Satellite installation - no signal

I've just bought a Humax Freesat HDR box and dish/quad LNB kit.
Installed everything according to the instructions, but get zero signal
reported by the box.

I phoned Humax and they said zero signal highly unusual and to return
the box. Tested box at a friend's and it works fine.

Tested the satellite with a signal strength meter that came with the
kit, and that's fine. However, the signal meter gives the same reading
wherever the dish is pointed so I'm not sure what's going on there.

Assuming (dangerously) that I've done everything at least approximately
right, is there anything else I could check before getting someone out
to look at it?

Thanks, Rob

On 24/06/2011 17:21, Rob wrote:
I've just bought a Humax Freesat HDR box and dish/quad LNB kit.
Installed everything according to the instructions, but get zero signal
reported by the box.

I phoned Humax and they said zero signal highly unusual and to return
the box. Tested box at a friend's and it works fine.

Tested the satellite with a signal strength meter that came with the
kit, and that's fine. However, the signal meter gives the same reading
wherever the dish is pointed so I'm not sure what's going on there.

Assuming (dangerously) that I've done everything at least approximately
right, is there anything else I could check before getting someone out
to look at it?

Thanks, Rob

Sounds like the dish is mis-aligned. That's why the box shows no signal.

When you say the meter gives the 'same reading' wherever it's pointing,
what is that reading: high or low? There is usually a sensitivity knob
on them. Start with it set sensitive, then turn it down to fine-tune.

You do realise that a dish positioning is *way* more critical that a TV
aerial, which can often just be waved in the general direction?

If you're just pointing the dish randomly around the sky, then that
won't work.

Look at where other peoples dishes are pointing ( look very carefully! )
and start from there. Once you find a signal, sweep the dish back and
forth to find the strongest point. Then repeat vertically. I'm
talking tiny, tiny adjustments.

If the signal shows strong on the meter, but the box still shows
nothing, then you are on the wrong bird. Move the dish a bit more.

--
Ron

"Rob" wrote in message
b.com...
I've just bought a Humax Freesat HDR box and dish/quad LNB kit. Installed
everything according to the instructions, but get zero signal reported by
the box.

I phoned Humax and they said zero signal highly unusual and to return the
box. Tested box at a friend's and it works fine.

Tested the satellite with a signal strength meter that came with the kit,
and that's fine. However, the signal meter gives the same reading wherever
the dish is pointed so I'm not sure what's going on there.

Doh - where ever the dish is pointed to except at a satellite, and my guess
is that you have not pointed it at a satellite [yet]. Other possibilities
include a short on the F-connectors, dud LNB or damage to the cable etc.


Assuming (dangerously) that I've done everything at least approximately
right, is there anything else I could check before getting someone out to
look at it?

Thanks, Rob

Rob wrote:
I've just bought a Humax Freesat HDR box and dish/quad LNB kit.
Installed everything according to the instructions, but get zero signal
reported by the box.

I phoned Humax and they said zero signal highly unusual and to return
the box. Tested box at a friend's and it works fine.

Tested the satellite with a signal strength meter that came with the
kit, and that's fine. However, the signal meter gives the same reading
wherever the dish is pointed so I'm not sure what's going on there.

Assuming (dangerously) that I've done everything at least approximately
right, is there anything else I could check before getting someone out
to look at it?

Thanks, Rob
It's very difficult to align a dish without a proper meter.

Bill

In message , R. Mark Clayton
writes

"Rob" wrote in message
eb.com...
I've just bought a Humax Freesat HDR box and dish/quad LNB kit. Installed
everything according to the instructions, but get zero signal reported by
the box.

I phoned Humax and they said zero signal highly unusual and to return the
box. Tested box at a friend's and it works fine.

Tested the satellite with a signal strength meter that came with the kit,
and that's fine. However, the signal meter gives the same reading wherever
the dish is pointed so I'm not sure what's going on there.

Doh - where ever the dish is pointed to except at a satellite, and my guess
is that you have not pointed it at a satellite [yet]. Other possibilities
include a short on the F-connectors, dud LNB or damage to the cable etc.


Assuming (dangerously) that I've done everything at least approximately
right, is there anything else I could check before getting someone out to
look at it?

I had a possibly similar funny happen when I was installing my satellite
dish.

I had originally fitted a single output LNB, and the dish set up OK. I
then realised that I needed a dual, so I swapped the LNB, and prepared
to do a slight re-tweak the alignment (if necessary). The satellite
finder was (as I had done the first time) on a short jumper (less than a
foot long), and dangling below the LNB.

It was immediately obvious that something was a bit odd. Unless I backed
off the sensitivity to zero, the satellite finder tone sounded
continuously, and the meter was pinned on the end-stop. This was
regardless of where I pointed the dish.

I concluded that the whole lot was oscillating, and guessed that the sat
finder was radiating, and the signal somehow getting back into the LNB
(which did have a claimed 10dB more than the original). I found I could
stop this problem by inserting some power-passing attenuation between
LNB and the sat finder - but I thought that this was not a 'normal' way
to do it.

As an alternative, I increased the length of the jumper from the LNB to
the sat finder to around 10 feet (with the sat finder also 10 feet away,
at ground level). That also seemed to work OK. I could then peak up the
dish and LNB normally (first on the sat finder, then finally using the
STB signal level and quality indicator).
--
Ian

Ron Lowe wrote:
Look at where other peoples dishes are pointing ( look very carefully! )
and start from there. Once you find a signal, sweep the dish back and
forth to find the strongest point. Then repeat vertically. I'm
talking tiny, tiny adjustments.

Further to that, I would suggest going to www.dishpointer.com as a
starting point for dish alignment. Unless you already have a good idea
of what the elevation of the dish needs to be, though, it's quite likely
that moving the dish horizontally across the position of the satellite
still won't bring in a signal, so you will need to adjust the vertical
setting slightly and try again...

In article , (Ron Lowe) wrote:

Then repeat vertically. I'm
talking tiny, tiny adjustments.

When I had to realign my dish because someone had taken some 2x3 to it, I had to
move the dish less than 1/4" each step, first horizontal, then, critically,
vertical, and it took more than an hour from the first basic "dish in the right
direction" setup.

It's still not completely right now...

--
Paul Cummins - Always a NetHead
Wasting Bandwidth since 1981

Ian Jackson wrote:

It was immediately obvious that something was a bit odd. Unless I backed
off the sensitivity to zero, the satellite finder tone sounded
continuously, and the meter was pinned on the end-stop. This was
regardless of where I pointed the dish.

When building head-ends to carry sat IF I have found that mismatches in
components can spell disaster. A VHF/UHF head-end might have the main
output going straight to a network of tap-off units and splitters, in
order to originate a number of feeds at different levels. This won't
work for sat IF because the small mismatches cause standing waves and
the result is a very uneven response and other weirdnesses. The problems
can be solved by inserting 3dB attenuators, but that defeats the object
really, which is to use the output of the amp most effectively. As a
result of this we now assume that tap-off units cannot be used at
head-ends. We generate the various feeds by the use of splitters and
attenuators, and although this requires a higher amp output level than
is theoretically required it's the best we can do.

Bill

Paul Cummins wrote:
In article , (Ron Lowe) wrote:

Then repeat vertically. I'm
talking tiny, tiny adjustments.

When I had to realign my dish because someone had taken some 2x3 to it, I had to
move the dish less than 1/4" each step, first horizontal, then, critically,
vertical, and it took more than an hour from the first basic "dish in the right
direction" setup.

It's still not completely right now...

I can align a dish in seconds using my test equipment, but without it I
can't do it at all.

Bill

In message m, Rob
wrote

Tested the satellite with a signal strength meter that came with the
kit, and that's fine. However, the signal meter gives the same reading
wherever the dish is pointed so I'm not sure what's going on there.

Video on using the meter at
http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/satmeter.htm

Your dish is probably not pointing at a satellite (or at te wrong
satellite)

--
Alan
news2009 {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk