DSTV self install question

Speedster

Speedster

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I moved into a new place last weekend and finally got around to getting the dish up this afternoon. I accidentally punctured the plastic cover on the front of the LNB but still managed to get 100% signal quality and 98% signal strength off the 60cm dish I brought across from my previous place. However this is only for channels on the "vertical" polarisation. I get 0% for the horizontal channels. There is currently only one 1 cable running from the dual lnb into a 2x4 splitter with the "active" outputs going into tuners 1 and 4 of my Pace 4 tuner PVR. I'll run a second cable down tomorrow.

I'm a bit worried about the lack of "horizontal" signal though. Is the lack thereof due to:
  • misalignment of the lnb scew
  • the punctured front cover of the LNB
  • there only being one cable from the LNB

Any help would be much appreciated!

Then also, there is a 100cm dish up on the roof already but I was unable to get any signal at all from it - my guess is the big palm tree in front of it is obstructing the signal. Would it be worthwhile moving the 100cm dish or should I just continue with the 60cm guy?
 
Have you tried turning the LNB so that where the cable connects is +- 15 degrees off center. Depending on your location either to the left or right. A punctured LNB is going to get heavily affected by rain and eventually stop working.

/Edit: You can run one a single cable but cant use any of the PVR functionality, also put it directly into tuner 1
 
Last edited:
MercuryX said:
Have you tried turning the LNB so that where the cable connects is +- 15 degrees off center. Depending on your location either to the left or right. A punctured LNB is going to get heavily affected by rain and eventually stop working.

/Edit: You can run one a single cable but cant use any of the PVR functionality, also put it directly into tuner 1
Click to expand...

AFAIK (and corect me if im wrong) this wont wont work with a twin LNB because on a twin each port is asigned either Horizontal or vertical so having only one LNB port conected mean only conected to one Polarisation hence the reason it works so well with a multi switch and multiple decoders unlike a singal LNB that switches between the 2 but cant run both simultaneosly.

Also the 4 tuner wont work with 1 LNB (unles SATcr) you have to conect all 4 even just to fool it into booting up
 
isie said:
Also the 4 tuner wont work with 1 LNB (unles SATcr) you have to conect all 4 even just to fool it into booting up
Click to expand...

Fortunately this isn't the case. I've used the PVR without any LNB connection many times, as I have with only tuners 1 and 4 connected. It works fine like that, apart from the vertical / horizontal conflict when recording etc.
 
upgraded software and lost my single LNB setup. was pi....d. now i need to put on a twin lnb. got only vertical now. stupid idiots probably remapped the software so you you need both tuners. still pi...d
 
The horizontal channels are missing because of the missing cable, one input on the MS is for vertical, the other is horizontal. You're going to have a hard time with that LNB when it rains or if there is moisture in the air.
 
isie said:
AFAIK (and corect me if im wrong) this wont wont work with a twin LNB because on a twin each port is asigned either Horizontal or vertical so having only one LNB port conected mean only conected to one Polarisation hence the reason it works so well with a multi switch and multiple decoders unlike a singal LNB that switches between the 2 but cant run both simultaneosly.

Also the 4 tuner wont work with 1 LNB (unles SATcr) you have to conect all 4 even just to fool it into booting up
Click to expand...

I have had a twin LNB running a single cable to a 1110 and works perfectly.
 
Code:
MercuryX said:
I have had a twin LNB running a single cable to a 1110 and works perfectly.
Click to expand...

AFAIK the 1110 is fine with only one cable coming from either port of the twin lnb box. But for op I would suggest putting up a twin lnb box and running 2 cables into tuners 1 and 4. You don't need the 2x4 splitter for a single decoder do you?
 
MercuryX said:
A punctured LNB is going to get heavily affected by rain and eventually stop working.
Click to expand...

Ha - I did the same thing once and QuantumTheory (where is he, btw) suggested just covering it with glad wrap. I did and never had a problem. Granted, that situation only lasted about 6 months...

I'd cover the puncture then with clear wrap to make sure that rain and garden water cannot get in. I believe once rain is in, it's FUBARed.
 
GreGorGy said:
Ha - I did the same thing once and QuantumTheory (where is he, btw) suggested just covering it with glad wrap. I did and never had a problem. Granted, that situation only lasted about 6 months...

I'd cover the puncture then with clear wrap to make sure that rain and garden water cannot get in. I believe once rain is in, it's FUBARed.
Click to expand...

Thanks - glad wrap sounds like a super plan. I'll definitely hop on the roof this afternoon and get that done. It rained a bit the night I punctured (more like cracked the outer edge) of the cover as well as last night so I hope I can still save it.
 
iAmThePope said:
Code:
But for op I would suggest putting up a twin lnb box and running 2 cables into tuners 1 and 4. You don't need the 2x4 splitter for a single decoder do you?
Click to expand...

That just makes no sense. Isn't the point of having the MS to allow me to record 2 channels while watching another one? Why just "ignore" two of the tuners?
 
Captain Beer said:
The horizontal channels are missing because of the missing cable, one input on the MS is for vertical, the other is horizontal. You're going to have a hard time with that LNB when it rains or if there is moisture in the air.
Click to expand...

before i did the stupid upgrade i had ALL channels with a single cable. this upgrade remapped the software i suspect so that you need the vertical and horizontal.
 
GreGorGy said:
Ha - I did the same thing once and QuantumTheory (where is he, btw) suggested just covering it with glad wrap. I did and never had a problem. Granted, that situation only lasted about 6 months...

I'd cover the puncture then with clear wrap to make sure that rain and garden water cannot get in. I believe once rain is in, it's FUBARed.
Click to expand...

I'm still around. However, my paying customers are keeping me busy.

Glad wrap is not really a long term solution. New LNB's are not very expensive. When water gets in, it will short the LNB and kill it.

Regarding the polarities. One cable into a switch will give you one polarity only. Moving the cable to the other switch input will give you the other polarity and the first one will disappear. The guys running single LNB's into HD PVR's use a splitter that covers 950-2150 MHz, with a DC bypass leg to input 1. The viewing polarity will then always take preference over the recording polarity. On the new IS20 satellite, DStv is using a lot more horisontal frequencies than before, which mean that viewing/recording clashes will be a more common occurrence.
 
akescpt said:
before i did the stupid upgrade i had ALL channels with a single cable. this upgrade remapped the software i suspect so that you need the vertical and horizontal.
Click to expand...

The tuner is hardware and still works the same as it always did. Something else happened...
 
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