Satelite dish and Vast Decoder

Kiwimagic · Veteran Member

Satelite dish and Vast Decoder

iana · Guru

When I have had trouble with our unit, it usually was a poor connection between the dish and the VAST set top box, I would suggest you check them out, give them a tighten and a wiggle. Are you aligned with the correct satellite. Are you also using the vast set-up screen, and have the correct LNB selected.

Kiwimagic · Veteran Member

I have aligned the dish as best I could.
44.5 degrees of angle and have it pointing about 18 d to the east of North. These are the numbers given by the satellite find app on my phone.
I can not get any movement from the satking sat finder I have. It buzzes but needle stays in the one spot after I have set it. Around 40.
I have rotated the dish over 180 d and altered the angle ,with no change in the sat finder.
I have just purchased new LNB 10700 which will arrive next week.
The cable seems to be OK as the sat finder gets power from the Vast box so there is a connection .
getting a bit frustrated with the whole thing.
The smart card can not be activated until I get ch 800 up on the Vast decoder.
I have managed to get a quality bar of about 74% but nothing in strength bar.
strange.

Hopefully the new LNB fixes the problem.

iana · Guru

Have you set the correct LNB into the vast set top box, there are several choices there.
Have you tried taking the sat finder off, and, re connecting the aerial and watching the bars on the TV screen just moving the dish by hand to see if you can pick up a good signal. There is also a sound from the TV that will indicate when you are on the satellite as well.

wal1 · Veteran Member

Just a question. Do you have a clear view, are there any trees or buildings in the path of the dish?

aussie_paul · Guru

wal1 wrote:
Just a question. Do you have a clear view, are there any trees or buildings in the path of the dish?

When I first set ours up at home a few weeks ago it was easy. Then when I tried to do it at camp had problems. I realised that the disc did not have a completely clear view. I shifted the dish approx 3 meters and all good.

Aussie Paul. smile

Hey Jim · Guru

Hi Kiwi magic,

All is not lost. Check out my blog (Vast LNB help) KFT on here got us sorted.

I too got frustrated. I brought a new 10700 LNB as well.

PM KFT he will get u on. Keep with it. once the Satellite reconises your unit it will log you on. IF I can do it. anyone can.

Ps: I use a 3mtr x 6mm timber dowel to use as a pointer , layed in front of the LNB arm, laying on the ground . As said above I use the volume on the TV set to MAX. When your dish gets close it will make a BING Sound. We could only get Quallity= 60% NO Strenght at all. We were pointing at the satellite but it needed about .0005 mm to hit it. WE did have our Neighbour's house to deal with as well.Get your missers to sit next to the TV with a window open so you can talk to oneanother while listing for the Bings. It will happen and move in micro movements.

You will know when your on as the bings will become louder and louder. Talk further with KFT on here.

Regards Jim

-- Edited by Hey Jim on Wednesday 5th of July 2017 10:13:35 PM

Kiwimagic · Veteran Member

Yes there is a clear view of where the satellite is meant to be. LNB is set at 10700 Did get the frog noise from the tv when I was getting 74% quality. Croaked really quickly. But no strength

John Kay · Veteran Member

I recently had trouble with mine I could not get a signal with my (WS-6933) sat finder which locks on to Aljazeera.

I then used my Vast sat box which also has an inbuilt meter I was able to find the satellite.

After it was set up I re registered my card and re ping it.

www.mysattv.com.au

Hopping this might help you.

John Kay

PeterInSa · Guru

I always use a Satfinder, cuts down my search time.

www.satplus.com.au/collections/satellite-meters/products/satking-sk500-digital-posi-id-satellite-meter

Peter

Fiery · Veteran Member

I agree with Peter re sat finder, makes life so much easier, it will give a wider scope to hit the satellite, then it is just a case of fine tuning and it also only looks for the C1 satellite. If you have the "wiki camps" app on your phone it also has a guide to help point you in the right direction. Personally I use trial & error to locate the satellite, when I first started I tried all the recommended angles and such but found they were not always accurate. You will also find as you move around you will get more proficient at setting it up! If all else fails contact who you purchased it off!

Colin

Kiwimagic · Veteran Member

Hi All
When you say turn the LNB clockwise, Is that when you are standing behind the dish looking at the satellite or in front of the dish looking at the dish it self.
I have a SatKing satellite finder (SF-95) but cant get anything from it. Just sounds like a mozzie and needle stays in the same place with it set at about 40 as per utube. Needle will move if I place my hand over the LNB.

cheers
kiwimagic

OutbackMK · Senior Member

Try tuning on the help channel and take elevation readings with a bar of salt and raise and lower outside of recommended settings, my LNB signal is out by about 5 degrees and elevation by 10 degrees.

Waterbags · Veteran Member

I am not sure how many time I have responded to this request - but I will provide the same response. The very best item you could now purchase is a SatLink Digital Satellite Finder.

I know many will respond that they are not necessary and how they point the dish at the moon and divide by three and the Optus C3 magically appears - believe me I have never spent more than couple of minutes setting up the dish. Its called the marriage saver.

You can get the Finder from Access Antennas, my model is WS-6906, but this has been superseded, they are supply you with a unit ready to go straight from the box and offer great support.

All the best.......

Waterbags · Veteran Member

Waterbags wrote:
I am not sure how many time I have responded to this request - but I will provide the same response. The very best item you could now purchase is a SatLink Digital Satellite Finder.
I know many will respond that they are not necessary and how they point the dish at the moon and divide by three and the Optus C3 magically appears - believe me I have never spent more than couple of minutes setting up the dish. Its called the marriage saver.
You can get the Finder from Access Antennas, my model is WS-6906, but this has been superseded, they are supply you with a unit ready to go straight from the box and offer great support.
All the best.......

One other small item - have you contacted Vast Satellite Service to have your Decoder activated? If not you will need to go on line at mysattv.com.au to have it activated and register.

Waterbags · Veteran Member

Waterbags wrote:
Waterbags wrote:
I am not sure how many time I have responded to this request - but I will provide the same response. The very best item you could now purchase is a SatLink Digital Satellite Finder.
I know many will respond that they are not necessary and how they point the dish at the moon and divide by three and the Optus C3 magically appears - believe me I have never spent more than couple of minutes setting up the dish. Its called the marriage saver.
You can get the Finder from Access Antennas, my model is WS-6906, but this has been superseded, they are supply you with a unit ready to go straight from the box and offer great support.
All the best.......

One other small item - have you contacted Vast Satellite Service to have your Decoder activated? If not you will need to go on line at mysattv.com.au to have it activated and register.

Just thought of something else that may help - are you getting the TIME on your Vast Decoder, if you are you are getting a signal, if not try pressing the Reset Button and see if this brings up Channel 800.

Cruising Cruze · Guru

Hi Ron

Did you register your Vast box ????
just a thing many people forgot to do

Regards John

Kiwimagic · Veteran Member

No clock,

Vast decoder is registered , but can not do anything with it until I can receive Ch 800. When I get ch 800 I will have to get Vast to resend .

I have tried reset vast box,But no change. The vast decoder info screen Tells me its NOT locked to any satellite.

The cable I have powers up my sat finder, light comes on and it buzzes when I turn the knob. I will check cable with my continuity tester tomorrow.

The cable end connections have 6 TRS 6LMG on them. Is that the right cable ??

Both cables (1 x 1 meter long and 1 x 20 meters long.) came with the Access Antennas 80 cm dish and the satking LNB 10700 (part No 3013) plus the satking satellite finder SF-95.

All this sits on a tripod with a level bubble on the top of the centre shaft.

All looks really good , except for it not working.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

-- Edited by Kiwimagic on Saturday 8th of July 2017 12:25:23 AM

nomadz · Veteran Member

G'day,

This may or may not be relevant.

If you are using wikicamps as your app and relying on the LNB and dish angle that it gives you, make sure you have the correct location in the app.

Check location on top right corner next to camera and it will show a map of Australia with a blue dot inside a white circle flashing.

There is also a red lollipop type icon and the bottom of this icon needs to be overlayed on to the centre of the blue dot.

This needs to be done each time you move locations.

If the two aren't merged, then the info is incorrect.

And I know this how!!

At least it does on ours.

Regards,

Ian

Kiwimagic · Veteran Member

just checked.
All ok blue dot with a red pin sticking out of it.

KFT · Guru

G'day Kiwimagic, I have responded to your PM but I will offer further advice here having read what has been happening.

1. On the sat box go into the settings and find the LNB setup. This often defaults to a "universal" and needs to be changed to a 10700 make sure you press ok to confirm the setting.

2. for the purposes of getting you on air set the LNB to straight up and down for the moment.

3. When searching for the sat move in tiny increments and slowly, this is to allow the electronics in the meter to catch up with your aim point.

4. If you are seeing a reading on "quality" only with no sig strength then you are aimed at the wrong satellite. They but a few degrees apart and are around 30,000km away so aiming is critical.

5. When you are seeing both Signal strength and quality at the maximum readings you can get then go to the front of the dish and depending on where you are you will need to rotate the LNB slightly to the left if you are in the east and slightly to the right if you are in the west. This is wwhen standing in front of your dish and looking at it. Rotate until you see the maximum quality reading.

Please let me know how you get on.

Frank

-- Edited by KFT on Saturday 8th of July 2017 02:52:26 PM

Hey Jim · Guru

Go Frank go.

A big thankyou on behalf of everyone login in. I will copy this for future Referance and store in our van,as I become an old Fart.

Regards Jim

Kiwimagic · Veteran Member

Yippee.

We have contact.

82 strength

69 quality.

Don't know what I was doing wrong but now have Vast Info ch up.

Now need to get Vast to re ping my dish.

Oh what a feeling.

Thank you all for your input.

Every bit was helpful.

cheers

Kiwimagic.

Kiwimagic · Veteran Member

I connected the LNB first then the decoder.

Set the LNB to straight up and down

I moved the dish a bit to the left and the sat finder needle moved to 90 %. So I put a thin bit of wood underneath the rear leg of the tri pod,

The angle gauge I placed on the LNB arm was 44.9

Got a needle movement in the sat finder, then just fine tuned and waited then made small adjustments until got the strongest signal.

Then turned the LNB clock wise by small amounts then waited then made more adjustments, which strengthened both the signal strength and the quality.

Screen shows me that I am locked in to the OPTUS C1 satellite.

Scanned all the channels. Re pinged the decoder and I'm in business. 122 or so channels.

You bloody beauty.

How easy was that.

Can now remove my packers and read adjust the dish.

All Good.

Now just have to connect the cable to the van.

If I connect it to the Arial out in the entertainment box on the outside of the van I should be able to get the signal from the outlet inside the van. Yes or No ??

I wil try that tomorrow, Just happy to be able to watch TV at the moment.

Cheers

kiwimagic,

Again thanks to all who contributed their knowledge in this frustrating matter.

Cruising Cruze · Guru

Hi Ron

Well well well magic happens
Just one question

You still want to sell it ?? biggrin biggrin

Regards John

pjwilco · Veteran Member

Cruising Cruze wrote:
Hi Ron
Well well well magic happens
Just one question
You still want to sell it ??

Regards John

John

i have the same set up as mentioned previously in the posting.

full set up from Access Antenna in WA.

we are spent many hours trying to get ours to work but now losing interest in using it.

I am in Melbourne and I am prepared to discuss selling my full kit.

if you or any one else is interested, please private message me.

Pamela

Big Mal · Senior Member

I like to set my dish up where I can see the TV thru a window and I usually get it done in one go,nmeter takes me longer, have helped a heap of other folks set up, I'm going to print out a few copies of Franks guide to give people to save me some work....Usually a very simple mistake made by most folk, slow, small movements needed.

Kiwimagic · Veteran Member

Hi
I have just purchased a marriage saver sat finder, should be easy peasy from now on.
From my experience I think the angle of the dish is more important than the direction.
My dish was out by a degree or so and I could not get a signal until I got it right.
Then I just moved it by small amounts, waiting for about 30 sec between moves until the sat finder needle moved.
Mind you it seems so easy now that I have done it successfully.
Very frustrating at the time.

again I thank all the peoples that contributed to this.

cheers
kiwimagic.