setting up a triax 110

S

smokeyone

Member
My Satellite Setup
1.1m dish + technomate 6800hd
My Location
Suffolk
Has anyone ever had problems setting up a triax 110 dish. As a newbie I would like to just check the astra elevation which is 24.2 less the dish offset angle of 26 degress which means my dish should be pointing very slightly down from the horizontal. I am not picking up any signal at all -
not a thing. Any ideas appreciated - I know, get a signal meter...
The dish is set at its lowest angle and I am wondering if this is enough..
Thanks
 
You don't say whether this is on a fixed mount or a motorised one of some sort, but it must be fixed judging by the calculated Elevation angle and the absence of reference to declination.

BUT: Forget the offset angle - the Elevation scale on the TD110 is graduated to account for that. So all you need do, if your required Elevation is 24.2 deg (and that seems to be in the right ballpark), is to set the TD110 so that its Elevation scale is at 24.2 degrees. Of course you will only be using that as a starting point for your final alignment as there is no way you can set up a mount and large Dish with precision simply using calculated values. Tweak away!

The Elevation mechanism on the TD110 is a pig, and tends to slip whilst you are tightening off, so be careful.

Edit: When you say "Astra", I take it you mean Astra 2 at 28.2E as opposed to Astra 3 at 23.5E or Astra at 19.2E ............ ?

Seems a bit of overkill to use a TD110 for Astra 2! Presumably once sorted, you are going on to more adventurous things?

Nevertheless, you shouldn't need a meter for this - a bit of trial and error should sort you out. Don't forget, though, that a 1.1m Dish has a fairly narrow Beamwidth, so even though the signal strength will be stratospheric, the alignment will need to be accurate.
 
Yes a 110cm in your location on assuming Astra2, and you might just overload the receiver.
You may of course have the EL bracket the wrong way round but as said the scales are not that accurate and some adjutsment will be required in order to get a lock.

SM
 
With that elevation and the size of the dish, I would take a guess that this is for Astra 3A at 23.5 east for the Czech or Slovak channels.

As rai_uno says and is often said on the forum, use the dish settings as a guide only and align using the signal guage on the receiver, or a small alignment meter (very cheap).

Also, if you are trying for the Slovak side of the package, you may struggle, as they are hard to pull in with a 1.2m down in Berkshire and LNB skew is absolutely critical. :)
 
Thanks to you both for the advice. It is motorised but not operational yet as I only have the sky box to play with at the moment...passed on to me by a friend. Have no plans for subscriptions but plan on getting a decent receiver after christmas -explains the overkill dish - would be nice to watch something via the dish over christmas -cnn or sky news!
Box was working fine when it came my way - have checked cable and there is a voltage at the lnb end - lnb is new. Must be my alignment but do you think the lnb arm should be horizontal or just below horizontal !
Cheers
 
Hi, the dish face on a Triax 110 when pointing at 28E is about vertical. The LNB arm itself, tilting up a bit. But as Rolf says, adjust it with a meter to find the best spot.

If you have problems, and want a quick fix, try a Sky minidish, alignment with that is much much easier as it is so small and the beamwidth so wide.

Incidentally, I have not had any receiver overloading problems using that dish for 28E, but I do have a motor and a Diseqc switch + 20m of cable providing a little attenuation.
 
Thanks for the help. Been up and down the ladder loads of times already but will keep twiddling otherwise will buy a meter next week.
 
If you are moving the dish and then checking, it will take an age, can you not borrow a portable TV to look at whilst up the ladder?
 
Got a TD110 myself and found the easiest way to align it was with a cheap tone/needle meter (£9.99 in B&Q, cheaper than Maplin) and have a sat box and portable telly outside to check which satellite im on. If you're gonna go motorised, look at the Stickey'd posts on motorised setups on this forum. Remember to keep the pole perfectly plumb vertical and the sat dish pointing dead south.
_http://www.dishpointer.com/ is a very good website to help with this!

Good luck and have fun!
 
Thanks for the extra tips. Still no luck - not a beep.
Was going to pick up a signal meter from a Screwfix outlet but it seems B & Q are much cheaper. Could I really have a duff LNB!
 
Embarrasing to report still no picture, however I do have a strong signal from Astra 1m - hope this is the correct name - it shows 11778Ghz and offers chanels like Ra11 & Ra12 etc although no picture. Have had neighbours around with their freesat boxes and they cannot get any picture but scale bar shows 100% signal strength.
As I am in the testing phrase before I get a good receiver I am using a digibox - be nice just find the correct satelite for the BBC.
I should say that the dish has been moved to just about every setting so I am I now close or still miles out.
Thanks for any suggestions.
 
Assume your trying for fixed alignment now on 28e?
A mention of motorised also above seems somewhat confusing.
 
smokeyone said:
Embarrasing to report still no picture, however I do have a strong signal from Astra 1m - hope this is the correct name - it shows 11778Ghz and offers chanels like Ra11 & Ra12 etc although no picture. Have had neighbours around with their freesat boxes and they cannot get any picture but scale bar shows 100% signal strength.
As I am in the testing phrase before I get a good receiver I am using a digibox - be nice just find the correct satelite for the BBC.
I should say that the dish has been moved to just about every setting so I am I now close or still miles out.
Thanks for any suggestions.
Click to expand...


I think you're on a satellite called Hotbird, twist the dish more to the left till you get another signal.

Let us know.
 
Thanks to the forum for all the advice. I have a signal - my fault about the problems I think. I think a neighbours bungalow was catching/interfering with the signal as when I raised the dish about a foot higher received the signal first time. Is the triax that fussy! Dish still pointing in the same direction at the same angle as before but 12" lower and no signal.
If I could ask now a sideays question - do I need to purchase a £20 card from Sky to pick up channel 4 & 5 and will I need the same card for a new receiver like a tecnomate 6900 or whatever.
Thanks for all the help again.
 
Well done!

Yes, that big dish is finicky.

The bigger the Dish the narrower the beamwidth, so the more accurately it needs to be aligned.

Channel 4 and Five are available FTA, so no Card is required (unless you use a Murdoch Box: they need a Card to put the FTV versions on 104 and 105, otherwise you can "Add Channels" for the "Freesat" FTA version).

Specifically, your proposed TM6900 or whatever won't need a Card.
 
Since you have already encountered obstacle problems with just 28e on a 1.1... before you go fully motorised you sound as though you'll need to move it again... check out the obstacle height v satellite elevation angles also on Dishpointer.com for the whole arc view (eg 45e to 45w or a bit more.. or bit less).. that's a heavy dish to keep moving ... you can plan it using dishpointer to find a location on your property before hand.
 
Finicky is an understatement - the number of times I have been up the ladder - oh never mind...the cheapo signal meter helped though. Next month I'll ask about getting a good receiver but if I then will not need a card for channel 4/5 I can live without them - can always watch them through the good old aerial.
 
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