Help setting up a Technomate motorised satellite system

[Guesswork]

Ok, Ive installed my system which comprises of a 97cm dish, Technomate TM-2600 motor and Technomate TM-5402 M3 receiver.
My Latitude is 51.7 and Longitude is 0.5.
Ive put in my Long and Lat in the USALS settings, found what i believe to be 1w Thor. I get channels on Thor, albeit slightly low quality (68%ish). The system also finds the satellites from around 7E to 11W, but beyond that I just get a no signal message.
The questions i have are:
1. How can i be sure that i have started on Thor? Is there a channel list available that i can check against anywhere?
2. Why do i miss the ends of the arc? Is it likely to be an alignment issue with the dish and the motor (they look straight to me!) that causes the issue or will it be likely to be something else.


Thanks for your help.

 

[Mickha]

You can check on lyngsat:

http://www.lyngsat.com/Thor-5-6-7-and-Intelsat-10-02.html

Have you entered your USALS correctly, a positive 0.5 equates to 0.5E,
To adjust for 0.8W you need to set everything to 0, motor, dish, and LNB, then use your receiver, after inserting your Latitude, and Longitude, to drive your motor to 0.8W, prior to physically moving it, to get the best signal.
Also adjust the elevation, to get the maximum signal quality, before sending it to your East/West satellites.
There is a very useful diagram, explaining why we miss the satellite arc, and the problems.

 

[MarkW]

Ok, Ive installed my system which comprises of a 97cm dish, Technomate TM-2600 motor and Technomate TM-5402 M3 receiver.
My Latitude is 51.7 and Longitude is 0.5.
Ive put in my Long and Lat in the USALS settings, found what i believe to be 1w Thor. I get channels on Thor, albeit slightly low quality (68%ish). The system also finds the satellites from around 7E to 11W, but beyond that I just get a no signal message.
The questions i have are:
1. How can i be sure that i have started on Thor? Is there a channel list available that i can check against anywhere?
2. Why do i miss the ends of the arc? Is it likely to be an alignment issue with the dish and the motor (they look straight to me!) that causes the issue or will it be likely to be something else.


Thanks for your help.

View attachment 81520 View attachment 81521

Your settings look correct,on the scales.This site can tell you what channels you get but the one to aim for,on 1W, is BBC World News on 10778 H 24500: http://en.kingofsat.net/pos-0.8W.php .
As well as the suggestions by Mickha you need to check how vertical the pole is.This is critical to get a wide arc of satellites.Good luck.Cheers

 

[rolfw]

I'm not sure how you've aligned the setup, but what you need to do is send the dish to 1W using the receiver, then align the dish on it, by moving the whole assembly on the mast and the dish elevation bracket. Once you've peaked on 1W, the rest should fall into place, providing your mast is plumb.

 

[pontiend]

I think that your elevation setting may not be right on your motor it should be 51 not 38.

 

[rolfw]

I think that your elevation setting may not be right on your motor it should be 51 not 38.

38.3 elevation should be right, the latitude scale is on the other side of the motor as far as I can remember.

 

[pontiend]

I did wonder about that.I normally set it on the otherside.I got it wrong again. One can but try.

 

[Guesswork]

I think that your elevation setting may not be right on your motor it should be 51 not 38.

In the set up manual it gives 38 as elevation angle for a latitude of 52 (I rounded mine up from 51.7) and a dish angle of 22.5. - assuming I'm understanding it correctly.

 

[rolfw]

Don't get carried away with setting the dish angle, adjust it to get the strongest signal.

 

[Guesswork]

I'm not sure how you've aligned the setup, but what you need to do is send the dish to 1W using the receiver, then align the dish on it, by moving the whole assembly on the mast and the dish elevation bracket. Once you've peaked on 1W, the rest should fall into place, providing your mast is plumb.

Mast is plumb, but I'm not happy with the bracket supplied. It's a one piece L wall bracket that projects 450 mm, so I've ordered a double K bracket.
When I get the bracket I'll try again.

 

[pontiend]

In the set up manual it gives 38 as elevation angle for a latitude of 52 (I rounded mine up from 51.7) and a dish angle of 22.5. - assuming I'm understanding it correctly.

You have it right .Guesswork .I read it wrong.

 

[WHATAGOAL1]

check where the motor actually lands when you send it, had one when sending from thor to 28e it would land on 32e

 

[Guesswork]

Finally had a day off and a chance to fit the new brackets etc. Its all ok now albeit the elevation is higher than the 38 .
I'm now getting all satellites although 26E is only 25% but looks ok.

 

[Captain Jack]

check where the motor actually lands when you send it, had one when sending from thor to 28e it would land on 32e

That's because the arc elongates the further from the centre you go. Sending the dish to 70E actually sends it to 80 on the motor. This is intended.

Mast is plumb, but I'm not happy with the bracket supplied. It's a one piece L wall bracket that projects 450 mm, so I've ordered a double K bracket.

I really think poor quality brackets should be taken off the market. At worst, they can kill someone if they snap, sending the dish on someone's head. Yes, there are proper heavy duty L brackets with stand-off legs but 95% are not.

 

[Guesswork]

According to the supplier the bracket should take a 120cm dish! Just visually you can see its going to flex with the wind loading that would create.