Coolsat 5K firmware 0.04

[funkypc]

It seems you may have to refresh the page to see the newest firmware.

 

[Babadem]

This is nice. With these updates, aiming a dish with the Coolsat 5K will be more fun!

 

[AcWxRadar]

It seems you may have to refresh the page to see the newest firmware.

Funky,

Right on! There it is.

Thanks

RADAR

 

[ChuckBoozer]

Very cool! Now if only the signal meter was more accurate we would really be in business......

 

[AcWxRadar]

Very cool! Now if only the signal meter was more accurate we would really be in business......

Chuck,

I have a SuperBuddy satellite meter, which is a fairy well calibrated instrument. I can check the signal levels using several different scale options, one of these scales is IRD or %Q that an IRD would display.

When I compare the readings from a Coolsat 5000 to what is measured on the IRD scale of the SuperBuddy, the Coolsat is actually quite accurate. Depending upon the firmware, the Coolsat is actually one of the more accurate receivers in this regard.

RADAR

 

[ChuckBoozer]

Chuck,

I have a SuperBuddy satellite meter, which is a fairy well calibrated instrument. I can check the signal levels using several different scale options, one of these scales is IRD or %Q that an IRD would display.

When I compare the readings from a Coolsat 5000 to what is measured on the IRD scale of the SuperBuddy, the Coolsat is actually quite accurate. Depending upon the firmware, the Coolsat is actually one of the more accurate receivers in this regard.

RADAR

Thanks for the response - that is good to know. What I was referring to was the limited range on the quality meter (roughly 63 - 85). IE - could it be "trued up" to reflect the 0-100 range?

 

[AcWxRadar]

Thanks for the response - that is good to know. What I was referring to was the limited range on the quality meter (roughly 63 - 85). IE - could it be "trued up" to reflect the 0-100 range?

Chuck,

My Coolsat actually reads out accurately from 63% to 99% - never seen a 100% reading.

At or below 63% is an F or failing grade and above 85% is B+ or better grade. Below 63% CNR, the tuner in the Coolsat cannot discern the carrier signal from the noise.

If the meter is changed, it still won't alter how the tuner functions in this regard. All you could do is expand the scale so that no signal (roughly 63% CNR) is displayed as 0-1% and 85% and above are displayed as 99-100%. This would basically make the meter inaccurate according to the tuner's response. It would be like grading the scale on a curve.

It is difficult to imagine and more difficult to explain, but that region between 0 and 63% is actually utilized and it does represent something. It represents the NOISE floor and the condition of your LNBF for one thing. When the carrier signal is strong enough to emerge from that noise floor, it occurs at 63% and then the tuner can identify that it is no longer just background noise, but an actual signal and the bar graph begins to change from red to green.

At or above 85% it doesn't matter anymore. Your signal is so good that it is like being in a race and the guy trailing you is so far behind that it doesn't matter if you look over your shoulder 'cause he is so far behind that you won't see him.

This is difficult to explain. And I do understand your notion, but there is more to it than what you perceive.

Do you ever fish, with live bait, such as minnows? If you do, then you may understand it this way. The meter level increases as you fill your bait bucket with water. It will show an increasing level of RED until you reach the minimum water level necessary to maintain your bait and keep the minnows alive, then the meter indication turns GREEN. Then the bucket is ~63% full of water. You can use the RED level indication on the meter to judge how full the bucket is getting with water just the same as you can judge how close you are getting to a VALID signal level with your satellite dish.

Once you get over 85% water level in the bucket, it doesn't really matter anymore. As you drive your truck down the road to the lake, the water is going to slosh around and spill. By the time you get to the lake, even if you started with a bucket 99% full, you will have only 85% left, and that is plenty water to keep your minnows alive, so why worry about the water level between 85% and 99% in the first place? You have enough when it is at 85% and it won't slosh out much more than this.

This might seem to be a redneck way of describing it, but I am willing to bet that you understand it better. It gives you a visual representation of what the signal meter is looking at. The tuner is your bait bucket and the meter is just informing you what the tuner has to process.

Does this change your perception of the signal meter?

RADAR

 

[Mr Tony]

the issue is the meter compared to say a Pansat is horrible

You noted 63 threshold but most recievers that have the old software the max is 82, The newer receiver (the 99 max) removes from 78-90 or so. Way too many times I've seen a 74 or 75 on the Coolsat (old meter) only to plug that into the azbox and see a 50 or the Pansat and have a 45-50 quality

Pansat seems to be the most "true". 30 is threshold on most 3/4 FEC signals and it can go to 99 with everything in between.

Found a thread when SatelliteAV asked us to see how strong of signal we were getting on G19...Here is my post with both Coolsat & Pansat
http://www.satelliteguys.us/1619695-post17.html

notice some differences

 

[AcWxRadar]

I don't know if I understand what you are stating regarding the meter on the Coolsat.

Certainly, I do see that there is a difference between many receivers and how their signal meters read out or display the signal quality and signal level. A reading or threshold of 32% on one box might be 63% on the Coolsat. I can understand this as each box has it's own arbitrary scale.

I don't think that I am understanding everyone else's point in this regard. I may hook up my SuperBuddy meter a little later and take a specific TP or channel and compare the readings to my Coolsat and AZBox.

I will do this and get back with the results, later.

I have heard many folks mention this about the meter on the Coolsat and other receivers, but I don't understand what they or you guys are actually referring to. If you all can give a much more detailed description of what you are referring to, maybe I can understand it better. Right now, I am kinda lost as I don't see a problem.

RADAR

 

[Mr Tony]

on the old meter (the one that goes to 82) most signals will show on the Coolsat as 70 or 71. But the Pansat will show between 45-65 and everything in between for those same signals.

This makes the Coolsat not the best receiver for aiming dishes. I wont use it when I aim the C-Band dishes because it isnt as accurate as the Pansat. I just went out and moved the 6 footer out of the garage for a program tonight. The Pansat 1500 shows 30 quality and as I tweaked the dish went to 45, 47 then peaked at 58-60. I hooked up the Coolsat 5000 and it went for 66 to 70 then didnt moved as I tweaked the dish....stayed at 70-71 whereas the Pansat jumped 15 points by fine tuning it.

Coolsat works great for blind scanning
Pansat works great for dish tuning

 

[AcWxRadar]

on the old meter (the one that goes to 82) most signals will show on the Coolsat as 70 or 71. But the Pansat will show between 45-65 and everything in between for those same signals.

This makes the Coolsat not the best receiver for aiming dishes. I wont use it when I aim the C-Band dishes because it isnt as accurate as the Pansat. I just went out and moved the 6 footer out of the garage for a program tonight. The Pansat 1500 shows 30 quality and as I tweaked the dish went to 45, 47 then peaked at 58-60. I hooked up the Coolsat 5000 and it went for 66 to 70 then didnt moved as I tweaked the dish....stayed at 70-71 whereas the Pansat jumped 15 points by fine tuning it.

Coolsat works great for blind scanning
Pansat works great for dish tuning

Oh, ok, so the Coolsat meter is less responsive and that is ONE of the drawbacks. The Pansat is better (quicker to respond) here, and especially good when you are tuning to a sat, but the Coolsat is better at Blind Scanning? Maybe quicker and more accurate? Would be nice to be able to merge the characteristics of both into one box, eh?

There is more subject to cover here, but this has turned out to be a good thread! I am learning something new and that is a real bonus!

Thanks to all!

RADAR

 

[Mr Tony]

its not that the Pansat is better responsive, its that the meter is more true. Goes from 10-99 and everything in between. Not like the Coolsat where its 63-82

I've locked a 1/2 FEC program (like WSTV) with a 10-12 quality on the Pansat
30 is threshold for 3/4 FEC (most signals)
50ish is for 5/6 (like ThisTV on AMC3)
71-75 minimum for 7/8 FEC
99 is max and very rarely does it hit that....other than a DBS sat

So when peaking a dish the Pansat wins hands down. That might be why I have no issues with RTV because I squeezed every last drop out of the dish on the meter. I want the meter to change when I move the dish...not sit on 70 or 72

Coolsat is faster blindscan by a landslide but Pansat is more thorough...it can grab those low s/r feeds like KFTL on AMC6 (1666 s/r), KTEL (2170)..drawback of Pansat is it seems to freak out on data and "no name" transponders. What I mean by no name is, since you have a Coolsat, its the ones that log as "TV1 AMC15 11965 V" etc...ie: no real name. Just the satellite and transponder name. The Pansat will take 3+ minutes before logging it as "TV2". I just had to rescan in the channels on AMC7 and it took almost 4 minutes due to some channels on that TP but are "hidden" for normal FTA receivers because they are scrambled.

Coolsat also can have frequency range set on a blind scan. Pansats are whole band...even the 9200 scans the whole band

 

[Babadem]

on the old meter (the one that goes to 82) most signals will show on the Coolsat as 70 or 71. But the Pansat will show between 45-65 and everything in between for those same signals.

This makes the Coolsat not the best receiver for aiming dishes. I wont use it when I aim the C-Band dishes because it isnt as accurate as the Pansat. I just went out and moved the 6 footer out of the garage for a program tonight. The Pansat 1500 shows 30 quality and as I tweaked the dish went to 45, 47 then peaked at 58-60. I hooked up the Coolsat 5000 and it went for 66 to 70 then didnt moved as I tweaked the dish....stayed at 70-71 whereas the Pansat jumped 15 points by fine tuning it.

Coolsat works great for blind scanning
Pansat works great for dish tuning

@ the Highlighted; That's exactly why I use the Viewsat Ultra for dish aiming and tweaking. A quality level between 15 & 25% on the Viewsat Ultra will give you a solid picture and sound. For Blind scanning, nothing beats the Coolsat 5K as far as my experience is concerned.

 

[mikelib]

Blind Scan

I wonder if it is possible for AZBox to incorporate a Coolsat 5k tuner chip and similar blind scan software in its STB. You would do blind scan using the Coolsat chip and software and store the scan results in the AZBox side. It would not be DVB-S2 blind scan but it would certainly improve the AZBox features and pick up a lot of the newer broadcast feeds.

 

[funkypc]

006 is now available.
It adds a switch for the aiming beep tone.
FTAFirmware for Coolsat

 

[Mr Tony]

good that they gave the beep option either on or off

 

[guapoharry]

mikelib, That might be possible, but why would you want to?

 

[cruzin]

no beep here!

I downloaded unzipped and installed the 06 file. I did not see a setting for beep on signal in the software. When I checked system information in setup it showed s/w version 0.06 dated dec 22 2009.
Do I need to do something else to get the beep on signal to work? Maybe a database reset. Would have been a nice option all summer when I was setting up the dish farm.

Never mind I located it.

Found it on/off in the manual scan area.

 

[AcWxRadar]

Yes, the new beep tone control is only present in the MANUAL scan menu and it only applies there.

I requested that it be implemented for the MOTOR setup and DISH setup menu, too. Maybe even the PID scan mode.

I think it is more important to have it available in the MANUAL scan and the MOTORIZED setting menus, however.

RADAR

 

[bassist]

Beep Tone for CS

I'm using old pirate FW for my CS4000 & it has a beep-tone available for manual, auto, motor settings & dish settings. The on-off switch is under "options" in the installation menu. Maybe for the .07 FW version the coders could put the beep option there & make it available for all the scanning options.

BTW, it would be nice if they would offer updated FW for the CS4000's also!!!!

The factory FW available for this machine (the 4000) makes it almost unusable...