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RTE Announce FTA Saorsat service

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  • Registered Users Posts: 33 chris76


    Hi all

    Just a quick question to see if the service is running today as i cant seem to pick up anything with my vu and a hughes ka lnb for the final today? i will add this is my first time trying the service but im confident i have correctly set on 9e proved by a ku lnb and meter and using the settings for the vu on p88 of this thread provided by apogee.


    Chris

    PS c'mon the dubs


  • Registered Users Posts: 56 ✭✭satwyn


    no only the carrier the service is not up and running yet also as stated the testcards are not showing at this time you should get a signal and quality reading on your stb but only blank screen did you connect the meter to the ka band lnb to confirm signal what size dish and where are you located i see belfast


  • Registered Users Posts: 33 chris76


    satwyn wrote: »
    no only the carrier the service is not up and running yet also as stated the testcards are not showing at this time you should get a signal and quality reading on your stb but only blank screen did you connect the meter to the ka band lnb to confirm signal what size dish and where are you located i see belfast

    Hi my meter will not see the Ka signal so I used a ku lnb to ensure I was on 9e. The dish isn't a problem it's a 1.25 gibi, but I couldn't seem to lock onto anything using the vu satfinder. I will try again when it's live but I was looking forward to the final on hd.


    Chris


  • Registered Users Posts: 56 ✭✭satwyn


    you could try a blind scan to see if you get a lock on the carrier i have the ka hooked up to a azbox at the moment not sure if the vu will do a blind scan


  • Registered Users Posts: 32,417 ✭✭✭✭watty


    Chris, even if you get Saorsat there are no programs right now, only test cards and test loops. When it's actually running at all.

    It's very likely there will be no live content until the LNBFs are officially available.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 445 ✭✭ben101


    It's all very confusing for a newbee like myself,am i wrong or should the Humax foxsat boxes work on saorsat?


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,502 ✭✭✭zg3409


    Hi Ben,

    Any High definition satellite box will work, but the main problems are a normal LNB will not work, and ones that do, are not readily available and there is nothing being broadcast at the moment.

    So the receiver is the least of the problems at the moment.


  • Registered Users Posts: 445 ✭✭ben101


    so best bet would be to hang on and wait till its up and running i guess.


  • Registered Users Posts: 19 Skanco


    Ka Band LNBs are available, why they are not imported in to Europe for the Irish market is a mystery to many people, at a price of about £35, compared to the Norsat Ka at £190 or there a bouts.
    h**p://www.zintech.com.tw/modules/product/page.php?tbdsn=85
    h**p://www.elsov.ru/products/texts/lnb-kae.pdf


  • Registered Users Posts: 56 ✭✭satwyn


    i did conntact norsat when i was looking for a KA band lnb the muppet on the phone quoted me £900+ vat so i aquired a hughes one from the states works fine $20 lnbfs should become available for the RTE service if they go ahead and start the service at 9e KA band the only problem with the hughes and other lnbs are the none standard fittings but this is easily rectified with some extra bracketry or some use only tape


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  • Registered Users Posts: 45 DeanoCeltic


    Guys - I've been reading through this thread and am a little confused. I have a Vu+ Duo with a motorised dish and 90cm Triax dish. I've added the 9E sat but no Irish channels appear in the list.

    Am I missing something? :confused:

    Thanks :)


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,760 ✭✭✭Apogee


    The Irish test channels on Ka-sat transmit on the Ka-band (e.g 20.185GHz) while your Universal LNBF is designed for the Ku-band (10.7-12.7GHz).


  • Registered Users Posts: 45 DeanoCeltic


    Apogee wrote: »
    The Irish test channels on Ka-sat transmit on the Ka-band (e.g 20.185GHz) while your Universal LNBF is designed for the Ku-band (10.7-12.7GHz).

    OK - thanks Apogee (and great posts back in may with the photos! :D)

    So, do I need a new lnb or an additional one? :confused:


  • Registered Users Posts: 33 chris76


    The KA lnb's should be in soon @ www.satellitetv.ie with a 40mm collar so you can fit them onto a standard dish.

    deano you could use a seperate dish on 9e with a ka lnb and use the second tuner on the duo this is the set-up im using..

    Tuner 1 is motorized
    tuner 2 is 28.2e port 1
    9e port 2
    4.8e port 3


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,760 ✭✭✭Apogee


    You would need a new, additional Ka-band LNBF. However, they are not commercially available yet. It is expected/rumoured they will be available before the end of the year.

    You can get third party models which can be made to work depending on how much of a rush you're in. Considering there are no live transmissions yet, there isn't much to see.


  • Registered Users Posts: 33 chris76


    Apogee wrote: »
    You would need a new, additional Ka-band LNBF. However, they are not commercially available yet. It is expected/rumoured they will be available before the end of the year.

    You can get third party models which can be made to work depending on how much of a rush you're in. Considering there are no live transmissions yet, there isn't much to see.



    satellitetv.ie is waiting now for the 40mm lnbf arriving very soon..:D:D:D:D:D:D:D


  • Registered Users Posts: 45 DeanoCeltic


    Hmm... Not sure if I'd waste the 2nd input of the Vu+ on the Irish channels only Chris - I hardly watch them. I think I'd prefer to leave the two inputs from the one dish and move it only when I want to watch one of the channels. I imagine this would only be for RTE2 HD if the other are staying on 28.2e as well.

    So, it looks like I need a new lnb. Bugger - I just upgraded to a quality quad lnb a few months ago :o


  • Registered Users Posts: 33 chris76


    Hmm... Not sure if I'd waste the 2nd input of the Vu+ on the Irish channels only Chris - I hardly watch them. I think I'd prefer to leave the two inputs from the one dish and move it only when I want to watch one of the channels. I imagine this would only be for RTE2 HD if the other are staying on 28.2e as well.

    So, it looks like I need a new lnb. Bugger - I just upgraded to a quality quad lnb a few months ago :o

    you can have upto 32 seperate lnb's on the second tuner deano so you wont be wasting it for eg.. i have soarsat,sky,and viasat on my second tuner via a diqesc switch and the motor on the first tuner. so your quad lnb is fine :p:p this also allows you to channel hop quicker no time waiting for the motor to move thats the point of the second tuner..hope this helps m8 btw if your in the north a 80cm dish should be fine.

    Chris


  • Registered Users Posts: 745 ✭✭✭RogerThis


    chris76 wrote: »
    you can have upto 32 seperate lnb's on the second tuner deano so you wont be wasting it for eg.. i have soarsat,sky,and viasat on my second tuner via a diqesc switch and the motor on the first tuner. so your quad lnb is fine :p:p this also allows you to channel hop quicker no time waiting for the motor to move thats the point of the second tuner..hope this helps m8 btw if your in the north a 80cm dish should be fine.

    Chris

    What's the smallest dish that will work with that lnb?


  • Registered Users Posts: 33 chris76


    RogerThis wrote: »
    What's the smallest dish that will work with that lnb?

    Whats your location roger?


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  • Registered Users Posts: 745 ✭✭✭RogerThis


    chris76 wrote: »
    Whats your location roger?

    Castlebar


  • Registered Users Posts: 14 Astro7


    Have a Signal Level of 81% and Quality 79% on a Technomate 6900HD
    with a DIRECTV LNB ( on lone from zg3409 ) with a small dish 36cm x 42cm
    here in Bray Co. Wicklow.


  • Registered Users Posts: 33 chris76


    on a 1.25 gibi im getting 30%snr and 43%agc in belfast.


  • Registered Users Posts: 56 ✭✭satwyn


    Astro7 wrote: »
    Have a Signal Level of 81% and Quality 79% on a Technomate 6900HD
    with a DIRECTV LNB ( on lone from zg3409 ) with a small dish 36cm x 42cm
    here in Bray Co. Wicklow.
    do you have the model no of the lnb


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,502 ✭✭✭zg3409


    >do you have the model no of the lnb

    It's my LNB he is using. Here are the details:

    Usual caveat:

    1) This is not intended for normal users, it's held on with tape etc.

    2) There is no signal being sent at the moment (just carrier) so there is nothing to see.

    3) There will be the correct LNBs available shortly

    Please note this LNB has NOT BEEN TESTED with the RTE testcard. The night we attempted to set it up the testcards went off air, and have not been back since. We believe it is working, but we won't know for definite until the testcards return.

    Having read from post #1 on this thread I noticed some people suggested DirecTV LNBs from the USA might work. Later on others said they wouldn't work due to circular polarisation, but when the signal was eventually sent it was circular polarisation, which lead me to believe they may work. There are lots of different DirecTV LNBs. Some may work, some definitely WILL NOT work so if considering this please make sure you get the exact right model.

    The model we are still testing is:

    DirecTV SL3 with 4 F connectors (The single connector model WILL NOT WORK) (Models marked with a green dot/label will also not work-sometimes shown in the listing/photo)(any unit mentioning SWM will NOT work)

    For best results you need the matching DISH with bracket. This will allow much easier mounting but shipping will be very, very expensive. Otherwise selotape is your friend!, which is the route we have gone down.

    If getting a dish sent all the way from the USA consider asking other enthusiasts to get a couple and share shipping.

    Below is quite technical. Basically wait for it to be tested at least, and anyone with any sense will wait.

    This is a quick summary of my results.

    The basic info of the LNB is here:
    http://www.wnc.com.tw/DBS/more/SL3.htm

    One of the images on this page explain how 3 different satellite positions are picked up by the LNB and more details on frequencies:

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/Acutrac-III-3-Plus-Satellite-Finder-Meter-New-HDTV-/320673554370?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aa9a21fc2

    We are using a unit which looks like a single LNB but is used to pick up 3 different positions in the Sky (in the USA)

    US Ka: 18.3GHz – 18.8GHz and 19.7GHz – 20.2GHz
    DrTV SL3 (for 99WKa, 101WKu, 103WKa)
    13V = Right 18V = Left ---> Use 18V for LHCP
    The Ka LNBs convert the downlink signal to a low frequency range of 250 MHz to 750Mhz and a high frequency range of 1650 MHz to 2150 MHZ.

    99, 101 and 103 degrees is 3 in 1 LNB, so NO KA on centre LNB as 101 satellite is not KA.

    103 and 99 are KA (in the USA)

    18V no tone for Ka band 99 WEST(right hole), (Ku band 101 WEST LHCP 101 West is in centre\not used )

    18V 22Khz for Ka band 103 WEST (103 West is to the left of hole in centre), Ku band 110/119 WEST LHCP (not fitted)

    Ka Lo: 250-750MHz (left or right hole depending on 22Khz tone)
    Ku: 950-1450MHz (centre hole)
    Ka Hi: 1660-2150MHz (left or right hole depending on 22Khz tone)

    The current Ku Band downlink signals are from 12.2 GHz to 12.7. LO is 11.25GHz
    13V=RHCP and 18V = LHCP (No use in Ireland)

    The new Ka Band downlink frequency is from 18.3GHz – 18.8GHz and 19.7GHz – 20.2GHz
    (LO 18.050 approx)

    So it will appear 1.66-2.15Ghz which relates to 17.7-20.2Ghz with a voltage of 18V applied.

    The method we used was to align a dish to 9 east with a hughes LNB, remove the hughes LNB and hold the DirecTV LNB in our hand while looking at the spectrum analyser. The signal appears as 4 wide carriers with 1 narrow carrier which seems to carry RTE. We set the receiver to 18V no-tone. I knew we would need to mount the LNB off centre as we were using the side holes for reception. We could not pick up the testcards as the testcard was off air. Reception seemed very sensitive so we attached it to a small dish and the same carrier was received.

    So it's a great adventure. Be sure to get the 4 'F' connector version as the one connector version with the green label uses a system called single wire multiswitch (SWM) which does not work with european receivers. It seems to be similar to Unicable which is a new european standard.

    Regarding dish size it depends on the sensitivity of the final LNBs, where you live and the amount of error correction applied to the final signal sent. Also if you want to receive BBC and RTE SaorSAT on the one dish, the dish may need to be bigger than a normal size dish. The dish also needs to be solid, mesh dishes may not work. Rain is supposed to affect the signal more at 20Ghz so a greater margin for losses during heavy rain will be needed. In fact the SL3 LNB has a little rain cover to keep rain/snow off the LNB itself!

    RTENL should recommend dish sizes when the service is launched.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,101 ✭✭✭derealbadger


    slegs wrote: »
    Watty, can standard satellite receivers receive Ka feeds or is a special receiver needed

    Think you need a special receiver.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 7,102 ✭✭✭Stinicker


    Think you need a special receiver.

    No, many people here have already reported receiving the tests broadcasts using standard DVB-S2 satellite receiver, my own receiver a Technomate 6900HD is from the late 2006-2007 era and will receive it. Once the Satellite receiver is DVB-S2 and can watch High Defintion then you will be ok. The KA-Band LNB is just a different LNB and in theory even cheaper sat boxes like the sort sold in Lidl should work.


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    You don't need a special receiver. If your receiver supports the correct local oscillator frequency for a Ka LNB then just enter it. If it doesn't, it will still work but you'll need to do some maths to work out a fake Ku-band equivalent.

    Example:
    20.185 (Saorsat mux 1) - 18.750 (Ka LO) = 1.435 GHz (IF)
    1.435 + 9.75 (Typical Ku low band LO) = 11.185 GHz (Frequency to use on Ku receiver)


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,760 ✭✭✭Apogee


    @zg3409, Astro7 - nice work on the DirecTV LNBF!


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  • Registered Users Posts: 14 Astro7


    Test cards and HD loop back on the Ka Sat.
    Testing today with a 40cm round dish.
    Sig. 77% Quality 78% ( Cloudy )


This discussion has been closed.
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