Auto Tuning Satellite Channels

RoTelly

This used to be relatively straight forward. However now on a TCL and LG TVs I can only get

BBC 1HD, ITV1HD, Channel4HD, ITV QUIZ, ITV4, all the U channels, Really, Food Network, Sky Mix, Challenge, Sky News HD, CNBC, Court TV, 2 of the That's TV channels and numbers copies of all of these channels plus the Religious and Teleshopping channels.

How do I get the other channels?

Sorry if this has been brought up before.

andy1249

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058427232/auto-tuning-satellite-channels

How old are these TVs , are they new ?

Quite a few reports of new TVs over on AVforums in the UK that come with freely , in that the physical tuners on the TV itself have been hobbled in favour of freely , and can only " fill in " what freely cannot do yet.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123933304#Comment_123933304

TCL is about 4 years, I had an issue were the HD channels were tuning properly but now all is good with the ones I was able to get. The LG one is about 2 years old only decided to tune it in lately.

How are they "Hobbled?"

andy1249

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123933322#Comment_123933322

Wont be an issue with your TVs , had to be be 2024 at the earliest.

They are hobbled in the sense that the tuners are limited to only finding channels that not yet on freely , there are about 40 channels on freely , you need the tuner for the rest , but the tuner is software limited not to find any of the channels that are on freely , basically you must use freely.

Nothing stopping you buying an FTA box of course , just that the TV itself will not do , especially over here , as you cannot get freely here , there are a number of restrictions , some of which are near impossible to work around.

https://www.avforums.com/threads/hisense-tvs-and-freely.2514448/

https://www.avforums.com/threads/55u7nqtuk-no-freeview.2509013/

decor58

Am i right in saying you are using satellite on an LG tv, its very unlikely that any tuning restrictions are in place, Freely combines with terrestrial not satellite.

Are you tuning in Saorview or just satellite, if just satellite switch broadcasting and services to UK, select Freesat in satellite options, if you put in a postcode you will get the relevant regional channels, without a postcode you will get London region.

If you tune in Saorview in the Freesat mode the channels will be in no particular order, on some of the earlier LG tvs it was possible to renumber the channels in a preferred order. On the more recent models putting the Saorview channels in order isn't easy or even possible.

RoTelly

Thanks both @decor58 and @andy1249 but no luck on freesat setting, TV didn't ask for post code.

The TV is saying no signal for any of the freesat channels, and just put in the EPG for freesat London Channels.

The satellite is a sky satellite about 4 years old, I was able to tune in other channels on the Sky EPG with the Sky box no problem.

decor58

Is it a SkyQ lnb or a hybrid lnb in which case you may be connected to the wrong lnb connector.

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123941128#Comment_123941128

Over time channels change transponder/frequency and transponders change parameters or get switched off. If the TV's pre-installed frequency list hasn't been updated since factory you won't find all the channels on a search.

If there's a satellite blind scan option use that, it'll do a complete frequency scan of the satellite, finding missing frequencies, updating parameters for others etc.

If that option isn't available you'll have to manually enter the new frequencies and update parameters for others using information from websites like Lyngsat and King of Sat.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123941272#Comment_123941272

I have tried manual tuning but no signal

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123941389#Comment_123941389

Not sure what you mean by manual tuning.

Manual tuning of an existing frequency?

Manual tuning of a newly added frequency?

Updated the parameters of existing frequencies, using one of the websites I mentioned above?

Manual tuning of an existing stored frequency will return no signal if that transponder is switched off on the satellite or the tuning parameters such as Symbol Rate, FEC, polarisation, etc have changed since the TV was manufactured

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123941465#Comment_123941465

It was so much easier in the past. I have tried manually tuning all of the above and some I can change much I can't.

Anyway I auto tuned the TV just there, for some reason UTV, ITV4 have appeared but largely back to the same set of channels.

If there's a satellite blind scan option use that, it'll do a complete frequency scan of the satellite, finding missing frequencies, updating parameters for others etc.

This option was there and I chose that. Perhaps I have to manually add everything? Auto seems a bit pointless.

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123941805#Comment_123941805

Auto tuning and blind scan are different.

Auto tuning scans all the stored frequencies, active or non-active.

Blind scan scans the full range of satellite frequencies, 10.7-12.75 GHz, ignoring what's already stored. It'll find new frequencies or update existing frequencies .

Otherwise you will have to manually add the new frequencies and manually update the existing ones with the new parameters as required.

FRIENDO

I know when first tuning in satellite channels on my LG. The satellite is set to default Astra 19 when Ireland is set as broadcast settings.

So just to ask have you changed the satellite settings, you may do this by adding a satellite in the tuning settings.

You would select Astra 28, it also gives you the option for blind search, fta, network and auto search.

The satellite list also updates by adding any new channels to the list automatically and name changes automatically.

You can edit and save your list if you have a usb/hardrive attached

RoTelly

@The Cush @FRIENDO

Yeah noticed that the satellite was on Astra 19, and scanned Astra 28 with blind, FTA only and network auto search.

Will try again later.

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123943159#Comment_123943159

FTA only scan can miss some FTA channels.

Some FTA channels are tagged as encrypted, e.g. Channel 4/5 group of channels, and may not be stored during a FTA scan. And so requires a FTA and encrypted channel scan. My Walker/Toshiba TVs work this way.

FRIENDO

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123943159#Comment_123943159

You should get all the fta channels now on astra 28, you don't need to scan Astra 19.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123945054#Comment_123945054

Thanks all but no luck

I have 29 channels as such plus lots of Pay TV, religion and Asian news channels along with the following

ITV - UTV, ITV QUIZ, ITV4

BBC - BBC ONE South

Channel 4 - Channel 4 HD

UKTV - All

Discovery - Really, HGTV, the Food Network

Sky - News, Mix and Challenge

Other - Court TV, That's TV Oldies, TNT News, CNBC

Have tried all above advise, can you see from the list above what I might be doing wrong?

MenloPete

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123945563#Comment_123945563

So it looks like you are only seeing Vertical polarised channels. You can double check that on Lyngsat or KingofSat.

And this is on two different receivers…

If that's the case I'd strongly suspect the LNB has a cracked cap and is letting water in - Get a new LNB.

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123947295#Comment_123947295

Yes, a missing polarisation would point to a faulty LNB. Cheap to replace if you can do it yourself.

Tony

Could also be a voltage drop caused by bad F connections or bad cable