Satellite Finding and Tuning

[CRMS]

I'm using a basic satellite finder - box with audio tone, needle and attenuator. But it seems to fail producing any tone change when using the Unicable, on Tuner A. With the Legacy connection on Tuner B it is better and shows signal strength OK.

But I've a couple of queries:

Unicable SNR 98%, AGC 5%. Legacy SNR 98% but AGC also in mid 90s. With or without box connected. Not sure why??? Tuner B is set to Single for the Legacy connection.

Finder box only produces audio if signal strength display is set to the Tuner B. But if box is disconnected and LNB reconnected to STB, the signal strength is only displayed again when exit from the display and reselect. Which is a bit of a pain.

Humax Foxsat HDR so much better in this respect����

Would another satellite finder box be better?? But the WoS shop one is too pricey!!

[twol]

Use the legacy connection. Forget anything but SNR on the box and in reality this is only a relative check on that particular receiver (you cannot compare across receivers).

[CRMS]

Legacy works fine except that box doesn't automatically show signal strength if finder is removed.
What satellite finder is used with Unicable then??

[adm]

Legacy works fine except that box doesn't automatically show signal strength if finder is removed.

What satellite finder is used with Unicable then??

Possibly not a good idea to remove or connect cables whilst the box is actually switched on. The cable is carrying power and even if the box has short circuit protection if you accidentally short the cable inner to outer there is a chance the box may not survive this abuse on a regular basis.

Your cheap finder on the legacy output should enable you to tune for maximum signal level, After finding the satellite you progressively turn down the sensitivity so the needle is. say, half scale and adjust the dish position very slightly to give a maximum reading again. Often just tightening the bolts on the dish mount changes the position so you have to compensate for this.

Don’t forget there is also a skew to adjust depending on where you are setting up the dish. If your boat is always in the same general location you should only have to do this once.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EWj3aK3Z9M

To find skew angle, go to

https://www.dishpointer.com/

Enter you postcode or location and select the satellite
On the map you can drag the blob on the end of the green line to your exact location
In the table below the map is an indication of the skew required.
There is probably angle makings on the LNB or LNB holder for skew.

AGC = Automatic Gain Control. The differences between the unicable and legacy just mean that the unicable output has a higher signal level possiblly because there is a programmable gain amplifier in the unicable side of the LNB. Is the difference only apparent when using the finder in-line on the legacy output? If so it's just because its acting as an attenuator when being used.
The difference in the AGC report between the unicable output and legacy output is probably fairly meaningless.

SNR = Signal to Noise Ratio is not an indication of absolute input signal level. It's just an indication of how much the real signal is greater than the noise floor. A high input signal may be a result of the signal being amplified which in turn will also amplify the noise. A high signal input with a high noise level may have the same SNR as a low input signal with a low noise level.

The important figure reported by a lot of boxes is BER (Bit Error Rate) which ideally should always be zero (zero errors)

[CRMS]

I'm happy with tuning, skew and dishpointer. Although yesterday I used DP, normally don't, and it's position put me in a field some way from the canal. I set up the dish on a barge, sometimes daily when we move and I just check where 150 degrees is from compasses. Approx 30% of the time, I'm on the satellite when I put the dish up - on a 7m cable to move around and avoid trees!! Been doing it for 12+ years and takes a couple of minutes.
I have the centre conductor sticking well out, so it guides the nut into position.

CS_20200903_144127_copy_2460x2250.jpg