iDirect from TS2 for use in Iraq

Ok, so i bought a complete system from ts2 out of poland.  They suck.  They have no type of understanding that I paid them 4k, which included the first month of service while deployed in IRAQ, and now, 7 weeks later, I still don't have internet.  They kept telling me over and over i needed patience as it was my fault of aiming.  Ha, not even close, they sent me a faulty modem, and now want me to wait until monday so they can have a 4 day weekend.  I am not sure if People in POLAND have a different understanding of what CUSTOMER SERVICE is, but im away from my family for the 3rd time and just wanted internet so i could talk to my wife and kids.  So, if anyone can help me, please help, if not, spread the word not to use TS2.

You say your friends received manuals and instructions.

You need to know your location lat and long, what satellite to point at, what receive nominal polarisation to use and to have a configuration file to prepare your modem to receive the wanted carrier.

Some general advice on set up follows...

Ask your service provider if your nominal receive polarisation should be vertical or horizontal.
Determine your dish pointing angles, azimuth, elevation and polarisation using
satellite dish pointing in Iraq

Join the LNB to the sidearm filter waveguide so that the two rectangular apertures match.

Setting the polarisation is a two step process:

What receive downlink polarisation name have you been told to use?. Horizontal or vertical.  Set this polarisation name initially, by turning the entire feed/LNB/BUC assembly in its yoke, using these diagrams as a guide:
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If Vertical, the LNB input waveguide will be like the image above. The internal dipole pin may be above or below; it does not matter.
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If Horizontal, the LNB input waveguide will be like the image above. The internal dipole pin may be on either side; it does not matter.
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Then apply the polarisation adjustment angle. A positive polarisation adjustment means turn the feed clockwise while facing towards the satellite.  A negative polarisation adjustment means turn the feed anti-clockwise while facing towards the satellite.  In some cases the entire dish and feed assembly needs to be rotated using a giant polarisation scale behind the dish (HX and Tooway)

Set the elevation angle:
Use the elevation angle scale if there is one.  Note the scale will be in error by a few deg low if the head unit is loose on the pole and is sagging down a bit.  If no elevation scale, find out the offset angle of the dish.  Set the front face vertical, the beam elevation angle is now the same as the offset angle.  Adjust further as required for the wanted elevation angle.   If you don't have an inclinometer then here is how to make an inclinometer.  If you can't find the offset angle put a thin strip of wood under the lower edge of the dish, beside the feed arm. Put the forward end of the strip across the top of the feed horn window.  The slope of the wood is the approximate beam elevation angle.

Azimuth:
Use a compass, GPS or the sun, stars, time of day and common sense to get the approx azimuth angle.  With the LNB cable connected, swing the dish boldly and find the satellite.  If nothing, change the elevation in 1 deg steps.

Peaking up:
Having found the satellite spend at least 30 minutes peaking up.  You need to get to the exact centre of the beam as the transmit beam is narrower than the receive beams.  If you spend less than 30 minutes, you have not done the job sufficiently precisely.

Clever tricks:

With the azimuth nuts spaced slightly apart, gently swing the dish to rest against each nut in turn and adjust the nuts so exactly the same degraded quality is observed at each side.  Then wind each nut in by an equal number of turns and flats (e.g. each by 1 turn and 4 flats).   If the azimuth adjuster is a continuous screw you need to count the turns going one way and see where is the peak.  Then go right back to the start and wind forwards again and stop at the peak to avoid backlash.  Mark a flat with a felt tip pen.

Having centered the azimuth, make sure all hold down bolts are tight.  The elevation is easier as there is no backlash. Wind the elevation screw right across the satellite and then count the turns back to the centre.

Polarisation:  Be prepared to adjust a few deg under verbal instruction from the hub while they measure your CW transmit cross-pol signal.  Keep your head and body underneath and reach up to make this adjustment, so as not to obstruct the beam. Be patient, it may take the hub 20 seconds to take each measurement.

Power off and connect up the transmit cable.

I know little about iDirect but I do know that it is important that you tell the modem, via iSite, what is your latitude and longitude to set the range and timing so that your transmit bursts arrive at the satellite at the correct moment, interleaved with other uplink bursts.

Go here for TS2 web site

Best regards, Eric.

Dear Mr Andrew,

We have offered to exchange your as you claim "faulty" modem, also I wrote that I can send you a new BUC and new LNB if you sucpect they may be faulty.

However all you did is send us emails that you want refund, and new modem. I wrote that I will send you a new modem the same day I will receive the scan from the post office that you sent your used modem. 
You didn't want to cooperate. Your modem cannot be faulty as you were reveiving was it over 8 Volts signal?

We gave you two different OPT file for two different satellites, you are our only client who couldn't get proper signal for such a long time.

As to the 7 days weekend we have a national celebration in Poland on Thursday therefore our boss gave us Friday off as well. 

I hope you can read Mr Eric Johnston's post as it explains very well dish poiting process (polarity, elevation, etc).

Best Regards,

Michał (TS2)

I'm also having problems with my TS2 iDirect 3100, 1.2m system.  I'm located in Balad, Iraq.  I was unable to lock the carrier signal of Intelsat901.  The maximum reading that I achieved was 7volts.  I had three Air Force satellite experts inspect the setup.  They confirmed with a specan that it was pointed at the correct spacecraft.  They made adjustments, but were unable to achieve more than 7volts also. 

This marks week two that the dish has been sitting atop the building.  I'm waiting on a new OPT file from TS2 to attempt to connect with Intelsat 10-02 instead.  I'll provide an update as soon as this happens.

Ending on a positive note; the equipment arrived from UAE within two days of payment.  Up to this point, replies from TS2 have not taken longer than 24-hours.

Dear Mr Gargos,

Please let me know what kind or troubles you have with your LinkStar or kindly let me know your Mac address.

We'll try to help you as best we can.

Regards,

Michał
TS2

I am tempted to suggest 'continue trying'.  Try with the opposite polarisation and try several satellites along the orbit each way.  If that does not work I would go back to basics and start checking that all the instructions are correct.

If you are detecting 7 volts you are measuring strong radio power but the signal is not locking in your demodulator.   You have found a satellite and will able to peak up on other satelites also, either way along a diagonal line across the sky.   If you are on the correct satellite and still have 7 volts, then you have the wrong polarisation, wrong LNB or your modem is tuned wrong.  I think the volts will jump to 12+ and go green once the modem demod locks up.

We may be able to help you better if you tell us exactly what you have been told by TS2.  We need to know:

What satellite name and orbit position:
What downlink polarisation name:
What satellite downlink carrier frequency:
What type and model number LNB:

What L band modem tuning frequency in the options file:
What symbol rate in the options file:  (only for 8.2.2 or later versions)

What is your location:

From the above it is possible:

to work out if the LO frequency of your LNB (e.g. 9.75, 10, 10.6, 11.3 GHz etc) is actually correct for your wanted satellite frequency and the tuning range of your modem. (e.g. 12345 MHz satellite, minus LNB LO 11300 MHz = 1045 MHz into modem)

To work out your dish pointing: azimuth (sideways, with magnetic compass) and elevation (up /down) and also the polarisation adjustment required.
see: satellite dish pointing iraq.

Setting polarisation is two step process. First set to nominal, e.g. Horizonal normally means the LNB on its filter arm is sticking up at the top so that the broad faces of the LNB rectangular waveguide are to either side. This is a nominal horizontal starting position.  Second stage: Now apply the adjustment.  Clockwise, while facing the satellite, is + positive.

Best regards, Eric.

eric thnx for the tips we got the good signal 17 volts.. we beeped it up and stuff but was woundering exactly how to really fine tune it up and try to get the best signal as possiable and really get a good connection..  could u explain if u know on if the voltage at 17 is a decent connection for a 15 man service?????  any other info u can offer will be greatly appreciated..........    lets face it we're in iraq and it sux bad enough so any better we can get by havin decent speed internet is a good thing......lol

Well on the note i sent last night now with the downstream locked and the service active, we seem to still have a problem..  I'm getting a flashing yellow light on the network, and according to the book it means the the downstream SCPC is not locked... does anyone know what the SCPC is, and also how to fix it??????   Plz help once agian

Quote:

Is the Tx light illuminated on the front of your modem?  Or does it blink on briefly from amber to green?  

It sounds as if you pointed at the spacecraft and receiving SOME signal, but it may not be optimal enough to unmute the transmitter.  Need to know about that TX LED?  If your signal strength (rx snr) is lower than 5.5dN (C/N) then your transmitter WILL remain muted.  

On the flipside: If your receive signal (SNR) is GREATER than 5.5 AND the Tx LED is illuminated (network light is amber) then one of two things is possibly wrong:

1. the Hub has your initial tx entry power too low or two high (and your bursts are arriving too low or too high on the configured network UCP-uplink control parameters)
2.  There is something amiss in your tx/uplink cabling. (let not make this assessment YET until we find out a few things first).

Can you telnet into that modem and check the rx snr for me?  If you have a receive light we need to know just how well you are seeing that TDM downstream carrier (your receive carrier)?  If you are able to telnet into the 3100, type rx snr at the prompt and share that value with me.  

Also, need to know what that Tx LED on the front of your modem is doing?  Is it solid green or blinking green to amber?

Hate to say it (as it sounds like the usual party line), but you are going to have to contact your service provider, they should be able to help you with your DNS issue.

Assuming dish offset=17 deg and required beam elevation 14.3 deg.  Assume dish has vertical diameter of 130 cm.

For 14 deg beam elevation angle the front top face of the dish will be tilted 2.7 deg forwards.  Dangle a weight on a string down the front of the dish and the gap at the bottom should be 130 x sin(3) = 6.1cm.

What nominal (name) polarisation have you been told ? Horizontal or Vertical ?  Did you set this starting position correctly? Horizonal means LNB at the top or bottom, Vertical means LNB sticking out sideways.  

What polarisation adjustment angle have you applied ? +53.1 deg (for example) means turn the feed +53.1 deg clockwise while you are facing towards the satellite. This angle must be accurate, so use an inclinometer sideways across the BUC or LNB.

Your LNB model type must be correct so that the calculation: satellite freq - LNB LO freq = modem freq.  e.g. 11280.123000 - 10000 = 1280.123000 MHz is correct. LNBs come in variety local oscillator frequencies: e.g 9750, 10000, 10600, 11300 MHz.

Best regards, Eric.

I have amended the beam elevation to 14.3 deg and polarisation adjustment to +53.1 deg above. Spacing at lower edge between string and dish now about 6.1cm.

What nominal (name) polarisation have you been told ? Horizontal or Vertical ?  Did you set this starting position correctly? Horizonal means LNB at the top or bottom, Vertical means LNB sticking out sideways.  

What polarisation adjustment angle have you applied ? +53.1 deg (for example) means turn the feed +53.1 deg clockwise while you are facing towards the satellite. This angle must be accurate, so use an inclinometer sideways across the BUC or LNB.

Your LNB model type must be correct so that the calculation: satellite freq - LNB LO freq = modem freq.  e.g. 11280.123000 - 10000 = 1280.123000 MHz is correct. LNBs come in variety local oscillator frequencies: e.g 9750, 10000, 10600, 11300 MHz.

What did your options file say about rx frequency (rx_freq =) ? or LNB LO frequency (down_translation =) ?  What is your LNB make/model number?.

Please put your head behind the dish and view from just under the lower rim to just over the top of the feed horn. Do you have a view of the sky ?

I've just had a look at the frequency plan for IS901 Ku band Spot 2 here http://www.sincompromisos.com/Documentos/Satelites/Spacecraft%20Performance%20an...
It says that the satellite transmits on Horizontal polarisation.  Is that what you have been told to receive ?

That document above (1.7 Mbytes) is a good summary of Intelsat satellite frequency plans and well worth downloading.

Best regards, Eric.

It would be useful to check the model number of the LNB "LNC part no.  NJR" to check that you have a 10 GHz device as you are supposed to have.

10 GHz NJR2784 NJR2184   wanted
10.75 GHz NJR2744 NJR2144 not suitable
11.3 GHz NJR2754 NJR2154  not  suitable

You are trying to receive Horizontal named polarisation

so..

Did you set the polarisation starting position correctly? Horizonal means LNB at the top or bottom, Vertical means LNB sticking out sideways.    
 
What polarisation adjustment angle have you then applied ? +53.1 deg (for example) means turn the feed +53.1 deg clockwise while you are facing towards the satellite.  This angle must be accurate, so use an inclinometer sideways across the BUC or LNB.  
 
Just to check that you can see the satellite from your dish location...  Please put your head behind the dish and view from just under the lower rim to just over the top of the feed horn. Do you have a view of the sky ?

Best regards, Eric.

Eric,

I have double and triple checked all of the settings for azimuth, elevation, and polarity based on what you gave me and what was given to me by the company.  I am not really sure what else to do.  When on that elevation the best I could get on azimuth was .6.  If you need anything else from me please let me know and thanks for all of the help

Alan

Dear Mr Hyneman,

Please send us the pictures of your dish setup.

I will double check your opt file.

Regards,

Michal Skrok
TS2

Here is a mesage we got from costumer today:

Per your advice, we hired another technician who came this morning. He recommended due to the look angle and 17 degree offset to invert the dish and adjust to 28 degrees. Once inverted we used the SATLOOK and the dish pointing menu in iSite and used NILESAT as a refererence and adjusted. We almost immediately received a RX lock. We are currently fine tuning because the SNR is really low. I apologize for any misunderstanding. We hired a "professional" who was giving me wrong information. As a sign of good faith I have instructed my guys to post some flyers up in our recreation area with your company website and an offer to come and try it out on ours. There are many more Soldiers coming here who will be looking for internet service, and I intend to give them your information. We look forward to a good one year relationship with you. SFC Eaton, when you're ready to install, please fell free to contact me in case you need some help. After 3 days straight of playing with this, and 2 techinicians we have learned a lot and will be glad to help. Don't forget to invert the dish

Michal thanks again for your patience with us and hope you understand our situation and frustrations experienced over the last few days.

Ok everyone,
First of all thank you so much for all the help with this.  Spending over $4000 on equipment then watching it sit there for 4 days without working properly can be very frustrating.

I went with TS2 because they were recommended to me by USComz, who does all of the housing unit internet in Camp Taji.  But if i am unable to get this thing running after I go through all of these troubleshooting procedures tomorrow, I will consider a new provider.

Please send a price list for your different ratios and throughput to ahyneman@gmail.com.

As I said I will not be at the dish until tomorrow evening so I will let you all know how I make out.

Thanks again,
Alan

Have you set the polarisation as described above ?
The photo above shows that the required polarisation adjustment amount, +53 deg, has been applied anticlockwise, instead of clockwise, while facing towards the satellite.  Put the LNB back at the top, then move it +53 deg to the right, as viewing towards the satellite. Sorry to be repetitive, but it is important to be quite clear on this.

How/why are you setting 14 deg or 16 deg on an inclinometer?  If you apply an inclinometer to the front side edge of the dish you need an inclinometer angle of -2.3 deg, with the top front edge of the dish 6.1cm forwards of the lower front edge of the dish (use the dangle line).  The scale on the back should show 14.3 deg beam elevation.

If you do try IS-10-02 you will need a new options file and a new set of polarisation and elevation angles to be set.  See below:

The elevation angle is higher which will reduce the effect of rain and scintillation.

Turning the dish upside down is only necessary if the bottom rear edge of the dish hits the pole and you can't get the elevation down far enough.  Your antenna is designed to go down to 10 deg elevation. See the scale on the rear bracket.

Best regards, Eric.

Each time you peak up on some satellite with 4 - 5 volts you are detecting power.

Once you are on the correct satellite and correct polarisation and with matching LNB local oscillator frequency and tuning parameters in the options file the modem will lock to the wanted downlink carrier and you will get a much higher voltage. Then peak up again.

Best regards, Eric.

It is nice to hear when issues are successfully resolved.  I am pleased to hear that all is now working well.

I have deleted many messages that were above.  Contributors should note that they themselves may go back and edit or delete their own messages to alter or remove content that may, upon relection, be not appropriate here.

Best regards, Eric.  

Dear Sir

I think the reason TS2 are having issue is they have a low elevation and not always possible to see the angle to the Satellite , I can offer you a test on our platforms which are Sesat which is around 53 elevation and Eutelsat W6 which has 23 elevation , both have I Direct service, also I might be able to help with installation depending where you are located , please contact sales@bentleywalker.com if this helps