Usals & Diseqc 1.2 Issue

[Gr8Guy]

Hi All,

I have just had a motorised dish fitted and need some advice.

With both usals and diseqc 1.2 the furthest satellite west I can receive is 5w - anything after that I get nothing, even if I drive the dish step by step. Everything east is fine (up to 42E).

I'm using a Spiderbox 9900 - when this was first fitted my correct lang & lat would send the dish way off to the east (with usals) when selecting Thor (my centre satellite). I have manually adjusted the Longitude which has fixed this.

So as far as I was aware with Usals once you have locked one satellite, you should have no problem recieving the others as the arc is being tracked. Any sats that cant be received should be picked up by manually driving the dish.

Is this correct?

Also would this suggest that the dish has been miss aligned? I have tried skewing the LNB and using a different one with no success..

Thanks

[Mickha]

You do not skew the LNB, on a motorized system.
Neither do you alter your Longitude, at least not by much, unless correcting for a mis alignment or if the dish has moved.
Your True South position is determined by your Longitude, negative readings being West, positive being East, so if your Longitude is -1.234 then your true south is 1.234 West.
When using Usals you can align to any satellite, to get your dish to track the arc, but it's still best to use one close to your True South position. First you set the motor, and dish, to 0.
Next you enter you correct latitude, and longitude, into your receiver, you can locate this at dishpointer.com, or using various Apps.
You then send your motor to your chosen satellite and physically align it to get the strongest signal, from that satellite.
You might still need to make minor tweaks, to the dish elevation, just to maximise your signal on the satellites at the furthest ends of the arc.
Are you sure you have a clear line of sight, to the West, to view various satellites?
What is the size of your dish?
Where is your approximate location, e.g. South East UK?

[Gr8Guy]

Hey - Thanks for getting back to me...
Clear los and 90cm south east. I should be getting 30w at very worst as I used to receive this on a zone 1 dish.

As for the set up this was done professionally, but I have noticed the pole is not level on the the north/south axis and so the dish would be leaning forward slightly.

My thought was if I am able to get the eastern satellites (all with good signal quality) would this stop me from getting the western satellites

Also I have been told that there are issues with spiderboxes and motor set ups? Is there any truth to this?

[Mickha]

No issues with Spiderboxes, and motors, except that I seem to remember, with some motors, that when using Usals, sometimes the motor movement isn't fluent, but this can be fixed by switching to Diseqc 1.2.
As yours is a new set up I doubt this is the problem, and wouldn't stop you getting 30 West.
The fact that your pole leans forward, so isn't perfectly plumb, would.
What type of pole, and brackets, have they used?
If it's an L shaped bracket then this could explain the problem, as it might not be strong enough for the dish/motor.
In the South East, with a 90cm dish, you should be getting most of the satellites, East and West.

Beaten to it by manic01.
If possible please post some pictures, of the dish, and especially the pole.

[ozzsurf]

I have just had a motorised dish fitted

sounds like its been fitted by someone who dont know how to install a motor
did you pay for the install ???????

[Gr8Guy]

Cheers guys - I'll have a 'play' and post an update.

[Gr8Guy]

So - just as an update it was indeed the pole - I got the guy to come back and fix it and can now get 45E - 30W. Thanks again for everyones help.