fine tuning my dish...

[ManikM]

Evening all!

As most of you are aware I sorted finally rigged up my old sat equipment last weekend and got a signal.

My problem is now that as i drive the dish West - my sats are quite weak - the further West I drive it.

When i dismantled \ moved the equipment from my parents gaff - i locked it to 1 west, then dismantled it all. Since then i haven't adjusted ANY settings on the motor\dish. Its gone up as it went down (just on a new pole in a new area)

Now - I can get all sats EAST fine (nice and strong), - I can go to 30 West - but the strength is weak on the west sats (cant get 43west or 45west at all)

IN fact when i went to get the WWE RAW feed this morning on 22 west - the signal was unwatchable (below 10% quality - i used to get 70%)

My thinking is this... (and im no motorised expert)

...If i get up the ladder at the weekend, and move the dish back to 1 West - make sure its still all ok, then drive the dish 43 west - if i then, at this stage turn motor\mount slightly to the left or right on the pole - am i correct in thinking that I should be close to 43 west until it locks - if it does, then drive the dish back to 1 West to see if it all lines up still - then onto 45 east to make sure i can still get the East sats...?

Or should i goto 1West and move it slightly left or right on the pole (whilst still getting a signal on 1West) - then drive it to 43 West to see if it locks - if not, go back to 1West and move it the other way a little, (whilst still maintanining a signal) then try driving it to 43 West again....

OR do you think I need to involve adjusting the dish angle\inclincation or whatever its called (i've only moved 20 mile from southgate to hemel hempstead - not far) - bear in mind that at the moment i can get the east sats fine - just not the west sats very strong - does that prove my inclination \ angles whatever they're called are ok? and will just be a matter of left and right rotate on the motor clamp....?

My arc is off i think - as theres no obvious blockage to the West....think my scenario is one like in the attached pic.

My drama continues!

Cheers dudes!
:redface:

[jupiter]

Hi,

I am not an expert myself, MENBED is probably in a better position to advise you. However, I have set up a few motorise system myself. You need to check the angle for your new location and set it on your motor. Ensure the reading is on 0 degree, you can then use the weakest signal on 1 degree west e.g 12169 H 28000 7/8 to align the dish. If you get a good signal on this transponder, most of the other satellite would fall into place. If the east satellite is falling into place and the west is not, then you need to move the pole and motor slightly to the left or right, while still making sure that 1 degree is still ok. I have got the exact procedure at my home computer, will try and look for it tonight and post it for you. Good luck!

[ouagadougou]

Use the picture you have above as a reference and then move your dish to the west sats and then gently push/pull on the bottom of the dish to slightly alter the angle. The signal will increase or decrease when you push or pull.

Do the same at 1w and also for the east sats checking in all cases for if a gentle push/pull on the dish gives an increase or decrease in signal.

Use the results with your picture above to see which angle is out.

Cheers.

[carshalton]

Anytime I have set up my system I have used 1deg west as a due south reading and all the other satellites have followed,Some satellites have required the lnb to be skew the lnb some 45.anti clockwise eg 30. w to get the best signal.I suggest you peak the lnb at 1.w.

[leesouthnufc]

i normally align and peak at thor 0.8 west . with motor set at 0 .. then move motor back a tiny bit then tighten motor up . then move dish with motor line powered west to find thor again and peak normally just elevation . after that it should be on arc , and just find happy medium between sats east and west using just the elevation .. if you peak more at east then it proberly looses a bit west i find .. you can scew lnb but i find it just the same ..

[cosworth4x4]

just one thing is the pole 100% straight/level ,and was it were you removed it from 100 % .

[TheBadger]

:confused: What are your latitude and longitude? You need to have a look at "The Newnes Guide to Satellite TV" (Library or M a p l i n's used to sell it - well worth having as a reference!) If you are within a few degrees of 0 (Greenwich Meridian) then you can use 1W to set up your dish otherwise you need to use the nearest satellite to your longitude as you true south - forget magnetic as it's well off! Start by making sure your mount is set at the correct elevation for your latitude. In the guide I've got you need to refer to Table 8.1 to get the angles and Figure 8.7 to get what the angles referred to in the table mean. (I'd upload these for you but I don't have that privilege as I'm not a donator but if you PM me your E-mail addy I'll send them to you!). Once you've got your signal maximised for true south by getting all your angles set you can fix your mount temporarily and drive you dish to one of the extremes - doesn't matter which - and check for maximum signal ( a meter is essential for this!! ) You do this by pulling or pushing gently on the top or bottom edge of the dish and on the right and left edges. This will tell you which way you need to rotate the mount around your pole. If it is a maximum you're in luck so just drive the dish to the other extreme and repeat. If both positions give a max. tighten up the mount permanently and sit back and watch satellite TV after you've put some index marks on your pole and mount so you don't have to go through all of this again!

[ABA]

the 2 main points as cossy says is your mast dead vertical
and how far have you moved

[ManikM]

hi guys thanks for all your help!

my point is tho - as it was all fine before i took it downl, do u think i'll be lucky enough to get away with just rotating the motor mount on the pole a little bit left or right (with constant checking) rather than messing with dish angle (higher up the ladder and more hassle and more scarey...?)

i am lucky enough to be able to have my tft tv at my window plugged in to sat receiver as i move dish to check the signal.

:o)

[eggonline]

Start with checking the Pole Mounts is Dead Straight Both Vertical & Horizontal (ie put a spirit level both along the Length of the Mounting Pole & along the top). If its not straight & square, your not going to follow the Arc correctly.
You will get stronger East Satellites normally anyway. Also try checking what transponders you are getting.. are you getting more Vertical's than Horizontal's? - I also find rotating the LNB gives a stronger signal West. Start at the basics.
Check Pole/Bracket & Motor are all dead straight & aligned.
Check Lat/long/dec/elev settings (you can get your Lon/Lat from Multimap website).

Unless you go out & fiddle with the dish to see where/how your not hitting the ARC, its difficult to diagnose. With a little playing & refering to your Attachment, you should be able to work out what the problem is.
After

[ManikM]

cheers mate! pole is dead vertical - we used a spirit level.

on average on 30W (hispa) im getting 50-60% quality - compared to 70-90 on 45E - surely thats not right.

i will the check the horizontal \ verical thing in a mo -and report back.

[ManikM]

Hi,

I am not an expert myself, MENBED is probably in a better position to advise you. However, I have set up a few motorise system myself. You need to check the angle for your new location and set it on your motor. Ensure the reading is on 0 degree, you can then use the weakest signal on 1 degree west e.g 12169 H 28000 7/8 to align the dish. If you get a good signal on this transponder, most of the other satellite would fall into place. If the east satellite is falling into place and the west is not, then you need to move the pole and motor slightly to the left or right, while still making sure that 1 degree is still ok. I have got the exact procedure at my home computer, will try and look for it tonight and post it for you. Good luck!

ah i stupidly aligned it on bbc world on 1w - i guess being bbc, that its probably a strong transponder...?

how do u know 12169H is one of the weaker ones mate?>

i just checked 12169H - and its only 45% signal! i can do better than that!!!! bbc world is 94%

[Slap]

Dont forget to use the 6 oclock rule when you use a pole mount,the small hand is your pole and the big hand is your dish,also dont forget that the tightness of your U bolts come into play as well now.

[ManikM]

u want me to stand on the ladder and do clock impressions?

:redface:

[TheBadger]

:D No! You have to sit with it rammed up your jacksy! LOL!!:p :eek:

[ManikM]

LOL!

cheek! how did you know my girlfriend is called jacky.