Usals setup on Thor 0.8w

[Mickgleeds]

I am trying to align my dish for peak performance.

I input my coordinates for my location and press "GOTO 0" in the usals menu. When I do this the dish moves to 0.8w and I get 92% signal. However, when I tune to a channel on Thor the best signal I get is 77%.

I can increase the signal from 77% to 92% by tweaking my coordinate in the tuner setup but I would rather input my true coordinates and get the best signal.

No doubt it's me missing something but any advice would be greatly received.

Mick

[dostoy]

Why not put in the correct usals for your location and change the position of the satellite from 0.8 to 1 west and then maybe 1.2 west etc and see if that helps.

[Mickha]

The usual error is getting the Longitude mixed up, Negative Longitude positions = West, Positve = East.
Check with dishpointer.com, or other options, to get your correct Latitude, and Longitude.

[Mickgleeds]

The coordinates are ok. It's strange how when I press "GOTO 0" with my true coordinates input, the dish moves to where it's meant to i.e. 0.8w with a good signal of 92%.

But the only way I can peak the signals from transponders is to input a longitude 1 degree to the east.

[dostoy]

The usals should be 1.5 west in Leeds.

I would keep it as 1.5 west and change the satellite position to 1.0 west instead of 0.8 west.

Try it, if its no good then go back to 0.8 west.

[Satcat]

If you are at 1.5w then sending the dish to zero shouldn't pick up thor, or just a week signal. Just make sure your dish is facing directly south. Then sending your dish to zero it would be facing 1.5w. Unfortunately there is no sat there.

[Mickgleeds]

Maybe it's me misunderstanding how Usals works. I thought when you pressed "Goto 0", the dish moved to it's reference satellite. In my case Thor at 0.8w.

[KARABANGA]

Hi What size dish you using..if using less than 1m then you may get some transponders stronger than others. If you keep changing your location figures then it may not work for other satellites. With USALS you can line it up on any satellite and when setup on the first one it should drop on all the others with maybe a bit of fine tuning along the way. In my opinion for the best results using USALS you need to combine elevation(height) azimuth(dish angles) and LNB skew. I would leave your location figures as they are and just loosen dish slightly and move slowly till you get strongest signal and tighten up. To be honest i never understand why people seem to think that motors can only be lined up using 1west or 0.8 I use different satellites and still tracks the arc. Good luck.

[Mickgleeds]

Thanks for the replies. I'm using a 1m dish. I think maybe I'm looking for perfection, which I won't end up getting.

I think I'll take your advice Karabanga and put in my correct coordinates and line the dish up on a transponder on Thor.

Cheers.

[Mickha]

Usals calculates your position, and the satellites, from your Latitude and Longitude.
The correct way to set up a dish, using Usals, is to set everything to 0, the motor dish, and LNB, then use your receiver to send it to the satellite you want to set it up on, like Thor 0.8W.
You then manually move your dish. and motor, to maximize the signal, on 0.8W. Tighten everything up then send it to your furthest West satellite, e.g. 30W, and your furthest East satellite, e.g. 42E, and test the signal quality at both ends.
You then send it back to 0.8W, to make any minor adjustments, if needed, then send it back to 30W, and 42E, and keep doing this until you're satisfied you are tracking the arc correctly.

[Satcat]

Good advice there from Michha. A lot of people think that if you have your dish at zero then you are on thor. That's true if you live at 0 deg, but not if you live elsewhere.

[Mickgleeds]

Thanks for that Mickha. I think it's just a bit of tweaking that's needed.