Bulsatcom "No Signal"?

[tinto de verano]

Hi there,
I am posting here, rather than on a more general section, in case there might be some spiderbox 9000HD and/or firmware issue...

I have a motorised 85 cm dish with a quad lnb. I am in England, southeast.

I used to have an HDCI 2000, then the Spiderbox 9000 HD.

I have been having problems with Bulsatcom signal, with lack of it, for weeks now.

A bit of history:

I could get Bulsatcom with my old Humax HDCI2000. When I got the Spiderbox I could still get Bulsatcom.

Then a dish installer came and correctly set up the dish so I could enter the proper USALS data (earlier, I was forced to enter incorrect data for sats to be found!).

I think I could still get Bulsatcom after that (sorry if I am not sure, but there were so many things available at the time that I admit I did not bother too much about it).

Then one day my motor died. It was replaced. They noticed the LNB was only working on H, not on V (maybe it was the other way round), so they replaced the LNB.

Everything seemed OK (some strength and quality figures later). I could get many channels on Hellas 39 E... but not the Bulsatcom ones... I though it might be a temporary thing, but time passed and I still cannot get it.

So, I am assuming that the dish/motor was correctly set up, at least as regards the Lat and Long. As I am using USALS the Spiderbox finds all sats I can receive, included Hellas 39 E (but "No Signal" for all Bulsatcom channels).

I am guessing that maybe the dish needs to be tilted up and/or down by the installers, right? Or what can be done to get Bulsatcom back?

Any suggestions welcome of course.

Here are some Strength and Quality figures to show that things seem OK (execept for "No Signal" for Bulsatcom channels):

28.2 E Astra 2: S: Q:
BBC1/4 80 90
BBC HD and One HD 79 94

19.2 E Astra:
C+ Futbol HD 79 90
Dr Dish TV 73 76

13 E Hotbird:
Canal+ Sport HD 75 88
RAI 1 79 92

Digitalb 16 E:
Supersports 1 76 42
X1 66 26 (sometimes only 20 and then scrambled)

Hellas 39 E:
4 E Hellas Orthodox 74 56
Antena 1 66 52
Vouli 74 56
Dolce Sport 65 52
Private Spice (Dolce) 65 52

Private Spice (Bulsatcom) 69 (red) 02 (red)
The Voice no signal
Any Bulsatcom channel no signal

Thanks you very much in advance.

tinto de verano

[tr8.]

Not a Spiderbox problem all working well here.
Have you scanned in the correcct frequency?
Quite a few did a final move today to 11012V dvb s2 8psk 30000.

[tinto de verano]

Hi tr8,
I am using the latest available channel list (BillyBits HD Channel List 23/03/11 by Compass).

And I have since then tried manually on a few occasion entering frequencies as indicated in Lyngsat and *********... I can find all the channels except the Bulsatcom ones.

Maybe info was not updated... I will try a bit later today and report back.

Thanks.

tinto de verano

[satpaul]

Not set up correctly with those signal figures when I installed an 80 cm Motorised dish the other day got 98% Signal Quality on 39 east on Spiderbox on most transponders

[keith mawer]

emm odd i had the same problem ,, no signal ,, but after 3 mins was fine ( they changed keys also i noticed)....
seems HD is not available ,, stand to be corrected,
. seems 16e is the worst right now and there is a ticker tape at the bottom of the screen to say so !

[tinto de verano]

Thanks for all the answers so far.

Thanks Satpaul for giving some figures to compare: 98% Signal Quality on 39 east on Spiderbox on most transponders!
Something must be wrong indeed. But what?
What I can suggest the installers to check, adjust, set up properly?
Thanks.
tinto de verano

[satpaul]

Check that the installer is competant most dont have a clue about motorised, 98% was got with a Technomate 0.2db lnb better than most 0.1db's I have tested

[tinto de verano]

Hi again,

I have only just checked again Hellas 39 E and Bulsatcom:

I can receive the new ones at:

11012, V, S2 8PSK 3/4 with S 74% and Q 56%

Unfortunately I still get "No Signal" on the frequencies that have not changed that recently:

12524, H, DVB-S, 30000, 7/8: S 74% and Q 2%

12565, H, DVB-S, 30000, 7/8: S 74% and Q 2%

12647, H, DVB-S, 30000, 7/8: S 74% and Q 2%

12688, H, DVB-S, 30000, 7/8: S 74% and Q 2%

Thanks again.

tinto de verano

[tinto de verano]

Hi Satpaul,

I was writing my data while you posted your reply about the 0.2db LNB.

I will bear that in mind when/if I find another installer. I think I will not be contacting the previous one.
Thanks a lot.

tinto de verano

[toothfairy]

Hi again,

I have only just checked again Hellas 39 E and Bulsatcom:

I can receive the new ones at:

11012, V, S2 8PSK 3/4 with S 74% and Q 56%

Unfortunately I still get "No Signal" on the frequencies that have not changed that recently:

12524, H, DVB-S, 30000, 7/8: S 74% and Q 2%

12565, H, DVB-S, 30000, 7/8: S 74% and Q 2%

12647, H, DVB-S, 30000, 7/8: S 74% and Q 2%

12688, H, DVB-S, 30000, 7/8: S 74% and Q 2%

Thanks again.

tinto de verano

Those frequencies are working for me my friend.

[tinto de verano]

Hi toothfairy,

Thanks for your reply.

May I ask you if you are somewhere in the southeast of England and what signal and quality are you getting on, for example:

28.2 E Astra 2: S: Q:
BBC1/4
BBC HD and One HD

Hellas 39 E:
4 E Hellas Orthodox
Vouli
The Voice

Thanks a lot.

tinto de verano

[Mickha]

Hi tinto de verano,

can you please check several Horizontal polarity channels, and Vertical polarity channels, on some of the satellites in your arc, and post the signal strength/quality readings, it could be that the new LNB is faulty, or more likely fitted incorrectly, regarding skew.

Which satellite were you on when the installers changed the motor and LNB?

Although the Horizontal channels, on Bulsatcom, are on a different beam there shouldn't be that much difference between the Horizontal and Vertical channels.

Have you tried altering your Longitude settings slightly, in Usals, to peak the signal on 39E?

[tinto de verano]

Hi Mickha,

I will test tomorrow or rather today (Tuesday).

Any suggestions for "several Horizontal polarity channels, and Vertical polarity channels, on some of the satellites in your arc, and post the signal strength/quality readings"?

It lookjs as if I can get both H and V in general, as opposed to when they had to change the quad LNB as some (either H or V were not detected).

"Allegedly", they did the change on 0.8 W.

Yes, I have tried altering both latitude and longitude... no big difference on the channels I can receive... nor on the ones I cannot.

Thanks.

tinto de verano

[Mickha]

Try a few Horizontal, and Vertical, channels using the same beam, then check the signal strength/quality readings, start with 0.8W and then move East, 5E, 7E, 9E, 10E, 13E, 16E, 19E, 28E and 39E.
You can check lyngsat.com for a list of channels on each satellite.
I'll check back later today, when I get back from work, to see if the readings look alright, but you should know fairly quickly if your dish is not aligned correctly as the readings will be lower than expected.

[tr8.]

May be worth deleting all at 39e then doing a full new scan on that sat and see what happens, but before you do it back-up what you have to a usb pen 1st you can always drop it back on if you want, you do this on the usb page.

[tinto de verano]

Hi Mickha and Tr8.
Thanks for your advice.
I am afraid I will be quite busy in the next few days, so not much time for experiments (nor even for watching TV).
But as soon as I can, I will try.
Or I might just call an installer to sort it out.
Thanks again.
tinto de verano

[tinto de verano]

Hi there,
Just an update: Sorted!
Finally got another installer around, with equipment working properly (no flat battery like previous one).
He quickly and easily realigned the dish... no trial and error... knew what he was doing...and bulsatcom signal is back... The Voice and other channels are back! Or even if scrambled, I do get a signal!
Great!
Thank yoou all for your advice and suggestions.
tinto de verano