tbs6981 no signal

[scotty356]

I received the card yeasterday and it is not working. I have a captiveworks 4000 with a Skywalker cw3k which works in linux but not windows and receive lots of signal and channels. The machine dual boots with Xp and I bought this card to run under windows. I have tried several programs to no avail, there is no signal. The card shows 48% signal and 5% quality on # 2 and 5% on both levels for #1 input whether there is a coax cable attached to it or not. The satellite I have is a 32 inch with a disceq, dual lnb and motor. I set the satellite to 97 degrees west and get lots of signal and channels in linux. I have tried setting up the positioner but it does not talk to the motor. I tried running it just as a disceq and nothing. I reboot and switch the cable to either of the cards inputs and no change. I have tried Progdvb, Tbsviewer, DVBdream. I have reinstalled the drivers and reseated the card. Anything else I can try?

[scotty356]

just noticed I put this in wrong forum, sorry about that. I notice in the manual , one of the screen catures show 2 items in the devicekist in control panel, I show just one a TBS 6981 Dvb-S/S2 Dual BDA, there isn't a capture device. Is this the way it should be for this card? The screen capture in the manual is for an 8921 I think. Thanks
lnb invacon quad
dish 32"
diseqc
Stab HH120 motor

[cody]

TBS 6981 is listed as just one device in Windows Device Manager - so, that's fine and it's not the reason for your troubles.

so, as far as i understand from provided information by you have DiSEqC switch, correct? are you sure you put the necessary and right DiSEqC setting for your switch in DVB software you tried like DVBdream? maybe, this forum post will be useful to you:

https://shop.tbsdtv.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=39&start=10#p213

and the rest of the posts in that thread.

in any case, please, provide more clear and detailed information about your setup and what you've already tried. please, note that TBS 6981 hardware failure is very low and the chances the troubles to be caused by wrong software settings are much higher than to be hardware fault of your TBS 6981 card.

[scotty356]

The setup I have is as follows. Captiveworks 4000 dual booting with XP sp3. The captiveworks side is linux and has a card with no windows drivers, only linux. I have a stab HH120 motor, diseqc 4port,(tried 2 different ones), and a 32 " dish. The distance from dish to receiver is about 85 feet, 25 metres. Now since your reply, I have taken the motor and diseqc out of the line and put in a line amplifier. I reset the settings in the captiveworks linux side and scanned 110W(had the dish pointed here before taking out motor) using circular lnb, I got 423 channels , quality of signal was between 63 and 83 and signal level was 65 to 93%. I shut down put the cable onto the A connector of the tbs6981 and reset to simple setup in ProgDVB. 63% quality and 5% signal level. On B connectorI get 5% and 5% with no cable. I haven't tried any other programs as this has been the signal strengths all along with this card. Do you have any other suggestions to test this card or can we go ahead with RMA?
Thanks

[cody]

so, if i understand correctly you verified that the signal on the cable is good with Captiveworks, then put the same cable in 6981 LNB input 1, reboot in Windows, scanned in ProgDVB and get nothing. since you mentioned you're using "circular lnb" my first questions is: did you set the correct LNB type and settings for your "circular lnb" in ProgDVB, because that's really very common mistake? there is no problem to proceed with RMA, but in my opinion it's better first to make sure it's really hardware fault, because TBS 6981 failure rate is very low and i still believe it's just some software misconfiguration in Windows.

[scotty356]

Hi again, I have checked it also with TBSviewer and DVBdream. I am using circular lnb setting with no diseqc and no positioner. It is direct wired with no diseqc and no motor.With the TBSviewer I couldn't find a setting for LNB so I assumed that the program does it automatically when you set satellite. I also tried a complete scan with 5 degree jump. Dvb dream also came up blank. The settings I am using in the captivworks are the same in the software in Windows. Motor or positioner, lnb setting - circular or linear and the satellite. Then scan. I don't even get a single blip above 5% for any scans. It does show quality of 60-65% but no signal. I tried the board in my son's computer and hooked up the sat cable and still nothing. I used Progfinder fron Progdvd, a free app for signal testing. Maybe it is a setting in windows that I have wrong but I do not know where as it is fairly straight forward. Again, any other suggestions? Is there a windows test program for satellite signals other than Progfinder that you can suggest?

[cody]

hi, i believe it's better to proceed with RMA, because i can't think of anything we can check more - it sounds like faulty hardware and in any case when you send it back for the replacement we can test your card and see if it's indeed faulty or something else caused the trouble. please, e-mail us your order details, location, etc to support@tbsdtv.com with CC to euro_support@tbsdtv.com to arrange the RMA. thanks!