How do I ... ?

florinel76

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Hello .. i would like to get some informations in to how to install a dish. I bought a fortec star of 80 cm, a moteck motor, a pansat 2700a receiver and i would like to put that damn dish up and to position it so I can get any damn bird or satellite or whatever its name is. in the past 3 days i got frustrated because i don't know how to caculate the azimuth, how to find the true south, what the heck is the true south anyway ? and why do i need it ? and if i use thw motors chart to put the dish at the elveation or latitude that is there, plus the declination of the angle on the dish, what do i resolve with that ? in that moment will it be positioned to a certain satellite or it's just to have it up to a reference point? and let's day i put it up at the elevation and the declination , now what ? i have a comopass but if i don't know where is my TRUE south how would that affect in nayway finding a satellite ? I already lost myself now in these questions but if you can help me somehow, honestly that will help me stay sane.
thank you
 

Mickha

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Hi florinel76,
the most important thing when setting up a motorised system is to ensure your pole is perfectly vertical, otherwise you will not be able to follow the satellite arc.
This site should help you find your true south:
_http://www.heavens-above.com/countries.asp
If you provided your location a member should be able to help you out with that.

Where I live in England, my True South is near enough the Thor satellite, 1W, so I simply set up my dish to receive the strongest signal from this satellite, this got my elevation and declination nearly spot on, so that when using the motor I picked up most satellites without much tweaking, which is easy if your dish is ground mounted but a bit awkward when it's located up high.
Once you have this set up you follow the installation guide to move your dish, using the motor, and check if you're picking up all the satellites you should be.
Move your dish to a satellite at one end of the arc, that you should be able to get, remember you need clear line of site to receive the signal, for example if your True South has you lined up on Thor, move to Hispasat 30W. If you're not receiving a strong signal then adjust the elevation on the dish clamps, do not touch the mount, until you have a strong signal, then move the dish back to where you started, due south,Thor, and adjust the mount to get the best signal, then move back to the Hispasat, keep making these small adjustments until you are folling the arc. Once you have this set then move the opposite direction to check you have the full arc, doing small adjustments the way described above.
It sounds complicated and difficult, but providing you have your pole set vertically, the arc should fall into place very quickly and you can experience the joys of a motorised satellite system.
If you experience any problems please post back.
Best wishes
Mickha
 

florinel76

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Thank you Mickha for the help. I have my coordinates for my city, i live in US and so where i live these are the results from where i have checked ... this is my location in California, Stockton
(currently Stockton, 37.9580N, 121.2900W)
what i don't know is what satellite do i have to look for wich is the closest to me. as i undesrtand i have to find out what satellite is closest so from that one i could try to get other satellites. now i will also make sure that the pole it will be level sharp so i can get a perfect arc. i mean is it possible to find a list of satellites that are closer to my true south when i will find it ? ok i will check later and see if i will have more question i will post'em.
thanks so far
 

Mickha

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Hi florinel76,
if you visit:
_http://www.lyngsat.com/
This site gives a full list of world satellites, and their positions, so that you can choose one that is closest to due south.
Hopefully someone near to your location can confirm which satellite to focus on.
Best wishes
Mickha
 

spoofer2005

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Quick question
Im still having trouble finding all sats
ive just looked at my dish the pole is vertical measured with spirit level
ive set up on thor
good singnal but i moved the whole pole and motor to find thor not just the motor is this where i am going wrong
Kind regards
 

Mickha

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Hi spoofer2005,
the pole shouldn't be able to move, you sit the dish with motor on the vertical pole, allign it to due south, or nearest satellite, depending where you live. Get a good strong signal, then use the motor to move the dish to a satellite at one end of your line of site. If you haven't got a good signal you adjust the dish clamps to get a strong signal, then move the dish with the motor to where you started, due south, adjust the mounting on the pole to get a strong signal and then move back to the previous satellite. Once you've tweaked it so that you're getting a good signal on both then try the arc to see if you're getting all the satellites that are available. If yes, then you've set it up correctly, if not you still need to do some gentle adjustments. It's just a matter of trial and error until you're satisfied your dish is correctly alligned to the arc.
Best wishes
Mickha
 
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