Dish Setup

[Redman]

Ok, my current Sky Digital Dish is on the back of my house which is South facing. I seem to have a clear view East to West but the one installer I've managed to find doesn't do motorised dishes but told me that the dish would have to go on the front of the house, so dish is still in the box. I have now purchased a satellite finder meter with all the extras and was thinking of installing it myself with a little help from my brother. What I need to know is, would I be able to get away with putting it up out the back like the Sky dish? Also, is there a website that gives a list of all the satellite positions?

TIA

Redman

[lincsat]

The back should be OK from what you've said. Sky digital is at 28 east and is probably the most easterly satellite you will want. Depending on your location, 28 east is the approximate direction of the sun at 11am and the furthest strong satellite to the west is Hispasat at 30W where the sun is at around 3pm.

www.lyngsat.com has details of all active satellites, channels and frequencies.

[Redman]

Many Thanks

Redman

[teddyboysampson]

setting up a dish have a look at this

the only thing it was writtern for people in nw england

oint:

HOW TO SET UP A MOTORISED DISH
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Equipment needed.
-----------------
Suitable mounting pole (2" aluminium or steel scaffold pole)
TK brackets to mount pole on wall
U-Bolts
Spirit Level
various drills, spanners, hammer
Compass & Satellite signal meter (if possible)

Software
--------
ProgDVB with the dixie motor control plug-in available from the downloads area. Satellite Channel lists also available from the downloads area.

SITUATING YOUR DISH
-------------------
Please bear in mind that the dish needs to be far enough away from the wall and other obstruction to be able to rotate!! We normally mount the pole using TK brackets which extend out from the wall by 18 inches.

You need to be able to rotate the dish between at least 30 degrees east and 30 degrees west of due south, without obstructions such as trees in the way. The furthest point you normally go to the east is the same direction as a sky minidish (28.2 east), you need to be able to rotate the dish by 60 degrees to the west from this point. Standing behind the dish, the west is to the right of a minidish.

If you can get a clean arc as far as 45 degrees east and 45 degrees west then there are a few mor e interesting satellites you can recieve.

A good rule of thumb regarding obstructions - if the distance to the obstruction is twice the height of the obstruction you will have no problems. For instance if there is a fence that is 4 feet higher than the base of the dish, and the fence is 8 feet away then that will be OK.

SETTING UP THE MOUNT
--------------------
The first step to setting up a motorised satellite dish is the most important one! The mounting pole that the dish and motor will be fixed to must be exactly vertical!! This point can not be over stressed. If the dish is mounted on an aluminium tube which is one metre long, and the pole is out of true by as little as one centimetre top to bottom, that is enough to stop the dish tracking properly.

So step one - Get the mounting pole 100% plumb. Use a spirit level to check this side-to-side and front-to-back.

SETTING UP THE MOTOR AND DISH
-----------------------------
You need to correctly set the elevation on your dish motor. Most motors are marked with a graduated scale called "Latitude" However some are marked "Elevation"

If your motor is marked Latitude, then you set the scale to equal the latitude of you location. For example Liverpool is 53.5 degrees North - so set the Latitude on the motor to 53.

If the motor scale is marked "Elevation" then the correct formula to use is Elevation = 90 minus Latitude. For Liverpool 90 - 53 = 37.

Having done that, fasten up the bolts on the side of the motor as tight as possible (without breaking them of course!)

Now you attach the dish to the motor. The motor shaft has a center line marked on it, and you centre the dish mounting bracket on this line. If you can not see the centre line with the dish attached, take a length of insulating tape or similar, and use it to extent the centering line so you can see it. Tighten the dish down so it can not move side-to-side.

Now attach the dish and motor assembly to the mounting pole, and tighten down the motor bracket, leave it a little slack so you can trotate the entire motor/dish assembly in the pole.

INITIAL ALIGNMENT OF THE DISH
-----------------
The first thing you need to do is allign the dish to the satellite nearest to due south. This satellite in the UK is Thor/Intelsat707 at 1 degree West. Using ProgDVB, load up the channels list for Thor. Open the channels list and click on the channel "Business TV". This is a FTA channel that always carries a test screen with a picture of s clock or compass and the marking 1 West.

Using the dixie plug in, drive the motor to position 0.0 (fixed) the drive the Motor to Thor 1 West

Now rotate the entire motor/dish assembly to locate this satellite. This is easiest if you use a signal strength meter, or at the very least get your PC outdoors (dry weather only!) and in a position where you can see it! ProgDVB has a signal strength read out on the bottom bar of the TV picture window.

When you locate this satellite, adjust the elevation on the dish (NOT THE MOTOR!!) to get the strongest signal. For your guidance, Thor is elevated a few degrees higher than Astra. Once you have the strongest signal, lock the dish elevation so it can not move.

Now load the channel list for Astra, and using dixie plugin, drive the motor to Astra. Astra is a powerful satellite and you should have no problems finding a picture.

Go back to your dish, and using the spirit level double check that the mounting pole is still vertical and has not moved under the weight of the dish, otherwise this problem needs to be corrected before continuing.

Now load the channel list for Hispasat, and using dixie drive the motor to Hispasat. Hispasat is a considerably weaker than Astra. You Should choose one of the Strong channels to test - The FTA channel called "Programaceo" is a good one to use, or also Disney channel. Also we have noticed that motors tend to "overshoot" a little when moving to Hispasat, you may need to tap the EAST button a couple of times to manually drive the dish slightly back to get a good signal. If you can't seem to find a signal on Hispsat at the moment then don't worry about that just now (time for worry comes later hehehe!!)

Now go and check again that the mounting pole has remained vertical and not moved under the weight of the dish, otherwise this problem needs to be corrected before continuing.

Now drive the dish back to 1 West (Thor)

TRACKING THE DISH
-----------------
*START*
First check that you have the strongest possible signal on Thor (Business TV). Do this by grabing hold of the top and bottom of the dish and gently flexing this dish upward and downward. You should get a worsening signal as you move the dish up - down - left - or right. If this is not he case then loosen the motor brackts and reallign the motor position left right. loosen the dish elevation nuts and alter the dish up and down until you have the best possible signal. when flexing the dish you are not trying to get the strongest signal, just flex it enough to check if the signal gets better or worse in each direction.

Now drive the dish to Sirius 5 East. Load up the channels list for Sirius and choose "NOVY Canal" You should get a strong signal from this channel - around 90%. Then choose one of the weak transponders on Sirius (Viasat Ticket) These channels are very weak in the UK - even in clear weather conditions on a 1 metre dish you will not get more than about 55% signal on a perfectly aligned dish.

While on Viasat Ticket, flex the dish up and down slightly to see which gives the best signal strength. Make a note of which direction improves the signal UP or DOWN. You can also try manually driving the dish slightly further east or weat with the EAST WEST buttons.

Now go back to Hispasat. Choose "Programaceo" Channel. If you are getting little or no signal flex the dish slightly up or down to see which direction gives better signal. Remember that the dish tends to move slightly too far west on Hispasat so you may need to manually drive it slightly back to the east. Again make a note of which gives better signal UP or DOWN.

If you have a good signal on Hispasat "Programaceo" of say 75% or more - try one of the weaker channels such as "P-Cinema". These channels are again much weaker than others on Hispasat - a well aligned dish gives you around 65-70% signal. Once again flex the dish up and down to wee which direction gives best signal.

If you can't find Hispasat AT ALL then move your dish to 8 or 15 degrees west and repeat the above process to see which is better reception UP or DOWN and make a note.

Now drive the dish back again to Thor 1W "Business TV" and check that it is still perfectly aligned and all this "flexing" has not changed the dish elevation. Reallign if necessary.

Now one of 5 possible situations will have occured. These will be dealt with below. And if you need to adjust the alignment of you dish then remember the next line!

IMPORTANT - ONLY EVER ADJUST THE DISH/MOTOR WHILE YOU ARE ON THOR 1 WEST

Situation 1. Dish gives better signal when flexed upwards on both Sirius Ticket and Hispasat P Cinema - in this case you need to DECREASE the elevation of the motor and INCREASE the elevation of the dish to compensate. Reallign for strongest signal on Business TV then go to *START*

Situation 2. Dish gives better signal when flexed downwards on both Sirius Ticket and Hispasat P Cinema - in this case you need to INCREASE the elevation of the motor and DECREASE the elevation of the dish to compensate. Reallign for strongest signal on Business TV then go to *START*

Note Situations 1 and 2 should never arise if you correctly set the motor elevation to your latitude (eg Liverpool - 53 degrees)!!


Situation 3. (The most common one!!) Dish gives better signal when flexed DOWNWARDS on Sirius Ticket and UPWARDS on Hispasat P Cinema - in this case you need to loosen and rotate the MOTOR a few degrees to the West (Towards HISPASAT) and then tighten up the motor, loosen the dish and rotate the dish back towards the East to compensate. Reallign for strongest signal on Business TV then go to *START*

Situation 4. Dish gives better signal when flexed UPWARDS on Sirius Ticket and DOWNWARDS on Hispasat P Cinema - in this case you need to loosen and rotate the MOTOR a few degrees to the east (Towards SIRIUS) and then tighten up the motor, loosen the dish and rotate the dish back towards the West to compensate. Reallign for strongest signal on Business TV then go to *START*

5. Well Done! You get perfect alignment on all three points!! No further adjustment required

by using two cvery weak signals on Hispsat and Sirius you can get a perfect alignment of your dish - all other satellites are more powerful and you wil have no problem with these.


ps i did have a picture how to fingd sats using a clock so will post it when i find it

Teddy

Originally Posted by Redman

Many Thanks

Redman

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
there used to be a easy dish set-up tutorial on here
but i cant remember where. is anyone able to help
lets make things easy for redman.
--------------------------------------------------------------
here you are mate i found the set-up guide. now you've got
two, use the one thats best for you.
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Welcome to Tech-Tronix Forums guides. We will explain an easy way to align a motorised satellite dish using the USALS setting on your satellite receiver. This method has been extensively tested by ourselves and is a very accurate method of installation.



Step 1. You will need to know your latitude and longitude before you start. A great place to fine this
information is Multimap (www.multimap.com) simply enter your post code, and the coordinates
and displayed below the map. For example if we enter NG12 3PB our coordinates will be:
Lat: 52:54:22N
Lon: 1:02:11W

You need to round up or down the coordinates to the nearest whole number. For example:
Lat 52.5N
Lon 1.0W

Step 2. Install the DisEqc motor and dish as instructed in the manual that came with your motor.
Make sure your mounting pole is perfectly vertical. Once you have done this and connected the motor to your satellite receiver, you need to enter the USALS menu. This will be explained in the receivers manual. Simply enter the the coordinates into the menu. Then select the THOR satellite at 1°West. The motor should move from it's default 0° to 1°West. Select a reliable channel such as BBC World.

Step 3. We presume that you are using a standard in-line meter in between your LNB and the DisEqc motor. Using the meter carefully align the dish to the Thor satellite. You should start to receive BBC World. Fine tune the dish to peak the signal as high as possible. Return to the receiver and select another satellite such as Hellasat at 39°East. Check the Alignment everything should be spot on. If not return to Thor and check the alignment again.

If you followed the instructions properly, you should be able to view a large number of satellites across the arc. Happy Viewing!

Please feel free to distribute this guide in any way. However you must not edit the text.

[teddyboysampson]

clipper you are probabily right m8

ok here is a list of strong transponders that i use when i trying to find a sat ( most of the time it is ones i have deleater lol)
STRONG TRANSPONDERS FOR SCANNING

53E 11044 V 29800 3/4
45E 11627 V 01320 7/8
42E 11812 H 27500 3/4
39E 12524 V 27500 3/4
36E 12686 V 04340 1/2
33E 11472 H 30000 5/6
28E 10744 H 22000 5/6
23E 11475 V 27500 3/4
19E 10773 H 22000 5/6
16E 11554 V 28800 7/8
13E 11862 H 27500 3/4
10E 11607 H 27500 5/6
07E 11471 H 30000 5/6
05E 12303 H 25548 7/8
01W 11421 H 24500 7/8
05W 12543 H 27500 3/4
08W 12649 V 27500 5/6
11W 11483 V 12800 3/4
12.5W 11345 H 30000 3/4
15W 11494 V 17469 3/4
22W 11675 H 05632 3/4
30W 11811 H 27500 3/4

45e 11.495V 3254
42e 11.135V 4444
39e 12.524V 27500
36e 12.695V 3030
28.2e 10.773H 22000
26e 11.919H 27500
23.5e 11.675H 27500
19e 10.832H 22000
16e 11.554V 28800
13e 10.758V 27500
10e 11.054V 4375
7e 11.175V 27500
5e 11.766H 27500
1w 11.189V 2142
5w 12.543H 27500
8w 11.556H 27500
12.5w 11.132H 3255
15w 11.494V 17464
18w 11.661H 5632
22w 11.613H 1655
27.5w 11.665V 12223
30w 12.012V 27500

53E, 11100V, 6000, 3/4
33E, 11472H, 30000, 5/6
4W, 10726H, 3750, 3/4
7W, 11747V, 27500, 3/4
11W, 11464V, 4340, 1/2
37.5W, 12522H, 5425, 1/2
43W, 12584V, 27500, 3/4
45W, 11510H, 26694, 5/6
58W, 11612H, 3670, 3/4

suposer it was a bit ott, this is what i would do , set it up on astra 2 ( same direction as the shitty s*y dishes ) and work yout way west, remember that when you go west you have to bring your dish up eg the lmb will be pointing higher up on 40 w than it would be on 28 e

Teddy

[Redman]

God, you guys are great. Hopefully getting the dish up today, will let you know how it goes.

Many Thanks

Redman