Nearly There, couple of things

[mapex]

Got my pole up and ready to go for it tomorrow but just a couple of small things.

On my 80cm sat dish it has settings on both sides of the actual dish, 1 side says 80 the other side says 85, could this poss mean if you have an 80cm dish use this side and if you have an 85cm use this side.

This bit of the motor instrustions
Setting the Declination Angle on the Dish
According to your latitude of your location, find the delination angle
on table in page 7.
Set the Declination angle by the scale on the antenna dish, The reading on the dish scale should be--30 DELINATION ANGLE-should be set at 30 ?

My latitude is 55 making my Elevation Angle 35, declination angle 7.8, Dish Bracket Angle 22.4.. so do i set the dish angle to 22.4 on the side marked 80...80 on 1 side-85 on other on dish angle finder.

Its hard to explain but i wanna get it right before i put it up.

 

[rolfw]

I would use the 80cm scale, but it is only as a rough guide, as you will of course be fine tuning azimuth and declination on an actual satellite, 5W is probably best for you.

 

[mapex]

22.4 on the side marked 80 it is, as i said it just so when i get it onto the pole i dont need to mess to much....

It seem like a big learning curve to start, 10 days ago i never new you could
buy a motorised dish now i'm fitting one tomorrow...thanks and pics will follow.

 

[Robbo]

Hi,
I take it that you have a Moteck sg2100a.

The dish bracket angle should be set to 30-DECLINATION angle.
So yes, the angle on the dish should be set to 22.4.

If you are not sure which scale to use, try the 80 one if you think that is the right one. Because once you have it all up on the wall, you are going to want to adjust it anyway for max signal on your nearest due south satellite. This is because the markings on the back of dishes are not aways that accurate anyway.

Robbo:-snowman

 

[mapex]

I'm cold , sore and wet and i still cant get a picture, every station seems at 23% quality.
Set up as mentioned above and the dish is turning but nothing, i connected the meter onto the LNB then onto the reciever but when i moved the dish it never really moved the meter just a fraction, any ideas where a novice could be going wrong.....

 

[Topper]

You are trying to run before you can walk.
forget the motor
decide on a particular satellite and set you stb frequency for a known powerful channel say Hotbird 13 degrees East BBC World...... info on lyngsat or flysat and try to find that. Having found that then you will be more familiar with things. Then you can move to your due south satellite and begin getting the system on to the arc. Setting up a motorised system straight out of the box for a complete novice is not the way to approach it, even professional installers can sometimes struggle with a motorised system

 

[rolfw]

5 West should be a great signal, as you have several very strong analogue channels transmitting, these should make the meter sing.

Are you using the procedure I mention in my Sticky thread?

 

[mapex]

I followed those techs to a T even printing some off, i was
trying to tune in again and i did get channel now it looks
like the Technomate 5400 has packed in,
Tried changing the fuse and different plug ect ect and it
wont fire up, so it looks like it'll need to go back which
makes me mad spending all that time trying to tune in
when it was probably the box that was at fault.
I'll give it time, about to have a currie, than try switching
it back on but it looks busted.

Had my currie tried switching it on again, no lights nothing?
I'm mad but i know these things can happen with any product.

 

[Robbo]

Sorry to hear that.

Did you take care to switch off the receiver when disconnecting/connecting the cable when using the meter?

It advisable to do this, just in case it could cause a problem with the receiver. It also hurts your fingers a little if you don't.:-googly

 

[mapex]

I made sure i did that after reading something on another site, can i point it back to south even without the motor switched on ?

I had it due south and tried to scan for 5w but it seemed to go like
40w which puzzled me, i was thinking 5 degrees ...that was more like
40 or 45 degrees....

It quit long after i had disconnected the meter, i'm positive i had it
set right i mean i've spent hrs reading it but i know it takes longer
to learn everything, i was very happy with my pole ect, i dreaded taking
it up the ladder to fit to the pole but that was easier than i thought
and i was thinking--your winning--then this.....ahh well...it's xmas.

 

[mapex]

Decided today to try a few things using my sky digibox....

The shop i bought my reciever from accepted it was faulty
and are getting me a new one, it's a pretty local shop so
i shall have it just after new year.

Tried today to get sky using my new dish, the dish i got
with the motorised system, i set my dish up, connected
my meter then turned my reciever on.
Looked at my neighbours sky dish and pointed mine in that
direction. I tried moving my dish right to left and up and
down but the meter never picked up any strong signals,
so i had to leave it due to it's raining heavy.

Is there something simple i'm missing out on ? the techs
look and sound easy but i'm falling at fence number 1, well
fence number 2 because i have the pole up, it's straight and
well bolted to my wall.

Called an installer today 150 to 200 to install and thats with
the pole up.....

 

[Robbo]

I don't think you are missing anything.

Assuming that the Sky box works OK and up to date.
The LNB (Universal) and cable are OK.

It should all work, just careful adjustment required.

Can you post a photo of your dish as you have it at the moment?

Robbo:-hny

 

[mapex]

I've not got a photo as i just took it down when the rain
came on....

I know i'm close and even though i haven't reached my
goal yet i'm more confident of getting it done myself.


ROB ASKED....
I..take it that you have a Moteck sg2100a.......YES

2..The dish bracket angle should be set to 30-DECLINATION angle...?
This makes it sound like there's 2 settings on the actual dish, this one
and the the one below, is there ?

3..So yes, the angle on the dish should be set to 22.4...Yes i had
that set...

The cable from the LNB is pre made so i dont think that
has anything to do with it...maybe just a dry day to do
it i'm needing.

I'll be trying again as soon as my box arrives but i'll get a picture
of the dish to show you.

I got to thank you for your help and patience...thanks and have
a nice new year.

 

[mapex]

On this video the mount points upwards on all other pictures
i've looked at here and in my motor manual it's downwards ?

Any reason for that ?

youtube VBErZGBb2Fo

 

[rolfw]

Simply that they are different motors, some have the arm on the top, some have the arm hanging downward.

 

[mapex]

Got it together a bit more today, hooked it onto
my sky box, set my meter up and ended up getting
a better signal, then it disappeared, then came back
then went awol again.
But i feel as if i got to the next step...the Lock Indicater
read OK then went to -not locked-i was thinking maybe
something i should set on the sky box to lock the signal..

few photos....also i need a code to access all the sky
setting...dont have the code ? is there a code available...

Just noticed...13E is hotbird.....back to the drawingboard...
can i lock the skybox on it ?

 

[Robbo]

Hi, to get to the installers menu on a Sky Dodgybox use:-

SERVICES, 4, 0, 1, SELECT

Judging by your pictures you have actually locked onto 13E anyway. But I think you can change the 'Default Transponder' within the installers menu too. (make a note of what it was)

To actually watch any channels you have to manually enter the transponder details and perform a scan. I think its an "ADD Channels" menu. Look on Lyngsat for some FTA channels, that have symbol rates and FEC that are compatible with a Skybox.

I don't know why you have lost the signal in your middle picture though. What caused that? Is there a dodgy connection, or is the dish getting blown about a bit.

Is the pole stable?

 

[mapex]

No it wasn't windy, i got the signal for 10 seconds then lost it for a
few back for 10 then away ect ect.
I'm not that bothered about tuning it in.........i just want my new
box which i'm picking up tomorrow.

So when i get my box i still need to tune it into 5W first, so just a
little to the right and it should be there.

If i'm right all i need nows a good signal on 5w and i'm nearly there,
am i correct on thinking that ?

Man i could never have done it without all the help here....

Thanks.......

 

[Robbo]

No it wasn't windy, i got the signal for 10 seconds then lost it for a
few back for 10 then away ect ect.
I'm not that bothered about tuning it in.........i just want my new
box which i'm picking up tomorrow.

So when i get my box i still need to tune it into 5W first, so just a
little to the right and it should be there.

If i'm right all i need nows a good signal on 5w and i'm nearly there,
am i correct on thinking that ?

Man i could never have done it without all the help here....

Thanks.......

Yes, just send the motor to 5W first. Then wiggle the dish up and down, and swivel the motor round a bit until you get a good signal on 5W. Try and centre it between the two ponts where the signal drops off. If in USALS, the job is done, ( might need a bit of Diseqc adjustment for the odd weaker sat). If ussing USALS, just find each sat in turn and store their positions.

 

[mapex]

Well i got my box and as it was tuned to 13E it came
on and gave me a great picture so i'm happy to say
the least.

My whole motor is pointing to 13E so i suppose i'll need
to move the motor round to 4W get a good signal and we're
almost there.
I would have went for it today but it's snowing here so sat
will be the earliest.....let you know how i get on.

Thanks