Freeview New Zealand with a Sky New Zealand Dish

Forums › Freeview (DVB-T/DVB-S) › Freeview New Zealand with a Sky New Zealand Dish

wolfgang1983

31 posts

Geek

#273345 17-Aug-2020 21:31

I have Hauppauge WinTV PC and trying to get the freeview channels in my country New Zealand. I have got a Sky TV Dish 60cm and the LNB has 4 connections. I use one for my sky box and one cable goes to my Hauppauge WinTV pc card.

I can not seem to work out what the LOF1 and LOF Switch and LOF2 are any ideas?

Thanks

1 | 2

8954 posts

Uber Geek

#2543253 17-Aug-2020 21:38

Set LOF 1& 2 to 10750, and switch to something high 18000 so it doesn't try to switch

wolfgang1983

31 posts

Geek

#2543256 17-Aug-2020 21:49

Tried it no go so far.

fe31nz

1228 posts

Uber Geek

#2543294 18-Aug-2020 01:32

The majority of Sky dishes are now 10750 and have two LNBs. There are some old ones on different frequencies though. I have never heard of a Sky dish with 4 LNBs. Maybe it is a dish with two LNBs and a splitter on each cable. The standard Sky LNB is one half of what is called a "Ku band Universal LNB" in other countries:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-noise_block_downconverter#Universal_LNB_(%22Astra%22_LNB)

The Sky version does not have two different local oscillators switched by 22 kHz tones - the circuitry for the second LO is missing. However, it does have the tone switching circuitry. So if you send 22 kHz tone it will switch to the non-existent LO and you lose all signal. The LOF1 and LOF2 settings in WinTV are the frequencies for each of the LOs. The LOF Switch frequency is the frequency above which your DVB-S(2) card will send the 22 kHz tone to switch the LNB to the second LO. So you want to set the LOF switch setting to as high a number as possible. If the field will accept all 9's, set it to 99999, so that 22 kHz tone is never sent. The setting for LOF2 is unused - just set it to the same as LOF1. LOF1 needs to be the frequency of your LNB's LO. If 10750 does not work, you will need to find out what sort of LNB it is so that you can find out its LO frequency. The LO frequency is often written on the LNB. Or do a web search for the frequencies used for NZ & Sky NZ dishes - there are a couple of others but I can not remember them at the moment. Try each of those frequencies.

If, as I suspect, you have splitters on the aerial cable from each LNB, most splitters only allow voltage through from one of their outputs. Your DVB-S(2) card sends 13 volts for vertical polarisation and 18 volts for horizontal. The voltage also provides the power to run the LNB. All the Optus D1 Sky and Freeview transponders are on horizontal polarisation. You do not want multiple sources of power feeding the same LNB, as they could conflict, which is why splitters will normally only pass through power on one side. So if you have connected your DVB-S(2) card to the cable going to the non power pass through side of the splitter, the LNB has no power and will not work. So try connecting to the other side of the splitter.

RunningMan

8954 posts

Uber Geek

#2543306 18-Aug-2020 07:13

The four output LNB you describe has 2 throats, which if installed correctly line up with Optus D1 and C1/D3, switching between with 22kHz. Sometimes if the installer has got it wrong, they have lined up the wrong LNB throat with D1, so you need 22kHz on. In your settings, the arbitrarily high switch setting was to stop it turning the 22kHz switch on. You could try setting this to 00001 (very low) to force it to switch 22kHz on, then try again.

EDIT: the other thing to try is to adjust the LOF1 up and down by about 5 at a time. As those LNBs age, the LOF can drift out a bit from spec, so trying up or down in steps of 5 from what it is supposed to be, you will probably find the right value if this has happened.

RunningMan

8954 posts

Uber Geek

#2543307 18-Aug-2020 07:16

fe31nz:[snip] I have never heard of a Sky dish with 4 LNBs. Maybe it is a dish with two LNBs and a splitter on each cable.

The OP is not describing a dish with 4 LNBs, but an LNB with four connections. This is the standard Sharp device installed by Sky for a period of time. It is dual throat D1 - C1/D3 switched by 22kHz, and has four individual outputs, removing the need for splitters if each outlet is cabled back to the dish. LOF is 10750 when new, but may drift with age.

wolfgang1983

31 posts

Geek

#2543531 18-Aug-2020 11:13

RunningMan:

fe31nz:[snip] I have never heard of a Sky dish with 4 LNBs. Maybe it is a dish with two LNBs and a splitter on each cable.

The OP is not describing a dish with 4 LNBs, but an LNB with four connections. This is the standard Sharp device installed by Sky for a period of time. It is dual throat D1 - C1/D3 switched by 22kHz, and has four individual outputs, removing the need for splitters if each outlet is cabled back to the dish. LOF is 10750 when new, but may drift with age.

Its a single LNB with four connection points to hook cables up

rb99

3422 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2543549 18-Aug-2020 11:40

Am fairly sure 11300, 11300, 11300 works for me.

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

rb99

GoodSync

GoodSync. Easily back up and sync your files with GoodSync. Simple and secure file backup and synchronisation software will ensure that your files are never lost (affiliate link).

RunningMan

8954 posts

Uber Geek

#2543609 18-Aug-2020 12:21

11300 will work for the old Sharp single SKy LNBs, but not the quad output one the OP has. The LOF in this is 10750, not 11300, and the switch frequency needs to be correctly set so that it doesn't inadvertently send the 22k signal and switch to the wrong throat.

OP could check the LNB settings on the Sky decoder just to verify the dish and LNB are set in the normal position.

wolfgang1983

31 posts

Geek

#2543611 18-Aug-2020 12:30

RunningMan:

11300 will work for the old Sharp single SKy LNBs, but not the quad output one the OP has. The LOF in this is 10750, not 11300, and the switch frequency needs to be correctly set so that it doesn't inadvertently send the 22k signal and switch to the wrong throat.

OP could check the LNB settings on the Sky decoder just to verify the dish and LNB are set in the normal position.

It says

System LNB: Dual/ Quad

Home Frequency: 12519

My freeview card software is like this

RunningMan

8954 posts

Uber Geek

#2543633 18-Aug-2020 13:00

Yep, so that's quite clear it's a 10750 LOF. Is there anything else in the Sky decoder settings regarding 22kHz switching or similar, and the LOF frequency. The 12519 is just the first transponder it goes looking for once tuned.

RunningMan

8954 posts

Uber Geek

#2543634 18-Aug-2020 13:02

Oh, and setting your switch frequency to 10750 will cause a problem. As all the transponders you want to view are above that, it will send the 22kHz switch signal to the LNB, that you don't want. Set the switch higher - say 18000

wolfgang1983

31 posts

Geek

#2543638 18-Aug-2020 13:07

RunningMan:

Yep, so that's quite clear it's a 10750 LOF. Is there anything else in the Sky decoder settings regarding 22kHz switching or similar, and the LOF frequency. The 12519 is just the first transponder it goes looking for once tuned.

Not that I can see