Aiming Dish Question

[tlfry]

OK what am I doing wrong, I can't get a signal.
I have a Merc II box with a GS120 HH motor, GEOSATpro SLT10.4NR standard bullet LNBF, 36" dish.
Mounting post is level.
My location is Portland, OR 97230.
I am trying to aim at Galaxy 10R 123W
What I find on my set up screen is Galaxy 10 KU 123.0 W so I used that.
I set my motor at 45
my mag. az at 163.6
dish elev 37.6
LNBF rotation +0.5
My on screen set up from the box is
Galaxy 10KU 123.0W
LNBF type 10750
Positioner USALS
Transponder 11720/V/27692
0/22khz off
switch none
input none
port 1
Long 122.4W
Lat 45.5N

I get nothing. So I loosen the mouting bolts for the motor and move it left and then right in small amounts and nothing.
So I put it where I started and loosen the dish elev and move it both ways and nothing.
What am I doing wrong or what am I missing?
Thanks.

 

[SatelliteAV]

Your dish elevation angle needs to be between 20 - 30 degrees (see page 6 in the Motor Manual). Other than aiming too high in the sky, you are doing everything else correct!


dish elev 37.6
Dish Elevation Angle is to be set to 23 degrees (see page 6 of your motor guide)

LNBF rotation +0.5
LNBF Rotation is set to 0 for motorized installs

 

[tlfry]

Forgot to mention that was what I started with. Don't remember where I found the other settings.
Any way put it back to those and still no signal quality. Whan it gets light out on Saturday I will go out and try to move it a little each way and see what happens.

 

[tlfry]

Arrrgh! Still Nothing

OK went out this morning set it up with the correct settings again. Nothing. SO I put the cheapie sat finder on it and start moving. It went only a little to the left and maxed. But the dish elev ended up at 28 degrees. Took sat finder off checked it and still nothing.
The bottom of the dish is only obut 6" off the ground. Will this make a difference?
Should I mount it higher? I wanted to make it portable to take RV'ing.

 

[Reinhold]

It shoud not make any differance how high it is as long as you have a clear sightline to the sats.You are better off to take your receiver and tv out there to zero in your sats.The elevation angle of the dish is only a starting point.After that you slowly adjust the elevation up or down and turn the motor ever so slightly,till you get quality.Good luck.
Reinhold.

 

[SatelliteAV]

Galaxy 10R is within a degree of true south of your location. If the mast that the motor is mounted on is PERFECTLY level, the Latitude setting on your motor is set at 45 degrees, the Dish Elevation Angle is set to 23 degrees,the motor is moved to USALS position for G10R (the pointer on the motor will look to be pointed at the 0 position), and the arm aimed at or near magnetic compass reading 164, you will be on or very near the satellite.

Did you assemble the dish Elevation Bracket assembly correctly? The bolt passes through the Elevation bracket and through Hole "A" in the mast clamp. If so, you should see an upside down letter "b" stamped on the mast clamp just below the "A" Elevation scale located on the left side of the Elevation Bracket. Are you using the pointer that is visible on the left side of the nut on the "A" scale to set the elevation or are you incorrectly using the center of the nut as the pointer?

Can you take a picture of the dish setup (front and back) and post them? This might help us identify any problem with the assembly.

 

[dougruss]

Once you were pointed at that location,you did a "Power Scan" (P-Scan button on Remote)??

 

[tlfry]

OK. Set it all up from the book again. Mounted it higher so I know with out a doubt it has a clear view. And still nothing. I have a birdog meter at my disposal now. Though I have to wait for the rain to quit. Is it possible the LNBF is bad? How do you check to see if it is working?
I have set up Direct TV dishes 4 times and had no problem. Set them up and fine tuned just like I am trying to do now.
And yes the A bolt is in the correct position.
When the rain quits if I can't get it with the birdog I will post some pic's so you can see if I am missing something.
And I tried the power scan but it did nithing either.

Thanks Guys

 

[Tron]

Very seldom (if ever) has a member found a truly defective LNBF on this forum. It is FAR more difficult to aim a dish at Ku than it is to aim a DirecTV DBS system. The key is VERY, VERY slight movements of the dish azimuth (east-west) and elevation (up-down). After moving the dish slightly, move away from it for a moment and check to see if your quality has been affected. Its a very good idea to peak a dish by using a FTA receiver attached to a small TV by the dish.

 

[gabshere]

its always frustrating when your first trying to hit a satellite, so don't loose patience. when i first started hitting satellites i was looking for exactly the reading on elevation , well its not always set in stone so if it says 37.6 it might actually be 35 or 39 you just have to make slight adjustments to find it.
The main thing is not to get frustrated with it.... you will get it

 

[mastermesh]

Are you trying for the research channel tps on g10? Those peak out at almost 99% on my receiver, so should be strong enough to find if it's your true south.

 

[tlfry]

Bad coax

Well after all the fighting I broke down and got a Birdog meter.
Get the dish moved to where I get 99 to 102 signal and 89 to 91 quality. Hook it all back up check the box and still 1% to 3%. What the heck is going on!
So I go to Radio Shack and buy some new RG6 coax and replace what came with my package deal. And ther it is! It works now!!
Who would have thought that new coax would have been bad?
Oh well now I have a nice meter so when I do set this up for RVing I will be able to aim it quick. LOL
Thanks guys for all the help and suggestions.

 

[Mr Tony]

weird. Settings in your original post look right so maybe it is the cable or maybe an end