DVB-S Siginal Woes

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RunningMan

8960 posts

Uber Geek

#848879 3-Jul-2013 17:44

Jaggy:.. but I do have two totally separate computers with different brands of DVB-S cards (Hauppauge for the HTPC & Twinhan for my PC) & both are giving the same results which should basically rule out software/hardware at the PC end I feel.

If possible, check whether they both fail at the same time, or if one keeps running.

Jaggy

32 posts

Geek

#848880 3-Jul-2013 17:47

I can't remember the firms name now but it was listed as

"RG6 Cable 20m Zero Halogen Quad Shield"

with compression fittings... if that means anything..... after the old cable going sun hard & the fact that I always had glitchs in my recordings I "thought" it best if I went for so called good quality cables & I simply chopped the 20m in half to get the two 10m cables I wanted...

OK so I have now fitted the new LNB & at the moment the qualities have changed around as in now the TVNZ transponder has middle quality & the non-TVNZ transponder has almost full quality.... I will tweak the skew on the weekend when The Boss is home & can watch the meters while I tweak the LNB.

I wouldn't say I have a great deal of trust in the new LNB long term though as it appears to be of the same make as the dual that I was always dicey about..... so if anyone could recommend where to get a good quality (preferably dual or quad.... just in case for the future) LNB from it would be much appreciated

RunningMan

8960 posts

Uber Geek

#848881 3-Jul-2013 17:47

Jaggy: Oh one other thing I forgot.... just how important is getting the skew "just right" to the signal???

The reason I ask is the cheap signal meter doesn't seem to vary much at all when playing with the skew & getting up & down on & off the roof to have a look at the meter on the computer when there is only one of you is a right royal pain.

A mm of skew can make a big difference. A cheap sat meter will not be good enough to get it right. The meter on the computer should be good enough if it can display to 0.1dB on it's scale.

Can you take a laptop or something to the roof to watch the screen of the HTPC? OR of you have a USB tuner, plug that in to a laptop...

Jaggy

32 posts

Geek

#848882 3-Jul-2013 17:59

RunningMan:If possible, check whether they both fail at the same time, or if one keeps running.

That could be a tad difficult as it has only been failing about once a week (if that) & we record a fair amount on the PVR & often three programs at the same time, as my PC only has one card in it I can't record more than one program at a time unless it's on the same transponder & then there is the limited HDD space on it as well..... lets hope the new LNB at least eliminates the total failures eh??

A mm of skew can make a big difference. A cheap sat meter will not be good enough to get it right. The meter on the computer should be good enough if it can display to 0.1dB on it's scale.

Can you take a laptop or something to the roof to watch the screen of the HTPC? OR of you have a USB tuner, plug that in to a laptop...

Unfortunately our laptop decided to die a couple of years ago & we never replaced it... I will have to rely on The Boss's eyes on the meters & me on the roof each with one of the dect phones so as well don't have to yell.

B1GGLZ

1961 posts

Uber Geek

#848898 3-Jul-2013 18:51

Jaggy: I can't remember the firms name now but it was listed as

"RG6 Cable 20m Zero Halogen Quad Shield"

OK. Nothing to do with low hydrogen or oxygen free.
According to Wiki it just means less toxic smoke when the outer casing burns.
No bearing on the quality of the cable inside.

B1GGLZ

1961 posts

Uber Geek

#848899 3-Jul-2013 18:53

Jaggy: so if anyone could recommend where to get a good quality (preferably dual or quad.... just in case for the future) LNB from it would be much appreciated

http://www.freeviewshop.co.nz/digital-satellite/satellite-dishes-lnbs/satellite-lnbs-brackets-c-6.html

Jaggy

32 posts

Geek

#849087 4-Jul-2013 09:31

B1GGLZ:OK. Nothing to do with low hydrogen or oxygen free.

Yeah..... I was wracking my very poor memory (these days) for quite a few hours wondering where I got the low hydrogen thought from & then finally while I was eating tea it came to me..... over twenty years ago I had to use "low hydrogen" welding rods for a project I was doing..... now why or how a type of welding rod transposed into sat cables in my brain isn't something I can answer.

According to Wiki it just means less toxic smoke when the outer casing burns.
No bearing on the quality of the cable inside.

As if the type of smoke given off from some sat cables while our over 100 year old wooden house was burning down would really worry me...... just another marketing ploy I feel.... but they did say they were good quality cables at the time I was getting them.... & I must say the bit outside sitting in the Wairarapa sun/weather (for about 18 months I now see) are still very flexible & still look & feel like new which is a lot better than the first cable I was supplied.

I had a look at the link for a new-new LNB & I was wondering if I should go for the

Low Noise 11300MHz L.O. KU Band LNB
The Low Noise Ku band LNB sets a new benchmark for signal quality and rain fade tolerance.
This LNB offers the best performance on the Freeview transponders of the 11300MHz L.O. LNB's available from Freeviewshop.

right now to basically eliminate the LNB from the equation & then maybe worry about a dual or quad if the need arrives.

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grant_k

3539 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#849110 4-Jul-2013 09:53

Jaggy: I had a look at the link for a new-new LNB & I was wondering if I should go for the

Low Noise 11300MHz L.O. KU Band LNB
The Low Noise Ku band LNB sets a new benchmark for signal quality and rain fade tolerance.
This LNB offers the best performance on the Freeview transponders of the 11300MHz L.O. LNB's available from Freeviewshop.

right now to basically eliminate the LNB from the equation & then maybe worry about a dual or quad if the need arrives.

That's the same one I bought from Freeviewshop early last year when my Sky-supplied dual-throat LNB started failing. That particular LNB performs really well on all transponders, including SBS when it was on Optus D1 up until May last year. I have never experienced Rain-Fade since installing it, whereas it used to be a regular occurrence with the Sky-supplied LNB.

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