Loads of pretty random questions.. - Techwatch: Satellite TV forums, FTA, Cable, Hardware, & Tech forums

kop442000 · 10-02-06, 09:16 PM

Hi guys,

Just some more general questions about my new setup to help me learn more...

My current status is that I have one satellite up, and running, which is pointing at Astra 19.2E (which I will move soon), and my receiver is a Technomate TM1500CI+ Super. I am getting lots of channels and stuff which is great, but...

When I go into my "satellite setup" menu, there are two power bars - one for "quality" and one for "level". The level bar is high - fluctuating around 90%, but the quality bar is very low - fluctuating around 10%. What does this mean? Can I improve it? And how come I am still picking up lots of channels pretty clearly?

When I run a search, the quality bar seems to jump up to around 75% when it comes across some channels. It is just a case that when I am in a menu the quality bar is low by default? Just curious really.

Another question - obviously some of the channels are scrambled, and so I understand why I can't get them - but some others look like I should be able to view them, but they have a low signal or something so I can't. Is this normal? Or should I be able to pick up every channel on the Astra 19.2E satellite that is FTA?

Also..(sorry

ops

when I was flicking through the channels, suddenly, they were all saying "no/bad signal" like the dish had moved or something... but when I did a scan again, they were all back again. This happened a couple of times.. any ideas?

One last thing....
There are a couple of settings on ym receiver that I am unsure about:
LNB POWER - do I want it ON?
LNB FREQ - I don't know what to set it to. This is my LNB: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWN%3AIT&rd=1

I know that is a lot of stuff, so ANY help with ANY of the questions would be great!
Thank you!
kop442000

kop442000 · 11-02-06, 12:43 AM

Just an amendment to my post -

I never lost the signal when I thought I did - there is just a whole batch off channels together where the signal looks good, but I don't get anything up..I keep hitting those, and thought that I had lost all the channels.

Ta!

Analoguesat · 11-02-06, 10:25 AM

LNB power needs to be on. (or everything disappears!

)

LNB settings need to be 9750 & 10600MHZ or 9.75 / 10.6GHz

Signal strength is really a measure of electrical connection to the lnb. You can ignore it for most practical purposes. Quality is the all important one, and yours seems very low. Try realigning the dish marginally.

SatelliteHelp · 11-02-06, 10:39 AM

OK, let's see what we can do.

Firstly, the quality bar. With digital as opposed to analogue, you have the perfect platform on which to assess how well the receiver is receiving a signal, because you have digital information to play with. Built into the digital signal is redundant data. Like all digital protocols (well, most anyway) there is extra data sent alongside the required data (in this case the audio and video data) which is there to flag whether the required data is in fact all present and correct. In many cases, there is even extra data present to 'repair' the main data.

For example, if you were only getting a weak signal, or perhaps some faint interference, the additional data would be able to repair the signal, so that your viewing is once again perfect. To a point anyway, depending on the amount of damage.

With digital, you either get a perfect picture, or no picture at all. Well, that's not quite the case, as when it's right on the borderline, you can get some blocky pixelation, but that's just the signal fluctuating above and below the threshold where the signal can be fully decoded and where it cannot.

So from the above, you can see that it's the quality bar that you should focus on, as it doesn't matter if the receiver is only just managing to decode the signal, or doing it with a massive margin to spare.

Except of course that's not quite true either, as when it rains, you need better reception to be able to hit that threshold!

Bottom line? Focus on quality, and the signal strength should follow. Did you do the dish flexing thing I mentioned in the other post?

I don't have the Technomate, but maybe the quality bar is an indication BER or Bit Error Rate, which you would want to minimise, not maximise. I don't think that's the case, but check the manual. If it's high on some channels, then your dish is probably aligned OK, and that the indicator bar is indeed showing quality and not error rate. Try tuning to one of the 'high quality' channels you find on a scan before you go into the menu and see what it says then.

Read up in our glossary more about BER and FEC (Forward Error Correction) - the mechanism by which the signal gets 'repaired'.

I think that with the dish you have, you should easily be able to pick up all the channels (FTA or otherwise) on 19.2E.

What are LNB POWER and LNB FREQ set to at the moment?

I guess the latter is the switchover frequency, which should be set to 11700 or 11.7 depending on the format required by the Technomate. If this is set incorrectly it will affect many of the channels, and may explain some of your problems.

There may also be settings for LOF1 and LOF2. These should be set to 9750 and 10600 respectively.

Sorry for the long answer, but it was a long question!

SatelliteHelp · 11-02-06, 10:41 AM

LOL, Thanks AS - I just take far too long to type my waffly answers!

kop442000 · 11-02-06, 10:45 AM

Thanks guys I will digest all that info! You will be rewarded in heaven

Also I think I will be getting my meter probably today, so expect lots more desperate questions.. I know you love 'em!!

Thanks again,
kop442000.

SatelliteHelp · 11-02-06, 02:38 PM

Yeah, desperation makes the world go round :roflmao:

10-02-06, 09:16 PM	#1 (permalink)
kop442000 Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 88 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Loads of pretty random questions.. Hi guys, Just some more general questions about my new setup to help me learn more... My current status is that I have one satellite up, and running, which is pointing at Astra 19.2E (which I will move soon), and my receiver is a Technomate TM1500CI+ Super. I am getting lots of channels and stuff which is great, but... When I go into my "satellite setup" menu, there are two power bars - one for "quality" and one for "level". The level bar is high - fluctuating around 90%, but the quality bar is very low - fluctuating around 10%. What does this mean? Can I improve it? And how come I am still picking up lots of channels pretty clearly? When I run a search, the quality bar seems to jump up to around 75% when it comes across some channels. It is just a case that when I am in a menu the quality bar is low by default? Just curious really. Another question - obviously some of the channels are scrambled, and so I understand why I can't get them - but some others look like I should be able to view them, but they have a low signal or something so I can't. Is this normal? Or should I be able to pick up every channel on the Astra 19.2E satellite that is FTA? Also..(sorry ops when I was flicking through the channels, suddenly, they were all saying "no/bad signal" like the dish had moved or something... but when I did a scan again, they were all back again. This happened a couple of times.. any ideas? One last thing.... There are a couple of settings on ym receiver that I am unsure about: LNB POWER - do I want it ON? LNB FREQ - I don't know what to set it to. This is my LNB: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWN%3AIT&rd=1 I know that is a lot of stuff, so ANY help with ANY of the questions would be great! Thank you! kop442000

11-02-06, 12:43 AM	#2 (permalink)
kop442000 Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 88 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Loads of pretty random questions.. Just an amendment to my post - I never lost the signal when I thought I did - there is just a whole batch off channels together where the signal looks good, but I don't get anything up..I keep hitting those, and thought that I had lost all the channels. Ta!

11-02-06, 10:25 AM	#3 (permalink)
Analoguesat Site Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Scottish Borders Posts: 7,476 Thanks: 7 Thanked 184 Times in 172 Posts	Re: Loads of pretty random questions.. LNB power needs to be on. (or everything disappears! ) LNB settings need to be 9750 & 10600MHZ or 9.75 / 10.6GHz Signal strength is really a measure of electrical connection to the lnb. You can ignore it for most practical purposes. Quality is the all important one, and yours seems very low. Try realigning the dish marginally. __________________ Dreambox 7020 / Pace Sky Digibox / Amstrad Sky Italia box 5 dishes for 5E/9E/13E/16E/19E/23E/28E Please DO NOT pm the mods & admins for c&ble keys. You may get banned for it! Read the rules before you post - click here to read them

11-02-06, 10:39 AM	#4 (permalink)
SatelliteHelp Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 228 Thanks: 0 Thanked 18 Times in 5 Posts	Re: Loads of pretty random questions.. OK, let's see what we can do. Firstly, the quality bar. With digital as opposed to analogue, you have the perfect platform on which to assess how well the receiver is receiving a signal, because you have digital information to play with. Built into the digital signal is redundant data. Like all digital protocols (well, most anyway) there is extra data sent alongside the required data (in this case the audio and video data) which is there to flag whether the required data is in fact all present and correct. In many cases, there is even extra data present to 'repair' the main data. For example, if you were only getting a weak signal, or perhaps some faint interference, the additional data would be able to repair the signal, so that your viewing is once again perfect. To a point anyway, depending on the amount of damage. With digital, you either get a perfect picture, or no picture at all. Well, that's not quite the case, as when it's right on the borderline, you can get some blocky pixelation, but that's just the signal fluctuating above and below the threshold where the signal can be fully decoded and where it cannot. So from the above, you can see that it's the quality bar that you should focus on, as it doesn't matter if the receiver is only just managing to decode the signal, or doing it with a massive margin to spare. Except of course that's not quite true either, as when it rains, you need better reception to be able to hit that threshold! Bottom line? Focus on quality, and the signal strength should follow. Did you do the dish flexing thing I mentioned in the other post? I don't have the Technomate, but maybe the quality bar is an indication BER or Bit Error Rate, which you would want to minimise, not maximise. I don't think that's the case, but check the manual. If it's high on some channels, then your dish is probably aligned OK, and that the indicator bar is indeed showing quality and not error rate. Try tuning to one of the 'high quality' channels you find on a scan before you go into the menu and see what it says then. Read up in our glossary more about BER and FEC (Forward Error Correction) - the mechanism by which the signal gets 'repaired'. I think that with the dish you have, you should easily be able to pick up all the channels (FTA or otherwise) on 19.2E. What are LNB POWER and LNB FREQ set to at the moment? I guess the latter is the switchover frequency, which should be set to 11700 or 11.7 depending on the format required by the Technomate. If this is set incorrectly it will affect many of the channels, and may explain some of your problems. There may also be settings for LOF1 and LOF2. These should be set to 9750 and 10600 respectively. Sorry for the long answer, but it was a long question!

11-02-06, 10:41 AM	#5 (permalink)
SatelliteHelp Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 228 Thanks: 0 Thanked 18 Times in 5 Posts	Re: Loads of pretty random questions.. LOL, Thanks AS - I just take far too long to type my waffly answers!


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11-02-06, 10:45 AM	#6 (permalink)
kop442000 Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 88 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Loads of pretty random questions.. Thanks guys I will digest all that info! You will be rewarded in heaven Also I think I will be getting my meter probably today, so expect lots more desperate questions.. I know you love 'em!! Thanks again, kop442000.

11-02-06, 02:38 PM	#7 (permalink)
SatelliteHelp Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 228 Thanks: 0 Thanked 18 Times in 5 Posts	Re: Loads of pretty random questions.. Yeah, desperation makes the world go round :roflmao: