Magicsat not locking on to Astra 28,2E

[Mike Richards]

Can I just say a HUGE THANK YOU to PGB in France. You have just saved me £800! We have struggled with our Magicsat ever since it was installed. I was so fed up with it that I had seriously considered taking the professional's advice and spending another £800 to have the system upgraded to the latest version. Since spending £2000 to have the Magicsat installed in 2005 on our then, new, motorhome it has proved useless on so many occasions. Nothing is more galling than to roll up to a lovely wildcamp spot in France, surrounded by others all watching their tv's only to find that you're the only one that can't get a picture..... Following PGB's instructions I have today got a clear and repeatable signal from Astra 28E. (I say repeatable because I couldn't believe my luck the first time it worked and so repeated tuning in three or four times to check that the system would continue to work!) I have had nothing but excuses and poor/dis-information from everyone I have talked to in the industry. But today, with the help of PGB I have cracked it. THANK YOU AGAIN. Mike (cock a hoop) Richards

I have just received an email from Teleco UK Agents, with the following NEW criteria. It is very important that you change both the criteria for Astra 19 and Astra 28,2E

How to modify the criteria of Astra 28 Satellite on the Magicsat 2002A system using the remote control only

1) Switch on the system
2) When the antenna starts to move press the stop key to stop the antenna
3) Press the menu key to get the main menu screen
4) Move the cursor up to the ‘Locked Menu’ position and press the ‘1’ key 4 times
to unlock the menus
5) Press the ‘8’ key 4 times to obtain the hidden ‘Magicsat menu’.
6) Move the cursor to ‘research criteria’ and press menu to select.
7) Move the cursor to ‘Sat name’ and use the left and right cursor keys to find ‘Astra 28’
8) Move the cursor to ‘Criteria’ and select number ‘1’ check all 5 criteria against the following table and modify as necessary.

Criteria Frequency Pol. Signal Mode
1 12207 MHZ V Y Digital
2 10714 MHZ H N Analog
3 11322 MHZ V N Analog
4 11307 MHZ H Y Digital
5 •••

9) Move the cursor to ‘Sat name’ and use the left and right cursor keys to find ‘Astra 19’
10) Move the cursor to ‘Criteria’ and select number ‘1’ check all 5 criteria against the following table and modify as necessary.


Criteria Frequency Pol. Signal Mode
1 11494 MHZ H Y Analog
2 10964 MHZ H Y Analog
3 •••
4 •••
5 •••

11) Note. Any changes necessary are only performed using the left/right cursor keys. They can not be added using the number pad.
12) As long as Criteria 5 has 3 dots shown in the ‘Signal’ position the other data for this criteria does not matter.
13) Once all the data has been checked/modified, press the ‘memo’ key. You will get a message on the screen saying ‘Data Stored’
14) Exit from all menu’s.
15) Once you are back to the main menu move the cursor back to the ‘locked menu’ position and press the ‘1’ key 4 times. This will re-lock the menu’s.
16) Close the dish down by pressing the ‘down’ key. Once this is completed you have now stored the new data.
17) Restart the Magicsat and it will now search using this new data.

 

[Mark Bedingfield]

hi,
I have just changed the criteria and cant get the system to receive a sat signal.
the dish seems to lock on then when I try to use sky it just says no sat signal being receieved. Is that a problem with the sky system or magicsat?

 

[pampers]

Hi there Boatahome sorry I have not replied before, I tried retuning to no avail however when I got looking at the leads its connected via the scart lead so I remebered before I changed the sky box for a freesat box i conected it in the same way. I also remeber when I first got it working via the freesat box when I turned everything on I had to choose AV channel which I assume I do not need to tune. I am not to worried though because when I went away a couple of weeks ago even though I did'nt get the red page on the TV it still found the satelite so I am still able to get tv. If you have any sugestions on how to get this menu page that would be great, as I know it works fine without but that will be until the critera changes then I wont be able to change them Kind regards Pampers

 

[pampers]

Hi Mark I had the same problem as you I tried everything so what I did was a process of alimination. I went to Argos and purchased a freesat box which is like freeview but it requires your dish rather than an ordinary arieal. I know you won't get any prepaid channels but we find this is more than adequate for us. Then try connecting the freesat box in the same mannor as your sky box is now and for us HEY PRESTO. I had followed Helidave critera check and that was it. I have now ditched the sky box. The other thing you could try if your sky box is a fewc years old ask sky for a new viewing card it might be that, I don't know anything about how sky operate but I do know that feesat works well. I have fiends that have been to France and Belgium there freesat worked fine. So good luck hope this is of use

 

[Boatahome]

Hi all Boatahome here, sorry I have not been in touch recently but have moved house,and travelled a lot (not in the motorhome or boat) in the last 3 months or so, it has been a busy time so have not had time to have a "play" with the Teleco set up, is everyone still receiving Astra 28.2 with the criteria last given by PGB in France, I set it up quickly before I went away and I locked onto 28.2 about 3 times in 100 attempts, not an ideal situation considering it used to hit the "sweet spot" every time, amazingly it locks onto Astra 19.2 every time so something is right but I want it to lock onto 28.2. I look forward to hearing if anyone is in my position or is everything OK so I can plan the next move for our trips away next year. Please reply so we can keep in touch, can I take this opportunity to wish you all Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year with some television from Sky via Teleco 2002A. Boatahome

ps Tesco are doing a range of televisions called Technica (or something like that) that have an input socket that works off 12 volts as well as a mains lead, they have built in freeview and DVD and screen sizes up to 24 inches, if you are in the market have a look, I bought one and it's good.

 

[Boatahome]

Hi all Boatahome back again, happy to say the Motorhome system is working fine now using this criteria from PGB, we have toured Europe for 5 weeks and in most places have enjoyed British TV, thanks PGB, all I need now is the Boat system working but that will have to wait a while as the cruel winter took out 3 x 270 ah batteries and they ain't cheap, will post again when I have news on the boat system. Regards to you all, Boatahome

 

[Helidave]

I am not getting good signal strength on Freesat on those frequencies and the sat does not always lock on. My set is on a boat and I can get better signal strength by rotating the boat anticlockwise. Can anyone confirm my thoughts on how this works:
Of the frequencies given by PGB, I believe :
12207 is Sky News on Astra 2B,
10714 is Channel 4 London on Astra 2D
11200 seems to be blank
11307 is NTA on Eurobird.
So, if I just want to get Freesat in the UK, would I be better to choose frequencies that are mainly on Astra 2D (which is focussed on the UK) and broadcast 24/7 ?

 

[Helidave]

For anyone having difficulties, this worked well for me in the UK to view Freesat:
1 12207 V Y Digital
2 10729 v Y Digital
3 11426 V Y Digital
4 11307 H Y Digital

The theory was that I wanted Freesat channels on several satellites so researched the channel frequencies of channels that broadcast 24/7, some of which had weaker signal strength.
12207 is Sky News on Astra 2A
10729 is Channel 4 on Astra 2D
11426 is Bloomberg on Eurobird
11307H is Bravo on Eurobird
The result for me is the dish locked on immediately and gave the best signal strength ever on the good signals and I can now get Channel 4HD and Bloomberg which I could not receive before.
Don't forget to:
Memo after putting in the new frequencies
Use the "Motorhome moving" green wire to erase previous satellite positions as the menu "erase positions" does not work.

I hope that this helps someone.

 

[pampers]

HELP HELP!!!! I have tried and tried. I had my dish locked on to astra 19E I am trying to get astra 28e I contacted scan terrieur uk they have given me new criteria for asatra 28e
Critera 1 = 12207 V Yes Digital
Criteria 2 = 10714 H NO Analog
Criteria 3 = 11200 V NO Digital
Criteria 4 = 11307 H Yes Digital
Criteria 5 = ---

I was also told to change the astra 19e but I made the mistake of not noting the astra 19e original criteria I was given the criteria of as follow,
Criteria 1 = 11494 H Yes Analog
Criteria 2=10964 H Yes Analog
Criteria 3 ---
criteria 4 ---
criteria 5 ---

Now my dish points in the totaly opposite direction now it points west, so this information did not work. I think I should not have changed the astra 19e criteria if somebody has differnt critera that works I only want astra 28 esat. If anybody can HELP I would be so greatfull it is driving me Mad. Thanks for your help in the past. Also thanks to Boatahome I have now found the red menu page that worked. Thanks

 

[Helidave]

It may be that you dish memory is full. The erase dish positions does not work and you can only erase the previous satellite positions by having the green wire receive 12V POSITIVE. In a motorhome, this will normally be wired to the ignition so that if you start with the dish up, you will get the message "motorhome moving" and the dish folds down. This also resets the position memory. I use mine on a boat but have the green wire connected to a switch so I can reset the memory.

I am using different frequencies to the Scan Terrier ones as they did not work for me. I could only get Astra 19!

 

[pampers]

Hi thanks for that information Helidave, Just to check my system is not connected to the ignition for some reason I take it the green wire is of the same bunch that go direct to the battery can I just stick the green wire into the positive that goes to the battery or will it be safer to connect to a complete seperate live feed . I take it the criteria you have used is the most recent set of figures you have posted. Once again Thank you so much Kindest regards Nigel ( pampers)

 

[Helidave]

I used the the same positive that went to the battery. As I found that I needed it regularly, I put a switch in it. They should be no need for a separate supply. If you don't have this wire connected, and your problem sounds like the one that I had earlier, I would definitely try this first.
I don't know if I have a fault with my unit as I have tried a number of different frequencies. My problem is entirely different to yours in that I tell it to go to Astra 28 and it keeps find Astra 19 and thinking that it has 28!
I have analysed the frequencies of Astra 19 and 28 and believe that these are unique frequencies to Astra 28 and should work, and last time, they did for me but I would emphasise, try everything else first!! :

Astra 28
1 12207 V Digital
2 11623 H Digital
3 11426 V Digital
4 11307 V Digital
Good luck
Dadvid

 

[pampers]

Hi there David thanks for that I ihave now tried this and changed the settings I just want to check with you if you can tell me wether on each setting the signal should be yes or no I have set each one to yes at last my dish at least points east rather than west now but my freesat box is still not showing any signal. My teleco box says its locked to astra 28e but I am not convinced it is I think iyts locking onto astra 19e. I think I may have a problem with my teleco box I have been quoted £250 to have my box refurbished in Italy I dont want to pay that if I can sort it. Thank you so much for all your help so far Kindest regards Nigel.

 

[Helidave]

It's strange that your setup is having the same problem as mine!! I set all mine to signal Y

You can tell if it is Astra 19 but looking at the TV channel it gies you on the 2002A feed. If it's German, its Astra 19! I use 402 as my digital channel.
I would try the Scan Terieur settings before doing anything else. Notice that criteria 3 and 4 are N signal and 2 is Analogue.
1 12207 V Y Dig
2 10714 H N Ana
3 11200 V N Dig
4 11307 H Y Dig
This is the April 2011 data but it is also the same as September 2010. I also notice that 2 and 3 are active channels on Astra 19 which is probably why they are N signals. If this doesn't work, try turning 2 and 3 to signal ***

Don't forget to power the green wire each time you change the settings. I know it's a pain but I understand it is the only way for it to forget where it was, otherwise, it will simply return to where it thought it found Astra 28 last time, even though it is actually 19.

There should be somewhere in the UK where we can get the box checked. I will contact Scan Terieur again to see as the list of agents are not necessarily able to touch the box.

 

[pampers]

Hi there David, Thank you for all your information I am so greatfull I am down Cornwall on holiday at the moment I have contacted scan terieur this morning I asked them for a dealer whom might be able to help. They asked me my location where I am based which is Somerset. They told me my neraset agent is in Highbridge somerset which is fantastic as this is only 15 or so miles from where I live. so I will take my motorhome to them as I cant understand whats happening it tells me I am locked on to astra 28 but I am not getting anything on my freesat box. I have spoken to Adeveture Motorhomes in Highbridge (01278 785712) I have been warned it could cost quite a bit as when these systems go down it takes a lot of time to find out the cause. If you live no where near contact scan terieur they will be able to tell you your nearest agent there number is case you dont have it is (01923) 800353. I will keep you posted on how I get on we are still down Cornwall for another week yet so wont get a chance to sort it. We are off to Carvynicks near Newquay tomorrow I will ask at Itchy feet (American RV specialist) if they might be able to help. Good luck keep us posted. Kindest regards Nigel

 

[Helidave]

Hi Nigel, I hope you get it sorted out easily. I will be interested to hear what they find wrong. The last time we moved the boat, mine locked on so we are OK at the moment although I got so fed up while we were on the move, I bought a portable Aldi system for £50 so that we could watch TV while the Magicsat lost its "Magic". At £50 including a suction mount dish, digital box for every station including Freesat, cables, sat finder, fittings etc all in a nice case for storage! I used the dish (just to the left of the Magicsat) with some male to male cable connectors connected to the feeds from the magic sat dish. All neat and tidy! I guess it may be easier to get on my roof than yours :-)
David

 

[Mike Richards]

For anyone having difficulties, this worked well for me in the UK to view Freesat:
1 12207 V Y Digital
2 10729 v Y Digital
3 11426 V Y Digital
4 11307 H Y Digital

The theory was that I wanted Freesat channels on several satellites so researched the channel frequencies of channels that broadcast 24/7, some of which had weaker signal strength.
12207 is Sky News on Astra 2A
10729 is Channel 4 on Astra 2D
11426 is Bloomberg on Eurobird
11307H is Bravo on Eurobird
The result for me is the dish locked on immediately and gave the best signal strength ever on the good signals and I can now get Channel 4HD and Bloomberg which I could not receive before.
Don't forget to:
Memo after putting in the new frequencies
Use the "Motorhome moving" green wire to erase previous satellite positions as the menu "erase positions" does not work.

I hope that this helps someone.

Hi HeliDave - thanks for your work on this. Been away for amonth so excuse my late response. Dave - please excuse my ignorance of this subject but can you please confirm whether or not these settings work ONLY in the UK? And secondly, your criteria reset instructions give you access to all the "normal" UK Freesat broadcasts - have I got that right? Thank you in anticipation of your reply. Regards, Mike Richards.

 

[Helidave]

Hi Mike,
On the "green wire", as I understand it, this should be connected to the positive side of the ignition switch so that when you turn on the engine, the sat system displays "motorhome moving" and folds down the dish and turns off. This also apparently clears the memory or previous satellite positions. The clear positions option on the system does not appear to work and the Positive to the green wire does. If the memory is not cleared, it eventually gets full of previous positions which causes the system to fail to find a new position. This is for wherever you are, not just UK.
My postings on the frequencies were my take especially for the UK as I understand that Astra D is focussed more tightly on the UK but they may well work elsewhere. If you have problems with the system finding Astra 28E, firstly use the "green wire". If that doesn't work, try the settings from Scan Terrieur which I repeated in my posting of 11 June 2011. If all of that fails, then try my settings from 9 June 2011 where the signal should all be set to Y.
Instead of changing your settings for Astra 28E every time, you might like to try putting my settings into Arabsat which is at 26E and should be found on your channel 409.
Good luck and I am interested to hear how you go on as there is another person who seems to be having similar problems on this list.

 

[pampers]

Hi there Dave, I took my teleco box to adveture motorhomes in Highbridge Somerset, he said he has got it working and yes as you can imagine I am parked by a load of trees so I cant check it. It only cost me £20 aparantly what he has done is change criteria 1 "only" I think he said he changed it back to an old settin. I will get the complete criteria settings in the next week or so when I get chance to go down where the RV is stored. Also just a note to anyone else having problems he told me if it locks onto astra 19e get someone to put the dish down if you can get to the dish get the person on board to set the dish to search as soon as it starts to search hold the lnb up towards the dish let it go round a couple of times then slowly lower the lnb the theory is when it first locked onto astra 19e it trys to find that one again I was told that both astra 19e and 28e are so close together by doing this it forgets about astra 19e and trys to find astra 28e. I am not saying it will work but its worth a go. I have been told if my box still wont find astra 28e it needs to go back to Italy at a cost of around £250 because my system is about 8yr old its an analog box trying to get a digital signal which it will work fine but I think this is why I am having problems. If it has to go back to Italy hopefully they will get it working as I dont want to pay £800 for a new teleco box. Good luck everyone I will keep you all posted!!!

 

[Helidave]

Hi Nigel,
Thank you for the update. I would be interested to hear what the change to criteria 1 is. I will try "waggling" the LNB arm when it next doesn't work. One final idea is a dual LNB holder. Most will not do what we want as they are for Astra 19 and 23 BUT there is one that is adjustable. I may get one to try with the idea that I use a single old LNB to lock onto Astra 19 and then line up the second quad LND to Astra 28 for my digital receiver. Once it is set up, we would only ever have to look for Astra 19 !!
I must say that I am appalled that the box would have to go back to Italy. It took ages to get an extension control cable from Italy so you may have to write it off for a year! The carriage costs would also be huge. For any non users reading this - BEWARE TELECO - as UK support is VERY limited.