Anaconda Blind Scan Problems

[el bandido]

Note: The Optibox Raptor does not have any known blind scan problems.
The following comments apply to the Optibox Anaconda and Gekko receivers.


Some people have been reporting slow blind scan speeds with the Optibox Anaconda while other people have said the blind scan is as fast as the Openbox but with more accuracy. It turns out they are both right The Optibox is spending too much time looking at "dead air", but it seems to move very fast on a satellite that has lots of transponders.

Here are a few ways to speed the blind scan up on the Anaconda while we wait for the problem to be fixed:
1. Use a Standard linear lnb with a l.o. of 10750 on the KU band.
2. For Universal lnbs, use 10600 for the l.o. frequency and turn 22KHz ON. This lnb setting will allow the receiver to scan down to about 11550 MHz.
3. Manually set upper & lower scan frequencies. Use 11700 and 12225 for KU band. Use 3600 and 4170 for C band. Other manual frequency combinations may also be used.

Refer to the attached picture for the location to manually enter the upper and lower scan frequencies.


We will ask Fortis to adjust the scan in the following ways.
1. Set the blind scan Symbol Rate lower so skinny transponders below 2000SR may be found.
2. Speed the blind scan up. The Anaconda and Gekko receivers are spending too much time looking at "dead air" during a blind scan.
EB

[ViP3R]

Great info, and thanks to all who helped figure this out..

[SatelliteGuy]

I started testing my new Optibox Anaconda HD receiver today. My first impression was WOW, but after using it for a few hours I quickly became frustrated. Each blind scan took at least 30 to 40 minutes! Plus it discovered the same channels my Openbox S9 receiver found in only a few minutes.

To make things worse I tried to recan SES2, because the LPB channels were not discovered during the first scan and the next scan zoomed to 81% and stopped. I then deleted all the channels and performed a blind scan again only to have the same problem occur. Then the "Exit" button stopped working. I had to power down and go through the entire language, time zone and channel scans again.

Attached are images showing the scan as well as the firmware version. If anyone could please help I would greatly appreciate it.

[el bandido]

Welcome to legit.
We have asked for changes to the blind scan on the Anaconda and Gekko. Hopefully an updated firmware will appear soon.

What lnb are you using and what antenna settings are you using with the lnb?

[ViP3R]

I started testing my new Optibox Anaconda HD receiver today. My first impression was WOW, but after using it for a few hours I quickly became frustrated. Each blind scan took at least 30 to 40 minutes! Plus it discovered the same channels my Openbox S9 receiver found in only a few minutes.

To make things worse I tried to recan SES2, because the LPB channels were not discovered during the first scan and the next scan zoomed to 81% and stopped. I then deleted all the channels and performed a blind scan again only to have the same problem occur. Then the "Exit" button stopped working. I had to power down and go through the entire language, time zone and channel scans again.

Attached are images showing the scan as well as the firmware version. If anyone could please help I would greatly appreciate it.

WOW is right! It is a great box...as EB mentioned the issues have been sent, and we will have this fixed, I doubt it will take more than a week or two at most, these guy's are good and want to fix any problems...If you see any more issues just say so..we want this box to be top notch so we can all enjoy something different that makes us all happy.

[Guest]

I've also encountered another blind scan issue with my anaconda. Once in a while, using blind scan the receiver jumps immediately to 100% complete and keeps doing it until a hard boot is performed. No major problem but a reboot clears the time and day setting and must be reset.

[SatelliteGuy]

I've also encountered another blind scan issue with my anaconda. Once in a while, using blind scan the receiver jumps immediately to 100% complete and keeps doing it until a hard boot is performed. No major problem but a reboot clears the time and day setting and must be reset.

This is exactly the same problem I had, except mine went to 81.2%.

[SatelliteGuy]

I performed another blind scan on SES2 this time setting the lower frequency to 11700 and the upper frequency to 12225. The scan took 13 minutes and discovered 26 channels on SES2 KU band. Better than 30 to 40 minutes, but is 13 minutes normal for this receiver?

[ViP3R]

I performed another blind scan on SES2 this time setting the lower frequency to 11700 and the upper frequency to 12225. The scan took 13 minutes and discovered 26 channels on SES2 KU band. Better than 30 to 40 minutes, but is 13 minutes normal for this receiver?

There is no normal yet! We should be able to have this box blind scan pretty quick. Keep in mind this box is very new to NA and we are doing our best to have things adjusted for us here,.,.

New files will be posted as soon as they are ready.

[Jim S.]

I've also encountered another blind scan issue with my anaconda. Once in a while, using blind scan the receiver jumps immediately to 100% complete and keeps doing it until a hard boot is performed. No major problem but a reboot clears the time and day setting and must be reset.

WOW am I ever glad you posted that! I just started testing a Gekko tonight and had that problem on only the second attempt at scanning! I thought it was broken! Like you, pulling the plug fixed it though. (By the way, when setting the time, is there a way to set the YEAR without having to just scroll forward through the months and let the year advance every time you pass from December to January?)

Like the other people posting here, mine seems to take an unusually long time scanning most satellites. The ones that take the longest are the ones with the least transponders. And yes, I've tried restricting the range to only 11700-12200. (Apropos of THAT, I know that somewhere, it was said to me that if you select manual scan range instead of auto, it remembers the numbers you put in for the next time you select manual. So far, that's not working for me -- unless it's another symptom of the bug above. I'll have to test that eventually, but I didn't have a lot of time today.)

[el bandido]

A quick way to set the date/year is to put the time in automatic and leave it for a while. it will get something that resembles the time and date on its own. It will set the correct date and time if it is left on a Bell transponder.

The numbers for manual have to be set every time. The receiver does not remember what you set.
We are expecting new firmware within a couple of weeks, but we all know how that goes.

Fortis did give us a firmware that boots in NTSC instead of PAL, and they did give us something that resembles an American satellite file. A better satellite file is being worked on.

Some versions of these receivers have been on the market in other countries since 2010. But I do not think Fortis ever had any real feedback on how these receivers run in North America until a few weeks ago. EB

[Jim S.]

More input: what takes even longer than a satellite without a lot of transponders? A satellite with a lot of transponders that it can't decode. I was trying 107.3W Ku tonight to get a sample of 4:2:2 (still with the default firmware, not E2, but I had another network-related idea I wanted to try) and I had to give up because it was taking forever. That satellite is full of Digicipher transponders. Besides being scrambled, the more important part is, they're not DVB-compatible at all! I wonder if the same problem would be had on a DirecTV satellite, but I don't intend to try right now.

[Jim S.]

The numbers for manual have to be set every time. The receiver does not remember what you set.

My bad, I was assuming something based on what costac said in another thread. He said that if you select manual, it comes up with the right numbers automatically, but he was talking C-band. On Ku-band, it doesn't.

BTW, I'm getting the impression that the scan on the Gekko is really buggy. I'm trying to scan AMC-6 Ku, and not only did it blow through the vertical side in no time at all with finding no transponders (whereas we know that most of them on that bird are in fact vertical), it's been hung for quite a while at 81.2% on the horizontal side. (The Openbox did that once upon a time when they were playing with the blind scan parameters. The part about hanging on AMC-6 Ku horizontal, not the part about blowing through the vertical. It did the vertical just fine. I wonder if skipping the vertical is another manifestation of whatever bug makes it sometimes skip the scan altogether. I really have this gut feeling that there's some bogus data in the satellite list somewhere that's making it do that. It would be SO nice if we could delete satellites and rebuild from ground zero rather than having to edit the satellites that are already there, then we'd know if that was the source of the problem.

[el bandido]

It does not remember them on c band either. If it does, I have never seen it.

All the tools to build a sat file are available on this site. You can do everything but delete a satellite with the tools we have.
We have also constructed a sat file from scratch and consider it a work in progress. I have had issues with it too, but I think most of its issues have been solved.

You may download and install the satellite file that is in this link:
[Only registered and activated users can see links]

The .fdu file works on all three Optibox receivers. EB

[el bandido]

I too did a Ku scan of 107.3W and got absolutely nothing.
I do not know where the 107.3W 4:2:2 channels are but my Raptor did not see them this morning when this post was written.

These people are pretty good about fixing our problems. We asked for the diseqc 1.2 positions to be adjustable instead of preset. (We have a Gekko thread on this 1.2 position problem.)
Either coincidence or not, but somebody decided to fix it. I am running a firmware file in the Raptor where it is fixed. It is my belief that the blind scan issues will be improved soon too.

Diseqc 1.2 picture attached. EB

[Jim S.]

I too did a Ku scan of 107.3W and got absolutely nothing.
I do not know where the 107.3W 4:2:2 channels are but my Raptor did not see them this morning when this post was written.

The 4:2:2 channels are Canadian news feeds, but there's almost always at least one up even if it's just color bars. Maybe we've caught them at an off time.

[Guest]

AnikF1-107.3w:

11935
11943
11949 H 5859

These 4:2:2 feeds are MIA for me as well this morning.

[Guest]

A quick way to set the date/year is to put the time in automatic and leave it for a while. it will get something that resembles the time and date on its own. It will set the correct date and time if it is left on a Bell transponder.

The numbers for manual have to be set every time. The receiver does not remember what you set.
We are expecting new firmware within a couple of weeks, but we all know how that goes.

Fortis did give us a firmware that boots in NTSC instead of PAL, and they did give us something that resembles an American satellite file. A better satellite file is being worked on.

Some versions of these receivers have been on the market in other countries since 2010. But I do not think Fortis ever had any real feedback on how these receivers run in North America until a few weeks ago. EB


Auto time thingy works real well.

[Jim S.]

There was a 4:2:2 feed of Popocatepetl on 93W Ku under the name Fly H.D. (it wasn't HD) for a week or so, but it's gone this morning. (The Popocatepetl feed is now on the same transponder and PIDs as the "Service 2" Azteca feed usually is, under the name FLY 4 TVA, and it's not 4:2:2 anymore.)

[Jim S.]

Auto time thingy works real well.

Don't leave it on auto after you've set it though, there are a lot of transponders that either send their local time instead of GMT, or send garbage.

[SatelliteGuy]

My bad, I was assuming something based on what costac said in another thread. He said that if you select manual, it comes up with the right numbers automatically, but he was talking C-band. On Ku-band, it doesn't.

BTW, I'm getting the impression that the scan on the Gekko is really buggy. I'm trying to scan AMC-6 Ku, and not only did it blow through the vertical side in no time at all with finding no transponders (whereas we know that most of them on that bird are in fact vertical), it's been hung for quite a while at 81.2% on the horizontal side. (The Openbox did that once upon a time when they were playing with the blind scan parameters. The part about hanging on AMC-6 Ku horizontal, not the part about blowing through the vertical. It did the vertical just fine. I wonder if skipping the vertical is another manifestation of whatever bug makes it sometimes skip the scan altogether. I really have this gut feeling that there's some bogus data in the satellite list somewhere that's making it do that. It would be SO nice if we could delete satellites and rebuild from ground zero rather than having to edit the satellites that are already there, then we'd know if that was the source of the problem.


This is exactly the same thing I experienced. I'm using the latest firmware version 2.10.29.

[el bandido]

For what it is worth, the Optibox will blow right through the scan IF incorrect or invalid upper/lower scan limits are used. EB

[Jim S.]

So what are we calling invalid? I've been using 11700 - 12200, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

I've noticed that I have slightly better success leaving it on universal and limiting the range than trying 10600 with 22k on, but only slightly. Either way sometimes ends up blowing through the scan!

[el bandido]

If you make a mistake and enter 117000 instead of 11700 then your blind scan will complete in a couple of seconds without finding anything. Try it and see.
You cannot check and see if you made a mistake after a blind scan because the manual values that you entered are not stored.

[Guest]

For every second blind scan yesterday, I had to reboot my anaconda so it wouldn't blow through the scan- 11700-12200 every scan.

[Guest]

From advise from EB, I saved all channel and sat info. Factory defaulted my anaconda and retransferred all my info back- been great ever since. I also decided to delete some unwanted encrypted channels- that menu is quite impressive.

[SatelliteGuy]

From advise from EB, I saved all channel and sat info. Factory defaulted my anaconda and retransferred all my info back- been great ever since. I also decided to delete some unwanted encrypted channels- that menu is quite impressive.


But my blind scan problems occurred right out of the box before any satellites were setup. My very first scan took roughly 40 minutes and then I constantly had to repower the unit. However, I'll try the factory default.

[el bandido]

A factory default will not fix a 40 minute blind scan but it may fix the scan running from 0 to 100 in a few seconds. I think this 0 to 100 scan problem is corruption or an incorrect setting.

New firmware has been released for some of the other Fortis receivers, and I imagine it will not be long before Optibox has some new firmware too. Whether the new firmware will blind scan any better remains to be seen. EB

[SatelliteGuy]

Last night I removed the Ecoda 22KHz switch from my system and performed 7-9 blind scans and the "L-Band of Universal LNB with Horizontal Polarity" message didn't appear once. I'm going to continue testing without the Ecoda 22KHz switch until I'm convinced the problem no longer occurs.

[ViP3R]

You never know it could well be the switches..I run a single LNB from my C-Band dish and have not had one lockup apart from when I installed webzeal, I did need a hard boot in this case.
I have yet to see scanning stopping or freezing at 81% either or blowing through transponders the Anaconda always completes the scan on all polarity's.

My blindscan times average 25-30 minutes. I didn't really want to say I am not experiencing any of the problems before, as you know I sell them at LegitFTA-Shop and some would think because of this I would there is not a problem.

Not the case though, I fully believe you guy's are having these issues. So even if it is a switch issue, this needs to be fixed as well as speeding up the blindscan..I like to feed hunt as well and if we could get it down to 10-15 minutes, I think most would be pretty happy. I would not expect it to be much faster than that or we may lose the accuracy.

We have sent the requests for changes to be made..I was told it would take a few weeks for the needed changes...Just don't carve that in stone...lol
They were pretty quick to make an NTCS file for us because of the simplicity of changes on that, but my understanding is this requires a good deal more work.

So all we can do is hang in there and keep testing for any other issues.

Myself If I see any switch issues if thats the case fixed and the blindscan speed-ed up, I think this Anaconda is good to go.

[Bellboy]

I am having the same scan problems as everyone else & I'm not using any switches.

[Guest]

No switches on my end either. Turns out to be about 1 reboot per 5 blind scans and hopefully blind scan speed can be addressed as well.

[ViP3R]

No switches on my end either. Turns out to be about 1 reboot per 5 blind scans and hopefully blind scan speed can be addressed as well.

This is very odd to me.. when I set up the Anaconda, I scanned my C-Band arc from 55W to 123W through the whole day non stop.. not one single reboot needed and all scans completed... Go figure!

[SatelliteGuy]

This is very odd to me.. when I set up the Anaconda, I scanned my C-Band arc from 55W to 123W through the whole day non stop.. not one single reboot needed and all scans completed... Go figure!

Perhaps it only occurs when scanning KU band.

[Guest]

I can't see it only occurring when scanning on ku band. I initially set my anaconda up on c band and scanned all sats- don't recall having this issue. My receiver is set up on my ku feed and it happens on a daily basis. My ku blind scans are always 11700-12200 unless scanning a sat with lower frequencies and c band was 3600 or 3700-4200 depending on the sat.

[ViP3R]

Perhaps it only occurs when scanning KU band.

Am I the only one using the Anaconda on C-Band ? Costa said he did not see this when on C-Band and he does now on KU, I will hook up the Anaconda tomorrow on my KU and see if I get the same.. Thanks all for your input.

[Guest]

Actually, I'm going to hook up my anaconda on c band right now and check it out.

[Guest]

I am scanning Amc6 at the moment on c band with my anaconda. I had forgotten that default when you go manual in the blind scan menu was 3700-4200, just wondering if its an issue because you actually have to change the numbers for ku band.

[el bandido]

3700 and 4200 are not default scan parameters. They are only numbers that appear when you select manual mode.

In automatic mode, the entire range is scanned from about 950 MHz to 2150 Mhz.
To find out what is being scanned in automatic mode, subtract 950 from 5150 for your high limit and 2150 from 5150 for your low limit. EB

[Guest]

Did it again EB. I meant default when you choose the manual option. So far I haven't encountered any issues on c band at all and I have changed the frequency several times. I'm thinking that when you input 11700-12200 for ku and the scan starts at 27.9% that it just jumps but I can't explain it.

[Bellboy]

For me it happens in KU. I have not used it for c band yet.

[easily confused]

Am I the only one using the Anaconda on C-Band ? Costa said he did not see this when on C-Band and he does now on KU, I will hook up the Anaconda tomorrow on my KU and see if I get the same.. Thanks all for your input.

Mine is set up on C Band and i am getting the same issues

[Guest]

I scanned 8 c band sats last night and it didn't happen even once.

[Guest]

After about 12 blind scans I attempted one on Galaxy17 at 91w- 3 times in a row it jumped from 50 to 100% immediately. It doesn't seem to be occuring as often on c band as it does on ku but it does happen.

[SatelliteGuy]

Perhaps there are two separate problems.
1) Jumping to 100% immediately while on C band
2) Error message "L-Band of Universal LNB with Horizontal Polarity" while on KU band

[SatelliteGuy]

I scanned 8 c band sats last night and it didn't happen even once.

Are your blind scans taking approx. 30 minutes to complete? For me this is just too long even if the scan is accurate.

[Guest]

Are your blind scans taking approx. 30 minutes to complete? For me this is just too long even if the scan is accurate.

Depends on the sat. For sats that are heavily tp populated the receiver scans real quick but for dead sats like Amc6 for example on c band about 20-25 minutes.

[Guest]

All right, the last time I had to reboot the receiver on a blind scan was at 91w. I got to 103w before it happened again so that would be 91, 95,97,99 and 101- 5 sats.

[ViP3R]

Are your blind scans taking approx. 30 minutes to complete? For me this is just too long even if the scan is accurate.

I average about 25-30 minutes as well. and it is to long.

I had a chat just a few hours ago and was assured this would be fixed. I mentioned in another post there are more than a few changes they need to make for this and may take a while..I didn't get a time table..I was just assured it will be fixed....As soon as we have more info it will be posted here..I'm looking forward to faster scanning as much as everyone else.

[easily confused]

Perhaps there are two separate problems.
1) Jumping to 100% immediately while on C band
2) Error message "L-Band of Universal LNB with Horizontal Polarity" while on KU band

I got the "Error message "L-Band of Universal LNB with Horizontal Polarity" while scanning C Band

[ViP3R]

I probably should not even post this, but what the hell.

I was told this morning that the blind scan issues and speed is being worked on and to expect a new file this week or early next week if its 100%.

Just don't shoot the messenger if it takes longer..Just wanted to let you guy's know that it will be fixed.

[SatelliteGuy]

Excellent news!!!

[Guest]

I probably should not even post this, but what the hell.

I was told this morning that the blind scan issues and speed is being worked on and to expect a new file this week or early next week if its 100%.

Just don't shoot the messenger if it takes longer..Just wanted to let you guy's know that it will be fixed.

I have to agree with satelliteguy, awesome news. I've been using my anaconda on c band the last few days as it doesn't seem to have as many issues as on ku. My pansat9200 replaced it on ku but keeps missing tp on blind scans- optibox is back as my main ku scanner.

[ViP3R]

I have to agree with satelliteguy, awesome news. I've been using my anaconda on c band the last few days as it doesn't seem to have as many issues as on ku. My pansat9200 replaced it on ku but keeps missing tp on blind scans- optibox is back as my main ku scanner.

Very good..Just as above post..I had further confirmation a short time ago to expect a new file within 1-2 weeks..

I think we are all looking forward to this..the Gekko will also have an updated file for the same issues.