Motorised dish setup!!

[trev1978]

Sorry guys for all the posts but trying to get my plan of attack sorted for the weekend(if is arrives!!!).

I have got another very stupid question!!! All of the guide advise you to set up the dish up pointing due south, use your motor to drive the dish to your closest satellite and then move the motor and dish in combination to get the best signal. My longitude is -6.4656' which would mean i should try to fix on 5.0' W.

However i have a query!!! Would it work if i drive the dish to the s*y satellites at 28.5' E and get the signal maximised on this? After all if i have the elevation set correctly on the dish surely all i need to do is pick one point on the satellite arc...maybe i am over simplifying things!! There is two main reasons for suggesting this. Firstly i where i am proposing to set the dish up i already have a s*y dish close by so it should be relatively easy for me to establish the angle of this satellite. Secondly at my latitude the face of the dish needs to be set virtually plumb to pick up the s*y satellites- which would again be easy to get an initial estimate by using a plub rule. Maybe i am missing some thing obvious!!!

Another query!!!...when i get a strong signal how can i check that i have logged onto the right satellite? is there some way of checking the satellite id on the receiver (i am getting a technomate 5400ci). If so are they lised with their name e.g.astra 2a or is it a reference code. I know when i was setting up my s*y dish it was a code that i had to check on the receiver.

Your help is much appreciated!!!

Trev

[Yorks]

Yes you can do this.

You need to make sure that you initially line up motor, dish, lnb (vertical) and pole while motor is at '0'.

You could then send motor to Astra 2 (28e) and then move motor around pole to face same direction as your sky dish. Peak signal horizontally by moving dish arround pole. Peak signal vertically by tilting dish. Tighten motor to pole and tighten dish clamp.

When you scan for channels you should get for one get BBC1 (several regions).

This is only available on Astra 2, so you can safely say that you're pointing at the right satellite.

Yorks

[Robbo]

Yes, you can do it on 28E if you want, or 13E or 19E for that matter. I have done this sometimes if I'm not sure if the dish or obstructions mean that I can't get 1W.

When doing so, it is best practise to then send the dish to your neares due south, and repeat the whole procedure.

[bamjames]

Originally Posted by Robbo

Yes, you can do it on 28E if you want, or 13E or 19E for that matter. I have done this sometimes if I'm not sure if the dish or obstructions mean that I can't get 1W.

When doing so, it is best practise to then send the dish to your neares due south, and repeat the whole procedure.

OK so would a step by step guide be like this

1- get pole perfect
2- you set the angle for the motor(only)
3- Make sure the motor is at 0
4- put motor on pole
5- put dish on motor
6- have pole/motor and dish in a straight line
7- tighten everything
8- send motor to 28E
9- find 28E by moving motor horizontally, and get best signal by moving dish vertically
10- move dish to due south satellite(8W for me)
11- fine tune to 8W
12-test the Arc

If thats basically how its done then surely its better for beginners like me and Trev, who don't have much experience with pointing dishes, and the motors would make it more complicated for us,

Plus it took me 15/20mins to find 28E from 19E, so Id imagine it would take me 1hour+ to find 8W from 28E!
It would be great if the motor sent the dish to 8W cause In honesty I wouldn't have A clue where it is (id only hoping for luck)

Any frequency in particular That me and Trev should be watching for on 28E +5W(for trev) and 8W (for me)

[Robbo]

It is normal to do it on your due south, but yes that is the general procedure.

It just has an extra step in it.

I would say, try it on the due south first, but if having problems, try the 28e approach instead.
On 28E, pick anything, it doesn't matter. 10773H bbc1 London, will do.

[bamjames]

Well my main aim is actually to find 8W fast! then fine tune the motor on the arc ARC!

So I think il try the 28E method cause like I said it would take me ages to find 8W

[nanochickin]

8w has quite a good strong signal so you shouldn't have any problems finding it

[Robbo]

Originally Posted by bamjames

Well my main aim is actually to find 8W fast! then fine tune the motor on the arc ARC!

So I think il try the 28E method cause like I said it would take me ages to find 8W

If you know which way south is from your house, finding 8W will be a breeze.

[trev1978]

Hi Guys!!!!

Have spent a bit of a fruitless day trying to set up the motorised dish. It was ****ing here all day and got a real soaking!!! Anyway i have the dish set-up and the cable run through to the receiver. But i run out of time, daylight & dry clothes to try to lock onto Astra!!!!!

Anyway from my work so far i have a couple of queries relating to the motor (new Alsat Dark Motor). Firstly on the side of the motor the scale is marked degrees latitude- although the examples in the manual show elevation marked on the side of the motor and they do provide elevation and declination angle tables at the back of the manual. Would it just be a simple case of turning the motor to my degree of latitude?

Secondly, there seems to be alot of 'slack' in the motor. Now that i have the dish up it rocks easily from side to side with very little pressure and the movement is coming from the motor tube. i have read the manual and there is a section on fixing loose tube. is it normal for this to occur with a new motor? It appears that i may need to take the dish off to fix this...great!!


Can someone also explain a good method for lining the lnb dish and motor through so that they are all in line. This is more difficult than you would think!!!!

your help is much appreciated

Trev

[Yorks]

1. Yes just set the motor clamp to your latitude and tighten.

2. There should be no play in the motor spindle.

3. When the motor is at it '0/reset position' on the azimuth angle scale, the dish clamp should be central on the motor spindle. The Lnb arm, motor and pole should all be in line. You can do this 'by eye.'

Look at the top middle photo on this guide to give you the idea.

QUICK DISEqC H-H MOTOR INSTALLATION GUIDE with Photos

Yorks