satellite installation help

[doobiest]

after hours of reading and learning lots off this forum (thankyou) i am about ready to make my purchase, i'm going for a motorised 80cm system with my main priorities being to pick up astra and hotbird and i will be doing the whle install myself.

right to get to the question i have, now i am a total noob to this so go easy....

i have used a link from this site (dishpointer.com) to get my dish setup data and have the following info to work from:

when selecting a motorised system;

Elevation: 30.9°
Azimuth (true): 176.1°
Azimuth (magn.): 179.5°
LNB skew: -2.4°

when selecting true south/true north;

Motor Latitude Angle: 51.6°
Azimuth (true): 180.0°
Azimuth (magn.): 183.4°
Declination angle: 7.4°
Dish elevation: --



when installing/aligning my dish, which info should i use?

or do i have to make my first alignment to a specific satellite for best results?

it's just playing on my mind that even though it's motorised how will my reciever (which will be the new eurovox quantum) know the current position of the dish?

will the satellite finder do the job for me: http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?...=16m5#overview

all help most welcome cheers

edit: fantasic guide here that i've just read through How to install a DiSEqC motor the right way

but any further comments/help are more than welcome.

[merlodlliw]

Originally Posted by doobiest

after hours of reading and learning lots off this forum (thankyou) i am about ready to make my purchase, i'm going for a motorised 80cm system with my main priorities being to pick up astra and hotbird and i will be doing the whle install myself.

right to get to the question i have, now i am a total noob to this so go easy....

i have used a link from this site (dishpointer.com) to get my dish setup data and have the following info to work from:

when selecting a motorised system;

Elevation: 30.9°
Azimuth (true): 176.1°
Azimuth (magn.): 179.5°
LNB skew: -2.4°

when selecting true south/true north;

Motor Latitude Angle: 51.6°
Azimuth (true): 180.0°
Azimuth (magn.): 183.4°
Declination angle: 7.4°
Dish elevation: --



when installing/aligning my dish, which info should i use?

or do i have to make my first alignment to a specific satellite for best results?

it's just playing on my mind that even though it's motorised how will my reciever (which will be the new eurovox quantum) know the current position of the dish?

will the satellite finder do the job for me: http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?...=16m5#overview

all help most welcome cheers

Go on your local County Council website,it willgive the lat & Long
for you, then get an OS map and tweek it to your home,it is very
easy, most important thing is to get the dish holder ABSOLUTE
PLUMB SQUARE, if its out of plumb by a small,very small amount
you will have problems. You will use disq usals, the reciever will know auto where
the dish is, you start by going to zero.
More on this site will help you, thats how I started four years ago.Also get yourself a compass & cheap sat meter. A bit of hair pulling, but DIY then when the wind doth blow,you will know how to realign, saves a lot of dosh and good experience.
The omnisat meter maplins, is OK but a £4 bleeper from Lidl is just as good
why pay £34, I did not


Bob

[bigtee]

Welcome to TW Doobiest.

I don't know your receiver but since it seems a recent model I assume it has the USALS utility. If so you will probably find it easier to do your installation using USALS.

You will indeed need to confirm your latitude and longitude e.g. using google earth or multimap; it seems your latitude is 51.6 from your post. Your longitude will help to decide which satellite is best for your initial set up.

Some things to bear in mind:

1. Mounting pole/mast --- absolutely vertical
2. Tell receiver to use USALS
3. Enter Latitude and Longitude into receiver correctly
4. Set motor to you latitude (51.6?) or if the only marking on the motor is 'elevation' set that to 90 less (minus) your latitude (51.6?) = (38.4?)
5. Initially set your dish to around 22-23 which is roughly 30-7.4 (the declination that you mention)
6. Make sure that the clamps holding motor and dish are lined up straight with the mast/mounting pole (not sure I've explained that well; just make sure everything is well straight)
7. For now point everything facing roughly due south of your location
8. Then go back to receiver and ask it to send dish to Thor 1w (assumed for now to be your nearest satellite)
9. Then try and find that satellite with the best signal you can get.

That should be ok for starters; if there are any problems on D-Day, folk here will be happy to help I'm sure; good luck.

[merlodlliw]

Originally Posted by bigtee

Welcome to TW Doobiest.

I don't know your receiver but since it seems a recent model I assume it has the USALS utility. If so you will probably find it easier to do your installation using USALS.

You will indeed need to confirm your latitude and longitude e.g. using google earth or multimap; it seems your latitude is 51.6 from your post. Your longitude will help to decide which satellite is best for your initial set up.

Some things to bear in mind:

1. Mounting pole/mast --- absolutely vertical
2. Tell receiver to use USALS
3. Enter Latitude and Longitude into receiver correctly
4. Set motor to you latitude (51.6?) or if the only marking on the motor is 'elevation' set that to 90 less (minus) your latitude (51.6?) = (38.4?)
5. Initially set your dish to around 22-23 which is roughly 30-7.4 (the declination that you mention)
6. Make sure that the clamps holding motor and dish are lined up straight with the mast/mounting pole (not sure I've explained that well; just make sure everything is well straight)
7. For now point everything facing roughly due south of your location
8. Then go back to receiver and ask it to send dish to Thor 1w (assumed for now to be your nearest satellite)
9. Then try and find that satellite with the best signal you can get.

That should be ok for starters; if there are any problems on D-Day, folk here will be happy to help I'm sure; good luck.

Fully agree, plumb square vertical is the key.

Bob

[robbo71]

Originally Posted by doobiest

or do i have to make my first alignment to a specific satellite for best results?

it's just playing on my mind that even though it's motorised how will my reciever (which will be the new eurovox quantum) know the current position of the dish?

For best results set the dish up on the satellite that is closest to your longitude, which is at the top of your arc.

Assuming all your other settings were correct, once that is done, USALS will calculate how far round to send the dish for the rest. Or you can use Diseqc and store the positions yourself.

The receiver assumes the dish is where you sent it to.

Robbo

[doobiest]

thanks for the replies:
with a little searching and a lot of reading i've have gained a lot of knowledge and understanding into satellite tv from this and other helpful forums, i'm sure there's heaps more to learn but for now im confident i know enough to go and purchase my first motorised system this coming payday!

wish me luck on the install lol

many thanks!