Newbie Here New member from s.africa

[Man on the steps]

The treasure hunt continues.

(The dish is definately metal .. its a wineguard pinnacle 10' dish)

I drove to the town, and performed taxi duties. Then went to see the expert in his shop.

He is incredibly helpful and knowledgable. I know he will crack it, in maybe 10 days .. so, that's the back-up plan.

He said a few things which made me incredibly hopeful.

The angle/tilt of the sat needs to be 59.1 degrees. (Elevation of 30.9 - 90)

He also gave me data re the focal point etc of the dish. The first plan of action was to make sure the tilt was correct .. and he lent
me a measuring device.

Via the tool shop, I arrived home and got to work. The base of the grey plate is slightly not flat .. so am not sure if that means I should adjust the tilt to be slightly more or less.

Anyway, set the tilt to 59.1. The expert said the LNB needs to be 30 degrees inside the dish .. so, basically put it as far in as it will go.

Re-attached everything, and tried to find a signal. Nothing. Moved the dish from side to side, and still get no C/N ratio.

Here are some pics .. to digest.

There is more.

 

[Man on the steps]

I then wanted to try get the Ku band dish on 4.8 moved to 7E. So, we added a TP to the sat receiver, with the idea we could
search.

A clue was found.

When you put the cable into the sat receiver, to the dish locked onto 4.8E, u get a beeping sound and a C/N ratio.

Changing the sat receiver satellite to 7E .. u lose the beeping sound and the C/N ratio. So, clearly both the 4.8 dish is not on 7E,
and the C-band dish is not pointed properly at 68.5E. (My son on the roof couldnt find 7E. but his patience was limited)

I am not sure what to do about the tilt for the C-band dish. Should I add or subtract 0.3 (the angle of the grey base) from 59.1 ? and then move the dish side to side to try find it ? (It may be the grey base isn't flat as its not bolted in fully)

I am not sure the arms holding the LNB are the right length. I dont understand what his piece of paper is saying. The arms are .. 124mm from scaler ring to bolt.

He now says it doesn't matter if the LNB is square to the ground, just has to be as far at it will go.

 

[Man on the steps]

So, in summary.

It's clear I have no clue whats going on.

I now have a heap of tools, and can adjust the C-Band dish fairly easily (its pretty light).

It maybe we put the lnb attachment arms on wrongly. But will play with dish direction for the next few hrs, and see if I get anything.

 

[moonbase]

The digital inclinometer you have shows 59.1 degrees when it is on one of the vertical struts of the square frame that the dish is secured to. This is good as it is almost spot on. There is no need to compensate for the 0.3 degrees you are talking about, be guided only by the degrees displayed by the digital inclinometer when it is on the vertical strut of the square frame that the dish is bolted to.

In a previous discussion the expert told you that the square part of the LNB needed to be level with the ground, now he is saying it does not need to be? In my opinion the LNB needs to be orientated so that the left to right plane of the square part is level with the ground and that the front to back plane of the square plate is parallel with the skyward point angle of the dish, ie, the LNB opening is pointing directly at the centre of the dish.

The orientation of the LNB is important, the polarity of C-Band signals from 68.5 East is linear and the probes need to be correctly aligned. If the polarity of the signals was circular and you were using a dielectric plate then the orientation of the LNB is not important. However, in your case for 68.5 East the LNB needs to be correctly orientated with each of the probes at 45 degrees to horizontal/vertical.

Next we come to focal length, I am not sure what the numbers on the piece of paper mean, there are several different numbers for focal length. Forget about contributions from thickness of scalars etc, just find out the true focal length of the dish and then locate the LNB in the central clamping unit so that the LNB opening is at a distance of [Dish Focal Length] minus [6 millimetres] when measured from the LNB opening to the centre of the dish.

These settings will be a good starting point for scanning. Forget the meter, connect the dish up to a receiver and run a blind scan for 3400 MHz to 4200 MHz and see what you get. If you get nothing, rotate the entire assembly a fraction on the pole and repeat the blind scan. You might have to rotate the entire assembly in both directions before you get a signal locked in the receiver.

As indicated by previous contributors to this topic, make some marks on your starting point before rotating the entire assembly so you can always return to it.

Lastly, if you have a short run of good cable, connect up a TV and the receiver close to the dish before commencing proceedings.

 

[moonbase]

The angle/tilt of the sat needs to be 59.1 degrees. (Elevation of 30.9 - 90)

I pointed out this value in post 116 of this topic (Dish Face Angle = 59.15 degrees)

 

[Man on the steps]

Hi,

Thx for your patience. Now we have the tilt correct, I set a compass next to the dish and pointed it at 68E. Its v similar to the
DSTV dish, so, logically, it should be in the ball park.

I am not sure what u mean by LNB orientation. This is how its currently set-up, but I have tried all angles imaginable.

If u can tell me to rotate it in a certain way, am v happy to try.

Attaching to a SRT scanner, it sticks on the screen shown.

Attaching to a VU box, it sticks on the loading screen.

I am gonna change the tilt tomorrow to 47.1 and try to get Belintersat 1. (Elevation 42.9-90=47.1)

Was hopeful today of getting something, but now .. I need a drink.

 

[Analoguesat]

Getting a successful lock is always the hardest the first time - and its actually harder with big dishes as the boresight (angle of acceptance of the signals from the satellite) is just so small. Once you find the knack with one satellite it will soon come easier.

Dont get discouraged - sometimes you just have one of those days when you can find ANYTHING! I had a day like that last week - I spent an hour chasing down one of the strong signals which I know is an easy catch and got nowhere. The following day I connected all the kit up again - and the bloody dish was absolutely spot on without any adjustment!

 

[Channel Hopper]

So, in summary.

It's clear I have no clue whats going on.

I now have a heap of tools, and can adjust the C-Band dish fairly easily (its pretty light).

It maybe we put the lnb attachment arms on wrongly. But will play with dish direction for the next few hrs, and see if I get anything.

Just send me confirmation of the return ticket and accomodation and I'm on a plane.

 

[moonbase]

I am not sure what u mean by LNB orientation. This is how its currently set-up, but I have tried all angles imaginable.

If you are facing the front of the dish with the LNBF in front of you I think the LNBF needs to be rotated anti clockwise a little bit so that the an imaginary line between the cable connector port and the blanked off port is horizontal. This should have the effect of positioning the two probes inside the LNB at 45 degreees to level ground.

Please note that by going over to try for 51.5 East you are moving to a satellite with C-Band circular polarity signals. For best reception of these you will need to insert a dielectric plate into the throat of the LNBF. If you bought the C-Band LNBF brand new it should have been in the box?

 

[moonbase]

Attaching to a VU box, it sticks on the loading screen.

The Vu receiver is an Enigma2 receiver and they are not the most user friendly receiver for a novice. It looks like it is stuck on the boot up screen, is there any activity from the receiver if you press the menu button, the OK button of the Up/Down/Left/Right buttons on the remote control?

What model of Vu+ is the receiver, is it a twin tuner model or a single tuner model? You might need to configure the Tuner in the Vu receiver using the on screen menus so that it knows it is meant to be looking at 68.5 East in C-Band?

 

[a33]

When you put the cable into the sat receiver, to the dish locked onto 4.8E, u get a beeping sound and a C/N ratio.

So you got a lock on a satellite signal? Excellent!
Now tell us: at what frequency and what polarity did you get the C/N ratio signal? (With proper LOF of 5150, I assume?)
It'll most probably NOT be 68.5 E, but with some searching we can find what satellite that might be.

Or, even better, while you have a lock, do a blind search. And tell us what programms you receive, and at what frequency and polarity.

Greetz,
A33

 

[Man on the steps]

This lock was with the Ku-Band dish installed by Junior installer who was looking for 7Ee or 10E

It didnt find the european feeds (no surprise) which was what I wanted.

 

[Man on the steps]

I rotated the LNB on the C-band dish and did a restarted the Vu box.

I was able to get into the menu options on VU .. and change it to look at 68.5, which is recorded as Panamsat.

I then ran an automatic scan, but nothing was picked up.

(Not sure what i will do about moving it to 51.5 .. its an old LNB .. which probaly hasnt got the dialectric plate) .. Will probably order new
kit from somewhere.

 

[Analoguesat]

This lock was with the Ku-Band dish installed by Junior installer who was looking for 7Ee or 10E

It didnt find the european feeds (no surprise) which was what I wanted.

Just to clarify, which channels are you wanting? If its anything on beams transmitting outside your South Africa area then you have no hope, and need to find an IPTV solution of some sort.

 

[Man on the steps]

Hi,

Yes, I now realize lots of the channels on both 7E and 10E are Europe beams (Not available in Africa) but wanted to just get 7E to check stuff was working.

These channels should be available here on 7E.

 

[moonbase]

I rotated the LNB on the C-band dish and did a restarted the Vu box.

I was able to get into the menu options on VU .. and change it to look at 68.5, which is recorded as Panamsat.

I then ran an automatic scan, but nothing was picked up.

(Not sure what i will do about moving it to 51.5 .. its an old LNB .. which probaly hasnt got the dialectric plate) .. Will probably order new
kit from somewhere.

1.
I am not sure the orientation of the LNB is correct in your most recent photos re my previous comment. As the LNBF looks in your most recent photo it needs to be rotated clockwise a little.

If you are facing the front of the dish with the LNBF in front of you I think the LNBF needs to be rotated so that the an imaginary line between the cable connector port and the blanked off port is horizontal. This should have the effect of positioning the two probes inside the LNB at 45 degreees to level ground.

2.
The VU+ receiver might be loaded with an old version of the satellites.xml file which is the satellite and channel configuration file, this could be why 68.5 East in listed as Panamsat? You could try to update the file version by either using an FTP program such as filezilla to FTP the new version to the Vu+ or check the menus to see if there is a satellites.xml option to update the file from online with the receiver connected to the internet.

3.
The picture of your Vu+ scan of Panamsat (68.5E) shows a Ku-Band frequency being scanned. Did you configure the Tuner for 68.5 East in C-Band?

4.
If your Strong SRT 4979 satellite receiver is known to be working OK I would use that for now. You could check it on a dish you know that you have signals from to confirm it is working before using it on the Winegard dish for 68.5 East. The Vu+ receiver is not a simple receiver to use for a novice.

5.
If you order a new C-Band LNBF, subject to availability a couple of decent models are the Titanium C1W-PLL or the Titanium C1-PLL WiMax. They should both come with dielectric plate.

 

[Channel Hopper]

68.5 will be on the limit of a dish of the size you have in S.A., unless it is performing to the original specification. Even without a dielectric plate you should have a better chance of catching 51.5.

 

[moonbase]

68.5 will be on the limit of a dish of the size you have in S.A., unless it is performing to the original specification. Even without a dielectric plate you should have a better chance of catching 51.5.

I think forum member "Feedsat_DXer" has an identical dish in France and gets reasonable reception of 68.5 East in C-Band, possibly not everything but a decent number of frequencies? Looking at the Lyngsat footprint map, France and South Africa seem to be similar in signal level unless I am reading the footpring map incorrectly?

 

[a33]

The base of the grey plate is slightly not flat .. so am not sure if that means I should adjust the tilt to be slightly more or less.

Anyway, set the tilt to 59.1.

Did you also check this declination angle of 59.1 (= elevation of 30.9) at the dishface, from top to bottom? That is where it counts, I would say.

Dish azimuth can be checked with the sun method, as I described earlier.

 

[Man on the steps]

Thx for all the replies.

Its been raining here most of the day, and I can't do much.

Will try tomorrow.