Advice Needed Set up my motorised dish

sonnetpete

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Still think the dish elevation may be set too low. Did you try it at about 23 degrees as A33 suggested? I'd go back to basics and once the motor is set on Thor, take the motor out of the circuit and put your analogue meter in between receiver and LNB. You should get a 'squeal' with the meter turned up. Back the meter off until the squeal just disappears and turn the whole motor/dish assembly round the mount. You shouldn't have to go much further than 10 degrees either side of what you think is due south. If you still get no response, adjust the dish elevation slightly and try again. It really is trial and error and can seem tedious (almost impossible) to the novice. However, I set up my first three motorised dishes with a small analogue meter and believe me it can be done. We've all been through this stage at some point, so try to be positive.
 

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Guys , I have done every step you suggested to do the only alternative left is to know if my receiver ( Fortec Star HD Passion Plus ) is out of date or the Transponders have changed.
It quite impossible as some have mentioned not to get any satellite signal over here in south west so could you give some advise please? Many thanks.

Which firmware / transponder list is in the receiver ?

The PP is about 12 years old in design.
 

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Seems I am not alone in always resorting to the simple needle meter for initial install.

What I find very useful (on mine) is the voltage \ 22 khz leds, instantly tells that the receiver is there and doing it's job (LNB Low\High voltage + Vertical\Horizontal) + tells the cabling is fine.

That's a very good start, makes the rest easy by eliminating lots of possible doubts\troubles. A cheap compass to find approx correct direction, then a little play back and forth and elevation + bolt tightening. Never more than a few minutes to find any (receivable in my area) sat and get a very good signal.

To the op, assuming the lnb is ok, got to be sure the receiver is alive (power etc to lnb) + the cabling is ok, then find -1- sat that shows some signal on the meter + the receiver. Take it from there, forget all about arc & motor ftm. imo.
 

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jeallen01

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Seems I am not alone in always resorting to the simple needle meter for initial install.

That's a very good start, makes the rest easy by eliminating lots of possible doubts\troubles. A cheap compass to find approx correct direction, then a little play back and forth and elevation + bolt tightening. Never more than a few minutes to find any (receivable in my area) sat and get a very good signal.

To the op, assuming the lnb is ok, got to be sure the receiver is alive (power etc to lnb) + the cabling is ok, then find -1- sat that shows some signal on the meter + the receiver. Take it from there, forget all about arc & motor ftm. imo.
Cheap meter is good, cheap compass may not be - there are lots of free phone compass apps which can do a better job. Oh, and don't get Magnetic North confused with True North because the compass will point at the former whilst the sat location is defined against the latter - dishpointer will tell you what the difference is at your location, and you have to take that into account.

One tip I have learnt is that, after definitely finding (say) Thor @0.8W and pointing the dish arm at it, get a long thin pole and bang it into the ground on that line some way from the dish - then you should always know where "to start again" if you have to (in my case, the dish is about 2m above ground level, and the "pole" is a piece of wooden batten screwed to the edge of the roof on the adjacent greenhouse - makes getting back to Thor almost dead easy - just swing the dish until the arm points at the pole! :D)

Also agree with 4wd's last para - I've been having doubts myself as to whether the receiver is working properly, but didn't realise until now how old it might be.
 
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skomedal

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South from northern hemisphere.

Just being pedantic ( sorry )
 

sonnetpete

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didn't realise until now how old it might be.

Apparently (from post #1) it's 7 years old, so I can't imagine all of the transponders on the receiver database for Thor being out of date. Anyone know if there is a TP on Thor which was active in 2010 and is still in use?
 

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Guys , I have done every step you suggested to do

So you do have an analogue meter by now?
The light of it showes up when you use it (an indication that the receiver voltage is arriving there)?
And you still cannot find ANY signal while rotating the setup around the pole, with the dish at various (every time a bit lower) elevation angles? That is odd.


Can you tell us exactly what steps you took, trying to find signal?
Maybe we can find something not right in that.

Also, more pictures of dish and motor in due south direction (or in direction 0.8W) would be welcome:
from motor scale,
from dish scale,
several from whole setup from the side (showing motor axis angle, dish angle, position of LNB, etc),
from above, when possible: showing position of motor axis.

That way we can probably better advise you, step by step, rather than guessing at what point it went wrong, without knowing what you have done....

greetz,
A33
 

skomedal

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Apparently (from post #1) it's 7 years old, so I can't imagine all of the transponders on the receiver database for Thor being out of date. Anyone know if there is a TP on Thor which was active in 2010 and is still in use?


17-09-2012,

C More Live HD (Canal Digital, 10934 H) on Thor-6 @ 0.8° West

From another forum

From KOS today

0.8°W
action_collapse.gif
7Thor 6 10934.00 H A16 K1 Nordic DVB-S2 8PSK 25000 3/4

C More First HD


Hope this helps
 

Trust

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Dont know that receiver , but is it HD capable ?
 

skomedal

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Dont know that receiver , but is it HD capable ?


Post #1

Receiver: Fortec Star HD Passion Plus ( 2010 )

Seems so if OP is correct
 

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17-09-2012,

C More Live HD (Canal Digital, 10934 H) on Thor-6 @ 0.8° West

From another forum

From KOS today

0.8°W
action_collapse.gif
7Thor 6 10934.00 H A16 K1 Nordic DVB-S2 8PSK 25000 3/4

C More First HD


Hope this helps

The frequencies might be the same, but there was a comprehensive change of symbol rates a few years back for all of the transponders to pack more content in
 

jeallen01

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@Loquacious
TBH, from my experience and the comments above, it looks like you probably need to get a very much more up-to-date receiver - things have changed a lot since around the date your's was released - and most of the channels on Thor are now in HD.
 

skomedal

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The frequencies might be the same, but there was a comprehensive change of symbol rates a few years back for all of the transponders to pack more content in

Worth a try, who knows!

And in the meantime


Enjoy
 

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@Loquacious
TBH, from my experience and the comments above, it looks like you probably need to get a very much more up-to-date receiver - things have changed a lot since around the date your's was released - and most of the channels on Thor are now in HD.
Yes, that particular receiver needs to be in the bin! One of most awful things I have ever owned!
 

davemurgtroyd

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17-09-2012,

C More Live HD (Canal Digital, 10934 H) on Thor-6 @ 0.8° West

From another forum

From KOS today

0.8°W
action_collapse.gif
7Thor 6 10934.00 H A16 K1 Nordic DVB-S2 8PSK 25000 3/4

C More First HD


Hope this helps
Is the receiver DVB S2 compatible?
 

sonnetpete

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Laminas 1.2M fibre dish with an IBU, on a Clarke Tech USALS motor, covering 57E - 24.5W to an Octagon SX88. Displayed on a 20" Dyon LED TV.

Seperate 80 cm dish on 28E with a Humax Freesat for SWMBO.
Free Sat V8 meter. Sony Bravia 46" LCD, Sony BluRay and Home Cinema.
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Normandy, France
Whether the receiver is DVB S2 or DVB S, the OP states in post #27 that he is 'getting no signal, strength or quality'. I still think he either has a cabling issue or the LNB is dead...
 

Mickha

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The satellite meter should show if he's getting a connection.
Check your cable connections, in the past I've had problems with the F Connectors being too tight, for the cable I was using, in forcing them on I cut off nearly all the braid, leaving an intermittent signal quality, making it impossible to align my dish.
Fitting F Connector.jpg
 

jeallen01

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The satellite meter should show if he's getting a connection.
Check your cable connections, in the past I've had problems with the F Connectors being too tight, for the cable I was using, in forcing them on I cut off nearly all the braid, leaving an intermittent signal quality, making it impossible to align my dish. ..
I really hope I pointed the OP in the right direction for the F-connectors for the WF100 (I think, I hope) he is using. Then again, even a single strand of braid contacting the central core of the cable will "kill" any signal getting through the joint.
 
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