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TEST REPORT

MTI AK541-XT2BL

Unicable LNB

TELE-satellite International — www.TELE-satellite.com

Movement in the RightDirection…Albeit Slowly…

Just about six months ago TELE-satellite first discussed the subject Unicable and since

then there have been a few developments. More and more manufacturers are integrating this

protocol into their receivers. Even a leading LNB manufacturer, MTI in Taiwan, has begun to

produce and sell Unicable LNB’s.

ent receivers on one cable. Therefore, in

each Unicable-compatible LNB you will find

the SaTCR-1 chip developed by ST Microelec-

tronics. Simply put, this chip does nothing

more than take the requested frequency

and shift it to a fixed preassigned carrier

frequency for each of the maximum of eight

connected receivers. Each receiver would

be assigned one of these carrier frequencies

and would then simply tell the LNB what fre-

quency should be shifted over to its carrier

frequency. This sounds much more compli-cated in theory than it really is in practice

since for the end user nothing really changes

at all with Unicable. You just have to make

sure that each receiver operates with its own

carrier frequency. This takes place very

simply, in that each receiver is assigned a

number from one to four or one to eight in

the LNB settings.

If two receivers were given the same car-

rier frequency, they would interfere with

each other and reliable reception would not

be possible. Since the number of available

carrier frequencies is limited, so too is thenumber of connected receivers limited to

eight. Before some of you get all red-faced

with anger because you just recently spent

megabucks on a brand new PVR receiver that

does not support the Unicable technology, we

want to point out that every receiver has the

capability to support this new standard. Just

a small software update is necessary as well

as good intentions from the manufacturer.

We tested the MTI AK541-XT2BL with

four Lemon 030-CI receivers. After running

a cable from the LNB to the first receiver

and then a cable from there to the second

receiver, and then to the third, etc., and then

assigning each receiver with its own carrier

frequency (from 1 to 4), there was no longer

anything in the way of TV and radio recep-

From the outside, this LNB, that found its

way into our test labs shortly before press

time, doesn’t look all that much different

than its similar brothers; it is slightly heavier

than a standard universal LNB. MTI’s work-

manship is, as expected, very good. The

 “F” connector is protected from moisture by

a plastic cap and the feed itself is also per-

fectly protected by a stable plastic cap. Its

standard 40mm size makes it easy to install

on almost any offset antenna. As is normal

with a Ku-band LNB, the reception frequency

range lies between 10.7 and 11.7 GHz in the

low band and from 11.7 to 12.75 GHz in the

high band. The AK541-XT2BL LNB that we

tested can be simultaneously connected to

four different receivers requiring the use of 

carrier frequencies in the range of 1180 to

2060 MHz. According to the manufacturer,

maximum gain is at about 60dB.

EverydayUseIf you’re asking yourself right

now what Unicable is all about and

what kind of technology this is, then

we would like to take a moment and

briefly explain it. Up until now, if you

wanted to connect multiple receiv-

ers to a single LNB, you had to run a

dedicated cable from the LNB to each

receiver. On top of that, it was often

necessary to install expensive mul-

tiswitches to distribute the signal. With

Unicable technology, all of this is now a

thing of the past, since from now on, only the

first receiver needs to be connected directly

to the LNB. Any additional receivers would be

linked through each receivers looped-through

IF capability or through an inexpensive signal

splitter. If you’re somewhat familiar with

standard satellite technology, you might be

thinking there’s no way this can work consid-

ering that receivers only provide 14/18 volts

and a 22 KHz signal to switch the polarization

and band of the LNB. Normally, this state-

ment would be correct but this is where the

first big difference is between a Unicable LNB

and a standard LNB. In the Unicable system,

the receiver provides the power for the LNB

however polarization and band switching no

longer takes place because

of the control voltage and

the 22 KHz

signal. Instead, the

controlling signal is

now in digital form

using a modified

DiSEqC 1.0 proto-

col.

As new as this

approach is, it’s

still not enough

to operate four

or eight differ-

Unicable LNB

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Thomas HaringTELE-satellite

Test Center Austria

TECHNICALDATA

Manufacturer  MTI, Hsinchu, Taiwan, R.O.C.

Fax +886-3-577-7127

E-Mail http://www.mti.com.tw/contact_us.htm

Modell AK541-XT2BL

Function Unicable LNB

Input Frequency Range 10,7~11,7 GHz/ 11,7~12,75 GHz

Output Frequency Range 1180-2060 MHz for 4 different receivers

Noise Figure 0.2db

Conversion Gain 60db

Output Connector Type 75 Ohm F Type (female.)

Operating Temperature Range -30°C to +60°C

TEST REPORT Unicable LNB

TELE-satellite International — www.TELE-satellite.com

tion. While the first two receivers were each

programmed with a transponder in vertical

and horizontal polarization in the low band,

we were able to easily surf through all the

channels in the high band using the other two

receivers. Also, while switching channels on

one receiver, there were no signal interrup-

tions or picture distortions to be seen on theother three boxes. Even turning off individ-

ual receivers could not disturb the rhythm of 

the Unicable system.

In order to test this new system as realis-

tically as possible, we connected the receiv-

ers first with standard coax cable that you

might find anywhere and that is most likely

installed in most homes. We connected the

receivers a second time with double-shielded,

high quality coax cable that you might find in

a specialty store. We want to say up front

that Unicable is no more sensitive than the

previously used technology. If you are usedto various frequency conversions, where the

signals from two LNB’s are briefly carried on

one cable and then separated again at the

receiver end, in which high quality cable

needs to be used, Unicable does not have any

special demands. If problem-free reception

was possible before the installation of Uni-

cable, then the same problem-free reception

should be the case with a Unicable LNB.

We were also interested in the reception

properties of the MTI LNB. Multiple tests on

weak satellites such as the horizontal trans-

ponders on Nilesat or Arabsat 2D turned out

to be quite positive. Even the preliminary

values we obtained from our measurement

equipment supported the good reception

characteristics of this LNB. The manufac-

turer claims a noise figure of 0.2dB; our test

showed this value to be realistic.

Expert conclusion

+Unicable technology offers fascinating new possibilities and

greatly reduces the overall installation cost. This new system seems

perfectly suited for PVR receivers with more than one tuner.

-The only negative point of this new Unicable technology is that at

the moment there are very few manufacturers that actually support this new system.

The ball is clearly in the court of the major receiver manufacturers. MTI and all the

other LNB producers have done their work.