# DirecTV ka Spotbeam project



## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

I have created a website for collecting transponder readings for the two Ka band spotbeam satellite locations. Currently the data is all mapped one transponder per map, so there are a total of 13 maps (6 @ 99-degrees and 7 @ 103-degrees). Hopefully as more data is added to the system I can start merging some (or all) of the maps so that the information is easier to see.

To add your transponder readings, please go to the Ka Satellite spot Beam Maps Server.


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## litzdog911 (Jun 23, 2004)

Thanks Brott!

Seem to be having problems connecting to their server, though. Hopefully just a temporary problem.


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## MIMOTech (Sep 11, 2006)

Is the grey areas on the map, population density. i see no entries, was able to enter my values. Question, if transponder is indicated as N/A on the RX transponder display. How should a value be entered? 0 or N/A?

P


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## Michael D'Angelo (Oct 21, 2006)

done


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## jlancaster (Feb 10, 2006)

18655-Done


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## bscoles (Jan 2, 2003)

64804 Added


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## SParker (Apr 27, 2002)

49319 done


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

MIMOTech said:


> Is the grey areas on the map, population density. i see no entries, was able to enter my values. Question, if transponder is indicated as N/A on the RX transponder display. How should a value be entered? 0 or N/A?
> P


There are only 13 transponders active. You should see all of these, UNLESS you have a *H*-20, which doesn't have the same software.....so list what you can & "a" zero for what you can't see [I guess].


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## armophob (Nov 13, 2006)

The old entries are still valid or do we re-enter them?


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## ScoBuck (Mar 5, 2006)

11793 is in the house


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

armophob said:


> The old entries are still valid or do we re-enter them?


And what: have the same dot? I don't think it will get darker.


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## satwood (Dec 11, 2006)

I Have an H20-100. My zip is 01570. My readings are:

99 (net 11)
1-8 all 0
9-16 all 0
17-24 0 30 0 0 0 0 0 0
25-32 0 0 85 89 0 0 0 0

103 (net 14)
1-8 all 0
9-16 all 0
17-24 all 0
25-32 all 0

I have NOT loaded the H20 CE firmware so my readings are designed lower than other boxes. 

How does this map to the data you are collecting?


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## joesigg (Feb 22, 2007)

19095 done


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## jimmyv2000 (Feb 15, 2007)

satwood said:


> I Have an H20-100. My zip is 01570. My readings are:
> 
> 99 (net 11)
> 1-8 all 0
> ...


I have similar readings and i'm in salem NH 03079


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## fredandbetty (Jan 28, 2007)

jimmyv2000 said:


> I have similar readings and i'm in salem NH 03079


Done.

HR20 but i can't see anything on the 99(b) sat .....

48180 zip


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## lwilli201 (Dec 22, 2006)

Zip 64020 in the bag.


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## bscoles (Jan 2, 2003)

The maps don't seem to be adding that many points of data. Are there that few with ka capabilities?


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## N5XZS (Apr 26, 2002)

Here in Albuquerque, NM zip code 87123........

I am getting one signal on 103*W transponder 10 and the signal strenth is at 61% on a cloudy day.

It's seem the KA band is little more sensitive to cloudy weather than KU band.:eek2: 

3-19-07


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## shendley (Nov 28, 2005)

35209 is in. But I'm not sure exactly how you're supposed to read the map. Are the red dots places where a spot beam on a transponder is being received?


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## mhayes70 (Mar 21, 2006)

62286 done.


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## matty8199 (Dec 4, 2005)

I'm confused - what do these maps represent?


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## litzdog911 (Jun 23, 2004)

matty8199 said:


> I'm confused - what do these maps represent?


With sufficient data points we should be able to see what part of the country each transponder's spot beams cover. But I think we need lots more inputs.


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## kevinwmsn (Aug 19, 2006)

Added 36582 - Mobile, AL area


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## Bob Heymann (Jan 29, 2007)

Can someone tell me what a spotbeam is and what it does???


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## wmschultz (Jul 18, 2006)

A spot beam satellite sends a signal to certain spots on the part of the world (US) that it is covering. 
You live in Chicago and get the HD locals, if you take your receiver on a trip to Florida with you, you 
wouldn't get the Locals anymore cuz you are out of your spot zone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spot_beam


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## kiko (Dec 21, 2006)

91208 done


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## texasbrit (Aug 9, 2006)

jimmyv2000 said:


> I have similar readings and i'm in salem NH 03079


You are not actually seeing 99 transponders, the H20 does not see the 99 sat transponders correctly, and you may not be waiting long enough for 103 readings.

On my H20-600, if I select 99 then the screen actually continues to show the transponders from 103, or from 119 (depending on whether I am moving up the satellite list or down), they are not the 99 transponders. The screens on the -100 and -600 may be slightly different, but I think the bug is the same. You will see the true satellite in the middle of the screen although the display shows 99 on the right-hand side of the screen. 
Also, on my H20-600, you have to wait a VERY long time (minutes not seconds) for the signal strengths on the 103 sat to appear. I timed 2.5 minutes to get a reading on transponder 5 (I don't get a signal on 6 so could not time that). So you may indeed be getting zeros, or you may not be waiting long enough for the real signals to appear.

This I think makes ALL the reporting for this map from the H20 very suspect.


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

armophob said:


> The old entries are still valid or do we re-enter them?


So much for me paying attention to this thread :lol: I've subscribed now, so I'll be updated more quickly.

I actually take the average of all values in a particular ZIP code, so if you re-enter the data it's OK. If a particular ZIP code has 80-100 as the reading (average), then it will receive a BLACK dot. If the reading is 50-79, it will be a DARK GRAY dot. All other ZIP codes will have a LIGHT GRAY dot. This should hopefully give some shading.


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## jimmyv2000 (Feb 15, 2007)

texasbrit said:


> You are not actually seeing 99 transponders, the H20 does not see the 99 sat transponders correctly, and you may not be waiting long enough for 103 readings.
> 
> On my H20-600, if I select 99 then the screen actually continues to show the transponders from 103, or from 119 (depending on whether I am moving up the satellite list or down), they are not the 99 transponders. The screens on the -100 and -600 may be slightly different, but I think the bug is the same. You will see the true satellite in the middle of the screen although the display shows 99 on the right-hand side of the screen.
> Also, on my H20-600, you have to wait a VERY long time (minutes not seconds) for the signal strengths on the 103 sat to appear. I timed 2.5 minutes to get a reading on transponder 5 (I don't get a signal on 6 so could not time that). So you may indeed be getting zeros, or you may not be waiting long enough for the real signals to appear.
> ...


I have the H20-100
I have 3 transponders that show signal on the 99.Transponders 27 & 28 are the boston locals and NESN-hd. the other transponder is an overlap of another city.
On the 103 i get all zeros The nearest city from me that has HD on the 103 is Philly.
When i run the signal test on the 99 it takes about 2 minutes to go through all the transponders.On the 103 it takes about 5 minutes.


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## texasbrit (Aug 9, 2006)

jimmyv2000 said:


> I have the H20-100
> I have 3 transponders that show signal on the 99.Transponders 27 & 28 are the boston locals and NESN-hd. the other transponder is an overlap of another city.
> On the 103 i get all zeros The nearest city from me that has HD on the 103 is Philly.
> When i run the signal test on the 99 it takes about 2 minutes to go through all the transponders.On the 103 it takes about 5 minutes.


The H20-100 and the H20-600 seem to behave differently. The transponder numbers you show on the H20-100 seem to be incorrect, if you check with an HR20-700 DVR user you will find the Boston local transponders on 99 are between 1 and 6, can't remember the exact numbers. 27 and 28 are not active. The nearest locals on 103 to you are I think Hartford so you should probably be in the spotbeam. The H20-600 does not report on 99 at all, but reports 103 OK.

I have seen a couple of other reports of people with the H20-100 showing strange transponder numbers with signal on 99, and nothing on 103. So the only thing that seems to work correctly for H20 signal strength reporting is the H20-600 on 103. The HR20-700 DVR reports both satellites OK.


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## jimmyv2000 (Feb 15, 2007)

Thanx Texas ,on my new dvr i see different transponder readings on the 99 
Boy this getting confusing Quick.
But as long as my Hd locals are working i'm Happy


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## tjboyd (Oct 5, 2006)

92882 - Done...


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## pstr8ahead (Mar 26, 2007)

90604 - done


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

So far, there are only 99 entries in the database. Pass the word so that we can start making some sense of this data.

Cheers.


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## chewwy420 (Nov 28, 2005)

17522 - Done


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## litzdog911 (Jun 23, 2004)

brott said:


> So far, there are only 99 entries in the database. Pass the word so that we can start making some sense of this data.
> 
> Cheers.


I wish we could lots more responses quickly. If DirecTV moves the transponders around, the data will be messed up.


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## bscoles (Jan 2, 2003)

Just a reminder... For those new areas that have just come on-line and anyone who's just got Ka Capabilities... Please add your signal strengths! 

:jump3:


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## say-what (Dec 14, 2006)

added 70005

Well, I think I can see 2 small dots in the area, but not on all maps for which I had a reading over 0....is there a threshold signal to register?


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## bscoles (Jan 2, 2003)

say-what said:


> ....is there a threshold signal to register?


Post #28 gives the thresholds


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## ggmorton (Apr 12, 2007)

I got my 5LNB and H20-100 installed yesterday in 77075.
I see on 99 (Net 11) on transponder 10 a strength of 55.
I see on 103 (Net 14) the following:
19 -> 100
21 -> 56
23 -> 81
25 -> 60
29 -> 53
31 -> 76

with zero on the rest on 99 and 103.

It wasn't clear to me how this info was entered into the form on that website.


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## DogLover (Mar 19, 2007)

30078 done.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

ggmorton said:


> I got my 5LNB and H20-100 installed yesterday in 77075.
> I see on 99 (Net 11) on transponder 10 a strength of 55.
> I see on 103 (Net 14) the following:
> 19 -> 100
> ...


:welcome_sto the forum & thanks for wanting to post your levels.
Zeros would be posted as 0 so every "field" as an entry.


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

ggmorton said:


> I got my 5LNB and H20-100 installed yesterday in 77075.
> I see on 99 (Net 11) on transponder 10 a strength of 55.
> I see on 103 (Net 14) the following:
> 19 -> 100
> ...


Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that the H20 does not give out this information correctly. The web page is for the HR20 readings. I would expect the H20 to be accurate, but I thought that I read somewhere that it wasn't ..

If that is not the case, then I may need to add more data entry fields to the web page.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

brott said:


> Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that the H20 does not give out this information correctly. The web page is for the HR20 readings. I would expect the H20 to be accurate, but I thought that I read somewhere that it wasn't ..
> 
> If that is not the case, then I may need to add more data entry fields to the web page.


The national release for either H20 show incorrect [incomplete] power readings.
I just went through my H20-100 with zeros for both the 99 & 103 SATs & I show active transponders from both SATs on my HR-20.
This was why I started my thread in the HR-20 forum...
the H20's software doesn't show the Ka spot beams...FWIW


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## hrobbs (Jan 22, 2007)

48083 done


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## Rankor (Jun 3, 2006)

94945 done


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## Gary Toma (Mar 23, 2006)

Zip 92028 added - San Diego dma


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

I thought this would be a good point to thank everyone that is posting their spot beams.
Thank you all for taking the time and effort for this project.


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## mwg47x (Mar 6, 2007)

80514 done


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## MikeR7 (Jun 17, 2006)

54449 done


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## gus9398 (Feb 14, 2007)

55044 is done


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## n3ntj (Dec 18, 2006)

17022 done


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## harlee (Mar 29, 2007)

21113 done


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

I just rechecked my transponders and found a couple of new ones had been activated.
Reposted on the site.


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## funhouse69 (Mar 26, 2007)

02453 added!


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)




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## spidey (Sep 1, 2006)

brott said:


> I have created a website for collecting transponder readings for the two Ka band spotbeam satellite locations. Currently the data is all mapped one transponder per map, so there are a total of 13 maps (6 @ 99-degrees and 7 @ 103-degrees). Hopefully as more data is added to the system I can start merging some (or all) of the maps so that the information is easier to see.
> 
> To add your transponder readings, please go to the Ka Satellite spot Beam Maps Server.


couldnt add it with following errors. BTW can anyone tell me what I am supposed to see on 103 I get 24, 88,0,0,31,88 and 0 no one seems to be able tell me

Warning: require_once(/var/www/html/core/db.php) [function.require-once]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/sizethis/public_html/spotmap/add.php on line 14

Fatal error: require_once() [function.require]: Failed opening required '/var/www/html/core/db.php' (include_path='.:/usr/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php') in /home/sizethis/public_html/spotmap/add.php on line 14


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

spidey said:


> couldnt add it with following errors. ...


Thanks I'll go work on this. I just moved to a new hosting site a few days back and I didn't go check this particular feature properly ...


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

bump


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## dbhsatx (Jun 18, 2007)

78230 Done


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## BruceS (Sep 23, 2006)

12205 Done.

By the way, our locals are currently not available in HD.

The only HD channels I receive are those in the HD package, the two for MLB EI, and YES HD.

I believe those may all be conus at this time, but I am not sure.


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## n3ntj (Dec 18, 2006)

17022 (south central PA) entered!


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## hobbes (Oct 12, 2006)

27713 added


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## ldmth44 (Dec 15, 2006)

19023 done.


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## Dazed & Confused (Jun 13, 2007)

34471 in......


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## WERA689 (Oct 15, 2006)

30087 posted.


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## syphix (Jun 23, 2004)

56253 done.


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## machavez00 (Nov 2, 2006)

85016


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## dbmaven (May 29, 2004)

10930 entered


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## Greyshadow2007 (Aug 23, 2006)

Zip 74115 added


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## kevinwmsn (Aug 19, 2006)

Added 36582. What's on these Sats? I don't get HD Locals with my HR20.


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## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

39842 added... but it hasn't shown up on the map yet. How long does it take?

~Alan


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## morgantown (Nov 16, 2005)

26508 done (I don't see a dot either, btw)...


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## n3ntj (Dec 18, 2006)

I don't see any dots in my area either, and I know others in my area have been to the site.


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## John in Georgia (Sep 24, 2006)

30656 entered.


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

Thanks for continuing to add data .. I need to go and get the images to update properly.


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## Tigerman73 (Dec 1, 2006)

36054 zip info added


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