abc STARGUIDE III User manual

Page 1of 7 4/16/2002
ABC STARGUIDE III SATELLITE RECEIVER
TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE
Starguide III Receiver
Featutues of the Starguide III satellite receiver:
•L-Band input (950 MHz –1450 MHz). A Phase Lock Loop (PLL) LNB (Low Noise Block
Downconverter) is required for nominaloperation. A “digital-ready” LNB is not the same
thing and may provide sub-standand performance.
•Six (6) “ports” are available on the back for any number of available expansion cards
•Standard ABC News Affiliate Package: two (2) audio decoders, one (1) relay card, and one
(1) Netcue/Data card.
•Standard ABC 24-hr Format Affiliate Package: two (2) audio decoders, one (1) relay card
Receiver Condition Indicators Cause/Resolution
NORMAL Green SIGNAL, SYNC and
POWER LEDs illuminated.
LCD display reads:
STARGUIDE III
EB XX.X AG XXX
(where X = numerical value)
N/A
UNABLE TO FIND
ANY ABC SERVICES
ON STARGUIDE
CARRIER
Green SIGNAL, SYNC and
POWER LEDs illuminated.
LCD display reads:
STARGUIDE III
EB XX.X AG XXX
(where X = numerical value)
Under CARRIER MENU, carrier
name listed as NSN, ViretX,
Westwood East, OneOnOne.
Receiver not set for ABC frequency
and data rate.
Tune receiver to ABC Starguide
carrier from CARRIER MENU.
AMC-8: FREQ: 0990000 kHz
RATE: 12288000BPS
VIT: 2/3
NOTE: Receiver must have software
version 2.16 or higher in order to
tune to the ABC Starguide carrier on
AMC-8.

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Receiver Condition Indicators Cause/Resolution
UNABLE TO
ACQUIRE A CARRIER Green POWER and red FAULT LEDs illuminated. LCD display
reads:
STARGUIDE III
ACQUIRING
AG reading below 200. AG reading
can be found under STATUS
MENUand SIGNAL STRENGTH
sub-menu.
Incorrect frequency, incorrect data
rate and/or incorrect Viterbi setting.
Tune receiver to ABC Starguide
carrier from CARRIER MENU.
AMC-8: FREQ: 0990000 kHz
RATE: 12288000BPS
VIT: 2/3
UNABLE TO
ACQUIRE A CARRIER Green POWER LED and red FAULT LEDs illuminated.
LCD display reads:
STARGUIDE III
ACQUIRING
AG reading at 255. AG can be
found under STATUS MENUand
SIGNAL STRENTH sub-menu.
No LNB power.
Turn on LNB VOLTAGE switch
located at back of receiver.
KEYPAD AND/OR
FRONT PANEL LED’s
DO NOT FUNCTION
Only POWER LED is lit. Unable to
program receiver through keypad. Ribbon cable connector between keypad and receiver motherboard is
loose or disconnected.
Remove cover on top of receiver and
restore ribbon cable connection.
INTERMITTENT
DROPOUTS Green SIGNAL, SYNC and POWER LEDs illuminated. LCD
display reads:
STARGUIDE III
EB XX.XX AG XXX
(where X = numical value)
EB value drops and red FAULT
LED lights when dropout occurs
(this feature only available with
receiver firmware version 2.16)
RF interference affecting reception or
intermittent coaxial connection. If
other receivers on same antenna
affected, problem is between the dish
antenna and the receivers.
Check and replace any coaxial
connections or L-band splitters for
corrosion or damage.
Check for any nearby RF source (cell
phone tower, airport with radar, U.S.
Air Force base). May require a
bandpass filter.
Check dish alignment and
polarization for possible adjacent
satellite interference.

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Audio Decoder Card
This card has the ability to receive 1 data pipe (128kb, 192kb, etc.). Depending on how the
headend MUSICAM encoder is set (Joint Stereo, Dual Mono or Mono) you will get 2 audio channels on
the DB-9 (AUDIO) connector on the card. The audio channels (called services) are divided into one of
three categories, known as a "PROVIDER", for ease in navigation.
ABC RADIO: Music Formats including Tom Joyner and Doug Banks
ABC NEWS: ABC Radio News, ESPN East and ESPN West, ABC Talk
ABC NY: All other, mainly client services and ABC Talk
Once a port with an audio card is selected, PROVIDER is the first part of the Menu Tree. If the port is set
to the wrong provider, you will not see the SERVICE, or channel, you are looking for. Once the
PROVIDER is set, you then go to the SERVICE menu to select the channel.
Starguide is a closed system, so permissioning is required. If a receiver is not authorized for a service, the
last 2 characters in the services window will say 'NA'. The ABC RADIO and ABC NEWS Providers are
set-up to only permission if you are an affiliate. Most services in the ABC NY Provider are permissioned
to everyone (client services). A client needs to buy a full data pipe in order to do permissioning and
WOR is currently the only client that is using that function. All others are open. Basically if you are not
an affiliate and buy a receiver from us you will only be able to get services under the ABC NY Provider.
There is also a DB-15 connector (DIGITAL IF). MPEG Layer 2 protocol is designed to include overhead
data, which allows for Starguide relay closures (similar to our ABR-200 Ku feeds from ESPN and KGO
for closures). The Protocol can accept up to 16 closures. However, only the first 4 are available on the
audio card via the DB-15 connector. THIS IS NOT NETCUE.The Starguide relay closure information
is embedded in the MPEG L2 frames. This requires a box on the Headed called a PBE (push button
encoder) for each audio pipe (128kb or 192kb). This box has 16 inputs (one for each relay) and a single
serial data output that is wired to the associated encoder (both PRI & SEC). This PBE generates the
proper data steam for closures that gets muxed with the digital audio to provided the proper MPEG Layer
2 data protocol.
Audio Card Condition Cause/Resolution
NO AUDIO OUTPUT Receiver port not properly configured.
Start at top level menu.
Press <Enter> on the Starguide keypad:
Press ?until you get to PORT MENU, press <Enter>
Press ?until you get to the desired PORT with audio card, press <Enter>
Press ?until you get to CARD TYPE, press <Enter>
Press ?until you get to AUDIO, press <Enter>
Press ?until you get to PROVIDER, press <Enter>
Press ?until you get to desired PROVIDER , press <Enter>
Press ?until you get to SERVICE, press <Enter>
Press ?until your desired service displayed, press <Enter>.
TWO AUDIO FEEDS
MONITORED Equipment wired to MONO SUM output from decoder card.
Rewire decoder output to separate LEFT/RIGHT connections.

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16-function Relay Card
MPEG L2 Protocol allows up to 16 relays as part of the Data Frame, but only the first 4 are available on
the audio card. If more are needed, then a relay Expansion Card is required.
The RELAY card is PHYSICALLY MATED ON TOP OF THE DESIRED AUDIO CARD. Both the
RELAY card on top and the AUDIO card on the bottom have to be connected together outside of the
Starguide receiver, and then physically inserted together in vertical slots.
The RELAY card has a DB-37 connector and all 16 relays of the desired audio channel can be decoded.
If a different SERVICE is selected on the associated AUDIO card, the relays change as well. ABC is
using Starguide relays for F/T Formats (Dallas) and F/T client feeds (F/T clients also get NetCue). All
occasional use clients will only be allowed to use NetCue for closures.
If a station needs to remove the relay card, or the audio card directly beneath the relay card, BOTH
CARDS MUST BE REMOVED AT THE SAME TIME. Both cards will be damaged if you attempt to
remove just one of the cards!
Relay Card Condition Cause/Resolution
FUNCTION 5 (RLY 4)
NOT WORKING 37-pin connector miswired.
Rewire connector avoiding GND (pins 5, 10, 15, 24 and 33)
NO RELAYS
WORKING Receiver port(s) not properly configured. ALL RELAY CARDS MUST BE USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH AUDIO DECODER LOCATED
DIRECTLY BENEATH IT.
Start at top level menu. Press <Enter> on the Starguide keypad:
Press ?until you get to PORT MENU, press <Enter>
Press ?until you get to the desired PORT with RELAY card, press <Enter>
Press ?until you get to CARD TYPE, press <Enter>
Press ?until you get to RELAY, press <Enter>
Start at top level menu. Press <Enter> on the Starguide keypad:
Press ?until you get to PORT MENU, press <Enter>
Press ?until you get to the desired PORT with an audio card, press <Enter>
(If RELAY card is in PORT B, go to AUDIO card in PORT C)
Press ?until you get to CARD SETTINGS, press <Enter>
Press ?until you get to ASYNC PORT, press <Enter>
Press ?until you get to NORMAL, press <Enter>
Press ?until you get to BAUD RATE, press <Enter>
Press ?until you get to 9600, press <Enter>

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Relay Card Condition Cause/Resolution
NO RELAYS
WORKING 37-pin connector miswired.
Rewire connector using following table.
1RLY0A 20 RLY0B
2RLY1A 21 RLY1B
3RLY2A 22 RLY2B
4RLY3A 23 RLY3B
5CHASSIS GND 24 CHASSIS GND
6RLY4A 25 RLY4B
7RLY5A 26 RLY5B
8RLY6A 27 RLY6B
9RLY7A 28 RLY7B
10 CHASSIS GND 29 RLY8B
11 RLY8A 30 RLY9B
12 RLY9A 31 RLY10B
13 RLY10A 32 RLY11B
14 RLY11A 33 CHASSIS GND
15 CHASSIS GND 34 RLY12B
16 RLY12A 35 RLY13B
17 RLY13A 36 RLY14B
18 RLY14A 37 RLY15B
19 RLY15A

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Electronic Digital Audio Storage (eDAS) Card
The eDAS card can be used in two ways. One is to transfer digital audio files (primarily
commercials and text instructions) to separate computers co-located with the receiver. The
eDAS card also has the ability to store up to 144 minutes of digital audio on the card. Newer
versions of the eDAS card can store up to 288 minutes of digital audio.
The eDAS card has a special “disk on a chip” that can hold digital audio files (commercials,
shows, etc.) for store & forward applications. The idea of this card is that we can download all
the commercials & schedules into this card from the Store & Forward system. One of the above
mentioned audio cards can be routed thru it (the eDAS has a built-in mixer) so it passes audio.
On a command (usually a standard relay closures, not NetCue), the eDAS card will mute the
audio going through it and play a file (commercial) from its own disk. When complete, it will
restore audio from the network. With the eDAS card in place, rather than the Network playing
the same commercial to a specific time zone, regional commercials can play to any station. In
theory, every station across the Network could play a different commercial if required. Last
minute copy can be downloaded at any time. The Store & Forward channel (S&F) has its own
bandwidth running at 512 kb/s.
EDAS or Ethernet
Card Condition Cause/Resolution
CARD NOT
WORKING Receiver port not properly configured.
Start at top.level menu. Press <Enter> on the Starguide keypad:
Press ?until you get to PORT MENU, press <Enter>
Press ?until you get to PORT D, press <Enter>
Press ?until you get to CARD TYPE, press <Enter>
Press ?until you get to Ethernet Card, press <Enter>
Press ?to select YES to confirm, then press <Enter>
Press ?until you get to PROVIDER, press <Enter>
Press ?until you get to ABC RADIO, press <Enter>
Press ?until you get to SERVICE, press <Enter>
Press ?until the S&F is displayed, press <Enter>
NO AUDIO
MONITORED FROM
EDAS CARD
Audio card not configured properly or audio harness intermittent.
Check audio card settings as described above. In a “play-to-air”
configuration, the eDAS card (usually PORT D) will be connected with a
wiring harness to the audio card (usually PORT C). If audio card is properly
configured, remove wiring harness and check for audio direct from audio
card.
UNABLE TO CHANGE
IP SETTINGS Ethernet or eDAS card requires firmware upgrade.
ABC can upgrade a card over the satellite link. The Ethernet or eDAS card
MUST be tuned to the correct CARD TYPE, PROVIDER and SERVICE
setting above before ABC can send the upgrade to the card.

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Netcue Data Card
The Starguide system also utilizes ABC NetCue. NetCue data in transmitted along with ABC
Data on its own 64 kb/s data channel. This data channel is located under the ABC NEWS
provider and is called NETCUE/DATA.
1. All 16 relays are on the NetCue/Data card, no external Netcue Box is required.
2. NetCue relays can be programmed over the satellite link.
Netcue Card Condition Cause/Resolution
CARD NOT
WORKING. NO LED
ACTIVITY ON CARD
Receiver port not properly configured.
Start at top level menu. Press <Enter> on the Starguide keypad:
Press ?until you get to PORT MENU, press <Enter>
Press ?until you get to desired receiver port with Netcue Card, press <Enter>
Press ?until you get to CARD TYPE, press <Enter>
Press ?until you get to Ethernet Card, press <Enter>
NOTE: If this Starguide III receiver also has an EDAS card, then you may
need to set CARD TYPE to EDAS)
Press ?to select YES to confirm, then press <Enter>
Press ?until you get to PROVIDER, press <Enter>
Press ?until you get to ABC NEWS, press <Enter>
Press ?until you get to SERVICE, press <Enter>
Press ?until the NETCUE/DATA is displayed, press <Enter>
UNABLE TO SET
CARD TYPE TO
ETHERNET
There is another Ethernet-type card (Ethernet or eDAS) configured incorrectly
in the receiver.
Configure other Ethernet-type card to proper settings.
NO RELAYS OR
DATA OUTPUT Incorrect PROVIDER and/or SERVICE settings.
Follow the above instructions to set PROVIDER to ABC NEWS and
SERVICE to NETCUE/DATA.