[TG] [TG11] setup 37stv to point to 72.7 sat for dish

[unixdood]

I have a 37 stv and I am trying to point to 72.7 on the front of the acu. Can this be done in a user definable slot? If so, what are the settings please? If I need to use the GUI to do this, will the serial cable that came with the MIM work if I plug it into my laptop or do I need a different cable?
Thanks

[Tom - Raymarine - Moderator]

Hello unixdood,

I'm in Australia and know very little about the specifics of Sat TV in the States, but I see that your post has been open a while with no replies so I'll do what I can to help.

You can overwrite any of the pre-programmed satellite slots with new settings, including user-defined slots, and you can programme via the ACU, you don't need to use the PC setup (though that can make it easier.) The PC GUI uses - I believe - a Null Modem cable rather than straight-through. I don't know what cable is provided with the MIM, we don't use these in Aus. You can test whether your cable is straight or NM by measuring for continuity between pins 2 and 3 from end-to-end of the cable. If 2 goes to 2 and 3 to 3, that's straight. If 2 goes to 3 and 3 to 2, that's NM (crossed), which should work. Or, if your tag is a guide and you'd like a software approach, you can bridge pins 2 and 3 on the far end of the cable and do a loopback test through /dev/ttyS0 ;-)

As far as the settings go, I only have https://www.lyngsat.com/Nimiq-5.html, https://satbeams.com/channels to go by, but based on the Lyngsat data I'd expect these to work. No promises though!
RHCP: Freq=12239, Symbol rate=21500, NID=0x1005 (4101 decimal)
LHCP: Freq=12282, SR=21500, NID=0x1005

I've picked those two transponders as they're near the top of the list and they're SD, not HD: I don't know what gen STV system you have, and early systems may not be able to track HD, or at least DVB-S2, transponders. Note that that using SD to track doesn't mean you can only watch SD, just that that's what the STV uses to check that it's pointing the right way.

If you try this and it does a rapid search-track-search-track behaviour then I've probably made an error, in which case try setting the Verify method to DVB Lock or Signal, which relaxes the checking as a test.

Regards,
Tom

[unixdood]

Thank you Tom for the in depth reply. It is very helpful and I will test your information this weekend at the boat. I am currently using the Gen 1 37stv and it seems to work fine as of now except for 1 group of channels. I'm currently on 61.5 and 110 which gives me "most" of my channels. I may be running down the rabbit [censored] with the 72.7 and may not even be needed but I was looking at my HOME dish network sat info and it tracks 61.5 and 72.7 at home. Maybe its because its a different dish but speaking with one of the Raymarine techs on the phone out here, they told me to use 61.5 (or 129) and 110 so that's how I have it now setup.

While I have you, can I ask what the difference is between DVB and SIGNAL tracking? on 615 I can only track when set to signal but the info I have says to set that to DVB?

Thanks again!

[Tom - Raymarine - Moderator]

The methods that the STV systems use to check that they're tracking the correct satellite are:

DVB Decode: Decode a Digital Video Broadcast signal and check that the Network ID value of the broadcast matches the programmed value (strict checking, ensures you're not tracking the wrong satellite)
DVB Lock: Don't worry about the NID, just check that the signal is a valid DVB
DSS Lock: According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Satellite_Service, DSS is a DirecTV-specific broadcast format. This would therefore be checking that the signal being received is valid DSS format. I don't have any experience with this as DSS is not, as far as I am aware, used outside the Americas.
Signal: The most relaxed, and therefore most error-prone, checking. Don't worry about the format of the signal, just check that there is something at the programmed frequency and assume it's a valid STV signal.

Regards,
Tom

[unixdood]

Tom,
Thank you SO MUCH! I have my 37stv working flawlessly now. I receive all the channels that I get at home now on the boat. You filled in the last part of my puzzle (the 72.7 sat). Cant tell you how thankful I am.
Thanks again!

Bill

[Tom - Raymarine - Moderator]

That's a new one for me, solving an American STV issue from Australia, but I'm glad to hear it worked. Thanks for the feedback. Enjoy.

Tom