SatSig topic:

Low rx readng at hub, very high tx reading

(Read 6127 times)

Dec 16^th, 2008 at 10:13pm

I'm new and need a little help. Over the weekend I have green on all lights, excellant reception under all conditions including heavy rain. On Monday and during the work week about 8 AM the tx starts blinking yellow and I loose conectivity. The green returns briefly from time to time and about 5 to 5:30 it returns to all green and stays that way until the next morning. I have been told the problem is a weak rx signal

Needless to say it is a little frustrating to not be able to access the Internet all during the day. Any help would be greattly appreciated.
Zia77

Dec 16^th, 2008 at 11:19pm

What size aperture are you using (reflector?)

Can you telnet into your modem? (try the default login and pass)

If so, please login and from the command prompt check your receive signal to noise by typing rx snr Would like you to check it under NORMAL conditions as well as when you are experiencing an anomaly.

The rx snr value (from telnet) should be above 10dB

When the TX LED blinks, does your rx light ever turn amber, or does it remain solid green the entire time?

Dec 17^th, 2008 at 12:30am

Thanks for such a quick reply.
By aperature do you mean dish size? !.2 meter.

I hate to appear ignorant but the installer spent no time with me. I asked for manuals but there were none. There were no specks only the installation guide from Patriot which I grabbed. The only thing I received was my I.P. address and a paid installation bill. Nothing was mentioned about telenet. I will research it later this night and try to get an understanding of how it works. Have no knowledge of login or password but will research that also.

The rx light remains green, only the tx goes amber

Dec 17^th, 2008 at 12:44am

Checked on telenet. I should have told you this is an installation in Costa Rica. We live in a rural area and we access the Internet through equipment which is installed locally. I do not know if the telenet protocol is used.

Dec 17^th, 2008 at 1:38am

Aperture is dish size.

Dont worry about telneting to the iDirect. If the Rx LED stays illuminated, your problem is more than likely not with your with your receive. I needed to ask that because your iDirect needs that receive (RX) signal to get its timeplan (to transmit). Couple more questions:

1. Does the interruption happen at the exact same time everyday?
2. How many days (in a row) have you been observing the interruption?

Dec 17^th, 2008 at 9:43pm

It happens only on work days. It normally starts around 7 AM and ends around 5PM. Today it ended around 3 PM. As I am writing it went out again and it is back on hopefully until I can get this message off.

It has happened for the last few weeks consistantly. It is like a power business uses the Internet during business hours and knocks us off when they are transmitting. The green does come on for brief periods (5 minutes or less) lke a temporary period between their transmissions. The installer says such a scenerio is impossible. I had Hughes in the states and it is almost exactly like their cut off when you exceeded the alloted Internet time.

Dec 22^nd, 2008 at 7:59am

Obviously this is difficult to diagnose without actually being on site or having more information...

But *IF* your RX LED stays solid green while your TX fades out that does narrow down a few things. As Mike hinted on, your RX path should be fine. Only thing that may need to happen is a possible repeak on your antenna. That's why having your rx snr would be handy. Is your dish anchored down... i.e. cinder blocks anything to ensure the antenna does not blow from wind?

Also, how much excess cable is on your system. I've seen numerous sites that have issues like this and it's due to an excess amount of cable. By simply cutting the coax to length that does help at times. I havn't thoroughly tested this but I think on average with the RG-6 I've used.... I've gained 1dB per 10ft I have cut off.

And worst case scenario... you have an equipment failure. Possible BUC or modem. I've had a couple modems go to max TX and sit there and drop in and out of the net. Those modem's needed to be replaced. Upon replacement those site's have been fine since. Now this doesn't mean your cafe is the case so please don't contact your provider demanding a new modem. As you have read, there are other variables...

Hope this helps... Fairly generalized... but figured I'd try and throw some things out there for you to check...

Dec 22^nd, 2008 at 10:49am

Quote:

Over the weekend I have green on all lights, excellant reception under all conditions including heavy rain. On Monday and during the work week about 8 AM the tx starts blinking yellow and I loose conectivity. The green returns briefly from time to time and about 5 to 5:30 it returns to all green and stays that way until the next morning. I have been told the problem is a weak rx signal

Do you really have a weak rx signal at the remote site?. This seems unlikely if you get excellent reception including during heavy rain. Verify this one way or the other.

What does the hub have to say ? What is quality of the link from the remote to the hub ? Is your modem transmit output level set up correctly ?

Can the hub check other sites to make sure that 2 sites are not transmitting on top of one another ? Locations (lat/long) of all sites correct ? Burst time plans not overlapping ?

The initial symptom sounds like another site being activated and blocking this one.

Best regards, Eric.

Dec 22^nd, 2008 at 12:40pm

With the problem being observed during business hours it certainly leads me to believe that something or someone in the local area is interfering with you. More than likely in the same spectrum as your TDMA upstream carrier(s).

Dec 23^rd, 2008 at 12:25am

I want to thank everyone for helping me. This is the first time I have been on a forum and the experience has been great. I am currently out of Costa Rica but I think with your suggestions I have a direction to pursue and I will follow up when I get back. Thanks again for all the help. I will let you know what works.