also conencted the motorised coax to an old Amstrad sky box , to check for signal and it wasnt showing anything.. The humax 5100 I have is tucked away in the attic but I will test with this later..

I think it was stupid of me to disconnect and reconnect the cables while the reciever was on.

The power source I am connected to is stable and also the connections I am certain are secure, I was up the ladder checking the dish and its connections while also replacing the lnb about 5 months ago.

cheers


Michael

[Giga]

did you re-enter the parameters for your dish motor after re-installing image? Parameters for LNB are ok: universal, power, ...
do you have signal on the 28.2°E? receiver = OK. Remove switch and test motor dish with lnb on BBC World News @ 0.8°W 11325 H 24500. Was 0° position aligned to 0.8° West? Could be necessary to drive your dish to 0 position on the dish motor and when it is a 0 on the dish motor to do a hardware reset of the motor. Bad LNB does happen, but not that often like you have experienced.

[mickstery]

Ive tested with

technomate 9100
humax 5100
Amstrad sky box

Connected all boxes to motorised coax cable. SNR = 0 & AGC = 0 on all.

Done a factory reset on tm9100, tried moving motor and it didnt work. Switched off the tm9100 and on again and was able to move the motor a bit , then it stopped. I also tried moving the motor with humax 5100.

Sky mini dish isnt working either.

I think ive ****ed my system:angelsad2::o15:

[veron57]

Switch everything off for about 5minutes. So no power at all.

In the tuner menu, set it up for simple setup, 28.2E, and use your sky mini dish on a direct connection.

See what happens now?

Edit: I also experienced something strange like this, using just a motorised setup. I thought I knackered my system. I was making adjustments with the receiver switched on. I found that moving the cable a little bit on the motor connector (connector on the motor going to receiver) the green light flashed (indicating that there was power). And I could see as I was moving the cable, the green light on the motor was flickering... so, in my case it was a poor connection. I was using very fat coax cable with a very thick core. I think this may have caused some problems. You mention you can still move the motor... so the link between the receiver and motor is ok... but as you do not receive any signal you either have an incorrect configuration in the setup-tuner menu (software), the LNB is defect, the tuner is defect, the link between the motor and LNB is not ok or you have a short.

[mister-t]

After all this I noticed that the motorised dish wasnt pulling in any signal on any satellite at all but was able to move east and west (this was intermitent)... I always thought that if the lnb was damaged that it wouldnt be possible to move the motor in any direction?

lnb has nothing to do with motor moving.
for example,reciever to motor,from motor to lnb so acting like a sort of loop through,another thing you can try is disconnect sat cable going to motor
and connect directly to lnb then see if you have a signal that way you are taking the motor out of the equation and just to add i can move my dish without lnb attatched

mister-t

[mickstery]

The movement of the motor is intermitent , in other words it wont work, then if I restart the reciever and manualy try to move the motor it works but then stops. I tried this with tm9100 and humax 5100.

I had this problem before, I was unable to move the dish and it turned out to be a faulty lnb as soon as I replaced it I was able to move the dish with the motor, thats why im thinking its the same issue.

I wont be able to check the dish until thursday, thats when I will get a loan of a set of ladders.
:king-042:

[mickstery]

The movement of the motor is intermitent , in other words it wont work, then if I restart the reciever and manualy try to move the motor it works but then stops. I tried this with tm9100 and humax 5100.

I had this problem before, I was unable to move the dish and it turned out to be a faulty lnb as soon as I replaced it I was able to move the dish with the motor, thats why im thinking its the same issue.

I wont be able to check the dish until thursday, thats when I will get a loan of a set of ladders.
:king-042:

[mister-t]

as i said earlier,receiver straight to lnb,if signal is ok and channels are good
could be a motor problem,shorting out or motor on the way out.before you start spending money on lnb just a few simple tests and you will soon find out the problem,it took me ages to find a break in my cable,some sats worked
well others i could not get a single at all,tried spare lnb,still same problem
tried spare receiver still the same,all it was,was a small break in cable,changed cable and everything was fine

mister-t

[mickstery]

well I have an update and it seems the reciever is fine , scanned in channels from my sky mini dish on the tm9100 no problem.. Atleast that is out of the equation.

so its either a motor, cable or lnb issue.... i guess.

[TonyO]

are there any trees or bushes in front of your dish ? with all the june and july hot weather and the august rain tree and bush growth is very fast.

In a week you can lose your signal.

[mickstery]

no mate , its mounted high up on the side of the house , motorised dish has clear line of sight from 30 west - 19east.

[mickstery]

can someone tell me ... I have connected all three boxes to the motorised coax cable , and AGC & SNR is showing no signal/bars , not even fluctuating ... does this not indicate that the lnb is faulty ? Or can this also happen if the motor is faulty?

[john.dat]

I disconnected everything , took the motorised coax cable and stripped it back for a new piece and re-connected the f connector ( I did check for insulation touching) , re-connected to reciever , powered up and tried moving the dish to no avail.

Double check the F type connector and ensure no strands are touching centre core - probably easier to re-do it again

[mickstery]

Display of signal : Humax 5100

http://img830.imageshack.us/i/img0057h.jpg/

Display of signal on tm9100:

http://img718.imageshack.us/i/img0060zd.jpg/
http://img121.imageshack.us/i/img0062ju.jpg/
http://img693.imageshack.us/i/img0063gc.jpg/

Display of dish setup:

http://img195.imageshack.us/i/img0058fy.jpg/
http://img704.imageshack.us/i/img0059gs.jpg/

[Giga]

you need to test this yourself:
drive dish to its default location, where you have it setup to (0.8°w?)
connect cable directly to receiver, no switch no motor in between.
If you have signal LNB is working.
next connect cable to motor and connect motor to LNB with new peace of cable and see if you still have a signal.
Step by step, try to eliminate parts that could be faulty.
if none of these produced a signal: yes LNB probably faulty.
You still have the problem to many LNB's did go faulty. If you did think this is only by you working on them and not having receivers powered off then you're probably OK. If not you could have another fault somewhere and the next LNB is in line to go faulty.
Do you have someone that could assist you with the cables? Radio amateur, ...
To many factors can cause LNB's go faulty:
Quality of the used cable, joints, connectors, sharp bends in cable, if you used nails or staples to fix the cable, cable fit to connector, length of cable, cable size to f-connector size mismatch, ...
Outside connector needs protection against rain, cable needs some slack between motor and dish so there is no strain on that cable when the dish moves. And the cable positioned so that the cable is not pinched and damaged when the motor moves.

[mickstery]

Hey,

got everything sorted today, turns out that it was my lnb again ... Someone suggested to me that it may be the frequency in the settings of tm9100 that may be blowing the lnb.... Or it could just be that I was unpluging and pluging the coax cable in and out of the sat reciever.

Also I definately couldnt move the motor while the lnb was damaged, as soon as I put a new lnb on the dish it was able to move again.

The motor I use is a digitality Stab Diseq.


Thanks everyone for all your help.:respect-055:

[Giga]

good. Removing cables: power off (serial rs232 to)

[docsquires]

had a similar problem turned out to be the reed swich in my l.n.b.bought one from c.p.c. i hav a spare if you need it p.m me &i will send it to you. regards docsquires...

[TonyO]

It sounds as if the lnb cable was shorted out, that would cause the motor to not work as well.

Your lucky you didn't damage the reciever.