SatSig topic:

Setting up HX50 in Iraq: RSL=15 ?

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Jan 28^th, 2008 at 2:04pm

I have read quite a few forums of people talking about setting up the HX50 in Iraq, and so far i dont think anyone else has had my problem and I'm hopeing there is a quick answer but i'm sure that wont be the case.

I am unable to receive any kind of signal with the html signal gage that came with the modem. It is stuck on 15 no matter where we turn the dish. I am not a satcom guy so i dont know if this is normal until you find the bird or whats up.

If anyone can help, it would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Adam

Jan 28^th, 2008 at 2:21pm

It's been concluded here, that a RSL of 15 on the HX50 indicates "no signal detected". Typically this issue is related to antenna pointing - but - the InDoor Unit (IDU) has to first know the signal parameters specific to your connection. You should have been given those parameters by your provider.

So - has your assigned satellite/transponder/symbol rate/polarization/FEC/et cetera been loaded into the IDU yet?

//greg//

Jan 28^th, 2008 at 2:31pm

I was thinking it could have been a hardware problem because of the constant 15. Guess its time to move to the bigger picture. I'll go ahead and get all the info i have and post it here in a couple hours.

Thanks,
Adam

Jan 28^th, 2008 at 3:43pm

Check your two coax cables; they may be crossed over.

Power off.

Disconnect the rx and tx cables at the modem.

Examine to check the pins stick out 2mm. If possible check the braid makes good contact and no fragments of braid are causing a short circult. Reconnect the rx cable at the modem. Make sure the pin actually goes smoothly and fully into the hole and does not push back the cable. Do the F connector up carefully and fully and firmly but not so hard as to break it inside.

At the antenna end disconnect both cables and examine the F connectors as above.

Trace the route of the cables and identify the rx cable at both ends. Connect up the outdoor end of the rx cable to the LNB which is the small white module on top of the filter.

Power on and the "15" should now be a variable that changes according to where the antenna is pointed. You must have entered the frequency and symbol rate etc for the modem to display wanted carrier signal strength and to lock onto the satellite carrier.

At the back end of the transmit BUC module are two F connectors marked IFL (inter facility link cable) and AP (antenna pointing). There is a black cover on the AP connector. The IFL (inter facility link cable) is the one to be used for the transmit cable (To SATellite).

Power off before connecting up the transmit cable.

If you are in Iraq and aiming at W3A your dish should look like this:

Study the picture closely. The 505, the single tick mark, filter and LNB all exactly and directly away from the feed support tube. Fat lump on feed throat towards the feed arm. Entire dish then turned about +42 deg clockwise, using the giant polarisation scale behind the dish, while facing towards the satellite.

Best regards, Eric.

Jan 28^th, 2008 at 5:23pm

After reading over all my information it seems the only piece of information i did not set in the modem was the RFU part number. In the morning when i make another attempt I'll get that set. Would that make a difference?

Feb 6^th, 2008 at 5:14pm

Hi,

Please feel free to contact Bentley Walker for support with your installation.

James
Bentley Walker Ltd

james@bentleywalker.com
Tel: +44 2392 311118

Jun 10^th, 2008 at 3:56pm

I think I may be having the same issue. I have a HX50 setup in Iraq pointing at W3a. I have been conducting polarisation at the LNB / horn / filter and not the dish itself.

I have not moved the dish itself off 0. I have the LNB / horn / filter etc at 42 degrees.

I have a low range.

Would this be effecting it.

Jun 10^th, 2008 at 7:06pm

Study the picture above closely. The 505 and the single tick mark must both be exactly and directly away from the feed support tube. The fat lump on feed throat must be directly towards the feed arm. For horizontal receive polarisation (HX W3A service) the filter and LNB must be at the top. The entire dish must then be turned about +42 deg clockwise, using the giant polarisation scale behind the dish, while facing towards the satellite.

The feed horn throat has three tiny slots inside, on the side towards the feed arm. These slots make for a complete dish with much superior cross-pol performance, but the feed must be oriented with the three slots towards the feed arm. The slots are inside the fat lump of metal. The slots cause 'negative' cross-pol that cancels out the cross-pol caused by the offset geometry of the dish. If you put it together wrong then the cross pol performance will be far worse that a non-compensated system.

Please get it right, I spent many $10,000 getting these mode-matched cross-polarisation cancellation feeds developed by Barry Watson at ERA in the late 1980's. An offset dish with a mode matched cross-pol cancellation feed is as good as a dual optics antenna, but at lower price.

If at some future date, for a different new service, anyone needs to operate vertical receive polarisation with these feeds the assembly procedure is: The 505 and the single tick mark must both be exactly and directly away from the feed support tube. Attach the filter/LNB to the tapered adapter tube so that the filter is at the side.

Best regards, Eric.

Jun 15^th, 2008 at 3:07pm

Eric, thanks for the update. I wouldnt mind emailing you with a few ideas to why our system is basiclly unworkable. If that is ok.

Jun 15^th, 2008 at 6:24pm

You are welcome.

A receive level of 15 is definitely unworkable. You should get more like 90 to 100.

Please send your ideas as to what might be wrong. Please also send images of your dish dish feed, view from side, front, rear etc. Please send copy of your config document also.

Send to eric@satsig.net

Best regards, Eric.

Jun 17^th, 2008 at 4:13pm

I have a system that was working in one location and after moving it to a new location all I am able to receive is a signal strength of 15. I have done a set by set setup from the user guide I had with no success. I would like to know what I am missing. Thank you

Jun 17^th, 2008 at 9:00pm

Rasheed

If you move a VSAT you need to tell the hub the new lat and long and repoint the dish using new calculated elevation, azimuth and polarisation angles.

Line up the dish with only the LNB connected until you have a perfect receive signal. Power down. Connect the BUC and then, after permission from the HUB, power on. Talk to the hub while they check your site.

Don't move a site without telling the hub, otherwise your range will be wrong and your transmit burst timing wrong. This causes you to interfere with other people and also prevents your own service working as others interfere with you. Bursts going up to the satellite need to arrive in sequence, not overlapping.

Having said all that above, for the record, now to you immediate problem. Your low 15 signal is almost certainly due to you not having yet found the satellite and peaked up. Finding the satellite takes anything from 10 minutes to 2 weeks. Peaking up always takes at least 30 minutes.

If you are in Iraq and aiming at W3A your dish should look like this:

Study the picture closely. The 505, the single tick mark, filter and LNB all exactly and directly away from the feed support tube. Fat lump on feed throat towards the feed arm. Entire dish then turned about +42 deg clockwise, using the giant polarisation scale behind the dish, while facing towards the satellite.

The next image, below, shows how to set the beam elevation angle. This example shows the beam elevation set to 48 deg. You need to calculate and set the elevation for your new location using dish pointing in Iraq. The metal plate behind the dish is at right angles to the beam direction.

You can make your own inclinometer like this by printing out page how to make an inclinometer
In Iraq, your beam elevation angle will be between 32 deg and 37 deg for pointing to the W3A satellite at 7 deg east.

Best regards, Eric.

Jun 18^th, 2008 at 2:04pm

How do I get in conduct with the HUB? I did everything that you told me now I still at 15.

Jun 18^th, 2008 at 3:08pm

With 15, you are not receiving properly, probably not pointed at the satellite, LNB cable fault or have the wrong tuning / symbol rate configuration in your modem. The frequency / symbol rate may have changed if the modem has not been use for some time. You need a new configuration sheet from a service provider with frequency / symbol rate and IP addresses etc plus name of satellite and nominal downlink polarisation.

Contacting the hub, depends who is your service provider:

For Hughes HX service try
Bentley Walker (UK) +44 239 231 1118

or their local Middle East service provider
WAFA (UAE) +9712 633 4211

Best regards, Eric.

Jun 18^th, 2008 at 10:07pm

Rasheed where are you located , have you an email adress , please mail me anthony@bentleywalker.com we will help you resolve this

Jun 19^th, 2008 at 8:37am

Ok I did alot of calling even to that +44 number and the one in U.A.E and now we are at 86 and transmitting, does it get any better than that our just I just be happy after all it is working.

How many people can I put on this system, different accounts that is?

The Information that were givien for example the 1 watt compare to the 2 watt is different from what is on the system along with the reveiving polarization, on the computer it is horizontal on our paper it says it should be vertical.

I really do not know what all the setting on the paper means all I did was plug it in but now it is different. I just want to know how that would affect things.

Just want tosay thanks for all your help. Both from this website and from the techs.

Jun 19^th, 2008 at 4:55pm

Dear Rasheed,
This is Raja Praveen from Bentley Walker. Please provide the ESN number of your HX50 and your e-mail address.
Best Regards

Jun 21^st, 2008 at 10:17am

If the ESN number is the same as serial number it is 1342000. That is the only number I see that is close to what you are asking. Email. rebuilding.rasheed@gmail.com

Jun 21^st, 2008 at 11:36am

Please note that on W3A Europe/Middle East that BW increased the symbol rate of the W3a HX Middle East outroute to 13000000 20th June 2008. There was also a frequency change .

The new outroute change was transparent to end users already operating on the service.
Customers who have not yet installed their modems or agents that will be activating new modems should ensure that the following parameters are changed in the pre-issued configuration sheets

Symbol Rate 13000000 Sps
Freq 11272

Best regards, Eric.

Jun 21^st, 2008 at 1:24pm

Eric,

I would like to know how many different accounts/lines may I have for this system without causing it to run slow.

Thank you

Jun 21^st, 2008 at 5:33pm

This page https://www.bentley-walker.com/services_hughes-hx50.php provides a suggested number of PCs to be connected for each tariff.

The traffic per PC varies a very great deal from one user to another so do consider the type of useage. Intensive users doing large file transfers, video uploading/downloading and long VoIP phone calls have traffic transfer amounts very many times the average user.

See here for your current fair share status. If your traffic exceeds some Mbytes limit in an 8 hour period you will be slowed till the end of the 8 hour period.

Best regards, Eric.