Faulty LNB?

[Gisal]

Hi,

I am installing at my place a parabolic (100 cm dish) given by a friend who has been using it until six months ago. He also gave me his LNB but after making the connections I get no signal. I tried SIRIUS and also ASTRA and whatever the position of the dish I get constant zero % for both signal strenght and signal quality via the decoder. The cable is 12 meters. How can I detect where lies the problem? Could the LNB be damaged because of external exposure while not connected or because of other reasons?

Thank you

[Mickha]

LNB's are quite durable, but can break.
The first thing to check is your cable, and connections, ensure you have sufficient braid to contact the F connector but that none of the braid is touching the copper wire itself, as this could cause a short circuit.
Do you have a satellite signal meter?
Check dishpointer.com, to get a rough idea where you need to point your dish, select a strong satellite and ensure you have a working frequency, preferably a FTA, Free to Air, channel.

[Gisal]

Thank you for the quick reply...

I do not have a satellite meter, I am using the decoder which allows to check the signal quality and strength for a given satellite before starting the search for the channels (if the signal is good enough). How much copper cable does need to stick out of the F connector? I proepared the cable roughly like in the image. I have the impression that there is no signal passage at all, because I would expect at least some signal strength.

[Mickha]

Have a look at this video, on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2v7fLHZzzM

[Gisal]

I watched the video and also other related videos, I think I have done the connection properly. I will check again just in case.

I just do not know why the decoder does not record any signal strength. Do you think I should launch the channels search anyway (this is the step which follow the signal verification)?

Or maybe it is the cable, is there a way to check if it works or not?

[Mickha]

You can try the cable on another set up, or just fit two coax plugs and see if you can connect from any appliance with a RF output to a television with a RF socket.
Which satellite are you trying to locate?
What is your general location?
Manually aligning a satellite dish isn't easy, especially without a satellite meter, even a cheap £7 one.
Try dishpointer.com, put in your postcode, zoom in on the map, moving the green balloon tio where you have your dish sited, then select a satellite and check the general direction it is pointing, preferably using a landmark to align to.