First time zone 2 mini dish installation.

joekir

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Hello,

I am trying to set up a zone 2 mini dish and have run into problems. Firstly,
the elevation scale is not clear...the gradations go from 20degrees to 90 but there is no pointer? It is a Raven zone 2 60cm.

Now I have managed to get a signal...90% signal , 22% quality and was able to see some Italian channels on Astra 19.2, but if I unplug the cable, I still get the same levels, 90 and 22. By the way, this is on an estimated elevation of the dish of about 30 degrees from the vertical, which I believe is much too high. The dish should be vertical, right?

I have looked at the dishes near me and most are near vertical, but I have seen some non sky dishes elevated like mine. Could this be a reflection or interference? Should I go back to trying the dish near vertical?
 

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Welcome,

Assume you are trying to get Astra 28e, you could try here to get an idea of dish Az / Elevation _http://dishpointer.com
 

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satelliteman said:
...., you could try here to get an idea of dish Az / Elevation
Nice:cool:
 

joekir

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Thanks for the reply. I already used that site, so I know what the theoretical angles are. Elevation is for me 28.4°. My problem is that the scale on the Raven is meaningless, as there does not appear to be a pointer.
Since the general opinion is that the dish should be near vertical (Southern England), I will try that again. I have also tried to rewire the cable.
 

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You could try a budget in line satellite finder of course.
 

rolfw

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You don't say which satellite you are trying to line up on. Looking at the elevation you state above, that would indicate Astra 19.2 from the London area, is that what you are looking for?

If you found Italian channels, it is more likely to be Hotbird 13E you found, so you would need to move the dish by 6 degrees Eastward and down a degree or so.

The best way to align a dish is by using the meters on the receiver, or a small signal strength meter, I very seldom take any notice of graduations on a satellite dish of that size.
 

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Slap on the wrist, lol :D
 

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joekir said:
Hello,


I have looked at the dishes near me and most are near vertical, but I have seen some non sky dishes elevated like mine. Could this be a reflection or interference? Should I go back to trying the dish near vertical?

If you were after Astra (28E) then your dish should be near vertical like your neighbours. For Astra (19E) it should be tilting up a bit.

I have two minidishes and the scales marked on them are a waste of time.

Robbo:)
 

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Well, 19.2 is what I was after and according to receiver, it's what I have.
Seems to be the only one I can get.

The channel list has 600 odd channels, but the only ones that don't give bad signal are a group of Italian regional channels (eg Bergamosat, Arcoris TV, Lombarda TV, Tv Sardegna, etc). The dish is at a true angle of about 30 degrees off vertical, 50 degrees on the scale if I use the nut as a pointer.

I think I know what the problem might be...I have a LOS to the Eastern sats, but there are a few branches about 4 metres away. Could that be the reason I get nothing when the dish is vertical? I already have 2 sat meters ( A Kathrein MSK 10 and another no name in line beeper) and I can only get a signal if the gain is turned right up.
 

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I think you might have stumbled across hotbird @ 13 e
 

rolfw

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Yes, as I said before, you have Hotbird 13 East, there are transponders on adjacent satellites at similar frequencies, so the receiver will give the impression of being on the correct satellite.

You can find the lists of available channels on _http://www.lyngsat.com/hotbird.html

Your dish must be close to the correct elevation, so as I said before, move it six degrees Eastward and down by a degree or so.
 

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joekir said:
(eg Bergamosat, ....

Yep, that channel is only on 13E.

_http://en.kingofsat.net/find.php


Pick a transponder like 12552V/22000 5/6 from 19E, that one doesn't exist on Hotbird, nor 16E for that matter.:)
 

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joekir said:
I already have 2 sat meters ( A Kathrein MSK 10 and another no name in line beeper) and I can only get a signal if the gain is turned right up.

You could of course use one of your two meters to set up the dish :D
Keep trying and you'll get it
 

joekir

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satelliteman said:
You could of course use one of your two meters to set up the dish :D
Keep trying and you'll get it

I said I had 2 meters, I didn't say I knew how to use them:confused
Anyway, I found out 2 things:
Not to underestimate how much even small branches will attenuate the signal.
Just how fine the movement between satellites is.Though the mini dish is not up to the precision needed.
Apparently, I am on Sirius 5E now and still thought I was on the same sat as before (OCK and other Ukranian stuff).
There is a setting on the Technomate that I don't understand: 2 settings, LNB freq 9.6-10.600 or 9.6-10.750. Is this important?
 

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joekir said:
There is a setting on the Technomate that I don't understand: 2 settings, LNB freq 9.6-10.600 or 9.6-10.750. Is this important?

this setting can be left at default setting, you don't need to change any of this.
 

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Yes, default should be "Universal" for the Local Oscillator settings, which is 9.750/10.600, having these set at anything else will mean that the satellite transponder frequencies will not correspond.

On most receivers, with a single satellite set up, the only thing which normally needs changing is the actual satellite.
 

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OK, I am on my final intended sat, Hispasat and am getting 60-90% quality on most TPs up to 30( 11.615H and 12.100H excepted). After that, it goes down hill and can only receive 2 TPs between 30-55, 12.376V + H. Is this about right for a zone 2? I am limited as to what I can put up at the front where the western sats are, but I could probably get away with a transparent 85cm. Would that help with the missing TPs?

The idea is to install a motor and I should be able to see from about 15.00W right up to the western horizon. For the back, I have a 90cm Fibo with polar mount, but that is for another thread. I can see I will not have the same problems with the inaccurate elevation with that dish.
smile.gif
 

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Hi, there isn't a 12.100H, the nearest is 12.093H, and its footprint is over America.

I can't see any tranponders numbered 30-35, check lyngsat.:)

Yes a larger dish would help with any that are available to the UK, a minidish is on its limit for 30W.

Robbo:)
 

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If you are experimenting alignment in preparation for installing a larger dish & motor, then a Zone 2 may not be the best to do it on. You won't get all satellites and some Tp's.

I regularly use Zone 2's and they are perfect for some of the stronger satellites such as 19e, 13e, 28e, 9e.:)
 

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OK, so a regular 60cm dish would give a better performance than a zone 2? As I say, I am limited in what I can put up at the front, so I may go for a transparent 60 or 80 if I can find one cheap enough. Looking at Lyngsat, I am missing a lot of channels.

So any idea why the higher freqs are missing? Also, 12.100 shows up as a TP, I just checked. Is this an error in my receiver?

One Sat I was surprised to find is Nilesat...at least I think it was. Channels included Al Iraqiya, Aden, Sudan, etc. Thought that needed a far larger dish.
 
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