I got the Pansat 2500 FTA but I am using a DTV dish (phase III) with 3 LNBs. I went thru the FTA setup I picked Echo 7 sat. During the sat setup I left the 22hz option off but my quality signal was 0% and my level signal was 95%. I scanned for channels but no luck, so I went thru the config again and set the 22hz option to ON and the quality bar came up to 97% and I was able to scan channels. However, I was able to GET ~207 channel including some PPV but I am still missing a lot of channels. Any idea of what the problem could be? Thanks.
The Phase III oval dish (FAQ) All about the Phase 3 dish (made for DTV, has 3 LNBs in same enclosure and built in multiswitch.) YES, you CAN use this for your FTA setup to get 91 and 110 !
Advantages 1. You can add 2 LNBs and get 82 and 119 too on same dish. 2. Cheap or free from your DTV system. 3. Use only one wire and get 2 sats. 4. If u add 82 and 119, you'll use 3 ports on your diseq switch.. perfect to hook up an additonal bigger dish and a linear LNB and get birds like Intelsat 5 (T5) on your diseq empty port.
Connection 1. You need only 1 coax cable per receiver connected to the Phaze 3 dish, which is an advantage. 2. It doesnt matter which of the 4 ports you connect to. All 4 are the same in functionality. Your receiver will use the built in multiswitch to select one of the 3 sats. It does that via voltage change and 22khz tone signalling.
What this dish is for and how it was meant to work 1. This dish is for DirectTV. Was made to get the 101, 110 and 119 DTV sats. 2. Looking from behind the dish, the LNB are used like so: .......left lnb = 119 sat ..middle lnb = 110 sat .....right lnb = 101 sat 3. The multiswitch inside uses 22khz tone that is sent by your receiver to switch between 2 sats (just like any other 22khz switch). You'll have to set that up in your FTA receiver. 4. 2 sats?? Yes! The multiswitch inside also serves as a combiner to combine signal from 110 and 119. So the 22khz will switch between the signal of 110 and 119 combined and the signal of 101
How the built in combiner works 1. The combiner takes TPs 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 28, 30 and 32 from the middle LNB (110) and all the rest of the 32 TPs of the left LNB (119). You cannot change what TPs are combined... Covering middle LNB with foil wont work, cutting traces on the pcb wont work. 2. This is OK for DTV because DTV only has 3 TP's on DTV's 110 (28, 30 and 32) and they are different from the TPs on DTV's 119. (a tp is a frequency band on which up to 14 channels are transmitted). So combining different frequencies on the same wire, works fine. But it will affect your FTA setup.
How the built in combiner affects your pansat setup 1. You can use the Phaze 3 dish to get the 91 (bev) and the 110 (dn) satellites. 2. For that you point the dish to 101 (middle lnb), and adjust the skew. Now the left LNB picks up 110 (looking from behind the dish) and the right LNB picks up 91. 3. The combiner will combine TPs 2,4,6,8,10,12 and 14 from the 101 DTV sat with the rest of the TPs of the 110 DN sat. This means you will not be able to get TPs 2,4,6,8,10,12 and 14 from the 110 sat. but read on to see what your're missing.
What channels will I be missing on my FTA? 1. You will be missing only some local channels. (ABC,CBS..etc..), which may or may not be local to you. Thats it ! 2. To see what is missing you go to lyngsat and check to see whats on TP 2,4,6,8,10,12 and 14 on DN's 110 sat. 4. You will see that ALL but 2 of these TPs are of BEAM type... which means you wouldnt have been able to get them ANYWAYS, Unless you are in the area indicated for that particular beam. 5. The 2 conus (available nationwide) tps that you'll be missing are TP 12 and TP 14. Whats on it? Only locals from Lexington, Knoxville, Jackson and Denver.
What you should be pointing it to, to get 91 and 110 FTA setup: Assuming you will point this dish to 101 (middle LNB to 101), you will be able to get 91 and 110 on the 2 outside LNBs WITH proper SKEW, and thats what u want do to if you gonna use it with your FTA. The middle LNB is useless for FTA receivers setups on Phase 3 dish as it will be pointed to DTV's 101 sat. Also covering this lnb with anything won't help to give u back those locals that you'll be missing. To get the azimuth and elevation for your dish, calculate it for the 101 sat. For skew see below.
DTV setup If you set the dish like above, it will not work for DTV. If you want it to work for DTV you point it to 110 (middle lnb gets 110) and the outer will get 101 and 119. To get the azimuth and elevation for your dish, calculate it for the 110 sat. For skew see below. Or you can use your DTV receiver, enter your zip code and it will give you all settings.
U can't use the Phase 3 dish for DTV and FTA at the same time because you're pointing to different sats.
How to calculate and use Skew: Skew= vertical offset (twist) in degrees from the vertical (from the 90 degrees mark on your dish) 1. Go to Satellite Nut page 2. Enter your location info. 3. Calculate skew for the 2 outter satellites on your dish (for the pansat setup on Phaze3 that would be 91 and 119) 4. Add them toghether and divide by 2 5. U get the skew number. (Disregard the minus sign if its negative)
To use SKEW: You must ensure that the top of the mast is perfectly plum. Best thing is to use an eye round level (home depot,tools section - $3) that U put right on top of the mast. You do that BEFORE you even put the dish on the mast.
If you are on the EAST coast, skew = counter-clockwise rotation in degrees from the 90 deg mark on your phaze 3 dish. Set your dish to 90 minus the skew number If you are on the WEST coast, skew = clockwise rotation in degrees from the 90 deg mark on your phaze 3 dish. Set dish to 90 plus the skew number
Receiver setup No diseq switch is needed, only one wire needs to be connected to the Phase 3 91: 22khz OFF, Diseq - OFF (or ON - doesnt matter) 110: 22khz ON, Diseq - OFF (or ON - doesnt matter)
Can i also get 119 on this dish? Yes, if you have an additional DTV or DN (circular) LNB laying around, you can strap it to the LEFT of the 3 existing LNBs (looking from behind the dish). You will now have to use a DiseqC switch to switch between the wire from the Phaze 3 and the wire from the strapped LNB. Receiver setup with the strapped on 119 LNB Assuming u put the wire from the Phaze 3 in port #1 and the wire from the strapped LNB in port #2, your setup will be: 91: 22 khz OFF, Diseq #1 110: 22khz ON, Diseq #1 119: 22khz OFF (or ON - doesnt matter), Diseq #2
Can i also get 82 on this dish? Yes, if you have an additional DTV or DN (circular) LNB laying around, you can strap it to the RIGHT of the 3 existing LNBs (looking from behind the dish). You will now have to use a DiseqC switch to switch between the wire from the Phaze 3 and the wire from the strapped LNB. Receiver setup with the strapped on 82 LNB Assuming u put the wire from the Phaze 3 in port #1 and the wire from the strapped LNB in port #3, your setup will be: 91: 22 khz OFF, Diseq #1 110: 22khz ON, Diseq #1 82: 22khz OFF (or ON - doesnt matter), Diseq #3