Horizon Satellite Meters

Application Note

Installing StarBand Systems Using the Birdog

2/6/2005

StarBand systems have a single polarity LNB: they can be set for either horizontal or vertical polarization by rotating the receiver LNB (or polarizer) on the mounting arm but will not select the polarity based on the LNB supply voltage of 13 or 18 volts like most other systems. For this reason, when you configure the Birdog, you need to download both polarities (V&H) for the satellite listed as K V StarBand G27 129 West and K H StarBand G27 129 West. You also need to download the satellte listed as K H StarBand AMC4 101 West.

Because StarBand always references the VSAT’s transmit polarization to specify the polarization for each assignment, the StarBand polarization may be opposite of the receive polarization used in satellite charts such as LyngSat. The VSAT’s transmit polarization is set to the assigned polarization by rotating the 75E polarizer such that the "H" or "V" mark points to "0" on the polarizer scale. Therefore, an "H" setting on the 75E antenna will provide a horizontal transmit and vertical receive polarization and a "V" setting will provide a vertical transmit and horizontal receive polarization.

The "K V StarBand G27 129 West" and "K H StarBand G27 129 West" configuration options for the Birdog correspond to the site parameters (satellite assignment and VSAT transmit polarity) obtained from the StarBand CVACS (Consumer VSAT Automated Commissioning System).

If you receive from CVACS:: A vertical assignment for G27, use the "K V StarBand G27" option displayed on the Birdog.; A horizontal assignment for G27, use the "K H StarBand G27" option displayed on the Birdog.; A horizontal assignment for AMC-4, use the "K H StarBand AMC4" option displayed on the Birdog.

Note: StarBand only uses a horizontal (H) transmit polarity for AMC-4 (formerly GE-4).

Instructions For Use:

1. Set the antenna skew, elevation, polarization,and coarse azimuth recommended by StarBand (obtained from CVACS) for your customer.
2. Connect the Birdog to the LNB.
3. Turn on the Birdog and select the proper satellite and polarity (only applicable if using G27):
- a) Press "ON" and hold key for 5 seconds.
- b) Press the right or left arrow keys until the desired satellite [and polarity] is shown:
  - i) Use "K V StarBand G27" to install a vertical transmit system for G27.
  - ii) Use "K H StarBand G27" to install a horizontal transmit system for G27.
  - iii) Use "K H StarBand AMC4" to install a horizontal transmit system for AMC-4.
4. Begin pointing of antenna. When desired satellite is located, "Searching" will change to "Found".
5. Slowly adjust the azimuth and elevation until both the "S" and "Q" bars are maximized.
6. Lock down azimuth and elevation locking nuts and recheck readings to ens ure it has not changed, and proceed with the remainder of the installation.
7. After optimizing the antenna pointing with the receive signal, the installation must be commissioned using the StarBand’s CVACS (888-424-4121).

StarBand is a registered trademark of StarBand Communications Inc. Perfect-10 is solely responsible for the performance of the Birdog satellite finder. Use of the Birdog for StarBand installations does not imply StarBand endorsement.