re-aligning motorized dish

[fozzer12]

Hi I can no longer get 28 east and 23 east. My dish must have been misaligned by the weather. I need help re aligning the dish. I am a novice when it comes to satellites. I am from liverpool. it is a 1m dish I have a vu+ zero box. any help much appreciated thanks in advance68698

[Barney]

WoW !! That bracket is really rusted to hell ..lol's !! :rofl:
Anyways i would say its not the main issue because your Motor bracket looks set @ Latitude 54 Elevation 35 which is correct ,
looks like a Technomate Motor in the picture ? 2300 H-H Disecq ?
prob is too well rusted to tell anymore i guess , but leave it alone it looks spot on from your picture so something else is wrong ,
Dish bracket for 28/23.5E etc.. should be 21-23 if dish is a Triax dish it is easy to see looking at the dish bracket arrow to find exact elevation for your dish
use
https://www.dishpointer.com/ to find your correct Elevation

here is a really good guide but keep in mind this is for Ireland your location will be different =>

https://sites.google.com/site/freetoairinfo/home/approximate-dish-elevation-angles-for-ireland

AND MOTOR SET UP GUIDE =>
https://sites.google.com/site/freetoairinfo/home/how-to-install-and-align-a-diseqc-motor

most important is tell us dish type 1meter offset dish ?
or better still take a picture of the dish bracket if u can to see what its set at ?

the motor itself should be perfectly spot on looking at your picture even if its badly rusted .

Check the pole - ensure that the mounting pole is perfectly straight with a level or inclinometer. If the pole is not level, your dish will not properly track the arc of satellites.

PLEASE POST BACK MORE INFO Dish type and Are you using USALS ? or Disecq ?

[JOE.MADDISON]

in the past have found that it tends to be the clamp on motor to pole is the one that slips, stopped it happening by drilling small hole through bracket into pole and screwing self tapping screw in .

[fozzer12]

Hi using diseq 1.2 but wws using usals last year and it was fine. Here is some pics68700
68701
68702
68703

[satpaul]

It could be the trees there seems to be a lot of them

[glenby]

Before altering your settings and all that involves ,I would first of all try something simple like the 4 screws that hold the face of the dish to the bracket may have come loose .I still have the same dish and motor as when I started in 2004.This is the only thing I've had go wrong in all that time.I replaced 4 large self tapping screws with nuts and bolts never had trouble since.
I can see nuts and bolts already on yours.Just try tightening them first of all.

[Mickha]

What are your signal quality readings on 19.2E, 16E, and 13E?
If the pole is no longer plumb, or the dish/motor has become misaligned then you should notice the signal quality levels dropping, from what they were, as you move the dish to your farther East/West satellites.


68704

[holmroad]

It could be the trees there seems to be a lot of them

Exactly Paul!:respect-055:

[fozzer12]

13e quality = 93% signal = 86%
16e quality = 59% signal = 86%
19e quality = 93% signal = 82%
0.8w quality = 58% signal = 78%

here is some pics of my motor and what its set on thanks. 6870568706

[Mickha]

The fact that the signal isn't dropping off, much, between 13E, and 19.2E, means that you should get a signal, on 23.5E, so I agree with others, check if the trees are blocking the signal.

[Burnham]

That motor is a DigiPower H-H motor SG-2100A - if you do a search you can find an installation manual for that particular motor.

On the first pic you posted it shows the elevation you have it set to - that's the triangular indicator immediately to the right of the rusted bolt. You have it set to 35°, which is slightly out (in theory) for your Liverpool location, but not far enough out to lose signals from 23°e & 28°e which you say is the problem. Don't change it unless you really understand all the settings that you need, because whoever installed it would have compensated with the elevation setting of the dish on its mounting (and that is impossible to see from the pics you have posted).

Like the others have said above, I suspect there are other problems that are causing loss of signal on 23°e/28° - especially as you get a good signal from19°e.

[fozzer12]

From what I can see there doesn't seem to be any trees blocking it when it goes to 28e but whether it is pointing at 28e I am not sure.

[Mickha]

If using Diseqc 1.2 you can adjust the settings to get the best signal quality.
What image are you using?
Have you tried the Positioner Setup option, in the Tuner menu?
Start with 23.5E, ensuring that you are using an active transponder.

https://www.lyngsat.com/Astra-3B.html

[fozzer12]

Hi openvix yes tried with positioner setup but no luck

[Mickha]

You used the fine movement option, to step west, and east, in an attempt to find a signal?
Which transponder were you tuned in to?

[KARABANGA]

Hi If you were using USALS and was working fine..why did you change to 1.2 ...i would try and use USALS again and send it Hotbird (13 east)..make sure you get Hotbird working fine then go to 28.2 east and see if you get a signal. if you dont get a signal try and tweak the motor up or down slightly and see if you get a picture..If not its probably your dish angles may be slightly out..Remember USALS is pretty accurate when finding satellites and less hassle in my opinion ...Regards

[fozzer12]

hi so how would i set it up with usals because I would need to alter my dish as it not curently working when I put usals on thanks

also when i get a signal on 23.5e its bringing in 19e channels?

[JOE.MADDISON]

THEN your motor to pole clamp has slipped west about 4 degrees,have a close look at the pole for slip marks,you could mark a line from bracket to pole, then loosen the bracket and move it 4 degrees approx east tighten the clamp if /when you get 23.5 picture,set box on a 23 free to air channel move assy very slowly and give box time to lock,and dont stand in front of dish

[fozzer12]

Hi its not a great picture but i can see lines down pole possible its original position?68711

what do you think?

[JOE.MADDISON]

YOU often see rust marks or stains on pole and motor clamp, and/or motor dish clamp where clamps used to be.

[echelon]

sounds like its slipped to me too

providing you have the motor elevation set to around say 54 degrees for liverpool and the dish elevation set correctly as well , usals should work

select usals after putting in your longitude and latitude , so the motor moves to the correct place , so say al jaz on 0.8 west

then connect the box directly to the lnb itself, so the motor does not move as its not in the circuit

adjust the actual motor left or right on the pole mountings (after slackening them), plus try elevating the dish up or down on its mounting at the same time until you get say al jazeerah english on 0.8w or whatever, then peak the signal and lock up the pole mounting nuts and the dish mounting nuts too

then put the motor back into the circuit and test other satellites by selecting them and checking FTA channels only for now

my motor is set to say 53.5 latitude, my Triax dish is set at around 27 degrees I believe , and my usals is say 53.5 latitude and 2.1 west longitude, yours is different in Liverpool so ensure you use your own GPS for Liverpool and not mine for Manchester, but its the same principles for all of us with motors, just different readings and settings , mine is on a darkmotor for example

I use a black marker pen to mark by dish setting , motor setting and pole mount setting when its all working correctly

I also ensure that I have vaseline on all the exposed threads etc, to try to prevent rust and ensure they dont rust in situ, which may mean the nuts cannot be loosened in the future, if rusted solid

ps:- bear in mind that for usals you can use fta channels on 19 east and use 19 east as your starter point

or use hotbird at 13e and use FTA channels on there as your starter point

but we tend to use 0.8 west thor as its near the top of your arc, meaning that the lnb is almost vertical with the wire pointing down

a typical USALS for Liverpool is latitude 53.5 degrees North on the motor elevation and sat box setting, and 3.0 degrees west for the longitude setting in the sat box , so further west than me but a similar latitude

[JOE.MADDISON]

one thing for certain is dish has to be pointing to 19 to rec channels.from it so needs to be re aligned

[fozzer12]

hi My elevation is set to 35? also how do i connect directly to the lnb thanks

not sure if that for my dish or motor i posted it the other day

[JOE.MADDISON]

easy way take small tv and the sat boxto dish,take the plug out of lnb,run a short lead from lnb to box switch on and follow above instructions

[echelon]

hi My elevation is set to 35? also how do i connect directly to the lnb thanks


is that the dish elevation or the motor elevation ? (check both sides of the motor , one may be latitude and the other be elevation) , its probably the motor elevation, which is NOT the latitude setting, the latitude is probably on the other side of that motor bracket

the way I do it is to set the motor to 53.5 latitude (not elevation) , set the dish to say 27 (elevation) , then do what Joe said and take the box and tv and sat cable outside , send the box to 0.8w (ignoring the markings on the motor, which will probably be near zero but not on zero) , then connect a lead from the lnb outlet down to the ground and into the sat box , with a portable tv connected

in my case I use a simple sat box like a spiderbox , set to the correct GPS for Manchester , and with the fta channels loaded. once its all working outside, I then reconnect the VU box inside and test, as long as all the boxes are using USALS and all set to the same GPS coordinates , they all work, no matter which make they are

nb:- once the motor is set to 53.5 , lock it and do not adjust it at all

adjustments are made with moving the dish up and down , and the whole motor assembly left or right on the pole

[fozzer12]

Hi just tried this evening to get my other sats but ended up losing thor 0.8w. I have my elevation set to 35 and my longitude set to 54. just not sure if I am doing it right was trying on al jazzera english on 0.8w but could not get a signal. I had longitude 002.991 west and latitude 053.421 north these were the usual settings I used originally when I got most of my sats. I was able to get 19e and 13e back using positioner setup but couldn't bring thor back. Will try again anything else I need to check or do thanks

[Mickha]

When setting up a motorized dish, using USALS, you need to follow the basic steps.
Ensure your pole is secure and plumb
start with your motor at 0, and your LNB pointing straight down, in other words no skew
You then use your receiver, with the correct Latitude, and Longitude, which you seem to have, to send the motor/dish to a suitable satellite, in your case 0.8W, so the motor should move just over 2 degrees east.
You then physically move it, on the pole, to get the strongest signal possible, on 0.8W, always easiest to use a satellite meter, a sub £10 works perfectly well.
You then adjust your mountings, to get the best signal, tighten everything up and send it to your furthest available Easterly satellite, and you furthest available Westerly satellite, to check the readings. Your furthest available Easterly satellite seems to be 19.2E, due to something blocking your dishes line of sight.

Do you have a satellite meter?

[fozzer12]

You know when you say start with your motor on 0 is this the reading just under the motor at the top. I have a v8 sat finder.

[Mickha]

I don't know your motor, but most have a scale, ??-0-??, to denote movement East, and West.
You start at 0 so that when you move the motor/dish, to 0.8W, or other satellite, then physically align the dish, 0 should be pointing at 2.9W of 0, which is your Longitude reading, also known as True South.
This should help you track the arc more accurately, but a slight deviation shouldn't affect your signal quality to greatly and only really matters on weaker transponders.

Your dish seemed to be working correctly, judging by your earlier figures, with the motor finding satellites from 0.8W to 19.2E, and the signal quality readings weren't dropping off too much, so I doubt starting from scratch will improve signal quality readings that significantly.

Given your signal quality readings on 13E, 16E, and 19.2E, I doubt the problem was your dish, when experiencing problems with 23.5E, as the signal strength, on 23.5E, is very strong, in the UK, and the distance, from 19.2E, to 23.5E, wasn't sufficient for you dish to miss the arc by that much, which meant your problem lay elsewhere, probably with the trees blocking the signal.

[echelon]

do not be fooled by the markings on the motor, Liverpool is west of the greenwich meridian so true south for you is almost 3 degrees west of Greenwich , so those motor markings will NOT correspond to anything meaningful

your motor ZERO marker is the top of your arc and would point true south of you , which is 2.9 west of Greenwich in London , meaning if there was a satellite at 2.9w with fta channels on it , your motor would be on ZERO when getting those channels

but THOR is east of you which muddies the waters , whereas had you been near Leeds you would be similar to the actual sat positions using your motor markings

this aspect casuses people no end of confusion, mainly because they are not in line with Greenwich in London, had you been in Cork it would be even worse if you used the motor markings, hence why you ignore them because they are of no use to you

yes you can start my moving the motor until the arrow points at 0 , but when you select thor on your box the motor will move to where it thinks thor is, this will be a few or several degrees away from the zero on that motor

I do not look at those motor markings once I have moved it away from zero to thor, nor do I use them for any meaningful purpose during or after lining up the dish, the zero is a useful starter position and nothing more unless you are sat on the Greenwich meridian, which few people are

you seem to have the motor set correctly at lat 54 degrees , although I would edge it to 53.5 myself

I would start with the dish elevation clamp set at about 27 degrees and select a FTA channel on thor, the motor moves the dish, then once that is done you move the dish elevation slightly up or down and the whole motor assembly left and right on the pole until that FTA channel shows up on the portable tv, then fine tune to peak the signal by slight movements of up / down / left / right , locking it up once the peak signal is achieved, then test other main satellites such as 13e , 19e , 28e and 42e, plus 30w

you may need to finely adjust across the range so that everything comes in ok (but never move the motor clamp at all once the 53.5 setting is set and locked), bearing in mind there must be no trees or buildings close by, which may block the signal in some cases

you do not have to use thor for this, you can use a 13e hotbird FTA channel, or a 19e FTA channel , such as al jaz or a news channel, meaning the motor moves a lot further away from its zero pointer (but no need to worry where it goes as you are not using that scale on the motor at all)

checking my motorised dish here in Manchester on a VU SOLO 2 HD , I find the following FTA channels are working fine with good signal and quality on thor at 0.8 west

AL JAZEERA ENGLISH
BBC WORLD NEWS
CGTN
SKY NEWS
BLOOMBERG TV EUROPE

[fozzer12]

hi got 0.8w, 19.2e and 13e back on using usals. elevation 56 and latitude 31.5. used al jazzera English on thor got signal on this channel then moved to other sats but cant get anything on 28 east or 23e. got good signal on al jazzera 91% signal and 83% quality. when i was trying to set latitude to 53.5 and elevation to 27 I was unable to do so? is it a case of just tuning in al jazzera again just at a different position till it gets on the arc?

[Mickha]

Please check other available satellites, 5E, 7E, 9E, 10E, 16E, and the same West, 5W, 7W, 15W, 22W, 24.5W and 30W, and please post your signal quality readings.

[fozzer12]

7e 61% quality 91% signal
9e 67% quality 91% signal
10e 38 quality 95% signal
16e 82% quality 86% signal

15w no signal
22w no signal
30w no signal

dont have other sat in my list of sats

[Mickha]

You should have a very strong signal on 30W, the fact that you're not getting anything can be down to your dish not tracking the satellite arc or something blocking the signal.
Try adding 5 West, you should get a very strong signal on the super beam, try 12564 V 29950 DVB-S2 8PSK 2/3

https://www.lyngsat.com/Eutelsat-5-West-A.html

[fozzer12]

getting some fta on 5w canale 237, fire tv, channel 24. 77% quality 95% signal

[echelon]

hi got 0.8w, 19.2e and 13e back on using usals. elevation 56 and latitude 31.5. used al jazzera English on thor got signal on this channel then moved to other sats but cant get anything on 28 east or 23e. got good signal on al jazzera 91% signal and 83% quality. when i was trying to set latitude to 53.5 and elevation to 27 I was unable to do so? is it a case of just tuning in al jazzera again just at a different position till it gets on the arc?

using your latitude set to 56 instead of 53.5 wont help you to get all the arc, no wonder you are losing sats , especially at each end of the arc , your arc is either to shallow or too acute due to this

ideally you set the motor to latitude 53.5 and lock it up , as barney mentioned over on page 1 where he said "Latitude 54 Elevation 35 which is correct" - so it was almost right where it was

then you adjust the dish elevation from 22 to 30 (where its clamped to the motor and can adjust up or down) plus left right on the pole as well by slackening the pole mountings where the motor attaches to the pole itself - my darkmotor book shows the initial dish elevation to be 27.5 degrees for my dish

once you can get the following you are tracking the arc correctly , same as mine which I checked 2 hours ago - see post 7 over on page 1 for diagrams

42 east - t urksat
39 east - hellasat
28.2 east (sly and freesat etc)
23.5 east
19 east astra 1
13 east hotbird
0.8w (thor)
5.0 west
30 west hispasat

think of it like looking at a clock face

as well as midday , 12 noon , you can rotate your head and see 9pm on the left and 3 pm on the right , as well as everything in between

you already proved that al jaz is tuned in correctly, retuning will not help you solve this puzzle

tracking the arc correctly solves the puzzle , starting with the motor on 53.5 latitude

I have found the manuals for your motor and the dish elevation should be 22.7, so not the same as my darkmotor, but your motor latitude and elevation are correct as set when you started , at latitude 54 , elevation around 36

so set your motor back to where it was before , then put your dish on 22.5 and then try finely adjusting left / right / up / down , on thor al jaz

I have attached the 2 manuals for you to read in adobe reader

[fozzer12]

Hi so is it the actual dish I need to adjust 68723. because when it is set to 54 latitude and 35 elevation I cant get any signal on thor. also I get a clear line of sight to 30w so there are no trees blocking it

[echelon]

correct , leave the motor on 54 latitude , 35 elevation and adjust that dish elevation shown in your photo above, starting at around 22.5 and try to get thor

You already know the channels are there and tuned in correctly, so its just a case of adjusting that dish elevation up and down slightly and slightly left and right on the pole too, no touching the motor setting for latitude or its elevation either , once the motor has been set , spanner it up and leave it well alone , this is a dish mount and pole mount adjustment from now on

ps:- its showing as being on 41 elevation in your photo, should be around 22.5 , but check both sides for markings , just in case one is different to the other

[fozzer12]

hi all been trying all day but back to square one with same sats. I would like to say I really appreciate every ones help and advice thanks. does anyone know any installers in liverpool thanks

[echelon]

back on page 1 your first picture of the motor setting showed us your motor latitude and elevation were almost spot on

but you never posted a picture of the dish elevation (preferably both sides if both sides are marked ?) until the picture above in post #37

assuming your motor is back where you started with the first picture on page 1 , then it would help if we had a picture of the dish elevation clamp showing where the cutout is pointing to , so we know what your dish elevation is , barney stated it should be between 21 and 23 and he was correct

if you look at my pictures below , you will see the motor elevation latitude setting at about 53.5 latitude on the left side of the motor bracket (looking from the rear of the dish)

and on my triax dish , you will see the way it is assembled (the correct way round) and my settings are on the left hand side viewed from the back of the dish, so not the right hand side

so the motor and the dish adjuster are viewed from the left hand side when stood behind the dish, nothing is seen of the right hand side

looking at your picture of your dish mount on the right below, I think your bracket is upside down, comparing it to mine on the left

who assembled the dish and motor ?

[holmroad]

Only thing about your very sensible theory echelon is that fozzer12's first post in this interesting thread suggests that he may have had 'normal' coverage prior to a possible excessive wind event - so if your theory is correct and his set up was therefore already upside down at that time too, he would logically gain nothing by reversing it now?

[KARABANGA]

Hi...Have you tried to skew the LNB..ie twist it left or right to see if you get a picture on the missing sats. Also check the azimuth settings...this is the gap between the motor tail and the dish..if you are getting the east and not the west then you need to raise the gap ..in my experience in setting up motors over the years the main points to remember are:
1) LNB - make sure you have correct setting..LNB's dont work the same way for everybody due to different setups.
2)Azimuth angle settings..you need to adjust the gap between motor tail and dish bracket.
3) Correct transponder frequencies- for every satellite i always have a FTA channel as channel one..this makes it easier to see if a signal is picked up as dish is moving.
The good thing about USALS is that its very accurate in finding satellites once the first satellite is setup..it dont matter which satellite you start with ..i always prefer to start with an east satellite like 39 east and then go to 30 west and tweak it if required...once you get these two satellites then you should be on the arc. I have learned over many years that to motorize a dish you need common sense and patience .....Regards

[fozzer12]

I put my postcode in dish pointer and get this should i use the motorized option or select thor. also how would I input these lat and long readings




Satellite: ****************** Motorized ********************************* **
Elevation: 30.0°
Azimuth (true): 57.3°
Azimuth (magn.): 57.3°

[echelon]

latitude and longitude are used for usals only

go into your menu , setup , tuners - tuner setup (or whatever it says depending on the installed image)

Configuration Mode = Simple
Mode = Positioner
Longitude = 002.836
West
Latitude = 053.365
North

Extra Options = No
Force Legacy No


I still believe your dish mounting bracket has been installed upside down, hence why you are looking on the right side and not the left side

that bracket is not universal, it has a top and a bottom, it is not rectangular either , see post #40 on page 2

[fozzer12]

Hi I got 30w back after losing it but on astra 19e have lost quality its about 55% was getting about 80% tried tweaking with the receiver but no joy. what can I do to get the quality higher without losing other sat thanks

[Mickha]

What are your quality readings on 16E and 13E?
Did you manage to get 13.5E and 28.2E back?

If the dish still isn't tracking the arc, correctly, and losing satellites to the East, then you need to send it back to 0.8W, make some minor adjustments, to the bracket, and keep testing, by sending it to 30W, and 19.2E, and checking the signal quality levels.

[fozzer12]

is it possible to tweak the quality on 19e with the dish and peak it to its best or will this knock my other sats out gone back to diseq now

[Mickha]

Tweaking to get a better signal on 19.2E will affect all other satellites, more to the West.
The only real method is take the motor to 0.8W, closest to your True South, Longitude, then adjust your motor bracket, then dish bracket, to maximise the signal quality, then send the dish to 30W, check the signal quality, then furthest East, depending on line of sight, and keep making minor adjustments until you're satisfied.

Which satellite can you get to the furthest East? 42E, 52E?
What are your signal quality readings, on 13E and 16E?
If 19.2E is now only 55% you might not even be able to get 16E.

[TonyO]

The big enemy of dishes installed in gardens are trees and other foliage, at this time of year with sun and rain together they grow at a furious pace, half the work in my back garden is clearing the dish from plant and tree growth.

Last week I lost Astra 1 reception on a small dish, a creeper had rapped itself around the feedhorn, a tree pruner soon had it going

[echelon]

as mentioned earlier , all this is to do with you tracking the arc corrctly, so I have merged your threads

alter for one satellite alters everything else as well , so tracking the arc correctly is the only way to fix this across each and every satellite , from 42 east through thor to 30 west, including everything in between

altering your dish for astra at 19e will cause you issues elsewhere , altering those issues does the same again, its a knock on effect

my previous comments still stand and once you have fixed the dish mount and arc you will find all of them will work both in USALS and also in disecqc v1.2 as well

[malsat]

Hi its not a great picture but i can see lines down pole possible its original position?68711

what do you think?

just looks like rust run marks,
Have you had a spirit level on the pole ?
first thing you should do is check its plumb!

[fozzer12]

Hi We had a really strong gust of wind and it knocked our sky dish and motorsied dish out of alignment. I have got my motorized dish back on (using usals which I couldn't seem to get working when I tried earlier in the year) I get 19e, 13e, and 23e but dont get 28e I get 8w but only certain channels and not great quality, just wondering do i need to adjust the dish itself i.e moving it up or down any help much appreciated, thanks in advance

[Mickha]

If the wind has moved it you need to physically re-align it, to track the satellite arc correctly.
Using USALS, send your dish to any satellite, I prefer using one closest to my True South, which is your longitude reading, remember negative (-) readings = West. positive = East, then physically move your dish to get the strongest signal.
This will only work if you have your correct Latitude, and Longitude positions entered, in your receiver.
The Sky dish is easier, just adjust that until you get back your channels.
Forgot to add that you should also check that your pole is still plumb, and secure, otherwise no amount of moving your dish will get it to track the satellite arc correctly.

[echelon]

agreed

pole must be plumb, this is crucial

use usals and not diseqc 1.2

set your usals to your longitude and latitude as shown on dishpointer or similar

select a satellite near to you true south , so for the uk something like 0.8 west and free to air channel
let the motor move to that position and stop
disconnect the motor and go straight to the lnb, use a barrel connector if its easier
check the motor is locked to your latitude on the motor mount markings
check the dish is on its correct setting for elevation for the motor

unbolt the motor mount slightly after marking its position on the pole with a sharpie or similar felt tip pen or marker (I use black)
turn left or right a touch until you get a signal and check its the correct channel you selected, peak the signal and lock the motor mount nuts up
now try moving the dish elevation up or down ever so slightly , peaking the signal

if all ok , reconnect through the motor and check other positions like 13e , 19e , 23.5e and 28.2e, plus 30 west

[Barney]

i believe its natures way of giving you free exercise :D
using a marker really helps i've done this years ago it really makes re-aligning the motor a lot less painful
as usual spot on advice echelon :respect-054:

[fozzer12]

I can get thor 0.8w, 13e and 19.2e I cant get any signal on 23e and 28e I did get 23e before I adjusted the dish and now I get thor and not 23e. I think it maybe my dish elevation but not sure what it was set on originally I posted a picture that says 41 but that doesn't get me all these sats. I would just like to get 23e and 28e but I seem to lose one sat if I get another I know I must not be tracking the arc right its very frustrating. appreciate all the help and advice. thanks

[oscar]

Exactly what echelon said -- your motor has moved off from it's highest elevation at 0.8w.
Until that is set correctly you have no chance of tracking the arc and the mounting pole must be plumb

[echelon]

all the correct advice was given in the previous thread, nothing more to be added

I believe I said that your mount was upside down in the previous thread, nothing has altered my opinion

if you line up every duck in a row, it will work , until then , it wont

[fozzer12]

hi I need to make sure my dish and motor settings are correct I used dishpointer and get the following using thor 0.8w as my starting point and get this,
##

Satellite: 0.8W INTELSAT 10-02 | THOR 5 | THOR 6 | THOR 7
Elevation: 28.8°
Azimuth (true): 179.2°
Azimuth (magn.): 180.3°

I currently have my motor elevation set to 35 and latitude to 54. I have my usals settings like this
Configuration Mode = simple
Mode = Positioner
Longitude = 002.991
West
Latitude = 053.428
North.


so according to dishpointer I need to set my dish elevation to 28.8 or 29 also how would I enter these lattitude and longitude. I just want to make sure I am starting right, any help much appreciated thanks

[fozzer12]

it maybe be upside down you would have a better idea than me I did not set the dish up but it did work correctly regardless of the mount being upside down

[Mickha]

Why are your longitude settings so different?
From dispointer you have the longitude as 1.48 West but you have set your receiver at 2.99 West.

[echelon]

you do not set the dish elevation on your box

you set it on the dish mounting plate, with a spanner in hand and checking the markings on the dish and mount

your longitude should be set to 001.480
West
Latitude = 053.428
North

so its

Configuration Mode = simple
Mode = Positioner
Longitude = 001.480
West
Latitude = 053.428
North

[echelon]

ps , in your previous thread you mentioned Liverpool

longitude 1.48 west is not correct for Liverpool

_https://latitudelongitude.org/gb/liverpool/

so its

Configuration Mode = simple
Mode = Positioner
Longitude = 002.991
West
Latitude = 053.428
North

[gbmitie]

Read this thread with interest and once you see trees then its ??? The OP is a relative novice so I would have suggested go to 0.8west and check signal strength on 2 channels V and H. If these are good ie up in the 90's then rig is OK. When sent to 28 east I would look at dish and the sky dish and see if dish is actually pointing at 28e. And pick a good channel like BBC. We dont know yet if pole is 100% vertical and when rig is sent to 0.8w is it dead straight, ie the three red dots on you tube.

This is the link and 3 red dots is at 5.11

xxxx://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k_yhxmGlEA

[echelon]

I agree, he could set it up on 0.8 west on a fta channel, which I usually do , then check 28e (bbc and itv etc) and 39e and 42e fta channels for example , then try 13e and 19e and 23.5e , plus 30w

but from the pictures I saw the dish elevation mount bracket was upside down, fitted by another person, so I thought this was why its not tracking the arc correctly, which is what I still believe and I have told him in his new thread about it , he is in Liverpool so his longitude and latitude settings appear to be what I gave him months ago, so I do not believe its his box, so we are back to dish and motor alignment once more

so groundhog day

he did post a thread asking for a satellite engineer to call , no replies

[fozzer12]

I have my dish set up using usals and get the following sats: 0.8w, 9e, 13e, 16e, 19.2, 23e all with decent signal . but I cant get a signal on 28e or 30w I could at one point previously get 28e and hispasat if I remember rightly I had to manually fine tune 30w but tried this and still cant find it. I set it up by going to 0.8w getting a signal on al jazzera english and peaking the signal then tried my other sats but cant seem to get 28e. I know at one point I couldn't get 23e because there where some branches blocking it but I recently found I could get signal but then i was losing thor I have sorted this and receive the above satellites. I have my motor lattitude set to 54 my elevation set to 35 and my dish elevation to 39. I just don't understand why I cant get 28e as I could tweak dish and get signal on 28e but now cant get any signal on 28e. surely it cant be that far from 23e to not get any signal I know when the dish points at 28e it faces a house but I think it is far enough away to go over the house. any help much appreciated if anyone needs more info or if You need me to take a specific picture thats no problem. thanks in advance

[Mickha]

First you need to check if you have anything blocking your signal, you can use dishpointer.com, to check this.
Type in your postcode, select 28.2E, from the drop down signal box, zoom in on the map, to find your house, and move the green icon to where your dish is located.
Click the show obstacle option and move the red icon to anything possibly blocking the signal.
It will then provide a d, distance, and h, height reading, which means that the obstruction would need to be this high, to block the satellites signal.

If you can't get the furthest East, or furthest West, satellites, then your dish probably isn't tracking the satellite arc correctly, and you need to move your dish back to 0.8W, using your receiver, then make small adjustments, to the brackets, maximise your signal, on 0.8W, then try 28.2E, and 30W, again, keep doing this until you manage to track the satellite arc.
68911

[oscar]

It's a rainy day here so sat down and did a list of Free To Air channels -- there are some gaps as I only have a SD receiver.
31 w --- 12092 v 27500 TBN Espana
15 w --- 12609 h 7.552 ESPN 902 Syndication (with BISS key)
1 w --- 12418 v 28000 Sky News
5 e --- 12399 v 27500 Inter
7 e --- 11221 h 27500 Iran International
10 e --- 11919 v 27500 Holy God TV
13 e --- 11034 v 27500 RTR
16 e --- 11345 h 30000 KCN
19 e --- 12226 h 27500 Eurosport
28 e --- 12207 v 27500 Sky News

That should help you set up your dish .

[ManikM]

I wonder if he ever did manage to get 28.2e ?
I feel like going up there to help him, so frustrating reading through this.

[oscar]

A friend had a simlar problem where he lost 31w .
His dish was on a chimney stack and when he went from 15w to 31w, with me watching the dish, nothing happened -- it didn't move but switched to the 31w channel list which he could not receive of course.
It's a while ago but we had to manually set up 31w and save it to memory. A mystery why it forgot 31w.
It was a Technomate receiver with the screen message that the dish was moving.
I have a similar receiver but with a V box which counts so know something is happening to the dish.
Maybe this is what has happened but if fozzer12 doesn't come back ,we'll never know.

[fozzer12]

hi all still cant get 28e when i have usals set up i get 0.8w,9e,13e,16e,19e but cant get 23e or 28e, i have longitude to 54 and elevation to 35 my dish elevations on dish pointer says 29 for 0.8w but when i try and set it to that I don't get a signal could this be down to the position on the mounting pole itself any help much appreciated thanks

[Mickha]

Given your location, and dish size, 28.5E, and 23.5E, should be easy, so it must be that your dish isn't tracking the satellite arc. How are your West satellites? Can you get 30W?
You need to follow the basic rules:
1. Ensure your pole is plumb, and strong enough to hold the dish/motor.
2. Find your true south, using an app, or site like dishpointer.com.
3. If using a Usals motor, set everything to 0, dish, motor and LNB. Enter your latitude, and longitude, remembering negative longitude readings = west. Then send your dish/motor, using your receiver, to a suitable satellite, like 1W.
4. Manually move your dish to 1W, then adjust the brackets, to get the strongest signal, on 1W.
5. Gently tighten your dish, so it doesn't move to much, then send the dish, using your receiver, to your furthest available Eastern satellite, like 42E, make a note of the signal quality readings, then send it to the furthest Westerly satellite, like 30W, and note the signal quality readings.
6. Send the dish back to 1W, then make minor adjustments, to both brackets, dish, and motor, maximise the signal quality, on 1W, then send to 42E, and 30W, and see if the signal quality improves.
7. Keep doing this, sending it to 1W, making minor adjustments, and checking 42E and 30W.

69245

[echelon]

it maybe be upside down you would have a better idea than me I did not set the dish up but it did work correctly regardless of the mount being upside down

I still believe the dish mounting bracket is upside down !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[fozzer12]

hi all turned dish mounting bracket round and tried setting dish elevation but cant get a signal on 0.8w any help much appreciated thanks

[fozzer12]

hi turned bracket round but not sure I have put dish on right now its back in the groove but not picking anything up not sure if I have put it on righ need to reset motor as I cant find sats, i tried change to lattitude to 53 lattitude and 36 elevation and have dish elevation to 29,30 which is what I am getting on dish pointer but cant get any signal on thor not sure what to do now any help much appreciated. tried moving to 0 and making sure lnb with wire pointing down

[Mickha]

Can you please post some pictures.
Where is your general location?

[fozzer12]

liverpool69246

I dont think I have put it on right never put a dish up and really struggled getting it on

[JOE.MADDISON]

looks like your dish is as far east as it will go,move the dish to the middle position 0 deg then try to find thor,dish up/down etc and side side about 1 deg until you find a signal then report back

[fozzer12]

I am not sure what to set the dish elevation to

[Mickha]

Forget the dish elevation, for the moment, your motor needs to be at 0. I would advise removing the dish, getting the motor to 0, then re-attaching the dish, ensuring it's pointing straight, along the 0 of the motor, and starting from the beginning.
You still haven't posted your general location, but I hope you've got your correct latitude, and longitude, for your location.

Once your motor, and dish, are set to 0, go back to your receiver, move the motor to 1W, or 0.8W, however your receiver has it listed, then physically align it to 0.8W/1W.

A motorized dish will track the satellite arc, once set up correctly, by rotating the dish, as it moves, to allow for LNB skew, which is why everything is set to 0, at the beginning.

[january_king]

OR maybe a limit has been inadvertently set somewhere beyond 19E. Worth a look into the motor menu on the receiver and Remove All Limits (or similar wording)

[Mickha]

Try using a cheap satellite meter, to help you find a satellite:
69247

[JOE.MADDISON]

FIRST post says liverpool

[fozzer12]

53 37 7.6 22.4
54 36 7.6 22.4
56 34 7.8 22.2
58 32 7.8 22.2
60 30 8.0 22.0


this is from the manual of my motor first is site lalttiude the eleavtion angle declination angle and dish bracket angle my latiude i am getting 53.408371 and longitude -2.991573 this is not my exact location. what do i set my motor and dish to. I ahve not been able to pick up a signal since I have turned bracket around thanks

[Mickha]

Here are two pictures, of my offset 1.2M CM dish pointing at 0.8W, as you can see the dish is almost vertical.
6924869249

[daxster40]

Here are two pictures, of my offset 1.2M CM dish pointing at 0.8W, as you can see the dish is almost vertical.
6924869249

hi Mickha is that a 36v motor m8.

[Mickha]

Yes, it's a Jaeger SMR 1224, it's a shame that they no longer make them.

[daxster40]

Yes, it's a Jaeger SMR 1224, it's a shame that they no longer make them.

thanks for replying was hoping to upgrade in next month from a 1m dish

[fozzer12]

here is some pictures of my dish I have sent it to thor 0.8w.


69250





69251

[JOE.MADDISON]

LOOKS like your dish may be too low dont expect to set two values listed and be spot on,dish marking can be out,try loosening dish bracket and move dish up a little at a time and use a signal finder NOT the receiver,

[fozzer12]

do you mean it may not be clearing the fence

[JOE.MADDISON]

no its elevation

[JOE.MADDISON]

never found a recever that found signals.SGNAL FINDER/METER IS A MUST cheeaaap on e/ay

[fozzer12]

one like this be ok


69252

[fozzer12]

I have one of these https://www.wish.com/product/5b0d1788420ea515f3e71e74?hide_log in_modal=true&from_ad=goog_shopping&_display_country_code=GB&_force_currency_code=GBP&pid=googleadwords_int&c=%7BcampaignId%7D&ad_cid=5b0d1788420ea515f3e71e74&ad_cc=GB&ad_curr=GBP&ad_price=42.00&campaign_id=6493229882&exclude_install=true&gclid=CjwKCAiAqJn9BRB0EiwAJ1SztQL 3Z3fW0po0V03bcaEB5WUs4hI2AGzuReE8 vuPXhQ0TdGeCY7fY-hoCf60QAvD_BwE&share=web

used it for finding 19e on sky dish but when using it on motorised dish get signal intenisty about 22% but the signal does not go complety off even when I move the dish a lot so getting false reading

[Mickha]

Set your meter to find 1W, as that's all you need it for, you take it out of the system when using your receiver, to track the arc.
After initially setting up, on 1W, and checking the satellite arc, you always move it back to 1W, to make minor alterations.

That cheap meter would do, but as you already have a decent meter you shouldn't need it. I also think your dish needs tilting back slightly, but photographs can be misleading.

[JOE.MADDISON]

YOU DO know how to use meter,move dish till meter is full scale turn down meter ,move dish till meter full scale,repeat till no more improvement, then same on up down untill no more improvement,remove meter try receiver,scan if ness..., identify,channel?sat etc

[fozzer12]

hi got my sats back I get 0.8w,9e,10e,13e,16e,19e no signal on 23e or 28e get very good signal on hispasat which I was not getting, there is a tree that must be stopping me getting 23 and 28. can I get 42e on a 90cm dish thanks

[JOE.MADDISON]

YES...42..45..46..50..52..53,,,i get these on a motorised small/standard sky dish

[JOE.MADDISON]

when i set up my 1mtr gib dish i could not get 23d found recr set channel was no longer in use changing it to an active transponder sorted the problem to find 23

[Mickha]

You should also be able to get other satellites, including 39E, and quite a few west.
Nice to see you're finding satellites, but can you please post some more information:
Satellites
Channels
Frequencies
Signal Quality

So that we can check if your dish is tracking the arc, correctly, or you need to make some minor adjustments.

[fozzer12]

19e signal 97 quality 92 sky sport 1
13e signal 96 quality 91 polsat sport 1 premunium
16e signal 96 quality 91 supesport 1 hd
30w signal 97 quality 92 sport tv1 hd
0.8w signal 96 quality 91 aljazzera english

[fozzer12]

19e signal 97 quality 92 sky sport 1
13e signal 96 quality 91 polsat sport 1 premunium
16e signal 96 quality 91 supesport 1 hd
30w signal 97 quality 92 sport tv1 hd
0.8w signal 96 quality 91 aljazzera english

[Mickha]

Have you tried for 39E, and 42E?

[fozzer12]

I tried both of these sats but could not get a signal I tried cnn international on 42e no signal

[Mickha]

In one of your pictures, there appeared to be a big tree, to your East, could this be blocking Easterly satellites, from 23.5e onwards?