The Blind Scan

by  Sammy Satellite. – Staff Writer for n2news

If you have an FTA receiver you have probably done a blind scan already.  Your receive also supports transponder scans and possibly other types of scanning.    Today Sammy will explain a little bit about the Blind Scan and why it’s used.

Satellite signals shoot from the sky on TPs or Transponders.   A transponder is simply a device that converts some type of digital information (video and audio in this case) into a specific frequency and sends that information down to earth.   Every satellite in orbit contains many of the these transponders each running at a different frequency.   There are limitations to what each transponder can hold and some signals actually reach earth with more power than others so satellite companies carefully manage what signals are on what transponder as each can only hold a limited number of TV and Radio stations.

A blind scan asks your dish and lnb to lock into a complex series of frequencies looking for a viable signal.  Within each transponder that contains a signal the satellite company sends some helpful information such as the “Station Identification Number” or SID as well as “Picture Identification Numbers” or PID.   When the receiver finds this information it is used to produce a channel lineup within the memory of the receiver.   A blind scan is usually slow but does an amazing job of finding all of the available signals you are capable of receiving.

An auto scan, or standard scan, is much faster and uses a list of known working frequencies to locate the signals.  This is fine to quickly see if new stations are available but it’s always good to do a blind scan upon new install and every few months to make sure your receiver has the latest available station information.

Due to the way that some companies have taken advantage of way signals work, you may see duplicate channel information after a blind scan.  If this is the case, clear the station list and do the scan again.  This time, look for a setting that says “Polartiy” and make sure you select Vertical only.

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