@Osef,
Are you sure SABC 1,2,3 etc. have surfaced on Sirius? Please let the house know of the parameters? What dish size are you using?

@Enitan2002,
I see here that you (and your expert welder) have some great skills in metal work engineering. Even "Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Ike" may not shake your giant dish! Be it pan, mesh or fibre! All the best on your nilesat installation.

@George_D,
I agree with your post. Clean, new dishes that are not 'warped' perform better.

@satcoper,
Noted your opinion.

@Olofofo,
Thank You. will check.

@All,
Could the recent drop in signal quality on Nilesat (and others) be as a result of ‘Solar Outage’ experienced at certain times of the day every March and September/October?

A sun outage is an interruption in or distortion of geostationary satellite signals caused by interference from solar radiation. The effect is due to the sun's radiation overwhelming the satellite signal. Generally, sun outages occur in February, March, September and October, that is, around the time of the equinoxes. At these times, the apparent path of the sun across the sky takes it directly behind the line of sight between an earth station and a satellite. As the sun radiates strongly at the microwave frequencies used to communicate with satellites (C-band and Ku-band) the sun swamps the signal from the satellite. The effects of a sun outage can include partial degradation, that is, an increase in the error rate, or total destruction of the signal.
Source:
h**p://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_outage ;
Equinoxe time is around 20th March: h**p://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equinox

@Enitan2002,
Thank You. I also saw your post / idea of establishing another forum 'for nigeria only'. I wonder if it wont be too 'exclusive'.

[i]@ george, thats it. there's to be a change of strategy but the vision of this thread still remains, got that? dats d only reason we lag behind. people only wants to reap where others have sown. some forum makes it necessary for one to view infos to be a registered user. I for one think its high time we have a satellite forum based in nigeria, not to compete with NL but to be unique and have just a single focus.[/i]

Personally, I have really learnt alot through this forum. Will continue to upload FTA ideas, 'feed frequencies', etc. By the way, how many members have been admited to the G-group so far? What has been the general feeling from other nairaland forum members? Is it 'exclusive'? I hope I sound polite here.

@All, Ketigoi, Mofea,
My email address is: nash.namubich@gmail.com

@Olofofo,
Do I qualify to join the G-Group? Well, as you know from my previous posts, I originate from Longitude 36° 55' East, Latitude 1° 25' South.

@Enitan,
In future if you can afford: (1) always keep a 'spare' receiver: one that you preserve in original state; and a second one that you practice all sorts of experiments you learn in the "Advanced School of Applied FTA". (2) Alternatively, keep the original software with you. (3) And if you are a technician, keep a spare panel. . Praying for your receiver.

@Olofofo, Pitodenz,
Thank You for the advice on Identifying genuine Strong receiver. I am wiser now. Cheers.

@All,
I have come across a dealer who is selling a Strong Decoder, SRT4822XII. It has a CA slot for MyTV card, one Common Interface Slot and PVR via USB. It is retailing for US$124, plus another US$50 for an Irdeto CA Module. Since I have not previously used strong receivers, what should I check to know if its an original Strong Product? Thanks.

Visit the following website _h**p://www.dvbfiles.info_ for files pertaining to Starsat, Strong, Echolink, jsc sports, ART, Showtime, "jujucard", etc.  
Note: This is for educational purposes only.   Try it at home if you like experiments and outcome of experiments  

@PAS7/10 users,
Check this FTA feed from Congo daily especially from 1600Hrs GMT: 12639, H, 2340. Try V also if H does not favour your LNB skew.

@Enitan2002,
Congratulations on your birthday. 
May you live to track all birds on Clarke's belt. May you install a 10 metre motorised dish before your next birthday! May you discover how to decode every encrypted DTH channel before year 2012! 

Viewable channels on Sirius at the moment:
(1) Vox Africa and (2) Walf TV : 12605, V, 29950 [This is the strongest TP to use in tracking the bird so far].
(3) Canal 2 International and (4) STV 2: 12540, V, 4060 (from previous 12579,V,4060)
(5) Equinoxe TV: 12536, V, 3890 (Since last evening) from previous 12565, V, 3900.
Note: STV1 and LCF are off-air at the moment

@Pitodenz,
Check the following website too, on installation of USALS motors _http://www.usals.information/inglese/home.htm_.

@Gangsta101,
I salute You. I see here that you actually proved my UPS / backup theory right. An in-expensive way to assemble a power backup system. Congratulations. That setup is actually similar to what I have; and with "11-Watt energy saver bulbs" I can keep the house lit all night and leave enough power to drive my FTA equipment. However, the setup may not support those power-hungry Plasma TVs, etc. Some consume up to 200 Watts. Keep discovering. Nash.

@All,
Welcome to season 3 FTA discoveries. May those constrained by space (like me) manage to motorise their 90cm dishes! May good things come out of Sirius 4 this season. Actually, STV2 & Canal 2 International are still using that bird. Only that they were moved to a new TP: 12540,V,4060. As at last night, Walf TV was FTA. It's great to have a blindscan receiver.

@All,
You may learn more about USALS motors and Installation here:_http://www.usals.info/inglese/home.htm_.

@All,
I guess maddoxoj is refering to the following story:

US and RUSSIAN SATELLITES COLLIDE IN SPACE
Iain Thomson in San Francisco, vnunet.com 12 Feb 2009

Nasa has confirmed that two satellites, one Russian and one American, have collided in space.
The US satellite was part of the Iridium network, a global telephony service set up by Motorola in the late 1990s that went bankrupt and is now owned by private investors. The US military is a major client.

The Russian satellite, Cosmos 2251, was an out-of-control communications satellite weighing almost a ton. The resultant debris cloud is being monitored to make sure that other satellites are not in danger.

"We knew this was going to happen eventually," Mark Matney, an orbital debris scientist at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, told Associated Press. "The collisions are going to become more and more important in the coming decades."

Space debris is an increasing problem as satellites break up in orbit, and is now considered by Nasa as the number one danger to Space Shuttle flights.

The Iridium network was originally conceived as a network of telephony satellites that allowed calls to be made anywhere in the world. Despite start-up costs estimated in the billions, the network was sold at auction for around $25m (£17m).  

Source Websites:
_http://www.infomaticsonline.co.uk/vnunet/news/2236318/russian-satellites-collide_;
_http://www.deccanchronicle.com/international/us,-russia-satellites-smash-space-934_;
_http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/02/12/us.russia.satellite.crash/index.html?eref=rss_topstories_

@baba egun,
Thanks for the highly informative diagrams and info on RS 232 cable. This is my area of profession too - electronics.

@All,
Down load your latest Telesatellite Magazine here: http://magazine.tele-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0903-eng.pdf .(February-March 2009 Issue).

@bodeJohn,

bodejohn:

@ All

I got Stv 1&2 on the W3 bird yesterday after a blind scan of the satellite.
I was about jubilating when i discovered that the frequency and symbol rate is the same with the channels on the Sirius bird.
The stv channels on W3 appeared with a 45 to 50% signal quality, compared to Sirius stv with over 80% quality.
Although i have not checked other Sirius channels on W3, there is a slight possibility on nailing the two birds on one dish

It's possible to receive both birds on one dish, even a 65cm Eurostar like the one I use. You just need to strike a balance/compromise by reducing the signal quality of W3A to 50 - 52% and the Sirius TPs will appear at 45%. However, weak channels like Ariane TV on W3A may not show up on the 65cm. With a 90cm, you are sure to have all channels, I guess. I welcome those with a 90cm to prove this theory. Note: You must use an LNB with a noise figure of 0.2dB - 0.3dB. I use a "StarMax" 0.2dB LNB.

@Sirius Users,
Watch Vox Africa (FTA) on the Globecast TP: 12605/H/29950. Seems like they are all leaving NSS 7 for Sirius! Cheers.

@Sirius users,
A new channel, Walf TV has appeared on the Globecast TP, 12605. Well, not an FTA channel. Encrypted - in Viaccess, I guess. Check their website at _http://www.walf.sn_. Also located on NSS 7 at 22.0°W.

@All,
Globecast is doing FTA test transmission on Sirius 4. Perform a blind-scan to find out. Cheers.

@Gangsta101,
Refering to your post yesterday,

Gangsta101:

Nash FTA,
Nice to hear from u again, actually i am pretty interested in ur post on the sirius bird, because a few days ago, while completing my multi-LNB setup on a 1.8m dish, i wanted to track w3a and sirius with a single LNB. But unfortunately i didn't pull it off (couldn't maintain usable signal levels from both sats at one). why i finally gave up was because i realized tthat even if i did pull it off, i wouldn't be able to receive Go Africa from w3a, so i ended up using 2 lnbs and tying them up in a really ingenious way (i'll post the pic one of these days).
this created a big problem in that i now have 5 lnbs (nile, w3, nss7, sirius and a small dish with 7/10), AND ONLY a 4-way diseqc. i tried tying up the wires from the sirius and nss7 lnbs and feeding them to one diseqc port but experiened considerable signal drop esp. on the sirius signals, so now i've left out d nss7 cable, but i'm still open to suggestions (note, i can't find a 2-way switch, which would have been my best bet or an 8 way diseqc either).

I guess the good signal levels I am getting has to do with the 0.2dB LNB - the lower the noise figure the better. There are alos no obstructions between the dish and the satellites. However, I also noticed that Go Africa and Ariane TV signals were weaker than the rest. With an ofset dish, tracking both the Sirius and W3A with one LNB is easy - If you already have a W3A dish installed, just adjust the elevation by 0.5cm, leaving the Azimuth unchanged. You will have to compromise on quality (at least 45-50% for both birds) and signal level (at least 60-70% for both). Note that the sensitivity of your receiver's tuner is important too! You may get some extra tips on how to connect multiple LNBs at (_http://www.dmsiusa.com/multiplelnbfs.htm_). See the pictures below:

@All Sirius 4 Users,
A new channel, LCF, has been added on 12551 / V / 2444, making a total of 6 channels (STV1, STV2, LCF, Equinoxe, Canal 2 International, RDV). For LCF, Try H polarity if the V does not suit your LNB skew.

With a 65cm Eurostar dish, after slight adjustment, I am now able to receive both the W3A and the Sirius4 with one LNB, achieving a signal strength of 74% and Quality of 50% for all the channels on the two birds (at my 36 degrees East Location). I am using a 0.2dB Starmax LNB.

@W3A Users,
Last night I did a rescan of the W3A and realised that MSNBC was off-air on the TP 12728 / V / 30000 (No Video or Audio but the channel is still there. In addition, a new channel (TV Zimbo) surfaced on that same TP. This channel too had no Audio or video. A quick internet search reveals that TV Zimbo is an upcoming channel from Angola owned by the "Medianova Group" from that country. I believe soon some audio and video will pop up. Check the following links for more info: (Angola Launches first private TV channel: http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnJOE4BE00W.html ); ( http://www.javno.com/en/bestseller/clanak.php?id=214680 ). This channel will compete with TPA1 & TPA2 from that country.

@PAS7/10 Users,
Rescan your decoders at 12562 / H / 26657 to watch a new FTA channel "OHTV"

@ Ecowas4All,
Refer to: [ https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-182209.800.html on: November 27, 2008, 03:09 PM:
@Nash FTA
I tried your frequency on W3A yesterday in Vain:
Quote:
@W3A Users,
STV1 and STV2 have appeared on 12579 / H / 4060. I am watching both right now at 16.40GMT. If Horizontal polarization does not work for you try Vertical. STV1 PID: 111/112/111; and STV2 PID: 211/212/211.
It seems to me that your LNB may be picking the Virus Bird!]

I agree with you now that my LNB is picking some Sirius signal. I can watch STV 1 & 2 daily (signal is 75% and Quality is 50% in the evening from 1700Hrs GMT). RDV can also be tracked on 12557 / H / 3333 but is scrambled at the moment (with signal strength of 70%). So far, I have not adjusted the 65cm W3A dish I am using in terms of elevation or direction; and no other Sirius channel (i.e. Equinoxe and Canal 2 International) has surfaced with this arrangement. Will try slight adjustment to see whether this will do the magic. Cheers.

@W3A Users,
STV1 and STV2 have appeared on 12579 / H / 4060. I am watching both right now at 16.40GMT. If Horizontal polarization does not work for you try Vertical. STV1 PID: 111/112/111; and STV2 PID: 211/212/211.

@Enitan2002,

You wrote today: "@ nash-fta,
hope of getting that bird is very slim,the beam is meant for west africa countries,there's nothing wrong in giving it a trial."

I may disagree with you on this. Have you checked the lyngsat map? Click here: _http://www.lyngsat-maps.com/maps/sirius4_afr.html_. The beam is very much similar to that of the W3A. I will surely try tracking it from 01°17'South, 36°48'East where I am located. I use a 65cm here. Looking at the map, the beam for Sirius apprears to be stronger than that of the W3A. I guess the 65cm might work for Sirius too.

@All SERIOUS Sirius Users,
Please Heeeeeelp ! I can't contain the Sirius excitement within me! This weekend I MUST adjust my W3A dish to pull down the new bird too! Please advice me: has anyone been any to use a 65cm dish with one LNB to track the two birds well? I use Starmax 0.2dB LNB with the 65cm for W3A. I will keep an extra 0.2dB LNB nearby just in case it's needed.

Enitan2002:
"@ nash-fta,
i don't really know how to thank you, but you've really been of great help and assistance to everyone here on the forum, so i say again Thank you[i][/i]".

Thanks Enitan.

Please clarify what you mean by Free2View has left the TP: 12728, V, 30000. I am still watching all the channels on that TP (MSNBC, Direct8, MTA, 2STV, TPA1, RTS) and nothing has changed for months.

@W3A users,
My FTA decoder can see the following: 7 active transponders without any video or audio; plus 5 feed frequencies which occasionally become live with both video and audio; plus the usual 5 TPs with FTA channels (i.e. Madagascar, MBC, Free2view, Miramar, Go-Africa); plus 2 TPs used by GTV. That makes a total of 19 TPs on that bird.