have a HD receiver in canada, brought a older model 315 receiver to Mesa,AZ with me, The 315 was activated and working fine in canada on my roof mounted L&B. Down here I'm unable to lock on a signal and having the following problems.

I have the cooridinates & am sure I 'm on the sat.( I have a sinal finderI have a clear view, I'm level. I'm using a portabel eleptical dish with an old style round L&B.

here's the problem, can't tune the receiver to 284 - 299 is as low as it will go??
While I'm sure I have the right sat, every sat I tune in gives me a red dish on the receiver, yet in the sat tuner 6-3-1 if I enter 4128 is says I have the correct signal.
I haven't called starchoice yet, as even if I need a reset, I wqas of the opinion I could still lock on the sat. before calling.
Any suggestions would be great.

js

try tuning with channel 354 (knowledge BC)

I live "across town" from you and have a DSR-315 and it's working fine today. So the fact that you are in AZ is not the problem.

284-298 are HD channels and cannot be received with a DSR-315 (the DSR-315 is not an HD receiver). When you attempt to select one such channel, the receiver simply returns to the previously selected channel. I believe this is the case with any channel in the 200-298 range, though I didn't check them all. You should be able to get 299, however.

I believe 354 is from the Anik F1R satellite and would be one good check. You could also try 700 which is from the Anik F2 satellite and is included in all programming packages.

Not sure what you mean by a "portable" dish or "round" LNB. Is this setup known to be capable of working with Shaw Direct?

In addition, if you were activated using your quad LNB in Canada, and are now trying to use a different LNB, you may need to call Shaw and tell them that you are using something other than the quad; they will then make adjustments on their end.

thanks for the info: I get 299 ok but was told this is for hd??
also I got the cooridinates off dish pointer.com /
51.8 elevation / 177 degrees sqew of 88 yet another dish close by is
53 elevation 158 degrees sqew of 90, I tried both of these setting and get a signal with my signal finder, yet I still have a red dish on the front of the receiver.
question: before I phone starchoice to have the the receiver reset, should I still be able to lock in the signal & get a green dish??
thanks
jeff

You can also do the refresh online. Go to Sha Direct site and click on "Customer Care" in the horizontal menu bar at the top and then "Receiver Refresh" near the bottom of the left hand navigation menu. Follow the on-screen prompts to receive a refresh.

I get 299 ok but was told this is for hd??
299 is the Star Choice Direct Info Channel. I don't believe it is HD, since I can tune to it with my DSR-315. It comes from Anik F1R, and the Lyngsat website doesn't show it as being HD.

also I got the cooridinates off dish pointer.com /
Should be close....my source says elev=51.1 azimuth=178.3, skew=89. I would be suspicious of the source that says skew=90. You're attempting to point to Anik F2 and then skew the dish to Anik F1 which is at longitude 107.3. Mesa is at longitude 111.8, so the dish needs to have a slight skew clockwise as you face the dish.

and get a signal with my signal finder
Are you referring the signal meter in the receiver or a separate hand-held unit?

yet I still have a red dish on the front of the receiver
When tuned to which channel?

before I phone starchoice to have the the receiver reset, should I still be able to lock in the signal & get a green dish??
Yes, I don't believe a CSR can help you until you are locked onto the satellite.

on channel 299 / I get red sat on front of receiver / and please wait processing your request (doesn't change).

If I press options 6-3-1- / if I enter any number it says I have a correct signal with a level of about 20% / still red on the front of the receiver/

I'm using a stand alone signal meter to get sat, although it doesn't tell me which sat.
thanks again

Aha!......20% is way too low. You should be able to get at least 60 and perhaps even higher in the Phx area. The 20% could simply be the result of background "noise" occurring in the air, and may show on your receiver sat meter even if the dish is totally mispointed. My guess is that your standalone meter is getting a signal from something OTHER THAN a Shaw satellite.

Try the settings I provided to you and see if you can get the 20% to go higher. Then tell me about 299, 350, 700, and 711.

The fact that you are not receiving anything on 299 tells me you are not getting any signal from F1R.

Also, you did not answer my question in a previous post regarding the dish. I got the impression it is not a "standard" Shaw dish. Are you sure it will work with Shaw? How large is it? In the Phx area, a 75cm dish is recommended. I don't know of anyone in the area that is using a 60cm dish, but I've read where it is likely too small for this latitude. Is you dish smaller than to 60E? If so, that could be a problem also.

Thanks for staying with me Joshauls.
I'm going to play around with it again tomorrow.
To answer your question, its a star choice eleptical dish ( 32inch/ 80cm) with a starchoice older round L&B on a portable tri-pod.

I will try your corodinates tomorrow without the use of the signal finder just in case it is providing interferance.

Do I need to unplug the receiver each time I change the channel ( 299/350/700/711 ?

When I had the receiver working in Canada before I left it was hooked up to a roof mounted dish & L&B, I have never had it working on the equipment I brought here.

thanks again for the help
JS

20% means you are not on the right satellite. I never thought of it that way, but joshuals is right, it can be considered background noise. With your analog sat finder, I would suggest panning two satellites to the east and west from where you are pointed. also, if your receiver is not active, use channel 354 (Knowledge BC) to tune

also, you do not need to unplug the receiver to change

thanks, I'll try again tomorrow.

starchoice older round L&B on a portable tri-pod

I'm not familiar with a "round" LNB unless you are referring to the one that looks like 2 beer cans in a sort-of y-configuration. If you have the beer cans LNB, then you will not be able to receive all your channels with your receiver that was authorized with the newer quad LNB that you have in Canada UNTIL you call Shaw and advise them of this change. I believe the newer style LNB is referred to as "stacked" and the older as "unstacked" (I may have this terminology reversed...maybe someone else can help us out on this....)

However, I still think you need to get the signal strength up from 20% before you call Shaw. If your dish is 80cm it should be plenty big enough for this latitude.

Are you ok on getting the dish pointed roughly in the right direction with a compass and all that stuff? Don't mean to insult your itelligence, but remember that the azimuth of 178.3 is "geodetic" and not "compass". Let me know if you need help on this part......

178.3 is "geodetic" and not "compass / not sure what you mean??
I've been pointing 177 on the compass ( almost striaght south).

My L&B is a narrow round L&B with a single output on the end.

Is there anywhere in Mesa where I could pick-up a newer L&B?

still going to play around more tomorrow & see what happens, I've gotten a lot of new good info.
thanks again
js

I've been pointing 177 on the compass ( almost striaght south).

Therein lies part of your problem. The azimuth that I gave you, as well as the ones you mentioned, are referenced to "true" ("geodetic") north. It's sometimes called "astronomic" north because it is defined by the north star (Polaris). On the other hand, your "compass" north points to the MAGNETIC pole, which is located a great distance away from the true North Pole. Therefore, when you use your compass in aiming your dish, you need to make a correction, as follows. In Arizona the difference between "true" north and "compass" north is currently about 11.2 degrees. Therefore the azimuth I gave you of 178.3 minus 11.2 = 167.1 degrees. You should be pointing to 167.1 on your compass, not 177. Give this a try.

My L&B is a narrow round L&B with a single output on the end.

I'm stumped on this one. A picture would help. Maybe someone else in the forum is familiar with this type LNB. It almost sounds like a generic Ku band LNB.......????? (See also my question below)

Is there anywhere in Mesa where I could pick-up a newer L&B?

I know of no outlets in the US that sell any standard Shaw Direct equipment or parts. In truth, the Canadian satellite providers are not authorized to provide service outside Canada, so naturally they do not have outlets for parts in the US. Since there are so many Canadian winter visitors in the Mesa area, you might find a used quad in a local satellite shop, but it would be just a matter of luck.....

In fact, one of your earlier posts implied that you purchased the dish & LNB here in Arizona....that threw me. Does your dish have the Star Choice logo on it? I'm beginning to wonder if your dish/LNB are really compatible with Shaw Direct......:confused:

< Is there anywhere in Mesa where I could pick-up a newer L&B?

ebaY

thanks for clearing up the compass info, I brought the L&B and dish from canada, it hadn't been used for some time. I don't normally watch star choice as I have cable. My plan was to bring a chums spare receiver he had before upgrading to HD and watch some home channels while here. While dated the dish and L&B are definatley star choice.
If I don't have any luck tomorrow, I'll get my son to bring down another L&B from home, he's coming down next week.
thanks again
I'll report back tomorrow
js

I'll get my son to bring down another L&B from home, he's coming down next week.

Ok...be careful though...the LNB and the dish are a matched pair. There are currently two types of dishes in use by Shaw.....the 60E (60cm) and the 75E (75cm). Both are elliptical dishes, and each requires it's own LNB, i.e., an LNB for the 60E will not work with the 75E and vice versa. Each LNB states on it's back which dish it is designed for. If you dish is older, and therefore neither a 60E or a 75E, I'm not sure what your solution is. If such is the case, you may need BOTH a newer dish and a newer LNB.

To confirm your look direction you could always plug your Arizona address into Dishpointer, select the bird you are trying to hit and it will give you a visual reference to your surroundings.

http://www.dishpointer.com/

The numbers Joshual gave you jive when entering Mesa into Dishpointer without any specific address.

Other info for Starchoice alignment and ordering gear in the US can be found at...

http://www.global-cm.net

And, I suspect you might be using a Starchoice LNB from way back in the way back machine, possibly the 150284 made by California Amplifier OR - when you say round, does the whole LNB unit look like a single beer can?

Has this specific dish and this specific LNB ever been in use together at the same time successfully getting a signal before? Having the part # off the LNB would be helpful, but I think you may be SOL if you are trying to use one of the older LNB's with an elliptical dish.

If you have different hardware in Arizona from your setup at home an online refresh is not going to help, you will have to talk to SC/SD once you have a signal.

Hope this helps.

Has this specific dish and this specific LNB ever been in use together at the same time successfully getting a signal before? Having the part # off the LNB would be helpful, but I think you may be SOL if you are trying to use one of the older LNB's with an elliptical dish.

Agreed....

But let's assume for a minute that his dish and LNB do, in fact, work together. Given that he has a DSR-315, he's not going to get any HD (which comes from F2, mostly). In addition, he's likely interested in only English programming. So, couldn't he just point his dish/single LNB at F1R and get most of the programming in his pacakge?

Granted...it's not the best solution, but would prevent him from having to invest in a new dish and transport it to Arizona...

I tried all the suggestions to date, I re-aimed the dish with no luck today,
Finally, I called star choice as a last resort, because the reciever was previsosly working with a 4 outlet HD L&B they had to re-program my reciever to a single output L&B ( who knew!!) once they did this, I almost instantly got a signal & picture. I had to call them back 1 more time to set the time zone in order to recieve a guide. (tells you just how much control they have over the system) anyway I'm watching tv with an up todate guide. Thanks for all the support, hope this somehow nhelps someone in the future.
js -