Freesat issues

roller0211 · 21-11-2009, 8:06 PM

Please excuse my first post being a question
I have just purchased a Humax HDR box and fitted a 60cm oval dish with a Zinwell quad LNB
I seem to be having to problems, fisrt of all I am getting good signal strength but no quality, I assume this is to do with the dish alignment.
I aligned it roughly the same as all the others in the area, but then in started raining so that will have to wait for another day.
The other issue I have is that although i have connected two cables two LNB 1 & 2 connections on the back the humax box only sees a single cable.
I swapped the cables over but still it only sees one cable both times it has good signal strength but no quality due to the dish alignment I assume.
Does it matter what connectors i use on the LNB or are the all the same.
I have rechecked the cables on the reciever end but still only get single cable on the menu, even after a factory reset.
Many thanks in advance

grahamlthompson · 21-11-2009, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roller0211

Please excuse my first post being a question
I have just purchased a Humax HDR box and fitted a 60cm oval dish with a Zinwell quad LNB
I seem to be having to problems, fisrt of all I am getting good signal strength but no quality, I assume this is to do with the dish alignment.
I aligned it roughly the same as all the others in the area, but then in started raining so that will have to wait for another day.
The other issue I have is that although i have connected two cables two LNB 1 & 2 connections on the back the humax box only sees a single cable.
I swapped the cables over but still it only sees one cable both times it has good signal strength but no quality due to the dish alignment I assume.
Does it matter what connectors i use on the LNB or are the all the same.
I have rechecked the cables on the reciever end but still only get single cable on the menu, even after a factory reset.
Many thanks in advance

If the hdr can't receive a signal on the second tuner it wiil assume you only have 1 cable. You are correct without a reasonable quality the signal strength means nothing and it's down to alignment

For excellent DIY alignment instructions see here

www.satelliteforcaravans.co.uk

Derek22 · 22-11-2009, 9:44 AM

when you have aligned if your still haveing a problem with a single feed, to see if you got a single feed is bad, just connect each feed to tuner 1 in turn. If one is showing as bad could also try another output from the LNB just incase its that.

roller0211 · 22-11-2009, 12:33 PM

Many thanks for the replies.
I seem to have sorted the problems,
I checked the connections on the LNB end and forund that with the humax connected but switched off I had continuity between then coppers and the braiding.
I rechecked the humax end and found the centre had bent over when i screwed it in, I obviously left the copper a bit to long.
The rest was down to dish alignment, I had a quality of about 70% which was producing a good signal.
I reset the box and it saw both connections, did an auto search and got 146 channels, they dont all seem to be available though.
It then started raining and the signal almost dissapeared, seems OK now though as it has eased up.
I will get asatellite meter to see if I can get it above 70%.
But so far so good.
One thing I did notice though I dont seem to have the Dave channel , it that correct?

swedish cook · 22-11-2009, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roller0211

...
One thing I did notice though I dont seem to have the Dave channel , it that correct?

No Dave on Freesat sorry, the only thing I miss from Freeview.

grahamlthompson · 22-11-2009, 1:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roller0211

Many thanks for the replies.
I seem to have sorted the problems,
I checked the connections on the LNB end and forund that with the humax connected but switched off I had continuity between then coppers and the braiding.
I rechecked the humax end and found the centre had bent over when i screwed it in, I obviously left the copper a bit to long.
The rest was down to dish alignment, I had a quality of about 70% which was producing a good signal.
I reset the box and it saw both connections, did an auto search and got 146 channels, they dont all seem to be available though.
It then started raining and the signal almost dissapeared, seems OK now though as it has eased up.
I will get asatellite meter to see if I can get it above 70%.
But so far so good.
One thing I did notice though I dont seem to have the Dave channel , it that correct?

The auto search does not actually find each channel but simply loads the current freesat channel database from the home transponder on Eurobird 1. If you are talking about a cheap meter forget it you will get better results using the hdrs diagnostic display. Find a channel that's viewable but has less than ideal quality, bring up the diagnostics and make very tiny adjustments waiting for the tuner to respond starting with direction (azimuth), then elevation and Skew(lnb twist). If the lnb has a collar fixing also adjust focus in each case maximising quality.

Most of my channels are 100%,100% (60cm dish in the midlands) I don't lose the signal in heavy rain either

roller0211 · 22-11-2009, 1:27 PM

Would it be correct that some channels although they come up when i select them i get bad or no signal, I assume that some are not always active, for example CBS action and CBS reality come up bad or no signal but CBS drama is OK.
I also noticed that it had a software update available, I am currently on 10003, 10011 is avaliable, any problems with this update.
Is there a way to add more free chanels in manual tuning and does it overide the Auto ones.
As regards the LNB do you mean it can be moved in and out as well as side to side? its a Zinwell quad.
Once again many thanks

grahamlthompson · 22-11-2009, 1:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roller0211

Would it be correct that some channels although they come up when i select them i get bad or no signal, I assume that some are not always active, for example CBS action and CBS reality come up bad or no signal but CBS drama is OK.
I also noticed that it had a software update available, I am currently on 10003, 10011 is avaliable, any problems with this update.
Is there a way to add more free chanels in manual tuning and does it overide the Auto ones.
As regards the LNB do you mean it can be moved in and out as well as side to side? its a Zinwell quad.
Once again many thanks

First thing is you should get an automatic update to V11 overnight tonight or you can force an update yourself. V11 fixes a lot of niggles in V03 so you should upgrade before doing anything else. Whether you can move the lnb in out depends on the type of dish you have. If it's a sky dish where the lnb is secured by a pin then you can't move it in or out. If its secured by a clamp round a cylindrical barrel you can.

You can add hundreds of free channels by using non-freesat mode. To gain access to this choose manual tune and search on the default options (upgrade the firmware first or you will lose any freesat recording reservations). This will leave yoi in non-freesat mode and an extra menu entry to allow you to swap modes.

CBS action is a 24H channel, most likely you can't get it because your dish is not properly aligned. It's possible that you may have faulty lnb if you flick through all the channels using the epg and note which you can't get it would help in making a diagnosis.

For instance CBS Drama is on a low band vertical transponder and the other two are high band vertical so it's possible your lnb can't switch to the high band frequencies

Check if you can get any of these

Code:

207 CNN
120 S4C
202 S4C2
504 B4U Music
813 Create A Craft
136 CBS Reality
719 Capital 95.8 
720 Choice FM 
721 Classic FM 
722 Gold 
723 XFM London 
730 Planet Rock 
805 Gems TV1
806 TV Shop
808 JML Home & DIY
810 JML COOKSHOP
137 CBS Action
204 Euronews
401 Wedding TV Asia
809 JML
509 Zing
650 Teachers TV
803 Pitch TV
804 Pitch World

Or these

Code:

110 BBC ALBA
200 BBC News
201 BBC Parliament
700 BBC Radio 1 
701 BBC Radio 1 Xtra 
702 BBC Radio 2 
703 BBC Radio 3 
704 BBC Radio 4 FM
707 BBC 6Music
708 BBC Radio 7
709 BBC Asian Network
710 BBC Radio 4 LW
711 BBC World Service 
712 BBC Radio Scotland
713 BBC Radio nan Gaidheal (Gaelic) 
714 BBC Radio Wales 
715 BBC Radio Cymru (Welsh) 
716 BBC Radio Ulster 
800 QVC
802 bid tv
812 Ideal World
402 Information TV
691 DAYSTAR TV

roller0211 · 22-11-2009, 2:58 PM

Ok checked all the channels as suggested these are the results
207 CNN yes120 S4C yes202 S4C2 yes504 B4U Music yes813 Create A Craft yes136 CBS Reality no719 Capital 95.8 no720 Choice FM no721 Classic FM no722 Gold no723 XFM London no730 Planet Rock No805 Gems TV1 no806 TV Shop no808 JML Home & DIY no810 JML COOKSHOP Yes137 CBS Action yes204 Euronews yes401 Wedding TV Asia yes809 JML yes509 Zing yes650 Teachers TV yes 803 Pitch TV yes804 Pitch World yes110 BBC ALBA yes200 BBC News yes201 BBC Parliament yes700 BBC Radio 1 yes701 BBC Radio 1 Xtra yes702 BBC Radio 2 yes703 BBC Radio 3 yes704 BBC Radio 4 FM yes707 BBC 6Music yes708 BBC Radio 7 yes709 BBC Asian Network yes710 BBC Radio 4 LW yes711 BBC World Service yes712 BBC Radio Scotland yes713 BBC Radio nan Gaidheal (Gaelic) yes 714 BBC Radio Wales yes715 BBC Radio Cymru (Welsh) yes 716 BBC Radio Ulster yes800 QVC yes802 bid tv yes812 Ideal World yes402 Information TV yes 691 DAYSTAR TV yes
[FONT=Times New Roman] I assume from these results you can tell if it is the dish alignment or the LNB.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]I also carried out the software upgrade and now the picture is too wide for the TV, i checked the setup and it is the same as before 16.9 auto cant seem to get the channel indicator to come back onto the screen fully, just done a reboot still no different[/FONT]

grahamlthompson · 22-11-2009, 3:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roller0211

Ok checked all the channels as suggested these are the results
207 CNN yes120 S4C yes202 S4C2 yes504 B4U Music yes813 Create A Craft yes136 CBS Reality no719 Capital 95.8 no720 Choice FM no721 Classic FM no722 Gold no723 XFM London no730 Planet Rock No805 Gems TV1 no806 TV Shop no808 JML Home & DIY no810 JML COOKSHOP Yes137 CBS Action yes204 Euronews yes401 Wedding TV Asia yes809 JML yes509 Zing yes650 Teachers TV yes 803 Pitch TV yes804 Pitch World yes110 BBC ALBA yes200 BBC News yes201 BBC Parliament yes700 BBC Radio 1 yes701 BBC Radio 1 Xtra yes702 BBC Radio 2 yes703 BBC Radio 3 yes704 BBC Radio 4 FM yes707 BBC 6Music yes708 BBC Radio 7 yes709 BBC Asian Network yes710 BBC Radio 4 LW yes711 BBC World Service yes712 BBC Radio Scotland yes713 BBC Radio nan Gaidheal (Gaelic) yes 714 BBC Radio Wales yes715 BBC Radio Cymru (Welsh) yes 716 BBC Radio Ulster yes800 QVC yes802 bid tv yes812 Ideal World yes402 Information TV yes 691 DAYSTAR TV yes
[FONT=Times New Roman] I assume from these results you can tell if it is the dish alignment or the LNB.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]I also carried out the software upgrade and now the picture is too wide for the TV, i checked the setup and it is the same as before 16.9 auto cant seem to get the channel indicator to come back onto the screen fully, just done a reboot still no different[/FONT]

Set the TV to wide and full pixel and the vformat on the hdr to 1080i. Hard to read because of all the formatting but it looks as if you are missing one transponder 12523 V. This is often caused by interference chief suspects wifi router or cordless phones. Switch anything like that off to check for this. Moving the router may well affect a cure if that's the cause of the problem

roller0211 · 22-11-2009, 4:16 PM

apologies for the formatting, it looked OK before I clicked submit.
Just turned of my router and the dect phone which was about 6 feet away, did notice that when i switched off the phone the TV speakers made a noise, but still no different.
I really want to make sure its not an LNb issue rather than An alignment issue