Changing the Channel Frequency or Polarity

This document references the [Menu 7] section of your Chaparral Monterey 100 owner's manual.

C-band satellites are all very similar. They have 24 channels, and the only difference is that a channel which is Vertical polarity on one may be Horizontal on another.

Ku-band satellites are much more complex; the frequencies and polarities assigned to each channel vary greatly from satellite to satellite. For that reason, it is very important to get and note the downlink frequency when you receive a Ku-band satellite program announcement. In some cases, there are three different frequencies which are assigned to the same channel. Your receiver may for example, be looking at "Channel 11 Upper", but it may be a different "Channel 11" than the one actually in use (perhaps 11 Center or 11 Lower). However, this is easy to overcome using the Chaparral Monterey 100 series receivers.

The following "cookbook" procedure explains how to change the channel frequencies or polarity. This uses example uses Telstar 4 (Ku).

  1. Turn on your receiver; press the [Satellite] button to display menu of satellites on monitor.
  2. Select Telstar 4-Ku, usually called W4. To assure it's the correct satellite, look at Telstar 4-C band, usually called T4. Check the four-digit dish positions for each. If the two positions are the same or close (+/- 5 digits) they are probably the C and Ku versions of the same satellite.
  3. Once you are on Telstar 4-Ku, go to your channel, 11 in this example. We'll say that your program is listed as "Telstar 4-Ku, Channel 11, downlink frequency 12018". But in this case, you don't see anything! What's wrong?
  4. Go to [Menu 7] (use your password to get there)
  5. Cursor down to [Frequency] and you will see the frequency that's being viewed. Chances are it reads 120480. This is actually the top one of three frequencies which can occupy channel 11, and yours is the bottom frequency. (The possibilities are channel 11/upper, 11/Center, and 11/Lower.) You must change to the correct frequency for your program.
  6. Hit [Enter]. This allows you to enter the frequency numbers for your desired channel. As you enter the numbers, you usually have to add an extra zero after the frequency to fill the space available for digits. (All spaces must be filled.)
  7. If you still don't see the image and you know the channel is carrying a program, move the cursor to [Polarity] and press [Autotune]. This should bring in the picture.
  8. If the picture is "sparkly", move the cursor to [Position] and press [Autotune]. This will fine-tune the dish position.
  9. Press [Menu][Menu] to save your setup.

Note: if the frequency is correct when you check [Menu 7] but the program is not visible, the polarity is usually the problem. Use the polarity [Autotune] procedure in step 7 above.

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Copyright 1997, Dr. Albert E. Powell, Jr.
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