Problems with passion+ system from maplins

barney100 · 18-01-2009

Hi, sorry to crash in But I have a passion+ system with a Fortec 65CM dish, I bought as a kit from maplins online, I also have the satfinder.

I have set the dish alingment to 32' from the vertical and My house faces south so I have tried setting the dish to east then moving south but the meter never stops bleeping when set to 2 and if I set it to 1 it never bleeps, it shows H/V light, the passion= shows no signal and is set to Transponder 10773 h 22000.

I have set the skew after reading ROLW post, I need help I would have expected to recieve some signal?

What checks can I try, the cable is RG59, I am getting power to the meter so the cable and connections should be okay.

My legs ache from going up and down the ladder

**rolfw** · 18-01-2009

Have moved this to its own thread.

32 degrees elevation is too high if you are trying for the Freesat channels on Astra 28.2 East. Try it more like 26 degrees.

PS. Just noticed that the cable is RG59, dump it and get some satellite cable, you will lose most of your signal over a very short distance.

18-01-2009

Not only is the desired Elevation nearer 26 degrees (as rolfw says) for your location, but have you taken into account that the Dish is an "Offset" type?

The Dish face itself should be nigh on Vertical, as the LNB arm and associated LNB position are such that a roughly 25 degree (funny, that .........) offset is built in to the design.

barney100 · 18-01-2009

Hi,

I have set the angle from the fixing bracket on the back of the dish to 25' are you saying the angle should be from else where.

I am about to go up the ladder with the sat finder again but if I need to set the angle from a different point please tell me befor I go back up?

barney100 · 18-01-2009

rolfw

the cable came with the kit it was to small for the cheap screw on connectors and is about 6mm diameter foil screen but definately looks like RG59 to me?

18-01-2009

Originally Posted by barney100

Hi,

I have set the angle from the fixing bracket on the back of the dish to 25' are you saying the angle should be from else where.

I am about to go up the ladder with the sat finder again but if I need to set the angle from a different point please tell me befor I go back up?

Set to 25 on the scale should be fine - and the Dish face should look, by eye, to be vertical.

This is only a starting point, as it's impossible to assimilate all the likely mechanical errors eg in verticality of mount without doing a bit of twiddling!

barney100 · 18-01-2009

RAI,

The dish definately does not look vertical I have used a plumb line and prottractor to set the angle and the dish itself is pointing up at that angle? is this correct?

18-01-2009

Originally Posted by barney100

RAI,

The dish definately does not look vertical I have used a plumb line and prottractor to set the angle and the dish itself is pointing up at that angle? is this correct?

No, the Dish face should be nearly vertical.

I'm getting a bit confused now! I thought you had set the scale to 25, but now we have plumb lines.

Have you mated the Dish and its bracket correctly? Some Dishes are designed to accommodate the backplate etc either way up for different parts of the world and there would, in those cases, be two different Elevation scales, one either side of the backplate.

If the Dish is correctly assembled, with the Elevation set to 25 (ish) on the backplate graduated scale, the Dish face will be roughly vertical.

I'm not familiar with the Fortec Star Dish specifically, so don't know if it is possible to assemble it incorrectly - should be fairly obvious, though.

barney100 · 18-01-2009

RAI,

Sorry I am new and the angle seems the most important setting the metal scale is very crude and so I thought maybe misguided that a simple plumb line and scale would give me the most accurate scale but I will go now and set it to the metal scale 25, and see if that helps.

barney100 · 18-01-2009

I have set it to approx 25' degrees on the scale it only show 0'10'20'30'40'.
you say it is the off set type should I set this to 0' thdish would then look to be vertical?

barney100 · 18-01-2009

I ahve been up to the dish and on the other side of the bracket there is a different scal this is Marked B I will set it from this side as this looks like it will then look vertical.

barney100 · 18-01-2009

Rai,

Thank you I have now moved the bolt positions and set to 25' and the dish looks vertical I will now use the meter and try to locate the astra staellite,

you have been most helpful to and idiot beginer, Thank you once agian and I will report back my meter finding if you can help with that?

Regards

barney

18-01-2009

Originally Posted by barney100

I ahve been up to the dish and on the other side of the bracket there is a different scal this is Marked B I will set it from this side as this looks like it will then look vertical.

Aha, two scales!

I told you I wasn't going mad

That all sounds fine and dandy now - good luck finishing off

18-01-2009

Originally Posted by barney100

Rai,

Thank you I have now moved the bolt positions and set to 25' and the dish looks vertical I will now use the meter and try to locate the astra staellite,

you have been most helpful to and idiot beginer, Thank you once agian and I will report back my meter finding if you can help with that?

Regards

barney

We've all been "idiot beginners"

Tomorrow you'll be an "Expert"

18-01-2009

And for your next trick ...................

If the LNB supplied with the kit is the FSUKVN, take due note of this Sticky

barney100 · 18-01-2009

Rai,

Thanks I now have a signal of 64% and Quality 90%

you have been ACE I have been such a dummy, thank you once again, to get a better signal strength can I tweak the angle first or the rotation?

18-01-2009

Well done!

Tweak however you wish - You are now an Expert

But read my previous Post about the funny LNB - although if that 90% Quality is for both Horizontally and Vertically Polarised Channels, your alignment isn't far out in Skew, Azimuth or Elevation

Happy viewing!

barney100 · 18-01-2009

Does the skew angle affect the signal strength or Quality?

Regards

18-01-2009

Originally Posted by barney100

Does the skew angle affect the signal strength or Quality?

Regards

Quality: The idea is to ensure the business end of the LNB is presented to the incoming signals in such a way that both H and V signals are satisfactorily resolved. If it is not correct, you'll find that Channels of one Polarity will be worse than those of the opposite Polarity.

Just play around and find out by experiment - much easier than reading words!

barney100 · 18-01-2009

Rai,

the signal I have got to 66% and quality to 94% would I be being to ambisious to get higher also I have the signal meter in the line :-)

I am just so happy to be getting anything as my wife had started sniping at me about it being relly difficult and maybe I should have just bought a new ariel and fitted that.

18-01-2009

Originally Posted by barney100

Rai,

the signal I have got to 66% and quality to 94% would I be being to ambisious to get higher also I have the signal meter in the line :-)

I am just so happy to be getting anything as my wife had started sniping at me about it being relly difficult and maybe I should have just bought a new ariel and fitted that.

Quality is the key and you won't improve on that.

Leave it and be happy - and show your wife my Post where I welcomed you as an Expert!

Don't worry about Strength - Metering on boxes is a funny old business and I have an older Fortec Star that, when getting a high "Quality" signal, shows a marked drop in the "Strength" reading from somewhere in the 90s to around 64. I have learned to recognise that as a good sign, not a bad one and suspect it is something to do with the Receiver AGC, but don't quote me on that!

PS: Let your wife enjoy the fruits of your labours for a few weeks at least - then initiate Plan B and bung a Motor on .................

barney100 · 18-01-2009

Rai,

have looked at the motor systems only online Maplin sell 2 typs I don't know which is best I would like to use the coax power from the rec. do they automatically find the satellite both vertically and horizontally.

18-01-2009

Originally Posted by barney100

Rai,

have looked at the motor systems only online Maplin sell 2 typs I don't know which is best I would like to use the coax power from the rec. do they automatically find the satellite both vertically and horizontally.

Don't buy it from Maplins .............

Lots of motor choices from this sit'es Sponsors: Moteck, Technomate, Superjack, DarkMotor.

You can get one for around £45 inc delivery, but in all seriousness you might be better off waiting until SWMBO is amenable to a general purpose Dish around 80 - 90cm.

That Dish of yours will work for a fair few Satellites, but not all.

Got to go now - enjoy playing!

barney100 · 18-01-2009

Thanks again,

Bye

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Problems with passion+ system from maplins Information exchange on LNBs, Single satellite, motorised and multi-satellite systems. DiSEqC switches, positioners, motors, actuators, dish-alignment etc.