Help me re-align before i quit the sat scene...

[ash213]

tempted to quit...this is too hard for a n00b like me.

i have another thread, and wind movement messed me up.

any way, since bought a new dish cos the old one was abit F'd up.

i can find 1w alright, but other ones not so much, cant hit a bean on 28e which is what i need most. other sats like 13 and 9 are handy.

right this second im getting 40% signal on 4.8, 65% on 9, 45% on 10 and 40% on 13e...

19 and 28e i get zero signal but around 59% AGC if that means anything.

im trying my hardest but i keep failing, im really really stressed, ive followed all my old threads but to no avail.

if anyone can help please do, ive uploaded some pics aswell.

cheers all.

 

[davemurgtroyd]

From the way the signals are decreasing as you move away from 1W it looks as if your mounting pole is not truly vertical

 

[sonnetpete]

Right, from pictures 2 & 3 I'd say the pole is definitely not vertical. You have a level on the top of the pole which isn't really telling you much. It needs to be checked on the side of the pole itself , I.E. facing the garage wall and then at 90° to that.

Can you tell us which satellite the dish is pointing at in picture 3? I'd say that the house facing the dish may be causing a problem, which possibly could be cured by raising the dish/motor up the pole by 6" or so.

In picture 5, your latitude is incorrectly set on the motor (you have a missing bolt too which won't help in a high wind) It looks as though you have it set at 54° when for Bristol it should be lower at 51.5°.

If you get the pole dead vertical and the motor latitude adjusted it may help a lot. Obviously, you will have to peak up the dish itself after doing the first two tasks. Try and stick with it, patience and thoroughness pay dividends.

 

[ralphmagno]

hello
i agree it looks like the pol is not vert at all.

the only way to fix this is to straighten the pol and have the system re checked by someone professional.
because the system is a movable one the avarge hobby installer would have a lot of problems to resolve and would never get the whole arc.
ralph

 

[satelliteman]

Yes, won't make a big difference but the motor Latitude setting should be 51°, not 55.

Why not take it down and start again, lol.

...and READ the set up guides and your other threads carefully, where detailed installation instructions have already been given

 

[ash213]

Right, from pictures 2 & 3 I'd say the pole is definitely not vertical. You have a level on the top of the pole which isn't really telling you much. It needs to be checked on the side of the pole itself , I.E. facing the garage wall and then at 90° to that.

Can you tell us which satellite the dish is pointing at in picture 3? I'd say that the house facing the dish may be causing a problem, which possibly could be cured by raising the dish/motor up the pole by 6" or so.

In picture 5, your latitude is incorrectly set on the motor (you have a missing bolt too which won't help in a high wind) It looks as though you have it set at 54° when for Bristol it should be lower at 51.5°.

If you get the pole dead vertical and the motor latitude adjusted it may help a lot. Obviously, you will have to peak up the dish itself after doing the first two tasks. Try and stick with it, patience and thoroughness pay dividends.

:-worship

thanks, top post.

i will take this info on board....sorry all for my lack of knowledge or sometimes rush job, im dislexic so numbers, angles, degress etc is hard for me but i do try my best.

im sorry, i thought if i placed the level on top of pole it would tell me the pole is level. i now know i have to place the level on the side of the pole yeah?

secondly the dish is facing 1w in the pictures...

where is the missing bolt? im going to go out there later or tomorrow to try and sort this out, its doing my head in O-no

thanks all

 

[Lazarus]

Ash, the missing bolt is the one that should be fitted right by where the latitude marker is on the motor scale.

It clamps the motor bracket/scales to the motor body and the fact that it is missing means that the motor might not only be squarely fitted to it's bracket but might be capable of moving slightly out of kilter when panning.

Add that to the pole issue and you have a few minor tasks on your hands - but nothing difficult.

Put them right and you will find it so much easier to finalise the setting up.

 

[Huevos]

Looks like the dish is not straight on the stub mast either.

 

[Robbo]

Not having the pole vertical will mean that your arc could drop or be too high once you move around the arc on one side or the other.
Not having the dish on the motor stub straight (assuming pole is vertcal) will will mean that your arc will drop or be too high once you move around the arc on one side or the other.
Not having the latitude set correctly will effect the shape of your arc.

Also, if the pole crushes as you do the motor up tight, that will be detrimental too.

Correct these and you will have it working in no time.

 

[ash213]

do u guys think the dish on the motor stub is not straight?

thanks for all advice.

 

[Rick]

Ontop of all that I also recommend dropping the dish on the motor stub, so they don't catch the cables.

 

[sonnetpete]

Ontop of all that I also recommend dropping the dish on the motor stub, so they don't catch the cables.

Have another look at picture #2, if he did drop the dish on the motor stub I think the LNB arm would be dragging on the garage roof. I also think he'll be in trouble trying to move the dish with the motor much past 13°E as it looks like the LNB will jam against the garage roof when trying to track the lower end of the arc. (Is this why he gets no 28°E? Is it stopping motor travel before it gets there?) If he raises the dish/motor to within 6" of the top of the mast it may help a lot, but it will be exposed and could possibly need another T bracket to support the pole. I've also noted the dish is one of those where there is no central pivot around which the elevation adjustment rotates and the slide is at the top of the clamp, which makes it look as though it's been assembled upside down. (Which has been proved not to be the case in other threads)

 

[Robbo]

do u guys think the dish on the motor stub is not straight?

thanks for all advice.

I think it is difficult to tell from the photos, but the motor has a feint line on the front of it, if you line it up with the centre of th eback of the az/el bracket then it should be OK. Though, I have had on the odd occasion dishes that are still NOT pointing forward once that has been done. As long as the pole is vertical, this can be seen if your arc is too low on one side and too high on the other.


Also, moving the motor up a few inches so that the dish could go a little lower on the motor stub shouldn't be a problem.

 

[ash213]

chaps.

i have decided to give in while im not ahead...

just wasted a good 4-5 hours out there in the mud and decided im just not cracked up to do this.

made sure pole was vertical, adjusted and yes was fine. straightened up dish on stub mast and dropped it abit.

few other adjustments with the degress of the motor and the dish but still can't get what i want.

still only 50% on 0.8 bbc news transpondor if im lucky.. and now when i pan around i cant pick up any of the other satellites. when i do make other slight adjustments i can pick up 13e if im lucky.

im coming to the point where im considering getting some one in the line everything up for me.

my question is, how much would i have to pay to get some one to line everything up for me? im sure this would only take a few minutes for the pro's right?

cheers

 

[satelliteman]

It'll need to be re-installed. If you can find someone local I'd say about the £100 mark.

 

[Robbo]

Prices charged will vary, and it is not as quick a job as you presume, often I have found trying to diagnose what is wrong exactly and rectify (often numerous errors) can take more time than first thought, so its sometimes easier to start from scratch.

 

[ash213]

shit man.
how much ££ u think im going to have to pay roughly to sort this out :-(

 

[satelliteman]

Above, as a minimum.

 

[satelliteman]

Left off an indicated price whilst typing on my phone; now edited

 

[ash213]

just had another bash....

managed to pick up99% on 13e randomly which gave me 70 odd % on 19e which satisfies me this weekend, will try get 28e another time.