Another newbie needs help

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dodgeman65690

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Original poster
Jan 18, 2009
13
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South Central Missouri
I'm trying to set up a new system. We have a Geosat Pro 90, QPH-031, Motec SG2100, and a Pansat 9200HD. Right now the SG2100 is set on the proper Latitude for my position which is 36.6 Lat- 91.3 Long. The Geosat mount has to be turned upside down to mount the motor. I got no help from Geosat when I asked how to set the dish angle. The motor manual says that the dish mount angle should be 24.2. I have a inclometer and need to know what angle it should show from the face of the dish and is that angle with the dish pointing up or down. I've moved it both ways and my signal does not change from 38. I'm trying to home in on Galaxy 11 C which the printout I got from this site says is my true south. We will probably need lots of help before we get it setup and it will be greatly appreciated. Somebody familiar with the Pansat might tell me what the settings should be on the setup menu.
 
Make sure you use the Motor Lat scale, not the Elevation scale
Be connected to the "L" port on the LNB
Have the "Ku" Galaxy 11 selected, it now called Galaxy 17.
What do you have entered in the Receiver's setup menu?
should be something like:
LNB Power: On
LNB Type: Standard or Single
LNB Freq: 10750
Transponder: 12060

If nothing, power Off the receiver using the switch on the back.
Connect to the "C" port on the LNB
Receiver's Setup menu, find Nimiq 1 @ 91
LNB Power: On
LNB Type: Standard or Single
LNB Freq: 11250

Small moves. The Dish Elevation scales are known to be Off a few Dergees, Motor Lat scales are accurate.
 
I did use the motor Lat scale. LNB Standard, 10750 Nothing showing for transponder. I turned on the Diseqc switch and went to #2 which is Linear on my setup. The signal jumped to 65, so that is an improvement. Should we move the dish up and down to get a better signal? It is up now and I have no idea what the angle is.
 
If it jumps and you think you've got something, run a blind scan and see if it picks up any channels. That's a shotgun approach, I know, but it won't take you long to find out, if it sees no channels then you know you're not on the satellite. I would suggest bypassing the motor and run the lnbf cable straight to set top box, no switches or motors until you get a signal located, pref on your true south satellite (satellite located nearest your longitude).

edit to add:
Yes you will prob have to slightly adjust elevation and east/west (without motor for now) until you find a signal. If you have Gal11ku in your list, see if you have transponder 12060V 26700symbol rate fec 3/4, if not add it manually and try to locate both signal indication and quality by moving dish slightly. Its a strong TP and should help you locate G11 (now Gal 17)
 
Did you try to get the dish pointed south, in the direction of G11/17 and look for that transponder I gave you? You'll have to be connected to the L port, and set the local oscillator freq back to 10750 in your satellite setup menu for that satellite. ( I think you were looking for Nimiq1 earlier, a circular satellite in the same position). I'd say it would be easier to take the motor off and mount the dish on the pole, if your dish mount will do that, and locate the satellite first, motor setup for a beginner is not very easy. Hope your dish is on the ground and not on the roof! Have you taken a small tv and the receiver out to the dish--much much easier to aim a dish that way. Being winter doesn't help much either.
 
We did get two sats on so far. We have G25 and nimiq2. I got nimiq 1.3 but it would not put anything up when we scanned it. There were several other sats with high signals but could not get anything for quality. I'm slowly learning how to navigate the set with the remote. All three sats showed 80-81 on signal and 84-89 on quality. My friend had one of those sat finder kits and we peaked it with the meter. I'm not sure if we are fully in the arc yet and am not too sure how to do that. My dish is mounted on my tv tower about 20' up and I have my tractor there with the bucket as high as it will go to reach the dish. Thanks for the help. Any more suggestions will be appreciated.
 
Remember to enter the proper LNB Freq / L.O. for Each Sat in the receiver.
FTA Sats are 10750, Nimiq & "most" Echostar are 11250.
 
The GEOSATpro 90cm mount is not supposed to be turned upside down.

Assemble the dish as if you are mounting on a post and insert the long top bolt through elevation bracket, post clamp bracket (hole "A") then the hole in the motor post.

Set the dish angle to 24.2 degrees on the "A" scale. The scale on the GEOSATpro 90cm is manufactured to show the correct angle.
 
The dish seems to be working well now. It has the mount upside down as the assembly manual shows for mounting on the post in the down position. We have G25 up and running, but when I checked the motor position it only showed about 4 on the scale and it should be close to 10 so we are off about 6 which means my true south is not in yet. I'll move back to zero on the scale and then try to get G11 peaked in. If this is not the way to go please let me know. Thanks
 
I'm not too sure what other sats to try, but we have tried to get G11 in, but cannot seem to get it with the motor on the zero position. I'll look at the list we downloaded from this site and give it a try. I think we used ASALS to get G25 in and then moved the motor to peak it which is probably what got me off location.
 
Probably.
Set G25 to use USALS, and have there receiver "drive" there, try to watch which way it goes.
Then twist the Motor on the Pole back until you find the signal, you may have to adjust the Dish Elevation to peak signal.
There is not much on Galaxy 11
Try the Sat @ 74 west, look for this TP, or add it.
11734
H
6616
 
I pulled the assembly instructions for the dish and according to the Satellite AV post above I goofed when assembling the dish. Before I do anything else we will take the dish down and put it together as he says. I'm glad we have some good help here to keep the new guys from really messing up. Thanks Brian you probably saved me alot of headaches trying to get this thing up and going.
 
We are back up and have 10 satellites up and running. Some do not have much on them, but will help me learn to set things up. We did set our true south with NIMIQ 1 which we peaked with the sat finder. I could not get AMC 5 or 15 to come up on Quality even though it was at 81 for signal. I'm going to try to manually punch in G17 as turbosat suggested. I'm not sure where to get the specs for the other sats that are up but not on my list that came with the software in the set. Am I right in thinking that the sats that will not show any Quality but high signal are because I'm not quite set up in the arc. Where do we start moving things from here to tweek things in.
 
Am I right in thinking that the sats that will not show any Quality but high signal are because I'm not quite set up in the arc.
Not really. You only get "Quality" when you have an Active / Live Transponder selected in the setup menu. You could be Spot-On a Sat, but if the TP that is selected in the Setup menu is not being used, Q will be Zero.

SatelliteGuys.US - TheList
another
North & South America - LyngSat

You only need to focus on 3 Sats to get on the Arc. A Sat in the East(like 74 west), to the South(like 89), and then West(like 123, 125, 129). Nimiq is very powerful and easy to hit.
Have the receiver "drive" to 89west using USALS and tweak Dish, do not use the remote to move the motor, only mechanical adjustments. "The List" shows Strong TPs to use.
 
I have 72W for the East and NIMIQ1 for south and 123W for the West up and running in the set now. I also have 89W which is G28. I've gone through the list on the set and the ten that are up seem to be most of the ones giving any kind of signal. I hope that means we are close enough as we sit.
 
Thanks alot for the help. Now I have to try to figure out how to move to these different positions and punch in the new sats not on the set list. I'll have to play with the menu and get it going. Thanks again.
 
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