Possible arc issue or neighbours' extension blocking the way

Chr0nik

Chr0nik

Member
My Satellite Setup
GTMEDIA V8X - 110cm Triax on a Dark motor (34.5w to 70.5e)
My Location
Grays, Essex
Hi,

Until yesterday, I had 100cm dish (the one on the floor) mounted to a TM2100A motor andI was able to get most of satellites on the east and everything until 15w. I did not get all of the arc because the dish was pretty rubbish and always struggled to get the elevation right as it would not stay in place.

However, today I received a new 110cm dish and a TM2600 M3 motor (also using Diseqc 1.2 instead of Usals) and got it mounted and all and can get all of the east satellites but nothing past 8w. I get 100% on Thor but I'm unable to get 14w, 15w and 30w. The image I've posted shows that there's an extension to the house next door but I'm not sure if that's enough to block 30w but I was able to get 15w with the old dish.

Any advice? I'm nervous of moving the dish as I currently get 60e to 8w but would really like get all the way to 30w. I'm based in Grays, Essex.
 

Attachments

  • SAT.webp
    SAT.webp
    61.1 KB · Views: 87
That does not look very stable! A good gale and the whole lot will be on the ground in a crumpled heap.....
 
Analoguesat said:
That does not look very stable! A good gale and the whole lot will be on the ground in a crumpled heap.....
Click to expand...

It does look like it's not very stable but had the mount on the roof almost at the edge and not on the pallet during the storms a couple of weeks ago and it, thankfully, did not tip over. The mount is tied up to the pallet plus the weight on top so hopefully it won't move.
 
Chr0nik said:
However, today I received a new 110cm dish and a TM2600 M3 motor (also using Diseqc 1.2 instead of Usals) and got it mounted and all and can get all of the east satellites but nothing past 8w.
Click to expand...

That would indicate that your motor zero is not properly aligned with your dish and with due south, I guess.
Edit: Or a non-plumb mast east-west-wards, to begin with.

Chr0nik said:
but I'm not sure if that's enough to block 30w
Click to expand...

See dishpointer.com, and position your antenna location exactly at map.


BTW: Why don't you use USALS?
Should work OK, when the motor is setup well. And alignment to south is even easier...

(And, just curious: is the motor to LNB cable long enough, when attached this way?)

Greetz,
A33
 
For a non penetrating roof mount for a satellite dish using cement blocks, the correct offset weight should be 10 each 8"x8"x16 " cement blocks, or about 280 pounds. (standard building block is about 28 pounds)
 
Chr0nik said:
It does look like it's not very stable but had the mount on the roof almost at the edge and not on the pallet during the storms a couple of weeks ago and it, thankfully, did not tip over. The mount is tied up to the pallet plus the weight on top so hopefully it won't move.
Click to expand...

We have had members on the forum reporting chimneys ripped down & going therough the roof by dishes fastened to them in the past. Wind loadings on any dish are immense. Those blocks are nowhere near enough to stop the dish flying off that roof if the wind is blowing in the wrong direction for that dish. The pallet wont do anything - it will likely end up in the garden as well..
 
a33 said:
That would indicate that your motor zero is not properly aligned with your dish and with due south, I guess.
Edit: Or a non-plumb mast east-west-wards, to begin with.




See dishpointer.com, and position your antenna location exactly at map.


BTW: Why don't you use USALS?
Should work OK, when the motor is setup well. And alignment to south is even easier...

(And, just curious: is the motor to LNB cable long enough, when attached this way?)

Greetz,
A33
Click to expand...
a33 said:
That would indicate that your motor zero is not properly aligned with your dish and with due south, I guess.
Edit: Or a non-plumb mast east-west-wards, to begin with.
Click to expand...

I think that's the issue but if I was to realign, I would lose some of the other satellites on the east?


See dishpointer.com, and position your antenna location exactly at map.


BTW: Why don't you use USALS?
Should work OK, when the motor is setup well. And alignment to south is even easier...

(And, just curious: is the motor to LNB cable long enough, when attached this way?)

Greetz,
A33
Click to expand...

I've used USALS with the old motor and when moving to 30w, it was moving to 34w and some other satellites were moving to the wrong degree so I wanted to see how 1.2 played out.
 
Terryl said:
For a non penetrating roof mount for a satellite dish using cement blocks, the correct offset weight should be 10 each 8"x8"x16 " cement blocks, or about 280 pounds. (standard building block is about 28 pounds)
Click to expand...
Analoguesat said:
We have had members on the forum reporting chimneys ripped down & going therough the roof by dishes fastened to them in the past. Wind loadings on any dish are immense. Those blocks are nowhere near enough to stop the dish flying off that roof if the wind is blowing in the wrong direction for that dish. The pallet wont do anything - it will likely end up in the garden as well..
Click to expand...

I plan to put it in the garden but the area is uneven so I will need to come up with something. I wouldn't want it to go all the way down .
 
Chr0nik said:
I think that's the issue but if I was to realign, I would lose some of the other satellites on the east?
Click to expand...
Well, when your zero is to be realigned, chances are that your motor elevation angle and dish declination offset angle are also not OK.
Setting up a motorized system means doing it step by step, and checking each step!
You cannot really counteract not-perfect step results in the next steps....
And USALS indeed needs a properly setup motor system. :)

So, when you would just setup your zero anew, and leave all other angles as they are: yes you would lose some satellites!

BTW Use the so-called modified angles for your motor setup; that makes fine-adjustment a lot easier, or even unnecessary!
Table is found e.g. here: Elevation / declination chart
Or bottom of here: https://web.archive.org/web/20071117180836/http://www.geo-orbit.org/sizepgs/decchartp.html


Greetz,
A33

Edited. Added 2 sentences.
 
Last edited:
The house next door looks way in the way of the signal , find a nice spot in the garden and all will be ok .

There's no way you could've got the West sats before from there unless the stand was set backwards in the middle more to clear next door :)
 
If that inserted photo is taken from the dish position I'm suprised you're getting as far as 8W given how close the wall is to the direction of the Sky dishes.
 
I think I'll get another mount and use the old dish to get 15w and 30w. The very odd thing is that I was able to get 15w with the old dish and I now I cannot.
 
aceb said:
If that inserted photo is taken from the dish position I'm suprised you're getting as far as 8W given how close the wall is to the direction of the Sky dishes.
Click to expand...

If you look at the picture, that loop of white cable at the base is the one that is wrapped around the Sky dish, so I would expect some satellites beyond 1W - because of the higher elevation - they could be above the neighbour's property, just.
 
Update...

After realising that I've read the instructions wrong, I slightly realigned my the dish/motor and I'm now able to get 60e to 22w. However, I'm still unable to get 30w and 34.5w. At the moment I have the motorised dish connected to a EMP Centauri Diseqc switch as I was trying to hook the old dish with 15w to the receiver. I would think that it would decrease the signal when connected to a switch.

Tomorrow, I'll disconnect it from the switch and plug it back to the box. Hopefully I'll be able to get 30w and 34.5w.
 
TJExcalibur said:
Maybe but the buzz is being able to get the most satellites in the arc.
Click to expand...

That's true. In reality, there isn't anything interesting to watch apart from the main European satellites but knowing that you can get most of what's available, it's part of the hobby.
 
Analoguesat said:
34.5W really isnt very interesting!

To be honest 30W isnt very interesting either really!
Click to expand...
From what I saw, everything on 34W is encrypted, but there are some interesting local channels on 30W - although you need a largish dish to get them (a Zone 2 won't get a sniff).
 
Chr0nik said:
That's true. In reality, there isn't anything interesting to watch apart from the main European satellites but knowing that you can get most of what's available, it's part of the hobby.
Click to expand...


Sweeping, and not true.

There is plenty out there with a reasonable sized dish and a blind scan receiver, though you do have to check regularly to get the best out of the feeds.

Unfortunately the latest pandemic is hitting the number of roving reporters but there is still a good amount of content.
 
Back
Top