How many satellites should I be able to see?

spludlow

Dear Forum
I have had a 120cm dish with a DisEqC motor installed by a local firm. My receiver is a Topfield TF7700HSCI, it has USALS. I live in Nottingham UK (53.0N, 1.2E).
When I look at the footprint maps and dish size figures on Lyngsat should I be able to pick up what it suggests?
Last night I was seeing how far east I could go I only managed to pick up anything up to 28.2E wasn’t getting any channels after that.
If we take Intelsat 7/10 at 68.5E (http://www.lyngsat.com/intel68.html) on the Africa & Europe beam (http://www.lyngsat-maps.com/maps/intel10_afreur.html). Looks to me that dish size and footprint are fine. So why can’t I get it? Possibly a dish setup problem? Are there other factors?
Also the mount is an L shape that points upward, it wobbles a lot, is this a problem?
Cheers.

Park Royal

Trouble with those "L" shaped mounts is that they tend to flex, hence you are not tracking the arc correctly. "T & K" brackets with a piece of sturdy scaffold pole between them is what you really want for fixing your motot too.
My scan is 61 west (only a data channel on that one) to 45east (which extends to 53east when the trees shed their foliage). Anything further east is blocked by buildings.
Trees and buildings will block your line of sight so also check for that.
parky

Yorks

Hi spludlow,

Any movement on the mount is a no-no, as you cannot guarantee that it is remaining vertical (essential to track the arc), when moving your dish around.

Regards,

Yorks.

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In a word, Yes - a big one.

wod

also in the windy weather you might have an issue with that mount as it could bend like mine did when there was a strong wind

it should be fine for the time being but see about changing it as i wouldn't like a 1.2m dish to come lose

surprised installers use these as i've seen them around on alot of installs

Park Royal

Agree with you there "wod", The number of motorised dishes round here with those "L" brackets has quite surprised me. The dishes move about in the slightest wind. How people manage to pick up satellites I just cannot imagine.
parky

dasteelman

h**p://w*w.satellitesuperstore.com/images/alwall.gif

i use the above L bracket...and of course the mount has to be perfectly vertical. I used a spirt level for this to measure the incline on the front face of the "mountable part" and the side face.

I made a basic error when checking the incline. I measured the incline without the weight of the dish and motor. Of course when the weight was added the bracket came forward. ( no matter how secure the bolts were).

so to compensate I simple check the incline when the weight is added and then tighten even more...the required bolts (top or bottom) ( or use spacers) on the wall.

Mine does wobble..and I do think I may have problems when very windy, but for what I have paid im not to concerned.

As a matter of fact , im near newcastle, I have an 80cm transparent dish, 0.2lnb and i pick up these:-

42e - some channels very good signal...almost zero BER
39 - lots of fta channels and quite a few bulsat channels
28e - no probs zero BER
16e - digialb has problems in bad weather - again due to dish size
5e - max romania - no probs

1w - no problems at all...zero BER...however the weaker signal (nordic)transponders...not a chance..but this due to small dish.
8w - orbit package - perfect
30w - no probs

and i can say my dish is pretty low...and i have annoying trees about 30 meters in front of dish

so for the given circumstances, im happy enough.

spludlow

Thanks for your advice. The installer is a very reasonable man and has now changed the mount and it's looking pretty solid now. My dish is installed quiet low behind a big hedge, I didn't want it to be too much of an eye sore on the front of the house. I suspect this is why I can't get sats closer to the horizon. The installer also noticed there was about 1 degree of play in the DisEqC motor and is going to get it changed. I've heard this can be a problem with DisEqC motors, anyone else know of this?

rolfw

Most DiseqC motors have a little play, but i have found Stab motors to have unacceptable play.

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PJ02

Agreed, from memory the HH120 i had when i first put it up some 6 or 7 yrs ago had little play, when i pulled it off the wall this weekend there was a good 2 degrees or so.

Compare that to a polar mount which has none to zero play, and with diseqc to 36v positioner it's really good.

Rgds

PJ

spludlow

I discussed with the installer before we started using a 36V motor with a VBOX but we decided to go down the DisEqC motor route to keep things simple, as both of us are novices with this stuff. He did say that if the new motor still had play then we would think about 36V (I bet he's glad he agreed to do this job for me now). Is the VBOX the best bet? Are there any others? Do these setups do USALS OK?

wod

is your dish in an exposed location as people recommend 36volt setups for exposed windy locations and for dishes 1.2m and over in size as they are able to take the weight not become misaligned in windy weather

what make is the dish ?

using a vbox is just like using a diseqc motor as it uses diseqc 1.2 commands from the receiver which then converts it to work with the 36volt motor

you just setup on thor 1west or satellite closest to your location then you store them as the dish tracks the arc