Magicsat not locking on to Astra 28,2E

[mid4did]

Down in spain at the moment,Peniscola.Using a 90cm(approx size)on a tripod and picking up most of sky and Bt channels,no bbc or Itv.Just as we were leaving had a call from highbridge workshop and was asked if I could mail them a picture of the original 2002a remote.Can anyone help please?
thanks Pete

 

[mid4did]

Here is the latest as regards my remote control problem.
I have next to me a camper from Switzerland who ,I noticed has a magicsat auto sat system although not the same model but a later one.I dont know the exact one but I,ve found out his remote works with the 2002A.
He very kindly agreed to try it out and together we got into the menus as per previous posts and altered the settings as to the ones dated nov 2014.The dish has settled down to point now to astra 28.2 .Although I cant seem to get anything when I connect my sky box to it via the digital reciever output on the magicsat box to my sky box (Zgemma star S).
It is progress all the same and I,ve now mailed highbridge with a jpg of the remote control that was working.
I would welcome any comments as to my connections to the magicsat box.

 

[mohiken]

Here is the latest as regards my remote control problem.
I have next to me a camper from Switzerland who ,I noticed has a magicsat auto sat system although not the same model but a later one.I dont know the exact one but I,ve found out his remote works with the 2002A.
He very kindly agreed to try it out and together we got into the menus as per previous posts and altered the settings as to the ones dated nov 2014.The dish has settled down to point now to astra 28.2 .Although I cant seem to get anything when I connect my sky box to it via the digital reciever output on the magicsat box to my sky box (Zgemma star S).
It is progress all the same and I,ve now mailed highbridge with a jpg of the remote control that was working.
I would welcome any comments as to my connections to the magicsat box. View attachment 90845 View attachment 90846

Good morning all
I was just about to mention using a 'learning' remote ,assuming one of us would kindly program it , but its been mentioned in an earlier post .....
mid4did - not a silly question ,do you put magicsat in standby when aligned dish as I dont think it outputs digital while on ? just a thought....

My box is dismantled at moment trying to find relay output to drive sat dish motors as I have a plan (in my head ) to use other method of control - using small pc card (arduino) and attachments,compass,gps,display and relay board
would be similar to magicsats other controllers but at a tenth of the cost - but i got to reassemble it as we are heading on a trip soon

A serious question = has anyone got a sat drive unit for testing with ,not needing dish just the positioner to hook up to the project - (cheaper the better I'm on a pension)

happy travels to all

 

[mid4did]

Latest news and all good so far.
I,m back home in the uk and highbridge have sourced the correct remote for me.I had originally set up as per nov 2014 but no satellite found.Then reset to Rvator's settings and immediately found the satellite. will update later as I have a pressing engagement with No3 daughter's birthday meal

 

[mid4did]

Good morning all
I was just about to mention using a 'learning' remote ,assuming one of us would kindly program it , but its been mentioned in an earlier post .....
mid4did - not a silly question ,do you put magicsat in standby when aligned dish as I dont think it outputs digital while on ? just a thought....
l

A very good question and the answer to my second problem after getting the dish to lock on ,thanks mohiken.Note to self always read the manual().
After putting it in standby mode by pressing the red power button I could get my sky receiver to recieve all available channels.
Thanks to all for the excellent input and to steve at Scan-Terieur for actually sourcing the correct remote,they are apparently different ones according to screen colour,in my case red with white writing. I now have a working magicsat system and as another pensioner the money saved is much appreciated.

 

[StevenJay]

Hi All,
Thought you should know, spoke to Steve at Scan-Terieur today after tearing my hair out all day yesterday and the search criteria have changed again. He has just put it up on their website but here it is below:
Criteria Freq. Polar. Signal Mode
1 11568 MHZ V YES Digital
2 12597 MHZ V NO Digital
3 11200 MHZ V --- Digital
4 11307 MHZ H --- Digital
The dots on signal means that those settings are ignored.

Just tried it and after 5 minutes it locked on fine and I am in the South of France just an hour from the Spanish boarder and getting BBC fine.

Now looking on fly-sat 11568 is Sky feeds on Astra 2G but 12597 is not mentioned but between 2 others on Astra 2F so how do they work it out?
I am trying to lock on to Astra 3 at 23.5 for Satellite internet so just what do i choose?

Now @mohiken that is a very interesting project. Talking to Steve at S-T this morning we are looking at over £1000 for a new control box for the internet system to be able to lock on to 23.5. Being able to control the dish from the laptop would be great.

Any suggestions as to how Teleco work out the criteria would be great so I can lock on to 23.5.

Steve

 

[mohiken]

Now @mohiken that is a very interesting project. Talking to Steve at S-T this morning we are looking at over £1000 for a new control box for the internet system to be able to lock on to 23.5. Being able to control the dish from the laptop would be great.

Any suggestions as to how Teleco work out the criteria would be great so I can lock on to 23.5.

Steve[/QUOTE]



hi Steve
not sure on teleco criteria ,possibly using sio code and frequency
the idea I had in mind was a 'point and shoot' method using the 2 motors in the roof unit and binning the control box.
going back (way back) I had a 2 metre dish motorised on a polar mount and simple east west control
the idea I'm thinking of is to take control of the motors via relays controlled by this idea
gps + compass + arduino board +display (showing direction/elevation/signal-strength and relay PCB
gps to give location to work out elevation
compass for direction
arduino as the heart of the system (small pc board with memory etc.)
display (about 6/7 inch) showing location/direction/elevation/sat name/signal strength
gps pcb (10x10 mm) about £3
compass pcb (10x10 mm) about £3
ardiun0 pcb (60x100 mm) about £30
display 6 or 7 inch about £15
relay board 1 1/2 x 3 inch about £8
so for about £60 the parts a readily available ,which I am confident I could assemble
the crunch !!! it would need programming ,which I am sloooowly learning
and pin outs to motor unit

now back on road with motor-home till September so it all stop for now
sorry for long reply but if you want to see the arduino board there are lots of projects on the web

Colin

 

[mid4did]

Sky have moved the goal posts again I believe.I can now only get german programmes up,whatever settings I use I get the strongest signals on 26 and 19 degrees.Sent an e-mail to scan terieur and in turn Steve is investigating.
pete

 

[mid4did]

Just received updates from steve at scan terieur:

Criteria Freq. Polar. Signal Mode
1 11798 MHZ H YES Digital
2 12574 MHZ H NO Digital
3 11656 MHZ V YES Digital
4 MHZ ---
5 MHZ ---

I havent tried them yet but hope it may be good ones.
I'm also getting prices to upgrade to a new control box as an exchange unit from steve

 

[mid4did]

If anyone is getting the same results as i am then the last list doesn't work,only as far as locking onto 19.2.
Looking at the scan terieur there is now no mention of 2002A support as far as I can see.Also all the frequencies supplied are relevent to 19.2 and 28.2 apart from 12574 which is not on 28.2.
I,m thinking that it may be better to choose those that are on 28.2 only or am I going down the wrong road?
In any case I'll have a try later to see what occurs

 

[mid4did]

well finally with help from @Rvator and previous info from @Analoguesat referring to SR-FEC @Rvator came up with 4 frequencies using SR-FEC of 27500 5/6.
Criteria: Frequency: Pol: Signal: Mode:
1. 12188 H Y Digital
2. 11934 V Y Digital
3. 12148 H Y Digital
4. 12207 V Y Digital
As he couldn't get to his boat to try them I,ve spent the best part of this afternoon trying them with various settings and getting various results.The one that worked to get the dish to point to 28.2 is to use the 2nd and 3rd criteria only
2. 11934 V Y Digital
3. 12148 H Y Digital
Thats how mines set now and I can once again get all my freesat and sky channels.
For how long is anyones guess but for now all is ok.
Pete

 

[mid4did]

After driving to a different location I could not get the dish to lock on to 28.2.Driving back home it would again go onto it ?
I,ve now added two more settings and after clearing data with the green 12v cable as described previously it still locks onto 28.2 straight away my settings are
1. 12051 V Y Digital
2. 11934 V Y Digital
3. 12148 H Y Digital
4. 11953 H Y Digital
I'll try in a different location when I have a chance unless anyone else with the same problem tries in the meantime.
Pete

 

[mid4did]

hopefully the last update for a while.I,ve just driven to weston s mare sea front and it locked onto 28.2 pretty quickly.
Receiving all tv stations.
Pete

 

[Lazarus]

Phew!

Watching TV is a useful antidote to being in Weston Super Mare

 

[mid4did]

Phew!

Watching TV is a useful antidote to being in Weston Super Mare

The tide is in so not too bad

 

[Lazarus]

 

[Rvator]

Hi everyone

Have just returned from cruise on the canal. Following the refusal of the our system back in May to successfully lock onto Astra 28.2 East I took the opportunity while onboard to reconfigure the control box.

After the issues earlier this year Mid4did has successfully put together and tested a set of criteria but before entering those details I wanted to know whether the frequencies that I worked out and HelenH used back in September 2015 were still valid so in the first instance decided to redo my control box using the following that had been extracted from the FlySat web site.

Frequency: Polarity: Signal: Mode:
10714 H Y D
10758 V Y D
10773 H Y D
10788 V Y D

Each of the frequencies is associated with satellite 2E and the UK as the foot print area and a SR-FEC of 22000 5/6.

Entered the data for the four criteria numbers in the order given above into the MagicSat 2002a control box using the normal procedure method and after restart the satellite dish immediately picked up and locked onto Astra 28.2 East. During our time onboard we moved onto different moorings every day and used the satellite system for TV on five occasions and each time the dish did one pass and locked on straight away.

Should also mention that as we have no interest in the television channels that are associated with Astra 19 so I left that setup unselected with '---' in the signal field. Also did a memory clear using the green wire method before commencing.

I was really pleased to have got a positive result and for those people out there still using the Teleco MagicSat 2002a its been possible to now validate two sets of criteria and it probably makes no odds as to whether either setup is used so long as the dish locks on successfully wherever you happen to be.

The cost of replacing/upgrading the satellite dish and control box is an expensive option and although the MagicSat 2002a is well obsolete I shall strive to keep it working. Newer systems as I understand it work on a node identification number so a change of frequency makes no difference the thing just works. However as the MagicSat 2002a works on frequencies to achieve a lock on and as it's a given that the satellite companies will inevitably change a frequency in the group that will prevent the antenna from locking on. So when changes do occur it ought to still be possible to identify what's changed from the FlySat web site or one of the equivalents and make amendments as necessary.

Rgds to all stalwarts still using a MagicSat 2002a

Rvator

 

[mid4did]

Right ,where do I start.To each and everyone using the magicsat here is my latest news.
Just spaen a day I'll never get back reconfiguring the settings once again.
All was well travelling through France and down to spain as far as Tarragona.I lost bbc itv etc but still got the sky package.Moved down to one of our favourite sites at Javea and lo and behold it wanted to lock onto 19.2 sat.
Eventually I took a leaf out of Rvator's book and just ut in the first frequencies down the list with a europe footprint .Still nothing so I kept the first 2 frequencies with horizontal and moved onto the next two with vertical settings.
Eureeka,or something like that ;)
so the ones that are working for me down in Spain are :

1. 11082 H Y Digital

2. 11112 H Y Digital

3. 11225 V Y Digital

4. 11265 V Y Digital

Regards to All

Pete Mid4did

 

[Rvator]

Hello Everyone

A thanks to mid4did for his recent update from down south and the frequency list he found that works in the area he is in.

As with Pete we have been out again on our narrowboat. I can confirm that everything I posted on June 28th this year remains valid. We have just cruised for two weeks in the Birmingham area and at each mooring we put up the dish a lock on to the satellite was achieved within one pass.

At one mooring another boat was there with the same Teleco Magicsat antenna. I struck up a conversation with the people and they had the exact same tale of frustrating experiences that most everyone on this forum post has suffered.

A while back they gave in and purchased a replacement digital receiver (I believe they said it was a Teleco Easy) but at what a price, Eight Hundred GBP. It is for sure the newer receiver does overcome the criteria issues as it works on the satellite network ID and therefore should lock on without difficulty and never need amending but for that convenience the cost is high and personally I don't need TV that badly while we are away to justify paying for that convenience certainly while at least several sets of known to work criteria are available and can potentially be reasonably quickly updated should satellite companies change anything.

I've had a quick look at the four frequencies Pete posted on FlySat.com and they are grouped on the foot print of 2G Europe. Without having an in depth knowledge of things technical I can understand that satellites beam transmissions towards specific areas hence the need for Pete to change as he moved further south and why we don't need to change anything while we remain in the Midlands.

If I were moving around the same way as Pete does I think I would look to have several setups configured on the control box. I would keep number 402 for Astra 28E as the one with the most used criteria and then configure or reconfigure other available numbers in the Satellites list, if my memory serves me right there are some unused numbers. That way although there is the pain of initial setup at least then it ought to be easier to switch around to a setup giving the TV you want. At least that's the theory.

Good viewing and long may the obsolete system continue to work for those few of us that still have it.

Brgds
Rvator.

 

[Rvator]

Hello everyone

An update to say we have done another cruise on our boat this time in the vicinity of Coventry. I can confirm that the comments on my last post stay the same, the criteria I gave on June 28th remain valid with the antenna locking on within one pass at all the different locations we moored.

More power to the obsolete system long may it continue to lock on.

Brgds
Rvator.