Hotbird/Astra Monoblock Setup

[Orias]

Hey folks,

I've had a bit of a search around, tried a few things, but I'm still a bit stumped. Can't really find any guides specific to this unit, so I thought I'd try here.

I just switched out my single LNB pointing at Hotbird 13E for a Monoblock which should get Hotbird 13E and Astra 19E (I am in Madrid btw). I am pretty sure I fitted it correctly, although it was pretty dark and windy up on the roof. If you are looking at the dish, standing behind the LNB, I put the right-hand LNB in the existing bracket for Hotbird, with the other one on the left of that (which should be Astra).

Hotbird channels still seem to be working fine, so I guess I didn't screw anything up too badly. I am just at a bit of a loss now of how to access Astra channels. I have read other posts that talk about enabling DiSEqC etc, but I don't seem to be having much luck, or I am doing something wrong?

I have been going to SETUP > Service Searching > Tuner Configuration > Select my Tuner and then I choose "Configuration Mode" as Simple and set "Mode" to DiSEqC A/B. Under that I have the options for Port A and Port B, but both show Hotbird. I am assuming that one of these should be Astra, but I am not sure how to make it appear, or make it visible in the list of options. If I try to change either of them, the only other option (apart from Hotbird) is "Nothing Connected".

I am sure I have missed something, somewhere, but I am pretty new to all this so if anyone has a beginners guide to what I need to do, I would very much appreciate it! I am sure it's something simple, but I am a bit lost :D

Thanks very much!
Orias

[echelon]

move it from hotbird 13e to astra 19e for the correct port you have used , so if hotbird is on A then alter the astra 19e to port b, I think you use the left and right buttons to swap sats

if that is the wrong way round , reverse the ports (A and B)

[skomedal]

This might help from my monoblock days :-

62249

Regards

[echelon]

checked my duo where tuner A is on simple but 4 way not 2 way switch

use left right buttons to select the correct satellite

so its (for TUNER A)

simple diseqc A/B
port A = 19.2e astra
port B = 13e hotbird
set voltage etc = YES
send diseqc etc = NO

if your ports are the other way round its

simple diseqc A/B
port A = 13e hotbird
port B = 19.2e astra
set voltage etc = YES
send diseqc etc = NO


if you were using tuner B (on a twin tuner box like a solo 2), then set the above as tuner B not tuner A , but use the same settings

[Orias]

Thanks guys!

Skomedal - That's how I have mine setup, so I guess I got that bit right at least :p

Echelon - I really am a beginner to this, so I got a bit lost in your reply to be honest :D. I don't even have Astra 19e available to select on my box, I am not sure how to make it visible. Right now I can only see "Hotbird 13e" and "Nothing Connected" when I switch what's available on Port A and Port B ... I am assuming that Astra 19e should be appearing where it says "Nothing Connected", but I am not sure how to get it as a selectable option?

Thanks for the help,
Cheers! Ori

[echelon]

perhaps its not in your channel list ?

I am using a catseye list, maybe you should do the same ?

backup your channel list to your pc or laptop using dreamboxedit

then download and unpack the catseye 13e and 19e pack, or a pack containing both satellites

use dreamboxedit to load this into your box and restart e2

now check the tuner configuration, and choose the settings I gave in post #4

in my case I have more than 4 satellites in my channel list, including 13e and 19e , plus 28e and 30w too

[skomedal]

I just switched out my single LNB pointing at Hotbird 13E for a Monoblock which should get Hotbird 13E and Astra 19E (I am in Madrid btw)


Dish size?

Regards

[Orias]

Hmm, good call, might be that.
I am using VHannibal right now. Any idea which one I need to download for Astra, or Hotbird/Astra? Hotbird seems to be relatively easy to find, but I can find any specific Astra downloads!

[echelon]

the only ones we have here are the catseyes ones usually

you are welcome to look through the E2 settings forum here on pimps for a suitable one, or maybe download one through your plugins menu or wherever it is in your image ?

as I said earlier, I use catseyes so no point asking about vhannibal although I am sure they do multi satellite settings files

I am surprised if you are using a vhannibal one that is only for hotbird though , usually they tend to be two or more satellites

[Orias]

I did use Catseye ones before, just switched to Vhannibal to test it out one day + the auto-updating thing is nice.
Might switch back to Catseye though .. no real preference at the end of the day :D

The dish is 60cm I believe .. but I am in Madrid, so it doesn't need to be huge to access Hotbird/Astra I think

Cheers!

[echelon]

use whichever you like , the choice is yours

my point is use one that at least includes astra 19e and hotbird 13e, otherwise you wont get what isnt in it

[Orias]

Well, just gave Catseye a go, and it worked. I can access both satellites. Looks like it was just a Channel List thing in the end! Although I had kinda gotten used to the Vhannibal favourites list, so might see if I can find the Astra channels for that and see which works out the best.

Thanks for all the help, I think I vaguely know what I need to do now :p .. I hope!!

Cheers!!

[echelon]

ok , so check your original vhannibals list name and see if it was hotbird only or if it had more

if its hotbird only, that was your problem (no astra)

now look for one that includes 13e and 19e , so a minimum of astra and hotbird, or maybe one with 3 , astra , hotbird and astra 2 (13e + 19e + 28e) - vhannibals if thats what you like , or a different one if there is no vhannibals

vhannibals download usually contains lots of different ones, singles , dual , quadri and motor

the quadri always contains 13 and 19 , plus 2 others

try here

https://www.satpimps.co.uk/showthread.php?161211-Vhannibal-Setting-E2-DTT

it doesnt matter if it has more than you need, but its bad if it only has half of what you need ;)

at least you now have it working with catseyes

[Orias]

Nailed it, thanks very much! I found a Vhannibal list from a couple of days ago for 13E and 19.2E only. So I kept the old 13E favourites setup that I was used to, and now I have a bunch of Astra ones to figure out.
Thanks very much for all the help, appreciate it :)

Cheers!