Can I use Zinwell scalar ring on Ordok LNBF ?
Reading into it a bity more it seems the scalar ring does a bit of signal funneling or noise reduction, or both?
Zinwell Scalar ring is quite thick and obviously a little different.
Ordok scalar ring is thinner, smaller ring to fit LNBF (maybe a millimeter or less)
My question is can I use the Zinwell scalar ring safely w/out losing signal?
I have adjusted the LNBF line mark in the scalar ring to about 42 'ish which seems to catch all signals but the only problem is they are all reversed : H is V , and , V is H
Could this simply be skew, or adjustment related or should I indeed just swap the scalar's for the ordock 1
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It won't hurt to try a different scalar ring, just keep in mind that scalar rings are usually matched to the LNB/F they are supplied with.
As for the H/V polarisation being reversed.... that means you have the LNB/F 90 degrees out of alignment.... rotate it 90 deg and it should be right.
Naturally, you'll still need to make some skew adjustment to maximise signal strength and quality.
highkick05 (12-10-16)
got it mate, finally understand this horizon thing. Although, probably because I was using the Zinwell which has no markings at all on the back. Put zero against the horizon and boom.
but I'll tell ya still some TP's are reversing on other sat, maybe a turn still
Although convenient, there is really no need for markings on the LNB.
Before installing any LNB, look down its throat and check the orientation of the little probe inside the feed.
Rotating the LNB appropriately so that the probe is horizontal in relation the the satellite in question, will ensure that it is installed correctly; i.e. for a satellite that is located due north of your location the probe should be horizontal.
If you do this, all that is necessary after fixing the LNB to the scalar ring is to adjust the LNB skew for optimum signal quality.
highkick05 (12-10-16)
yep, discovered this bit of information before while finally finding some useful info on the skew for C-BAND... thank you for confirming it
I seem to have found about 2 points of skew, one is a bit better. But again I'm seeing on 1 particular sat (measat 3) it still scans only low only symbol rates on V , while scanning high symbol rate TP's of the V's side over on the H side instead, along with the H high Symbol rate TP's as well. this is peculiar , I've never seen this behaviour and are a bit puzzled. Must be the scalar ring, will put it on tommorrow
Last edited by highkick05; 13-10-16 at 12:51 AM.
ok replaced the scalar ring for the boxed one that came with the ordok LNBF.
still getting high symbol rates all reversed... twist it and it's always the same... can't f**kn work out what is wrong
ok your having this trouble on Measat 3 (I had the same problem)Originally Posted by highkick05
whats your location?
what size dish?
What receiver?
mine did this on my 2.3m dish only got High symbol rates not lower ones and doubled same freq on both V & H
but on the 3.7 m dish its fine so I put it down to the lower symbol rate (dvb-s2 in particular) requires more signal .
highkick05 (14-10-16)
Location is Perth, WA, size dish 3M mesh. LNBF is Ordok C-BAND Dual output. Have Quad shield on one output. Used Dual Shield RG6 on one output to the house (about 25m away in cable) cos all bunnings had.
I have single RG6 running down seperate Left & right pole sides scalar ring mounts. Does it matter if the cable crosses over each other near the LNBF (inside black shield). I can literally run Progfinder & TBS Blind Scan at the same time because of dual outputs. This doesn't seem to effect anything.
Receiver is TBS 5990 USB DVB-S/S2, using windows software with BDA Drivers, just to set up the sat positions. These work better than Linux drivers, I disconnect the usb cable from linux plug it into laptop in front of TV, then use another laptop with teamviewer outside.
Yeah more signal u say ? .. hows this sound to you ?
I had no kwarms with the quad shield running to the house before this far. The dual shield has quite a few kinks in it working its way to the house followed by about 8 or so loops before entering the house, cos I over estimated RG6 just to be sure. Couldn't be this could it? all that extra cable laying in loops outside. Seems I get Apstar 7 perfect when I fine tuned for Intelsat 17 cos I could literally reach the LNB by hand, I skewed it once at about zero to horizon, and then skewed it almost 180 degree's to the other side and got really strong signal here. best so far. got everything on Apstar 7, but moving to Measat a bit higher, all low symbalrate on V's , then high symbol rate V's inverse on H . weird.
I think maybe the dish is a bit off true north to be honest, after some heavy winds & rains probably ran under neath the 44 gallon, hasn't bedded in perfect yet. I never got the chance to redo Measat before changing LNB. Do you think this could be the reason or is this what you meant by signal being the cause. Actually another thing is I set tvheadend to use USALS and the damn motor flipped over on itself and the positioner came out. Had to push it back up while hitting WEST on the positioner to put it back in again. I think this has seriously messed alignment up as I needed to adjust inclination pretty seriously after this happend. I really think I need to try get it back to where it was first.
perhaps return the inclination to how it previously was and move the north variable and see what happens
Last edited by highkick05; 14-10-16 at 03:24 AM.
Sounds like you have a few issues you need to rectify.
Dual-Shield itself is not a problem, providing you have sufficient signal and no interference.
The advantage of Quadshield is higher rejection of interference and generally, lower signal loss due to the increased shielding.
Kinks in any cable is very bad. It alters the impedance, which will create a poor impedance match to the receiver, signal loss and higher BER, so any cable with kinks should be replaced.
Loops in cables can do all sorts of things, but it depends on the type of cable, the size and number of loops, their proximity to other loops and the frequencies involved. Don't loop cable unnecessarily and keep cable lengths as short as possible.
Dish alignment is critical.
For a polar mount, the pole must be perfectly plumb, the dish must be centered perfectly to point true north and the declination angle of the dish set accurately.
As the dish turns, the LNB skew alters with it as the dish travels through the arc.
Failure to have all of these set-up parameters accurately aligned will result in less than optimum results.
Your installation sounds very dodgy to me.
A 3m dish needs to be mounted on a 90mm OD steel post, which is perpendicular and securely concreted into the ground so there is no possibility of it moving, regardless of seasonal ground conditions.
Coaxial cable should be cut to required length with NO kinks and terminated properly with F connectors.
The mount of a motorised dish needs to be accurately aligned on its mounting post for due north at maximum elevation. Remember to set the correct declination offset angle for your location.
There's a good guide to C-band dish installation and alignment available at .
Another excellent site for polar mount dish installation information is located at .
Bear in mind that the guide is written for the northern hemisphere, so for south read north and for west read east, etc.
Last edited by tristen; 14-10-16 at 12:33 PM.
Well good old tvheadend has probably cost me a dish. venting, when you do a new installation of this program in linux I don't know if its the setup process after installation. I have not picked USALS , it seems the first tune the stupid ####ing thing try's to auto calculate the first satellite position to try and work out time between satellites so that it can tune channels between them in sync. WHAT KIND OF CRAP IS THIS TO TUNE MOVEMENT OF A POSITIONER, god simply retune it again as it's turning ffs (W/OUT RESCANNING THE TP FOR CHANGES FFS)
the f%^kingthing has again pulled the positioner arm out of it's socket and now the bolt that sits top - turning axis bolt now looks completely disfigured , certainly the dish is not pointing straight at due north, it's very wrong. I changed this last time with a straight bolt from an unused dish before and it lined it up perfectly. Also appears that bolt going through is out of alignment also. Can you adjust everything here so it's straight when you put in a new bolt? anyone tried bending these bolts back to straight? This seems to be the weak link when the positioner goes over to far and comes out of its socket. , hope the dish hasn't bent at all
I'll take a pic later, but sure someone knows this .. god damn tvheadend done this twice now .. fuming cos this was completely straight before. Don't ever setup tvheadend away from your dish, u won't see the positioner moving . god I hate this program
Last edited by highkick05; 14-10-16 at 05:35 PM.
Did you set the mechanical limit switches in the actuator? (Perhaps, I have misunderstood your post, but the motorised telescopic unit on the dish is called an actuator, while the box with the power supply providing 36 volts DC to the actuator is called a positioner).....the f%^kingthing has again pulled the positioner arm out of it's socket and now the bolt that sits top - turning axis bolt now looks completely disfigured , certainly the dish is not pointing straight at due north, it's very wrong. I changed this last time with a straight bolt from an unused dish before and it lined it up perfectly. Also appears that bolt going through is out of alignment also. Can you adjust everything here so it's straight when you put in a new bolt? anyone tried bending these bolts back to straight? This seems to be the weak link when the positioner goes over to far and comes out of its socket. , hope the dish hasn't bent at all
I'll take a pic later, but sure someone knows this .. god damn tvheadend done this twice now .. fuming cos this was completely straight before. Don't ever setup tvheadend away from your dish, u won't see the positioner moving . god I hate this program
Actuator limit switches are provided to prevent such an occurrence as you have described from happening.
Spot on mtv / tristan
I had everything perfect bar probably a slight bend in this bolt (has bent too much now) just before I dpkg --purge tvheadend and then reinstalled it and the stupid program sent the positioner all the way west and out of its tube again. (farrk me) always awesome to walk out and see your 3m dish like this
Which is why measat was recording puzzling things on V and H. obviously the dish wasn't facing the bird face on square.
Few things I would do/try differently now from here:
1) Drop the dish lower on the pole, say probably 1.5 metre's above ground minimum (i left this high because behind 2 storey), w/ this it would barely poke above the fence also which keeps it protected from wind mainly AND nosey eyes.
2) Fill the 44 gallon at least 3/4 full. Sitting at 1/2 full atm and I just think that extra 1/4 would just need it so the dish stray's to a minimum. Baring in mind thought it's sitting just above 2 metres atm and never moves from centre. Windy days though make it difficult to hit difficult TP's on Intelsat 17/20. So that would make it obvious to shorten and make it more heavy.
3) Pick a better quality basketball hoop pole. This one is rusting fast.
I have had this above setup at my old house and it kicked ass. I destroyed the stand though as it was too heavy to move. It was 1.5 metre, 3/4 full. It sat plumb and probably surprised person who helped install it with me tbh
I have stayed away from Intelsat 19 purely because I was afraid of bending another dish bolt. Waaaaaa. thanksssss s ss ss tvheadend. Now back even further with this and completely pissed off
I'll get a pic of all this perhaps when I'm finished.
Any of you know where you can purchase these T-like bolt (elevation bolt I think)
Last edited by highkick05; 14-10-16 at 07:54 PM.
Now this is something I looked at with interest on progfinder just then. I'll definitely be doing this I think, even with remote on machine yepp
Definitely be pushing this sat to it's west'ish limit (I want) and hitting that west limit button. Hopefully it know how to program the motek correctly (unlike tvheadend's shiteness) *smacks head in wall*
I'm sorry, but I do not know what you mean by a "T-like bolt (elevation bolt I think)".
The brand of dish and a better description or photograph would help.
Sciteq () might be able to help you out with any bits and pieces you need. They are located in Perth.
There are two sets of travel limiting adjustments.
The most critical are the physical limit switched inside the actuator.
These will completely prevent over-extension of the actuator.
Most positioners also have software limit positions... these are secondary.
It sounds like you did not set up either.
A pole for a 3m dish in a drum is totally insufficient, as the drum with move, regardless of how much concrete is in it.
Do not underestimate the power of the wind, even on a mesh dish!
The pole must be set in concrete in the ground, preferably a square block.
An alternative is to bolt it to a structure (wall) that cannot move.
You appear to be doing so many things wrong... rusty pole on a moveable drum... not setting limit switches, kinks in cable, poorly aligned dish, etc, etc.
Use the settings in the positioner, not in the software you are using.
You made the mistake previously of not setting limit switches and yet you didn't learn from that experience and set them this time around.... whilst it 'may' be your controller software, it's likely only as good as the instructions you give it and failing to set the actuator limit switches for the second time has resulted in further damage that was completely avoidable.
If you are going to do this, you need to do it properly or forget it.
Highkick05, I've uploaded a C-band satellite dish tutorial, which has been of use to many other Austech members over the years, to . With thanks to the author, Adp81.
Do yourself a favour. Download it, read it and then reinstall your dish according to the instructions in the tutorial.
I have already indicated the source of two excellent tutorials in my post #11.
I agree entirely with MTV's comments. If you do the job properly the first time you will avoid the ongoing problems you have been describing.
In addition, you will have the satisfaction of a job well done!
Yep, original technician that set this up did inform me of the limit toggles inside the positioner. I've altered them at some point in time I think also.
It's all good, I'll be honest I forgot about those limit adjustments inside the positioner over time. I did just replace the reed sensor and 4 core power cable. Went through everything here and rechecked everything, all worked and I was satisfied.
Learning the hard way here, but yep. I've now learnt about the winds , learnt about how solid the pole needs to be and amount of weight bearing on that pole to prevent any issues with tuning. It's all information I need really.
Yeah tristan, read those tutorials when I originally re-set this up again. The inclination and elevation angle adjustment settings I found image searching via google I think. these helped, indicated by one of those tutorials.
Problems I'm having really are to do with software not typically used by most enthusiasts. I've never really had to set limits either way using dvb-s settopbox. This tvheadend thing was unexpected both times it's done it has farked me hard core. sux
But the rewards are pretty cool. Being able to stay upstairs while scanning adhoc feeds and entering keys , streaming all channels to the kids & our bedrooms, not being anywhere the dvb-s2 server is pretty cool
For what it's worth I've only just set all this stuff up so stuff like cable I'll do later. I've just asked the questions to be more informed
mtv, Pretty clear the only problem is the bent inclination bolt. this is a 'T shaped' bolt that's head slots into part of the frame in the round bracket holding the satellite dish. It's definitely the bolt used to adjust inclination, second time I've bent this bloody thing and I don't have any spares. It's a heavy duty pheonix brand I think, it's American bcos the original top hole for the positioner was on the right side, I ended up drilling hole in exact opposite side and changing it over (worked flawlessly). Installer said it's one of the better heavy duty ones. I think these inclination bolt's are pretty standard, I ripped the one out of a spare shite bent dish I bought second hand from Perth and never used
Send u a pic tmoz if that helps . thankz both for info and help
Last edited by highkick05; 15-10-16 at 01:04 AM.
The drum is not movable, only by massive force, certainly no wind could move it. it's only 1/2 full of concrete also, so I've kind of learnt the minimum amount of weight needed.
When it's 3/4 full it's like a brick wall. I stand by this method, it works. I will take pics for ya's so you can see what's in it.
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