Newbie Here Motorized dish setup question

[hariskar]

I try to setup my motorized dish. First time I had signal from 2 satellites and yesterday after made some changes from 7 satellites.
I live in Greece, Kavala (40.9N, 24.4E).
These satellites are:
Eutelsat 10E
Hotbird 13E
Sirius 18E
Astra 19.2E
Eutelsat 21.6E
Nilesat 7W
... 8W

Is it the 1st case in the attached picture? So I have to turn the whole system to the right?

Thank you!

 

[Mickha]

Hi hariskar,
welcome to the forum.
No you don't move your entire system, to track the arc, but adjust the brackets, to get the most from your dish/motor.

What size dish are you using?

The most important things, when setting up a motorized system, is first to ensure the pole is absolutely plumb.
When your motor is set to zero attach your dish then use your receiver, once you've input your latitude, and longitude, to send your dish to the satellite you wish to use to align it, preferably the one nearest your True South position, which in your case is 24.4E, your longitude reading.
This gives you the options of using 23.5E, 25.5E, or even 26E.
Once you have the strongest signal, from your chosen satellite, you send your dish to the furthese East satellite, you can receive, then the furthest West satellite, and make a note of the signal quality readings.
You then return the dish to the satellite you set it up on, make minor adjustments, to the bracket, and send it to the furthest East/West satellites again, to check if you have the strongest possible signal. from these satellites.
You keep doing this until you are satisfied that your dish is tracking the arc and you can get all the satellites possible, for your location, and the size of your dish.

 

[Riverblue]

Welcome to the forum . What you need to do will depend on what is happening to your signal at your furthest east and west points. Let us know if you are not sure.
It sounds like you are not tracking the arc properly, which I think you have figured.
Is your pole set up absolutely vertical, this is crucial.
If it is, read what it says carefully in your attachment, all of the information of what to do is written on it.
Make small changes at a time, and make a note of what you are doing in case you are adjusting it the wrong way so you can go back to where you started.
Is your line of sight blocked by obstacles to stop you seeing more to the east and west?
Be patient, it can be fiddly and frustrating but you will get there.
Feel free to ask more questions and of course, some pictures of your setup when you've finished.

Beat me to it Mickha!

 

[hariskar]

Thank you for quick replies!
My dish is Gibertini OP100L and the motor Moteck SG 2100A.
There are no obstacles.
So I have to check the signal to furthest east and west points even if the meter does not lock?
My pole is vertical.
The problem is that I can not find the satellites near my South: 23.5E, 25.5E, or even 26E. No way I can find one of them. So I found the ones I wrote in my 1st post and try with them as base to improve my setup. That is why I asked if my case is case 1 of my attachment. From what I understand from the attached photo, I have to turn motor-dish slightly to the right. Do you agree with that?
Thank you again!

 

[Riverblue]

You have to set up on a satellite near your true south, as per Mickha's post. If you don't then it'll never be set up properly.

 

[hariskar]

The fact that I receive 7 satellites with good signals does not mean that I am near to a correct arc? Doesn't it mean that my dish looks almost at true south?
Why can I find these satellites that are all near, but can not find 23.5, although I tried it for many hours? The signal gets to 90% but quality is 0.

 

[Mickha]

Hi hariskar,
are you sure you're usingf active transponders, on the satellites mentioned, 23.5E, 25.5E and 26E?
Here are links, to some of the maps, on 23.5E, 25.5E and 26E, to check what size dish you require.

http://www.lyngsat-maps.com/footprints/Astra-3B-Europe-Wide.html

http://www.eutelsat.com/en/satellites/fleet/EUTELSAT-25B-downlink-coverage.html

http://www.arabsat.com/pages/Satellite.aspx?sid=38&pid=122

http://www.arabsat.com/pages/Satellite.aspx?sid=36&pid=120

Check on lyngsat.com for some of the channels, and frequencies, you might receive in your area, according to the maps.

 

[hariskar]

For Astra I was using 11459, because it was default to my meter, but then I saw it is not active and changed to some other frequency but found nothing again. For other satellites I use the default meter or receiver frequencies. How should I know which of all these frequencies in kingsat or lyngsat should I choose for each satellite?

After I saw again the attached picture I think my "setup" fits case 2 and not 1.

Thank you!

 

[Riverblue]

Try to find a transponder that is unique to the satellite that you are looking at and not replicated on the adjacent satellites. Preferably one with a higher symbol rate as well, also I don't know if your meter picks up DVB-S2 signals, if not then the transponder will have to be DVB-S.

 

[hariskar]

My meter accepts DVB-S2 signals. For example for 23.5 http://gr.kingofsat.net/pos-23.5E.php 11856.00 is OK? All channels seem encrypted, is this a problem?

 

[Riverblue]

No, shouldn't be. Your meter should still receive the signal, and give you a readout of the strength, it just won't de-crypt it if it has a screen.