25 replies to this topic

[voyo]

Hi there,

Apologies if I repeat the subject but cannot find a solution.....

I live in the UK (so no coverage limitations) and would like to tune Freesat channels on my Solo2 from Astra 28.2E

My setup involves Hotbird and Astra 28.2 on a Diseqc switch and the latest OpenPLi (updated today).

All sorts of scan (automatic, manual & blind) do not pick majority of Freesat channels - only some SKY channels are found on Astra 28.2E.

I have only a few Freesat channels but the free HD channels (BBC, ITV, etc) are missing entirely (I was interested only in them really).

Some months ago everything was fine with old OpenPLi and it tuned OK - now everything is gone.

Is there any way to enter channel details completely manually from scratch?

Please help.

Thank you. 

 

 

 

[Jan Gruuthuse]

check if your setup is fine: Menu: Setup: Service Searching: Satfinder

with Remote cursor down to Satellite, select with Left / Right: 28.2°E Eutelsat ....
with Remote cursor down to Tune, select with Left / Right: Predefined tansponder

 

with Remote cursor down to Transponder, select with Left / Right:

10714 H 22000 auto
snr should show from left to right a red to green gradation
press Green on remote to scan that transponder

should find Channel 4, ....

press exit

 

with Remote cursor down to Transponder, select with Left / Right:

10729 v 22000 auto
snr should show from left to right a red to green gradation
press Green on remote to scan that transponder

should find E4+1, E4, ....

 

If you missing one of the above something is wrong with your setup (switched lnbs, switch, dish alignment, ....)

[soupalonion]

Hi,

same problem here, but i live in France

i had those freesat channels before and lost them after strong weather (wind) i think...

i'm pretty sure the signal is too weak now, and i should readjust lnb and/or dish because skyuk channels are ok.

maybe you should check this too?

[Erik Slagter]

i had those freesat channels before and lost them after strong weather (wind) i think...

I think that should be a clue in itself.

[voyo]

Hi there,

I have just checked the Satfinder - some transponders on 28.2E lock very fast with 99% quality while others are not being picked up at all.....

That would explain why I cannot tune some channels - transponders are simply not visible to the box.

Is it possible for some transponders being visible or invisible on the same satellite location due to unexpected movement to the dish?

I know that on 28.2E there are few satellites (3 Astras & 1 Eutelsat).

I always though that it works by principle "all-or-nothing".

Thank you.

[Erik Slagter]

Nope, the quality of reception of each transponder varies per frequency, transponder itself (on the satellite) and the region you're in. The transponder on the Eutelsat 28A are notoriously bad (much lower SNR than the Astra's because the satellite is much older and because the footprint is much larger).

[WanWizard]

But reception in the UK should not be an issue whatsoever with a normal size dish. So if dish and LNB are aligned properly, this should not be an issue.

[Erik Slagter]

Unless the alignment is s**t

[goldeneye]

And perhaps a (almost) faulty LNB. Check if one band does not work. Horizontal OK, Vertical OK?

[voyo]

Hi there,

Checked some V and H transponders - they worked.

Some transponders are still not available though......

So the most likely reason is the misaligned dish?

Just wanted to be sure because access to the dish is very difficult.

Thank you.

[soupalonion]

Hi,

what do you mean by "Some transponders are still not available though......" ?

have you tried to use a "full" channel list for 28.2E ? like henksat, vhannibal,...

 

for example, in my case, i have :

on sky premiere

 

on bbc one hd

 

indeed, the best way to be sure is to check your dish alignment and/or lnb... but if you say access to the dish is very difficult, i would advise NOT to do it !

ask a friend or someone who can do it with appropriate equipment...

[Erik Slagter]

No no no, no channel lists if you have reception problems. First find and fix the problem. Channels lists can have transponder parameters that are slightly different from model to model (i.e. a blindscan tuner is much less stringent on the exact transponder parameters than non-blindscan-tuners, but even between these are differences). So just use the data from the satellites.xml file (for tuning into "predefined transponders") or "find" the transponder manually.

[voyo]

Hi there,

Let me clarify my situation.

I am after all Freesat HD channels as I can watch them in SD from my terrestrial aerial.

When I open Satfinder in my VU+ Solo2 it locks on the following two transponders on 28.2E (just two of many predefined transponders from the list) with SNR above 90%:

11954 H 27500 Auto

12012 V 29500 3/4

So H and V polarisation of LNB seems to be OK.

When I choose from the list of transponders 10847 V 23000 2/3 for BBC HD it shows SNR 0% and no signal.

When I press SCAN no channels are tuned from this transponder.

So what should I do?

1) check the dish (would like to do it as last resort solution due to a very difficult access to the dish)?

2) update my transponder / channel list somehow? How?

Thank you.

[goldeneye]

All Freesat SD channels use 22000 and FEC 5/6 QPSK modulation

All Freesat HD channels use 23000 and FEC 2/3 8PSK modulation!!

 

Please select 'Manual Scanning" and enter the correct parameters for 8PSK. I think your predefined transponder still uses QPSK parameters

In the 'Manual Scanning' options you can also play around with Roll-over and Navigation On/Off (but with 8PSK you should detect a signal though)..

[Jan Gruuthuse]

A 50 cm /19.7 in dish would do for UK. With satfinder:
In Tune select User defined transponder instead of Predefined (left/right with remote cursor)
Enter/select these parameters:

System:       DVB-S2
Frequency:    10847
Polarization: vertical
Symbol rate:  23000
Inversion:    Auto
FEC:          2/3
Modulation:   8psk
Roll-off:     0.35
Pilot:        Auto

At this moment SNR bar should be coloured and lock.
When so, press on remote [Green] to scan.

At a later stage you could use dreamboxedit in windows or with wine (linux)
 

[Jan Gruuthuse]

Hi,

same problem here, but i live in France

i had those freesat channels before and lost them after strong weather (wind) i think...

i'm pretty sure the signal is too weak now, and i should readjust lnb and/or dish because skyuk channels are ok.

maybe you should check this too?

Check if you are still in sat footprint (is on Astra 2E UK spot, limited reception in europe 65 cm dish)

Border would be: La Rochelle - Limoges - Dijon - Nancy - Metz

[Erik Slagter]

And BTW there is no sense in trying to scan if reception says SNR 0% - NO LOCK.

Edited by Erik Slagter, 19 March 2015 - 19:14.

[voyo]

A 50 cm /19.7 in dish would do for UK. With satfinder:
In Tune select User defined transponder instead of Predefined (left/right with remote cursor)
Enter/select these parameters:

System:       DVB-S2
Frequency:    10847
Polarization: vertical
Symbol rate:  23000
Inversion:    Auto
FEC:          2/3
Modulation:   8psk
Roll-off:     0.35
Pilot:        Auto

At this moment SNR bar should be coloured and lock.
When so, press on remote [Green] to scan.

At a later stage you could use dreamboxedit in windows or with wine (linux)
 

 

Hi there,

Have done exactly as stated ABOVE.

Reception says 0% SNR - NO LOCK.

Scan does not scan any new channels.

It worked fine with older OpenPLi.

Is it the dish (but I can watch some channels from 28.2E) or hardware failure of the receiver?

Thank you.

[Erik Slagter]

And BTW there is no sense in trying to scan if reception says SNR 0% - NO LOCK.

[Erik Slagter]

OpenPLi has no influence on the reception of the tuner.