Advice Needed Dish angle

[ndcoxhead]

My 1.9m dish was set up by a local EP branch and worked with Freesat until the channels switched over to the new satellites.
I believe my dish is large enough for reception (a 1.5m dish apparently gets reception 100km NE from me) so I'm thinking it's not set up optimally.
I saw on www.dishpointer.com that the sat is 26' elevation, and if my dish setup is 'offset' then the dish should point 46' elevation (location north Germany). At the moment it is almost vertical (see photo).

Do you think the angle is wrong ?

 

[Lazarus]

No. For a target Elevation of 26 deg, your dish face should be near enough vertical

ie. 26 deg minus LNB arm offset angle (which is usually around 25 deg, give or take).

You've added it, not subtracted, for your estimate above!

 

[ndcoxhead]

Right, thanks. One down.
The next issue is the line of sight. There are tall trees in the direction but according to the iPhone sat finder apps I tried the sat should be above the line of the trees.
Should it be sufficient for the top & bottom of the dish to have clear line-of-sight to 26 deg elevation or for full reception should there be more clear sky ?

No. For a target Elevation of 26 deg, your dish face should be near enough vertical

ie. 26 deg minus LNB arm offset angle (which is usually around 25 deg, give or take).

You've added it, not subtracted, for your estimate above!

 

[Analoguesat]

Hard to tell from the firsdt photo but it looks like the lnb is set up badly - the skew appears to be set the wrong way.

Use the dishpointer.com site to see what the skew should be for your location.


1.5m dishes 100km may as well be the other side of the planet with the new birds - Spanish installers have been finding massive drop off in signals over a 5km distance!

 

[Huevos]

All you have to do is look along the bottom LNB arm. If you look along that arm and it lines up with an obstruction the dish is blocked.

 

[Archive4]

Dish looks a little to flat, ie no elevation at all. Can´t say for germany but here in spain there is a visible (albeit slight) up angle. Also agree with Analoguesat, LNB seems to need rotation to the left (from front of dish)

Cannot be sure as only have experience here in spain

 

[PaulR]

If you haven't moved your dish since before the satellite changes then it will be substantially correct in its setup. It may benefit fom some slight tweaking but not much.

The skew does look to be wrong as others have said. There should normally be some although I have an LNB on my setup at home that has to be set at 45 degrees! Obviously something strange inside that casing.

 

[Clown man]

These cheap 180/190 dishes are tricky.........I think the main LNB arm is upside down.......so the aim of the LNB is wrong!......its aimed too low on he dish...............it should be higher ...about 9 cm below centre................after getting that right ......adjust the elevation of the dish.........

 

[PaulR]

I can't see how the arm is upside down but what I have just noticed is that there are two LNBs on the end of the arm so maybe the multi LNB bracket isn't on properly.

Also, is the 28E LNB at the primary position at the end of the LNB arm? The further away from the centre position on the bracket it is, the lower the efficiency is.

 

[archive10]

Hi there, greetings from a little north of you.

Suspporting the views of the other posters so far:

1) Bützow is not too far away to the first null of the 28E & 28F. this means that you will have a harder time now than before 2E/2F. Any misalignment or wrong set-up will amplify, and give you no signal.

2) Your skew is definitely wrong, as the other esteemed forum-members have pointed out. Looking at the dish standing in front of it, the LNBs should be leaning to the right. About 5 degrees. Mine do.

3) As clown man says, the LNBs are not pointing to the center of the dish. That is clear from the pics. The end of the LNB arm seems to bent at a slight angle, and it does appear as if it is upside down. Let me repeat that: The LNBs must be pointing to the geometrical center of the dish. Else you will not get full advantage of the whole dish surface.

4) There are indeed two LNBs on the arm. It looks like one center, and another on an extension bracket. The center one should be 28.2E one.

5) The elevation of the dish may be wrong. All my "normal" offset dishes (recent designs) are around 23 degrees, and they are all point slightly upwards (ie. "leaning back"). The dish rim should be inclined slightly backwards. Check with a spirit level.

What to do, then?

a) Correct the skew of the 28.2E LNB, and see if this makes it any better.

b.1) Check that the LNBs appear to be pointing at the center of the dish. Hold a flashlight (or better a laser pen) at the front of the LNB, align visually seeing from the side, and check where the focus is. this is not center of the rivets, but more or less halfway between the top/bottom and left/right.
b.2) Check the eleation of dish with spirit level. If it is not point slightly upwards you wil have a problem.
b.3) Check that the 28.2E LNB is center.
==> Fix the alignment of the LNBs. This may involve turning the main mount arm upside down, and checking if this is better.
==> Fix the alignment of the dish (both azimuth and elevation) - follow the simple guidelines elsewhere on this site to align the dish *AFTER* you ensure the LNBs are pointing at the center.

If all this seems daunting, you may want to consider calling a professional for help. But do call someone else than those who fitted it, 'coz they seem to have botched it....
Else, post back with more pcitures, and we will try and help you.

 

[Trust]

All you have to do is look along the bottom LNB arm. If you look along that arm and it lines up with an obstruction the dish is blocked.

Thats only correct for the AZ direction , and only correct for the EL if the lnb arm makes a angle off 26 degree to the bottum .
I did not see yet any offset dish where the offset angle is equal to the feedarm angle .
A dish here pointed to 4.8 east ( elev. approx. 30 degree ) shows a feearm angle off 15 degree .
Looking at the sight direction of the lnb , i am shure the feedarm is attached in the wrong way . The lnb is looking far to low in the dish .

 

[ndcoxhead]

So I need some advice for tuning in to the UK channels. I have connected a cable to the High-H output of my quad LNB and the other to my receiver directly (to eliminate potential problems with signal loss from long cable / multiswitch). My receiver is showing me the signal strength & quality for a given transponder freq & symbol rate. Which values could I set it up to, to test one of the main channels (BBC/ITV) from the High-H port ? How can I tell that from a channel table ?

Just by turning the dish I got 100 (and even 102) signal strength but zero quality. What does that mean ? I know quality is the important one but does higher strength mean I'm 'getting warmer' ?

 

[ndcoxhead]

Yes the 28.2 LNB is in the main position.

I can't see how the arm is upside down but what I have just noticed is that there are two LNBs on the end of the arm so maybe the multi LNB bracket isn't on properly.

Also, is the 28E LNB at the primary position at the end of the LNB arm? The further away from the centre position on the bracket it is, the lower the efficiency is.

 

[ndcoxhead]

Thanks for the great help.
I've just checked, and the arm has a slight kink in it that points it (how it was fitted) downwards to about a quarter of the way up.
So tomorrow I will try to fit it the other way round and hopefully it then points at the middle of the dish.
I'll post a photo of it then, and the results of trying to tune it.

Hi there, greetings from a little north of you.

Suspporting the views of the other posters so far:

1) Bützow is not too far away to the first null of the 28E & 28F. this means that you will have a harder time now than before 2E/2F. Any misalignment or wrong set-up will amplify, and give you no signal.

2) Your skew is definitely wrong, as the other esteemed forum-members have pointed out. Looking at the dish standing in front of it, the LNBs should be leaning to the right. About 5 degrees. Mine do.

3) As clown man says, the LNBs are not pointing to the center of the dish. That is clear from the pics. The end of the LNB arm seems to bent at a slight angle, and it does appear as if it is upside down. Let me repeat that: The LNBs must be pointing to the geometrical center of the dish. Else you will not get full advantage of the whole dish surface.

4) There are indeed two LNBs on the arm. It looks like one center, and another on an extension bracket. The center one should be 28.2E one.

5) The elevation of the dish may be wrong. All my "normal" offset dishes (recent designs) are around 23 degrees, and they are all point slightly upwards (ie. "leaning back"). The dish rim should be inclined slightly backwards. Check with a spirit level.

What to do, then?

a) Correct the skew of the 28.2E LNB, and see if this makes it any better.

b.1) Check that the LNBs appear to be pointing at the center of the dish. Hold a flashlight (or better a laser pen) at the front of the LNB, align visually seeing from the side, and check where the focus is. this is not center of the rivets, but more or less halfway between the top/bottom and left/right.
b.2) Check the eleation of dish with spirit level. If it is not point slightly upwards you wil have a problem.
b.3) Check that the 28.2E LNB is center.
==> Fix the alignment of the LNBs. This may involve turning the main mount arm upside down, and checking if this is better.
==> Fix the alignment of the dish (both azimuth and elevation) - follow the simple guidelines elsewhere on this site to align the dish *AFTER* you ensure the LNBs are pointing at the center.

If all this seems daunting, you may want to consider calling a professional for help. But do call someone else than those who fitted it, 'coz they seem to have botched it....
Else, post back with more pcitures, and we will try and help you.

 

[skomedal]

I have connected a cable to the High-H output of my quad LNB and the other to my receiver directly

Surly you mean your quatro LNB .

"" A quad LNB can drive four tuners directly, with each output providing signals from the entire Ku band. A quattro LNB is for connection to a multiswitch in a shared dish distribution system and each output provides only a quarter of the Ku band signals. ""

Regards

 

[ndcoxhead]

I've never heard of that before, but I checked and it's a quattro.

Surly you mean your quatro LNB .

"" A quad LNB can drive four tuners directly, with each output providing signals from the entire Ku band. A quattro LNB is for connection to a multiswitch in a shared dish distribution system and each output provides only a quarter of the Ku band signals. ""

Regards

 

[Trust]

If there are marks like H-High / V-High / H-low and V-low on the lnb , I'm pretty shure its a Quattro lnb .
On A Quad they are markt as 1 - 2 -3 - 4

But also with a Quattro it will work on the H-High conn. if you choose a Horizontal channel at a freq. above 11.700

 

[skomedal]

So I need some advice for tuning in to the UK channels. I have connected a cable to the High-H output of my quad LNB and the other to my receiver directly (to eliminate potential problems with signal loss from long cable / multiswitch). My receiver is showing me the signal strength & quality for a given transponder freq & symbol rate. Which values could I set it up to, to test one of the main channels (BBC/ITV) from the High-H port ? How can I tell that from a channel table

Just a thought are there any main channels BBC or ITV in the high frequency band?

Regards

 

[timo_w2s]

Just a thought are there any main channels BBC or ITV in the high frequency band?

Regards

Nope, most of the free stuff, inc BBC, is in the lower band.

 

[skomedal]

Thanks thats what I thought.

The op needs to connect to one of the lower band ( not high band ) connections to achieve these channels.

Regards