installing using usals

[Goldyman]

For all that are still having problems

MOTORISED DISH USING USALS

1: Put up wall bracket on a south facing wall or as close to south as possible.
2: while motor is still on floor adjust your elevation/latitude markings on the motor to the same as your latitude where you live, if your motor markings have only elevation makings it is 90- latitude= elevation on motor. I use multimap.com to find my longitude and latitude. Tighten up as this will not have to adjusted again.
3: Attach your dish to motor while still on floor making sure the dish bracket is in line with the vertical line on the motor this is very important. Tighten up bracket as you should not have to adjust this again. And also half tighten up the nut on the elevation on dish.
4: Put dish and motor to wall bracket and point roughly south then loosely tighten up.
5: Run your cable from your receiver to the motor.
6: Input your latitude and longitude on your receiver before adjusting your dish, and then tell usals to go to Thor 0.8W/1W
7: Then adjust the dish for the best signal for Thor, By moving only the motor around the wall bracket/pole and the elevation on dish. I use a meter for this part but for people without a meter I believe a lot of people have been using BBC world to check the signal with. Once the signal is the best you can get it tighten everything up.
8: finish, hopefully

[Goldyman]

/ Bolt the motor to the mast/pole roughly aimed in the direction of your reference satellite,same for motor elevation as you may need to correct later,
2/ Fit the dish,Lnb,cable,receiver,
3/Drive the motor to Zero on your motor scale.
4/ Set up USALS for your area,& select your reference satellite the receiver,
5/ Fit meter between motor & reciever
6/ Now find the best signal for your reference satellite by adjusting the dish inclination & slacken off the motor mount mount now by looking at the meter achieve the strongest signal,
7/Now drive the motor to the extremes of your arc then by gently flexing the top & bottom of the dish see if the signal changes, if more signal when you flex the top of dish away from the Lnb means you need to adjust the motor elevation higher.
8/ If you move the motor elevation you will need to adjust your Dish Inclination at your reference satellite again,

I have found that this method gives perfect tracking of the Arc/Clarke Belt.

[Goldyman]

1, have attatched the dish and motor to my ground stand, what direction MUST the dish be pointing to start with? what angle also?
2, once i have done that, do i just turn my receiver on and search for all satellites or is it not as simple as that? i have other peoples comments and got confused as some say it must be pointing directly south, and others say to have it pointing at thor 1w so it can sweep across the arc of satellites?
3, are there any other measurements i need to know longitude/latitude etc?
4, any advice?

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The easy way if your putting it on a ground stand is.

1. Make sure the pole is 100% vertical take your time with this.

2. Set the elevation angle of the motor mount according to your location should be 52 deg and secure.

3. Mount the dish to the motor mount so it is roughly parallel and aim the whole lot due south.

4. Set your TM to usals and enter in Lat 52.5N Lon 1.1 east

5. Get an extension lead and take the stb and tv and set it up next to the dish so you can see it unless you have a sat meter.

6. Select SAT and select Thor, the dish should move slightly to the right.

7 Go to menu, advanced search, under sat make sure it says 1.0W Thor.

8. Arrow down to transponder and change it to 11.325

9. Move the the whole setup (not the pole) very slowly to the left or right so you are moving the motor around the pole with dish attached untill the quality bar improves, when it does peak the quality and slightly secure the position with the bolts.

10. Now move the dish up or down to improve the quality even more dont move the motor angle only the dish, you should get at least 75%, after you have tweaked it so you get a good quality signal tighten it all up and start scanning all the sats your install should be good.

[Goldyman]

Installing a motorised satellite system..

Installing a motorised satellite system is a challenge but well worth the time spent. For this tutorial I will assume that you are going to wall mount your dish but if not you will be glad to know that most of the information here will still apply to you.

Following the instructions found here you should be able to have a fully working system within 3-4 hours.

You will need:

A satellite receiver
A satellite dish
An LNB
T & K brackets
A pole
A motor
Satellite cable
F plugs etc to make the connections
A satellite Meter
A compass
Ladder
Toolbox

Advice on what to buy

Determine what you want to watch i.e. movies, music, documentaries or whatever you can get as this will determine what satellite receiver you buy. Some receivers can be patched with software to allow you to view pay TV but others may require you to buy a conditional access module which you would have to program in order to view encrypted channels. There are receivers out there that use software to emulate these cam's but these types of boxes are usually for enthusiasts only and are quite expensive i.e. Dreambox.

Your best bet is to buy something that can be upgraded in the future but also very simple for you to use and for this purpose I would recommend a Technomate satellite receiver. The Technomate 1500 CI+ would be my choice as it represents good value and is so simple a young child could operate it.

Buying a complete kit is a good way of saving money and you know that everything you have purchased was designed to work together.

Satellite dishes can be thought of as very ugly devices but there are ways of disguising your dish. Metal dishes can be sprayed with car paint to help them blend into the surroundings or you may want to by a transparent satellite dish made of polycarbonates which for installations near the seaside are brilliant as they do not rust. New products are always being developed to help people disguise their satellite installations. As with allot of things size really does matter but due to the local council's dislike of satellite dishes you may not get planning permission for anything to large and your neighbours may complain if the dish obstructs a view from their property so I would recommend not going for a dish any bigger than 90cm though you can always risk a bigger dish and hope that nobody notices. Bigger dishes are essential for picking up weaker signals.

You want to buy a universal LNB and preferably 0.3db. The lower the number the better the picture quality will be. Universal means that the LNB is not fixed to only receiving channels on a certain band.

The motor should support Diseqc 1.2, Goto X and USALS as should your satellite receiver. USALS stand for Universal Satellite Automatic Locator System and use your longitude and latitude in order to track the satellites positioned above the Clarke belt. Having USALS will make things simple so it's a good thing to have. The Moteck Digipower 2100A would be my choice as it supports all of the above and can turn from 75E to 75W. This motor can be driven using buttons on the base of the unit which helps to set the dish up quickly. It also moves quite quickly so you don't have to wait so long when moving from one satellite to another.

Starting the install

A dry warm weekend is best for this preferably when your partner is out shopping or something. Start by looking for a neighbours Sky satellite dish and look where the dish arm is pointing. As we are in the North and the satellites circle the equator we know that our dish has to have a clear view of the south. Alternatively use a compass for a more precise reading. Look at your home and decide where the best place to mount the dish will be. Mine is on the side of my house just above the roof so it has an unobstructed view of the sky both East to West.

Once you have decided where the dish will go you need to fix the brackets to the wall. Opinions differ as to how these should be fitted to the wall but I prefer to have the K at the top as I believe it adds greater stability to the dish especially in high winds. The brackets should be approximately 1m apart. You will need strong bolts in order to get a good fixing.

Once complete you will need to attach the pole using U clamps and make sure that the pole is 100% vertical. This is the most important thing you will do so make sure it's spot on and check with either a spirit level or inclinometer.
A hammer may be needed to tap the brackets and pole in order to get things completely level.

Once complete go and have a cup of tea and read the instruction leaflet that came with your dish. Dish assembly is quite straight forward.

Unpack the motor and flick through the instructions. There should be a chart which tells you what to set the inclination and declination to on your motor and satellite dish based on your latitude. If you don't know what your latitude and longitude are you can visit www.multimap.com and type in your post code. Your latitude and longitude will be displayed under the picture of the map.

Now would be a good time to wire up the LNB to the motor. Pre made cables for this purpose are available.

Set the motor and dish to the settings given in the motor manual and triple check everything as it's far easier to work on the dish when it's on ground level. Now bolt the dish to the motor insuring that the motor is set to 0 degrees and that the dish goes on completely central. Again this is an important step so make sure it’s accurate.

Take the dish up the ladder and bolt it onto the pole making sure the dish will not be obstructed by anything. Using a compass find magnetic south and adjust to find true south. A map that shows the magnetic variation for your location is helpful but not essential as you can turn the dish manually and raise and lower the dish as long as the brackets are loosened.

As a general rule you want to find the closest satellite to your longitude, which will always be the highest satellite in the sky and gives you a better chance of tracking the arc, in my case I chose Thor 1W (If you were in Dublin say, you would be better with Atlantic Bird at 5W).

Plug in your satellite receiver and run a cable outside so that you can plug in your satellite meter. Satellite meters take power from the receiver so the receiver will need to be on and not just in standby. A good meter for this purpose is the Digisat Pro satellite meter. Connect your cable from the receiver and another cable to the motor and gently move the dish side to side and up and down until you get the best possible signal. Once complete you can tighten up the brackets and run a new satellite cable from the motor to the satellite receiver.

Satellite cables come in 3 main colours which are white, brown and black. You should use the colour of cable that is most pleasing to the eye. I find black cable is best suited to brick houses.

You should now weatherproof your hard work with silicone and tape and make sure that the cables are long enough that should the dish move a long way in one direction that the cables will not be stretched or damaged.

You can now set your receiver to USALS and start scanning and storing satellites.
It is advisable to check which satellites you can receive for your size / type of dish on the satellite forums. You may need to tweak your setup a little to get a good signal on all satellites.


That's all there is to it.
If you get stuck it may be advisable to seek professional help.

[Goldyman]

How to set up a motorized system
The first thing to do is make sure your main pole is perfectly vertical. Having done that, proceed as follows:
1. Position your mount to as near as you can by eye and compass, so that it is pointing directly due south at it's highest point (Usually zero on the scale).
2. There will be two adjustments for the elevation - and it's crucial you adjust the right ones at the right time. One is on the mount itself, determining the arc angle at which it tracks the heavens, and the other is on the dish. Look up (I think there's a utility at satcodx.com) the correct elevation for your location, and estimate the position on the adjuster *on the mount* (usually crudely marked and not always accurate).
3. Tune your receiver in to 1 degree west, preferably a weaker signal, and position your dish so as to get the best signal *without* adjusting the mount, but using the adjustment on the dish clamp.
4. Drive your dish, by operating the motor, around to a satellite well to the west, e.g. Hispasat at 30ºW. Adjust the elevation on the dish clamp so as to get the best signal. This may take some time, but DO NOT adjust the mount settings at this point, only the dish.
5. Drive the dish back to due south (1 degree west), and move *the mount itself* up or down back to the strongest signal.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5. The adjustments needed at each point should get smaller, and after 2 or 3 tries you should need no further adjustment.
7. Test you have the arc correct by going to a satellite well round to the East, e.g. Astra2. If the dish elevation is correct, you've finished: if it is not, your pole is not vertical, straighten the pole and start again.


If the adjustments are done in the correct order, you can get a dish that tracks just perfect. You should have an unwarped satellite dish, and a straight ground pole, it will make things easier.

1- Start with checking the mounting of the feed horn. All the legs on the tripod should be of the same length. You should measure them, and do any adjustment you can if they are not the same length. Next, you have to check the distance from three different points on the edge of the dish, to the center of the feed horn. Remember, even if the tripod legs have the same length, that does not mean the feed is centered! You might have to "bend" the feed back into center of dish, or adjusting the tripod legs to get the feed centered in the dish.

2- Set the off-set angle on your polar mount (declination). This is an adjustment that tilts the dish *forwards* at an angle of about 4-6 degrees, depending on what latitude you live. You can find the exact angle for your location in charts, but if you set it for about 5 degrees, you'll be close enough to get going. This adjustment is usually done on one of the mounts connected directly to the dish.

3- You then move the dish to the highest point on your polar mount. You do this by using the actuator. You can do this by visually looking at the dish and the polar mount. You are basically centering the dish on the highest point on the polar mount. Now, you have to set the elevation angle of the dish. I like to use a meter for this, but it is also possible to do it without. The elevation angle is about 40 degrees, depending on your latitude. This is not very critical at this point because you will adjust this angle for best reception later. If you measure the angle on the mount, you might have to add the declination angle to get the true dish pointing angle.

4- You need to find a satellite that is located just south of your location. In most cases, there is a satellite close to the longitude you live. A few degrees off will not make much difference because the dish moves almost flat in the center of arc. Try a Ku band satellite because the accuracy is much higher. However, you might look for a C band satellite when you start. It will be easier to find than a Ku band satellite. Having the dish parked at the highest point of the arc, you have to turn the WHOLE polar mount on the ground pole to you hit the satellite. If your elevation was way off, you might not even get a signal. Adjust the elevation and turn the mount again until you find the satellite located "straight south".

5- Fine tune the elevation angle. Turn the mount sideways until max signal and then adjust the elevation angle until its maxed. At this point, you have set the off-set angle and the elevation angle for the satellite at the highest point in the arc.

6- Now, you have to get the dish to track on the sides of the arc. This is where most people fail. DO NOT adjust any elevation angles on the mount at this point! Move the dish using the actuator to a satellite on one side of your arc. You should hopefully see the signal from the satellite, if not, pick a satellite closer to the center of the arc. Peak the dish on the satellite using the actuator. Next, you have to push or pull upwards and downwards on the dish. You don't have to use much force, just a bit to see if the signal gets better or worse when you push/pull on the dish. What you are actually doing is to change the elevation angle a bit. If your dish is pointing at a satellite to the east of center and you have to push up on the dish to get a better signal, then the elevation angle must be adjusted higher. You adjust this by turning the WHOLE mount to the east! You have to use the actuator and move the dish a bit west to peak the signal. You go back and forth until the dish has the correct elevation. Next, you have to check a satellite on the other side of the arc. If you peaked the dish for center, and then for one side, the other side should be very close. This will depend on your ground pole, offset angle/elevation angle and quality of feed/dish.

7- If your dish is not hitting center on the other side, try the same adjustment as above. If the dish needs to be pushed up to get a better signal, then TURN the WHOLE mount in that direction. If the dish needs to be pulled down for a better signal, then turn the mount the opposite direction (towards the higher point on arc).

8- Then, go back and check the other side. Hopefully, you're not far off. You might have to go from side to side before your dish tracks perfectly.

9- If, and ONLY if you can not get both sides to peak, both sides would be too low or too high. You can then do a small adjustment of the declination (elevation) angle to get the two sides into peak. BUT, only do this if you can confirm that both sides are low or high. If the dish is to high on the sides, but fine in the center, the declination angle is to low. Increase the declination and the elevation angle the same amount. They will cancel each other in the center of arc, but track lower on the sides.

10- You should now have a perfectly peaked dish If you used Ku band satellites for the peaking, it will be as good as it can get. If you used C band satellites, you might want to do the same thing using Ku band satellites.