Norsat C-band lnbf

[el bandido]

Vu+ did not care about signal strength meters. Their receivers will display wild and erroneous signal readings.

[lme]

Vu+ did not care about signal strength meters. Their receivers will display wild and erroneous signal readings.

I don't know, but my vu+4k can open channels with 20-30% signal, but osmio has snowee pic while showing 60% sig!!!

[armadillo_115]

no elbow Vu+ gets same sig strenght as my very old norsat, but osmio shows same lower values as with the elbow.
So I'm back to my old norsat as i do not see any improuvements from dro.

Well that suks.
But at least you now know that your 8115 isn't much good even as a spare.

I don't know, but my vu+4k can open channels with 20-30% signal, but osmio has snowee pic while showing 60% sig!!!

My OS MIO would lock the Panamericana channel on 116W even when the cheap Chinese receivers couldn't.

On the other hand

When using a Titanium C238 lnbf : The OS MIO would lock hardly any channels BELOW 3800MhZ. (as expected)
BUT The Cheap receiver would still lock many channels below 3800Mhz. Down to about 3700MhZ best I recall.
Go figure!

[el bandido]

I don't know, but my vu+4k can open channels with 20-30% signal, but osmio has snowee pic while showing 60% sig!!!

20-30% signal on your Vu+ equals what exactly? You can't compare signal percentages between two receivers and expect to have any idea how much stronger or how much better reception a receiver has.

You can compare reception between two receivers where one receiver is able to open a channel correctly while a different receiver cannot open the same channel, or opens it with error(s). But even doing this test is not an absolute proof one receiver is superior to the other, or one tuner is superior to the other because of variables. Almost always, without fail, a receiver that has a single antenna will have a bit better reception than another receiver that has two or more antenna connections.

[lme]

"Almost always, without fail, a receiver that has a single antenna will have a bit better reception than another receiver that has two or more antenna connections."
This explains why the tuner of osmio is less sensitive.
I did read one review about this tuner showing lower SNR compared with other boxes (not mentioned in the review).

[el bandido]

What signal/satellite you are comparing???

[lme]

What signal/satellite you are comparing???

My 10' dish has a good view of the arc from 30W to 135W, and trees blocking 125w & 127w.
edition finds few (~3) tps with snr at 15db or over. if the it senses a snr ~5db there is no signal, whereas vu finds a signal and/or pic.

[armadillo_115]

Ime... That sounds pretty conclusive, at least in your specific circumstance.

Maybe you got a weak OS Mio... an exceptional Vu... or some other variable in your system. There's a bit of magic to these electronic doodads that often leaves me scratching my head.

Or maybe the Vu is just more sensitive in general.

All I can say... If it works best for you, go with it!

[lme]

Ime... That sounds pretty conclusive, at least in your specific circumstance.

Maybe you got a weak OS Mio... an exceptional Vu... or some other variable in your system. There's a bit of magic to these electronic doodads that often leaves me scratching my head.

Or maybe the Vu is just more sensitive in general.

All I can say... If it works best for you, go with it!

From the very beginning I was suspecting that my osmio was a lemon for me: either bad quality from the manufacturer (see made in china items!), or was a bad refurbish, but i was charged full price for it.

[el bandido]

Shown below are scan results of my zero4k and mio plus. These files are also attached if you want to look at them.

mioplus
55.6W C-band_347ch_48tp_11-10-2022_20-45-05.xml
55.6W C-band_351ch_49tp_11-10-2022_21-22-02.xml
55.6W C-band_355ch_48tp_11-10-2022_20-54-39.xml
55.6W C-band_356ch_49tp_11-10-2022_20-49-55.xml

zero4k
55.6W C-band_293ch_46tp_11-10-2022_21-15-21.xml
55.6W C-band_300ch_48tp_11-10-2022_21-08-44.xml
55.6W C-band_317ch_48tp_11-10-2022_21-04-11.xml
55.6W C-band_334ch_46tp_11-10-2022_20-59-25.xml

FTA receivers should be fairly consistent, but blindscan on any fta receiver can be considered a crapshoot. My mio receivers are more consistent than the zero4k, and overall perform a bit better than the zero4k. I don't know of anyone else that has a zero4k that works better overall than a mio, but there may be some. Use what works best in your system since you are blessed to have more than one receiver!

The Zero4K is not capable of showing a signal in db or at least it can't on the drivers I have for it. There are two sets of tuner drivers for the mio receivers, and each driver may give a bit different result. A 15db (snr) signal is strong on a 10 foot c band satellite dish. All FTA type receivers are made in the cheapest way possible in order to maximize profits. Receiver model A showing a 20 db reading while receiver model B shows a 15 db signal reading on the exact same signal means little if anything. A satellite tuner by itself that can give accurate signal readings will cost more than most FTA receivers.

Most signal meters on fta receivers will not show a signal unless the tuner can lock it. DVB-S, DVB-S2, QPSK, 8PSK, APSK, and other modulation types require different amounts of signal to lock. For example, if you are trying to lock a DVB-S2, QPSK signal with a FEC of 9/10 then you will need around 6.5db (snr) to open it. Shown below is a partial list of the amount of signal needing to open a certain modulation type.

Standard Modulation FEC C/N [dB]

DVB-S2 QPSK
FEC db(snr)
1/4 2.4
1/3 1.2
2/5 0
1/2 1
3/5 2.2
2/3 3.1
3/4 4
4/5 4.6
5/6 5.2
8/9 6.2
9/10 6.5
DVB-S2 8PSK
FEC db(snr)
3/5 5.5
2/3 6.6
3/4 7.9
5/6 9.4
8/9 10.6
9/10 11
DVB-S2 16APSK
FEC db(snr)
2/3 9
3/4 10.2
4/5 11
5/6 11.6
8/9 12.9
9/10 13.1
DVB-S2 32APSK
FEC db(snr)
3/4 12.6
4/5 13.6
5/6 14.3
8/9 15.7
9/10 16.1

A DVB-S2 16APSK with a fec of 5/6 requires a signal strength around 11.6db(snr) to open. it is easy to get fooled on signal strengths and what a fta receiver displays because different transponders require different signal strengths to open.