Installing a flat dish

A

astra19

Member
My Satellite Setup
98cm motorised technomate. 50e to 34.5w
My Location
Europe
I've just treated myself to a dish, a Selfsat H30D. I've got a south-east facing balcony so I thought I'd try propping it up on a tripod before deciding on something more permanent.
I'm having trouble getting any signal, however. Part of it is I think I'm not used to dealing with a non-standard dish so I don't know if I'm aligning it correctly. There's the top of a tree potentially causing some trouble for clusters at 28E (I'm looking forward to the autumn!) but I've tried just getting something where there shouldn't be obstacles like 42e or even 52e (I'm in the Netherlands so it should be fine) and still I'm on 0% signal whatever I do.
Any ideas on how to align a flat dish? I'm not sure to account for LNB skew either.
Thanks
 
Is it a single feed Selfsat, or the quad ?
 
Skew really isnt important, the Selfsat is installed face onto the satellite, so you should be looking at angles roughly 20-30 degrees from vertical for signals
 
You would align it just the same as a standard dish.

Go to the following web site and enter your location and select a satellite, then zoom into that location, it will give you a map with a line on it for the selected satellite, it will also give you the correct skew, direction and AZ for that satellite.

www.dishpointer.com
 
I'll give it another go and see how I get on. I've been using dishpointer but still getting zip. I'd be happy if I got a really small signal because then I could adjust but I'm just in the dark.
 
What have you got the dish connected to ?
 
Remembering that it is like a 50cm antenna for the gain and not the good ones.
 
Apart from consulting dishpointer.com, I use a cheap and simple satbeeper/satfinder ( < € 10 ).

After finding a satellite signal, you can check what satellite you landed on, and further finetune the dish with the use of your receiver.

Greetz,
A33
 
Yeah I think a satfinder might be good. I’m connected to an LG TV that I used to use for Freesat. It’s actually surprisingly good with as many options as a sat receiver.
 
I know this may be simplistic, but it is not an offset antenna and needs to be leaning back for a 26 degree elevation, one of my customers spent a whole day trying to align his, with the dish face practically vertical like the neighbour's minidish. :)
 
Still getting nothing. Will probably get a professional out.
 
Not trying a cheap sat-finder?
Not setting proper elevation (see dishpointer.com) with an inclinometer (e.g. app on your phone)?
Not trying the sun method (finding proper azimuth for the sat, when sun is exacly above (in summer) the satellite)?

BTW @Channel Hopper: Why would skew not be important or relevant for a selfsat?

Greetz,
A33
 
The satellite of importance to the o/p in relation to their location gives a skew adjustment somewhat less than 20 degrees ( I’m guessing nearer 15), which is not going to be behind a complete lack of signal. The design of the mounting system means the skew refinement can be left until last.
 
So, still relevant, but not a big adjustment.

BTW. For location 52N, 5E aimed at 28.35E with 7.5degree Astra-pre-skew, the resulting skew would be -9.7 degrees.
(minus = counterclockwise, when seen from behind the dish.)

Greetz,
A33
 
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I didn't use the word 'relevant' , just not important in the greater scheme of things when faced with no signal.
 
I'd think with a dish with a rather marginal size, even the skew is "important".
Every degree might be of help.

Though the skew-angle is indeed small, in this case.

Greetz,
A33
 
I think the problem is that part of the balcony railing might be blocking the signal getting in. I'll be able to mitigate that by installing it on an L bracket on one of the railings, but I was a bit surprised that the signal is 0 so far. That said I haven't been skewing the dish at all so I'll have to give that a go.
 
Where did you get the coax your using?? From a store? Was it left over from a previous install? Or did you make it up your self? A bad coax connection, or a kinked coax can cause a total loss of signal.

On your LG TV, do you have "S" and "Q" readings for the satellite signal? The "S" reading would indicate a proper connection to the dish/LNB and it's powered up, anything over 40% on the "S" would indicate a connection, and that the LNB is getting the correct DC voltage.

It could also be that your LNB settings are not correct for that type of dish/LNB setup.
 
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