New member. With a couple of questions.

[tdotcspot]

Hi Everyone,

First time poster. Just wanted to say hi and thanks to the members here that posted some good faqs that I have been reading all day today. I decided to take the plunge this week after a couple months (speaking to friends about FTA) and purchased a Sonicview SV-HD8000, Ariza Satellite Dish with a Quad LNB Yoke and two Directv LNBs.

Well I thought that if I read enough, it would be a piece of cake getting everything set up, but it would appear that I was VERY wrong. I'm not one to give up on a challenge, but I was hoping someone might be able to lead me in the right direction. First of all, I just want to apologize as I am very new to FTA, so if any of my questions seem very n00bish, please bare with me...

My first question is regarding the two Directv LNBs I was given. I see two outputs on each LNB. I'm assuming I only have to use one of these outputs on each LNB and connect them to a switch which will then go to my receiver. Correct? The other output on each would be for another receiver if I plan on purchasing another?

Second question. I live right on the outside of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I am unsure which Satellite I will need to connect to and if I am limited to searching for just the DirecTV satellites based on my LNB or if I can select anyone. One of my friends has a Neostat Ipro and told me I should be trying to connect to the Nimiq 1,3 - 91. Using my compass, I've been somewhat aiming South and a bit to the East. I'm pretty sure I should be doing this some other way but I've yet to understand what Azimuth is in terms of the dish rotation. I've been trying to get a signal tonight, but while my S is around 66-75, I am not receiving any Q (still 0).

I've read that mounting the dish is key, and I really didn't do it too well. So I will be trying again and possibly moving it a bit higher as my neighbour's tree might be possibly be blocking it a bit at its present location.

So any help would be appreciated. Thanks again!

[txsgent]

Welcome to the site.. you have found the best site on the web for FTA... I hope my answers will help you...
Making the Mast of the dish, the Pole the dish mounts on.. it is important to make sure it is perfectly plumb.. try to make sure it is level on 3 sides.. and level across the top.. very important, when hitting more than one satellite..
If they are regular DTV Single/Dual LNBs.. (a single lnb with 2 RF connectors on it) they will work, just fine.. they are more than likely, what is called Legacy LNBs.. so you can use them to point at 91/82 or 110/119. use the sat locator in my signature to get the best possible settings for your elevation and skew of the dish.. 91 or 119.. depending on which way you go.. should be sitting higher than the 82 or 110 lnb.. that is done with the skew adjustment.. that is the rotation of the dish.. clockwise or counter clockwise, where the dish is mounted to the dish holding brackets.. on the back side of the dish.. you will see they normally have 3 points.. that need to be loosened or tightened.. some dishes only 2.
Facing the dish, 91 or 119 should be the LNB on the right.. 82 or 110 would be on the left..
Your dish, should be pointing south.. and then with the azimuth..and the use of a compass.. moved to the location. given in the sat locator.. once you move it to that location.. mark the dish and the mast.. for a starting point.. then move the dish 1/4" at a time.. wait 30 seconds or so.. for signal on the quality meter.. the stronger that is.. the better your reception will be.. your sat locator settings are not set in stone.. you might have to move them a fraction of an inch.. but save that for fine tuning.. work on moving the dish.. to the east or west.. to hit which ever sats you are aiming at.. since you have a HD receiver.. I would suggest pointing at 91/82. since 82 has most HD channels on it.. for BEV..
U can not get any DTV channels with this or any other FTA receiver..
Signal strength, is needed.. but you must understand, that you could point your dish at the ground, and you would still have signal strength, that is telling you, that your receiver is sending power to your LNB... which is definitely needed..
Your Quality meter. is very, very important.. that is the meter, that tells you how strong the signal is from the satellite.. to your dish, to your lnb, to your receiver.. the stronger it is.. the better your reception, will be. The less rain fade you will have and the better your autoscan will be.. (more channels scanned)
Your settings should be pretty much like this in Dish Settings
Satllite Nimiq1,3(91) Nimiq2(82)
LNB Power ON
LNB Type Single
LNB Freq 11250
Transponder 91(12224) 82(12224) might need to go to higher TP Freq to get quality signal..
22Khz 0FF
Search Option All
Network Search ON
DiseqC 91(port1) 82(port2) make sure you connect them, that way on the switch..
Motor Disable
Legacy SW OFF
Here is some info.. that might help you understand a little better on what channels are located on what TPs..... check it out.. remember that SID is the same as a Channel Number...
http://www.lyngsat.com/packages/expressvu2.html
http://www.lyngsat.com/packages/expressvu1.html
I hope that helps.. good luck, keep us posted on your success or ask away, if you still need assistance.. txsgent

[tdotcspot]

Good Morning txsgent,

Thanks for the reply and especially your info regarding the mounting. I re-mounted by dish this morning and made sure all my angles were level. I plugged my sat finder into my 91 (which was on the right most of the dish). After finding a rather strong signal, I plugged the cable to my receiver and was sad to find that I still had 0 Q on Nimiq 1... Now here is the funny part.

I moved over to Nimiq 2 for the heck of it and I'm getting 77 Q on that! It would appear I might need to move the dish a bit more left I am thinking. I'm happy to just get a signal though! I will keep at it. For the time being I'm going to update the firmware on my receiver.

Thanks again!

[Satbum.]

Hey TX nice work!;)

tdotcspot FYI: 82W has a weaker signal than 91W.
Just keep fine tuning it and you'll be OK.
If you have the SV8000 than 82 Is the bird that will give you the best quality HD pictures.

[tdotcspot]

Here's one question.

I noticed that a large number of these channels are blocked (I see a $ symbol on the channel) and I'm guessing I would need a subscription to view these channels, especially the HD ones?

[Le_Gnome]

They are playing around with the keys right now on the Vu channels. So you may have to wait until it settles file wise to fix this problem.

[Satbum.]

I forgot to mention that thanks LG. ;)
I don't watch Bev all that much so I didn't even think about it.

[tdotcspot]

I also am wondering if anyone knows how to save what transponder im using on this SV-HD8000. It seems I select #19, and press exit, it doesnt ask me to save it. Or is this something that really doesnt matter?

This is weird, I also can also see Q readings for Echostar 8,X, Echostar 9 and Echostar 7. I must be reading this wrong because even if I select these Satellites, my right side still has Nimiq 2 being displayed as a Signal.

[tdotcspot]

They are playing around with the keys right now on the Vu channels. So you may have to wait until it settles file wise to fix this problem.

Would this be why I am getting audio but no video?

[Le_Gnome]

Would this be why I am getting audio but no video?
More then likely, I don't watch Bev either, you are referring to the Vu when you say that?

[tdotcspot]

More then likely, I don't watch Bev either, you are referring to the Vu when you say that?

Pretty much alot of the HD channels that I pulled from Echostar and Nimiq 2.

[tdotcspot]

Also, would there be a website that could give me the information to add a satellite... When I was looking into Echostar 7/DirecTV 7S, I noticed a Anik F3... Which I do not seem to have on my receiver.

[Le_Gnome]

That one is 118.7 mostly foreign channels some HD locals. You will need to install the updated sat list for it. And you require a different lnb since it is linear.

[tdotcspot]

Well to update...

I ended up losing Nimiq 2 sometime in the afternoon. Just dropped off. I then decided to try to get 119. For some reason if I kept the LNB on the 119 spot (so if im facing where my dishing is pointing, that would be on the left most spot, I couldn't get any signal. I then moved it to the 91 spot on the yoke (facing where my dish is pointing, that would be on the right most spot on the yoke), I ended up getting:

Echostar 1,2
Echostar 7
Echostar 8,X
Echostar 9
Anik F2
Galaxy 10R
DirecTV 7S

I tried to setup a second LNB on the 119 spot to try to pick up 82, 91 or 110... and could not find anything even if I ran my sat finder and it said there was an average signal. I'm pretty much done for the day. I spent a good time marking where I am getting a signal, then tried once again to locate Nimiq 1,3 and Nimiq 2 but still could not find them. I'm a little dissapointed as I'm pretty sure the satellites that I picked up do not carry any type of HD programming. I guess I will try again on the weekend... I'm wondering if there might be a better sat finder than the one I purchased... or i might try to bring up my tv and receiver and place it right beside the dish so I don't have to go upstairs and downstairs.

Thanks to everyone that posted. I'm hoping they might update my box soon as I still see some blacked out channels. I also see alot of 'No Information' on some channels. Is there a way to get that updated?

Thanks again.
T

[Satbum.]

You have me a little confused as to how you are trying to get all of those different sats.
I'm guessing 1 at a time. If you are using one of those cheap signal finders then you may as well throw it a way IMHO. They do not let you know what sat signal you are getting and there are a lot out there. I personally use a Birdog but you don't want to spend that much (I think) since you are new at this hobby. I started off doing exactly what you suggested.
I used an extension cord , 12" color TV and my receiver to tune the dish in. That way I knew what sat signal I was really getting.
Just like you and everyone else, I got tired of going up and down from the roof where my dishes were located. The Birdog is a great tool if you go that route. You can program it for just the types of sat signals that you are interested in. It is battery operated and all you do is connect it to your LNB and it will let you know the signal strength and the name of the sat that you want to fine tune. There is no fuss involved with the exception of finding the correct bird in the beginning.:)

[tdotcspot]

More then likely, I don't watch Bev either, you are referring to the Vu when you say that?

Is the BEV issue also affecting HD channels?

[txsgent]

I am sure it will be affecting all channels before it is over with.. you are just picking a bad time to be setting up BEV sats.. though you should still see signal and quality readings.. even if you are not getting the channels.. maybe, they will get done, doing what they are doing.. so the coders can release a new fix for the problem.. if you bought the module and adpater.. you can also get DN HD.. if not, then you will have to settle for the non hd channels.. As you are finding out.. trying to hit mulitple satellites is a task, that takes lots of time and patience, yes.. use a small tv and receiver out by the dish. so you can see, what you are hitting and not hitting.. things will go much better then.. try using the 2 center lnbs.. to get your best signals.. on those 2 sats.. hopefully the rest will fall into place.. trying to hit 4 sats.. will cause you to lose some quality signal on them.. That is why I use dish 500s to hit 2 sats.. say 110/119 or 91/82. much, much easier to setup.. but a lot of members.. do use mulitple lnbs on one dish.. and have great success with it.. keep us posted.. good luck, txsgent

[tdotcspot]

Well I appreciate all the help. I'm sure I am very close to getting everything working. I managed to find Nimiq 1,3 and Nimiq 2, but separately keeping my LNB on the center most spot on the yoke (110) with some slight adjustments, so tonight I'm going to try get that 2nd LNB working.

One question I have is that which this Ariza satellite dish that I have. Its elliptical and ~23 inches. Is this enough to get connected to the DN satellites?

[tdotcspot]

Well this is getting easier and easier as I keep plugging away at it. I was able to get connected to 110/119 pretty easily today after getting 82/91 figured out the night before. I guess I'm just trying to figure out what I want to have it set too.

Last question I hope, but would someone be able to tell me if I should be seeing the HD channels on DN even if I don't have the ability to view it? For some reason I get on Q signal on those transponders the HD channels are set to. Any ideas?

[Satbum.]

Well this is getting easier and easier as I keep plugging away at it. I was able to get connected to 110/119 pretty easily today after getting 82/91 figured out the night before. I guess I'm just trying to figure out what I want to have it set too.

Last question I hope, but would someone be able to tell me if I should be seeing the HD channels on DN even if I don't have the ability to view it? For some reason I get on Q signal on those transponders the HD channels are set to. Any ideas?

You will not get DN HD channels without the 8PSK module and sub-board installed into the HD receiver.

[tdotcspot]

You will not get DN HD channels without the 8PSK module and sub-board installed into the HD receiver.

So even the ability to get a Q signal from that specific transponder will not be possible unless I get the 8PSK module and sub-board?

[Satbum.]

I believe that is affirmative.
;)