Repair upgrade kits Pace SS9200 SS9000 satellite receivers

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If you find this information useful and want to thank me, why not buy one of my low-cost "virtual books" that you can download direct to your computer? My books can be read on-screen or printed out on paper. They are full of colour photos and illustrations. Click on "Books", above, for more information. Send this page address - CLICK HERE - to a friend !
NOTE: This analogue receiver is obsolete. Most accessories and modifications mentioned on this page are no longer available.

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SS9xxx kits explained.

Read this before fitting a kit. In fact it's a good idea to read it before ordering a kit.
Please also read the relevant FAQ page for your specific receiver.

Power Supply Kits and Reliability Upgrade Kits
DO NOT SIMPLY REPLACE THE FUSE! It is there to protect YOU and the receiver. If you replace it you can make the damage worse and put yourself at risk!

RELKITs contain mostly high-reliability capacitors which help get rid of streaks and lines that were not present when the receiver was new. Often the capacitors fail after the receiver has been left to cool down.

RELKITs can also repair a "dead" receiver. This is most likely when:

The receiver makes a noise - "ticking" or "whistling"

The fuse has not melted

The 0R22 fusible resistor R13 still measures 0R22

SATKITs are intended to fix a completely dead power supply that gives no output voltages. In almost all cases, the fuse FS1 (T1A) will have melted and/or the 0R22 fusible resistor R13 will be damaged.

If your receiver is dead but you think you should fit BOTH kits, you should order "SS9KIT 2" with the appropriate number for your model. This way you will still receive SATKIT 2 and RELKIT 2 but those parts which are duplicated in one kit will be omitted and you will get a discount.

Dismantling
Pace receivers use metal covers held by 3mm "Taptite" cross-head Pozidriv screws. Be sure to use a #1 Pozidriv screwdriver or you will damage the screw head. Pace Printed Circuit Boards are held by two-part plastic rivets. The first part of the rivet is a hollow base with legs that are forced out beneath the board by the second part which is shaped like a mushroom. Lift the mushroom head with small, sharp cutters or a knife blade. You will then be able to lift out the lower part of the plastic rivet quite easily. There is NO need to cut it, drill it or melt it with a soldering iron!
The PCB rests on white plastic pillars with a bifurcated (split) end. Squeeze together the split end of each pillar with pliers and lift the PCB carefully. Do not bend or twist the board or you will damage the brittle surface mount components soldered underneath.

Soldering/desoldering
The copper tracks are very thin and are held to the board with something like "Araldite" adhesive. Excessive heat applied for too long will degrade this adhesive and lift the copper track and solder pad. It is important to work quickly but carefully to avoid damage. You can use "Multicore desolder wick®" (copper braid impregnated with flux) to remove solder but you must NOT use a pump-action solder sucker. If you DO damage a track, you should repair it with Teflon-covered wire which should be glued down to avoid the risk that it might break and touch a live mains connection. Have a look at our Solder Kit.

Pace SS9000 (60 channel) and SS9200 (90 channel) kits

These receivers can easily be identified by "SS9000" marking at the front of the printed circuit board and by the separate internal decoder board, at the left hand side, which is supported by two white plastic pillars.

The possibilities for upgrading the 60 channel version are few because the tuning range is limited by the microprocessor. Even if you fit a tuner upgrade kit, the tuning range will remain the same. The best thing you can do for a 60 channel model is as follows:

a). Fit the Reliability Upgrade kit RELKIT 2. This contains high-temperature capacitors to replace the old, tired ones in your receiver. They should prevent imminent power supply failure and remove any lines and streaks on the picture. When you fit the parts, do so one at a time and test the receiver after each one. This way, if you make a mistake, you will know immediately where you went wrong.

(Note: if you are mending a dead power supply with our PSU repair kit you MUST fit ALL the SATKIT 2 parts in one go, before reconnecting mains power. You may also need the large capacitor C7 from the RELKIT and the brown transformer that can be ordered separately. Black coloured transformer T2 does not fail but the red/brown types do).

b). Fit the "AutoSelect" kit which enables a new menu feature as "LNB1/LNB2" selection for each channel. This allows you to control an external box which can be an ADX Channel Expander, a 22kHz tone inserter or an LNB switcher. If you fit a second AutoSelect kit, you can also use the "PAL/MAC" selection to control something. However, this will mean that you can not use a Mac decoder if it requires Mac baseband input. Note that we can supply an internal 22kHz board as part of the AutoSelect kit if required.

c). You can fit our improved tuner kit if your existing tuner is faulty but the tuning range will not be increased in a 60 channel model.

Note: we used to offer a 90 channel upgrade kit. This comprised a new microcontroller chip and a memory chip daughter board that fitted in place of the existing memory chip. The conversion was considered expensive and is no longer available.

For the 90 channel model, you can carry out the modifications, above.
You can also fit the replacement tuner kit which will give you an extended tuning range.
Reason: The tuning range in the menu goes up to 12.100 for the FSS band but the original tuner barely makes it past 11.800. In fact the later "Sharp" tuner is even worse than the "Hitachi BF9" tuner in this respect. The replacement tuner kit has a much greater tuning range and normally goes to the top of the current Astra 1B band. (This is "pot luck". Some tuners just manage to scrape in "Sky Sports 3". If you are desperately unhappy with the new range we might swap the tuner for another if you pay the postage).

The replacement Hitachi tuner kit contains surface mount components so you need to be accustomed to handling these tiny parts. This is NOT a beginner's kit.

There are two different kits so, when ordering a tuner kit, PLEASE tell us if your existing tuner is a Hitachi BF9 or a Sharp tuner. The Sharp replacement kit has NO surface mount components and is a little easier to fit.

The new tuner kit in a 90 channel receiver will allow you to use a 9.75GHz LNB, although the tuning frequency displayed on the screen will be 250MHz too high. There is no way to correct this but you soon get used to it! If you fit a 22kHz tone inserter you can use a "Universal" LNB.

J17/Wideband audio
We used to supply a conversion board which gave wideband mono audio and simulated "J17" deemphasis. However, it tended to create distortion on stereo channels and was discontinued.

Pace SS9 modification - LNB voltage OFF in standby

Most satellite receivers run too warm for their own good and mine was no exception. I had already fitted the reliability upgrade, RELKIT 2 and mounted the receiver on an open shelf, but still it felt very hot to the touch.

Pace receivers continue to supply current to the LNB, even in standby. The original reason was to protect the LNB from sudden temperature changes. Amstrad receivers and a few other makes turn the LNB supply off in standby so I could see no reason why my Pace shouldn't. Since most modern LNBs require 200 - 250mA at 13 volts, the power saving would be significant. In addition, nobody would be able to send a signal to my smart card while the receiver was "off".

A simple modification to the receiver will cause the LNB voltage to be switched to zero in standby.

ORDER "SS9 LNB Volts Off" kit

With my receiver there was a significant reduction in heat from the power supply but, if you insist on keeping yours in a nice warm cabinet on top of a video recorder or, if - as with most modern houses - your room temperature is quite high, then you might also consider fitting the miniature cooling fan kit.

SS9210 twin input.

Since this model already uses the "LNB1/LNB2" selection, you can't use our AutoSelect kit.
Most SS9210 receivers have only 60 channels and can not benefit from the extended tuning range of the replacement tuner kit.
You can fit our replacement tuner kit but you will then have only one LNB input. However, you CAN then use the AutoSelect which will allow you to control an ADX!
If your receiver is a 90 channel model with extended tuning range in the menu then our single input replacement tuner kit will allow you to use a 9.75GHz LNB.

Again, it's advisable to fit our reliability upgrade kit before carrying out any other work on an older model. See RELKIT 2.

> I have read your kit explanation but I still don't understand what
> to order. Basically, I want the best upgrade possible for my SS9200.
> Ideally, I'd like to use a "Universal" LNB. Please tell me what to
> order to achieve this!

OK:

You need the tuner kit to extend the tuning range higher. Then you can fit a 9.75GHz LNB, which effectively shifts all channels 250MHz higher, pushing Astra 1C channels to the top of the tuning range and pulling Astra 1D channels above the bottom of the tuning range.

To use a "Universal" LNB fully you will need an external 22kHz tone inserter box or our internal 22kHz board. This can send a tone up the cable to the LNB and switch it from 9.75 to 10.6GHz - rather like switching from VHF to UHF band on an old TV set!

In order to control the external tone inserter box you will need to add our "AutoSelect" kit components inside your receiver (included as part of the 22kHz board kit).

Finally, to ensure reliability and clear pictures, you might like to fit our Reliability upgrade kit, RELKIT 2.

a) Tuner kit (state Hitachi BF9 or Sharp type) £12.95
b) Tone inserter box (we don't supply) or internal tone board kit.
c) AutoSelect kit ( £1.95) or free if you order b) 0.00
d) RELKIT 2 £7.95
e) Universal LNB (if required) £45.00
Post & Packing £2.50 for UK

Bear in mind that, if you have a dish fixed on Astra, you probably won't need the tone inserter because all channels on the "High" band are digital. High band is useful only if you can receive transmissions from other satellites.

Find out more about LNBs

Find out how to place an order

Return to SatCure index page

Copyright ©1997 SatCure
Version 1.1 updated on 3/5/99
This file may be downloaded for private and personal use but NO part of it may be published in any form without the prior permission of the author.
Send this page address - CLICK HERE - to a friend !


Sky Digibox	Sky Analogue	Computer	Car Caravan	Audio Visual	Books
If you find this information useful and want to thank me, why not buy one of my low-cost "virtual books" that you can download direct to your computer? My books can be read on-screen or printed out on paper. They are full of colour photos and illustrations. Click on "Books", above, for more information. Send this page address - CLICK HERE - to a friend ! NOTE: This analogue receiver is obsolete. Most accessories and modifications mentioned on this page are no longer available.
Return to SatCure index page SS9xxx kits explained. Read this before fitting a kit. In fact it's a good idea to read it before ordering a kit. Please also read the relevant FAQ page for your specific receiver. Power Supply Kits and Reliability Upgrade Kits DO NOT SIMPLY REPLACE THE FUSE! It is there to protect YOU and the receiver. If you replace it you can make the damage worse and put yourself at risk! RELKITs contain mostly high-reliability capacitors which help get rid of streaks and lines that were not present when the receiver was new. Often the capacitors fail after the receiver has been left to cool down. RELKITs can also repair a "dead" receiver. This is most likely when: The receiver makes a noise - "ticking" or "whistling" The fuse has not melted The 0R22 fusible resistor R13 still measures 0R22 SATKITs are intended to fix a completely dead power supply that gives no output voltages. In almost all cases, the fuse FS1 (T1A) will have melted and/or the 0R22 fusible resistor R13 will be damaged. If your receiver is dead but you think you should fit BOTH kits, you should order "SS9KIT 2" with the appropriate number for your model. This way you will still receive SATKIT 2 and RELKIT 2 but those parts which are duplicated in one kit will be omitted and you will get a discount. Dismantling Pace receivers use metal covers held by 3mm "Taptite" cross-head Pozidriv screws. Be sure to use a #1 Pozidriv screwdriver or you will damage the screw head. Pace Printed Circuit Boards are held by two-part plastic rivets. The first part of the rivet is a hollow base with legs that are forced out beneath the board by the second part which is shaped like a mushroom. Lift the mushroom head with small, sharp cutters or a knife blade. You will then be able to lift out the lower part of the plastic rivet quite easily. There is NO need to cut it, drill it or melt it with a soldering iron! The PCB rests on white plastic pillars with a bifurcated (split) end. Squeeze together the split end of each pillar with pliers and lift the PCB carefully. Do not bend or twist the board or you will damage the brittle surface mount components soldered underneath. Soldering/desoldering The copper tracks are very thin and are held to the board with something like "Araldite" adhesive. Excessive heat applied for too long will degrade this adhesive and lift the copper track and solder pad. It is important to work quickly but carefully to avoid damage. You can use "Multicore desolder wick®" (copper braid impregnated with flux) to remove solder but you must NOT use a pump-action solder sucker. If you DO damage a track, you should repair it with Teflon-covered wire which should be glued down to avoid the risk that it might break and touch a live mains connection. Have a look at our Solder Kit. Pace SS9000 (60 channel) and SS9200 (90 channel) kits These receivers can easily be identified by "SS9000" marking at the front of the printed circuit board and by the separate internal decoder board, at the left hand side, which is supported by two white plastic pillars. The possibilities for upgrading the 60 channel version are few because the tuning range is limited by the microprocessor. Even if you fit a tuner upgrade kit, the tuning range will remain the same. The best thing you can do for a 60 channel model is as follows: a). Fit the Reliability Upgrade kit RELKIT 2. This contains high-temperature capacitors to replace the old, tired ones in your receiver. They should prevent imminent power supply failure and remove any lines and streaks on the picture. When you fit the parts, do so one at a time and test the receiver after each one. This way, if you make a mistake, you will know immediately where you went wrong. (Note: if you are mending a dead power supply with our PSU repair kit you MUST fit ALL the SATKIT 2 parts in one go, before reconnecting mains power. You may also need the large capacitor C7 from the RELKIT and the brown transformer that can be ordered separately. Black coloured transformer T2 does not fail but the red/brown types do). b). Fit the "AutoSelect" kit which enables a new menu feature as "LNB1/LNB2" selection for each channel. This allows you to control an external box which can be an ADX Channel Expander, a 22kHz tone inserter or an LNB switcher. If you fit a second AutoSelect kit, you can also use the "PAL/MAC" selection to control something. However, this will mean that you can not use a Mac decoder if it requires Mac baseband input. Note that we can supply an internal 22kHz board as part of the AutoSelect kit if required. c). You can fit our improved tuner kit if your existing tuner is faulty but the tuning range will not be increased in a 60 channel model. Note: we used to offer a 90 channel upgrade kit. This comprised a new microcontroller chip and a memory chip daughter board that fitted in place of the existing memory chip. The conversion was considered expensive and is no longer available. For the 90 channel model, you can carry out the modifications, above. You can also fit the replacement tuner kit which will give you an extended tuning range. Reason: The tuning range in the menu goes up to 12.100 for the FSS band but the original tuner barely makes it past 11.800. In fact the later "Sharp" tuner is even worse than the "Hitachi BF9" tuner in this respect. The replacement tuner kit has a much greater tuning range and normally goes to the top of the current Astra 1B band. (This is "pot luck". Some tuners just manage to scrape in "Sky Sports 3". If you are desperately unhappy with the new range we might swap the tuner for another if you pay the postage). The replacement Hitachi tuner kit contains surface mount components so you need to be accustomed to handling these tiny parts. This is NOT a beginner's kit. There are two different kits so, when ordering a tuner kit, PLEASE tell us if your existing tuner is a Hitachi BF9 or a Sharp tuner. The Sharp replacement kit has NO surface mount components and is a little easier to fit. The new tuner kit in a 90 channel receiver will allow you to use a 9.75GHz LNB, although the tuning frequency displayed on the screen will be 250MHz too high. There is no way to correct this but you soon get used to it! If you fit a 22kHz tone inserter you can use a "Universal" LNB. J17/Wideband audio We used to supply a conversion board which gave wideband mono audio and simulated "J17" deemphasis. However, it tended to create distortion on stereo channels and was discontinued. Pace SS9 modification - LNB voltage OFF in standby Most satellite receivers run too warm for their own good and mine was no exception. I had already fitted the reliability upgrade, RELKIT 2 and mounted the receiver on an open shelf, but still it felt very hot to the touch. Pace receivers continue to supply current to the LNB, even in standby. The original reason was to protect the LNB from sudden temperature changes. Amstrad receivers and a few other makes turn the LNB supply off in standby so I could see no reason why my Pace shouldn't. Since most modern LNBs require 200 - 250mA at 13 volts, the power saving would be significant. In addition, nobody would be able to send a signal to my smart card while the receiver was "off". A simple modification to the receiver will cause the LNB voltage to be switched to zero in standby. ORDER "SS9 LNB Volts Off" kit With my receiver there was a significant reduction in heat from the power supply but, if you insist on keeping yours in a nice warm cabinet on top of a video recorder or, if - as with most modern houses - your room temperature is quite high, then you might also consider fitting the miniature cooling fan kit. SS9210 twin input. Since this model already uses the "LNB1/LNB2" selection, you can't use our AutoSelect kit. Most SS9210 receivers have only 60 channels and can not benefit from the extended tuning range of the replacement tuner kit. You can fit our replacement tuner kit but you will then have only one LNB input. However, you CAN then use the AutoSelect which will allow you to control an ADX! If your receiver is a 90 channel model with extended tuning range in the menu then our single input replacement tuner kit will allow you to use a 9.75GHz LNB. Again, it's advisable to fit our reliability upgrade kit before carrying out any other work on an older model. See RELKIT 2. > I have read your kit explanation but I still don't understand what > to order. Basically, I want the best upgrade possible for my SS9200. > Ideally, I'd like to use a "Universal" LNB. Please tell me what to > order to achieve this! OK: You need the tuner kit to extend the tuning range higher. Then you can fit a 9.75GHz LNB, which effectively shifts all channels 250MHz higher, pushing Astra 1C channels to the top of the tuning range and pulling Astra 1D channels above the bottom of the tuning range. To use a "Universal" LNB fully you will need an external 22kHz tone inserter box or our internal 22kHz board. This can send a tone up the cable to the LNB and switch it from 9.75 to 10.6GHz - rather like switching from VHF to UHF band on an old TV set! In order to control the external tone inserter box you will need to add our "AutoSelect" kit components inside your receiver (included as part of the 22kHz board kit). Finally, to ensure reliability and clear pictures, you might like to fit our Reliability upgrade kit, RELKIT 2. a) Tuner kit (state Hitachi BF9 or Sharp type) £12.95 b) Tone inserter box (we don't supply) or internal tone board kit. c) AutoSelect kit ( £1.95) or free if you order b) 0.00 d) RELKIT 2 £7.95 e) Universal LNB (if required) £45.00 Post & Packing £2.50 for UK Bear in mind that, if you have a dish fixed on Astra, you probably won't need the tone inserter because all channels on the "High" band are digital. High band is useful only if you can receive transmissions from other satellites. Find out more about LNBs Find out how to place an order Return to SatCure index page Copyright ©1997 SatCure Version 1.1 updated on 3/5/99 This file may be downloaded for private and personal use but NO part of it may be published in any form without the prior permission of the author. Send this page address - CLICK HERE - to a friend !