Diseqc alignment

padona

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Folks

I have the dreambox 7000 using various images in multi-boot mode (Hydra, Gemini etc.) I have a motek motor.

My problem is that I have the dish/motor up an running perfectly for all satellites on the Eastern horizon (13E, 19.2E, 28.2 E etc.) However when I attempt to point the dish at 30W I have to manually go and change the elevation on the dish by moving it upwards i.e. the dish is pointing downwards when rotated to the west by the motor.

I have checked the various newsgrous and have tried 2 things, I have rotated the whole fixturer (dish + motor) to the East and rescanned everything, but to no avail. The other thing I did was to change the elevation of the motor but again to no avail.

I have checked and the dish/motor mounting is vertically on the wall.

Has anyone seen anything like this? Am I going mad? Any wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

Padona.
 

rolfw

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Where are you padona, what is your longitude and lattitude?

Did you set up on your due South satellite?
 

padona

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Rolf

I am in Dublin, and set the elevation on the dish and the elevation on the motor as per the instruction manual.

I am able to track successfully from 13E to 28.2E and all other birds in between, but when I try to get to 30W, the dish is effectively pointing too far downwards.

Just to mention, that when I track the dish further along the Eastern horizon, it too sloly starts to creep downwards.

When I think about this rationally, it seems that I should just lower the inclination on the motor, to lees that it says in the manual.

Maybe I should try that at the weekend.

Am I doing something obviously wrong here?

Thanks,
Padona.
 

rolfw

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You don't mention your due South satellite and this leads me to believe that you have missed the most vital step and that is to set the top of the arc (your zero position) to your due South.

Your closest satellite would be 5W Atlantic bird 3 http://www.lyngsat.com/ab3.html
This is quite a good satellite to locate, as it has some analogue channels which can be readily found if you have an analogue receiver (or can borrow one).

So you set your lattitude on the motor, then by swinging the motor on the pole mount and adjusting the elevation on the dish move the whole lot to try and pinpoint 5W.
 

padona

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Just to be clear, do you mean that I should drive the motor manually to 5W (the dial on the motor would read 5W) and then swinging the motor on the pole mount around to where 5W should be?
 

rolfw

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No, if anything the motor should read 1E, your longitude is around 6W, so your due South is 6 degrees West of the Greenwich meridian, only 1 degree to the West of Atlantic Bird 3
 

padona

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Rolfw

Thanks for the responses.

Does this mean that the motor should never read what it is actually pointing at i.e. when I am pointing at Hotbird, the motor should read 19E, and not 13E?

Padona.
 

rolfw

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Yes, pretty much so.
 

padona

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I will give it a go this weekend and get back to you.

Once again, thanks for all the help. I've read many of your replies to various people and they are always excellent.

Padona.
 

rolfw

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Good luck with it, looks at least that you'll have good weather for it. :)
 

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This diagram may help explain why setting up on South is so important...

http://www.satellites.co.uk/php-bin/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=2349
 

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I think this means I have done mine wrong! If I'm in Slough, what should my Motor be set to when picking up 1W? Currently my motor says 1w at 1w, but I have a feeling this isn't as it should be?
 

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At Slough (Berkshire), you are pretty close to 1W, in fact only half a degree away, so should be fine, unless that is, you are having problems.
 

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Mostly fine. I get 1W > 30W pretty good, average strength on 13E and 19.2E so miss a few transponders on each, and not great on 28.2 channels (can't get BBC1 for instance). So I can't be wildly out.


As a matter of interest, is it the dish inclination that's adjusted, and the motor mount should be completely vertical at the 0 position? Or the other way round? I got the dish originally set up just by fiddling around!
 

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kungpo said:
The motor mount should be completely vertical at the 0 position?

Start with a vertical mount and the rest should fall into place - sounds like you're only slightly out.

Check the mount first.
 

rolfw

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PS. Your lattitude on the motor body should be correct as well, otherwise your arc will be too shallow or too acute.
 

kungpo

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This is the bit I'm not sure about. I need to set lattitude on the motor and the dish? or do i set the dish to a "neutral" position and use the motor to determine Lattitude. Or is it a combination of the two? And likewise, when adjusting lattitude, is it on the motor or on the dish?
 

rolfw

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I can't remember what the setting is on the Metronic motor, it may be shown as elevation and the calculation for this should be in the instruction manual, if it has a lattitude scale though, it should be set to around 52 degrees.

The dish should always be set dead straight on the motor armature when the motor is set to zero, then by swinging the whole assembly on the pole and the elevation of the dish only, find 1W, the arc should then be near as dammit right. :)
 

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Well...I set the motor to about 52 lattitude, alligned the dish with Thor (moving the dish angle till best signal). All OK so far. Then moved the dish to Hotbird - all OK. Astra 1, signal weakening, Astra 2 - nothing. Moved the dish back to Thor - all OK. Moved the dish to Hispasat - No signal. Pushed the dish down slightly - great signal. Adjusted the dish angle to get best signal. Returned dish back to Thor - no signal now. Adjusted motor elevation to get back Thor signal. Returned dish to Hispasat - same signal as before. Seems to work OK, and can get Astra2, Astra 1, Hotbird et al. Not sure how or why, but seems OK!


Thanks for your help!
 

rolfw

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So what does the lattitude scale on the motor say now?
 
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