Auto focus on OS Mio 4K

[NorthernOhioGuy]

I have my ku dish set up on a usals controlled motor. I am using an OS Mio 4k with TNAP. I attempted to use the auto focus feature to see if I could improve signal at all on the bird I was pointed at. The auto focus did its thing and ended up that the dish had been pointed slightly off for best signal.

My question is this: Once the auto focus has run its course, how do I save the results and make the dish stay at that position for that satellite? I've tried it a few times and the dish keeps moving back to the position it was at prior to running auto focus. I was thinking I did this successfully several months ago, but cannot remember exactly what I did. Thanks!

 

[Titanium]

USALS is a calculated position and the motor will be driven to the calculated position next time the satellite is selected. An auto focus position cannot be assigned to a USALS setting and can only be saved in the DiSEqC 1,2 mode.

 

[NorthernOhioGuy]

Thanks Brian, so can I save that auto focus position in DiSEqC 1.2 mode and then use DiSEqC 1.2 to return to it even though the motor is using USALS to move everywhere else? If so, would you have instructions on how to do so?

 

[Titanium]

The motor mode must be DiSEqC 1.2 to save autofocus settings.

 

[NorthernOhioGuy]

Gotcha Thank you.

 

[arlo]

I've used auto tweak in DISEqC 1.2 mode. What I see is if you use it for every satellite your previous saved positions get "garbled" by several counts +/-.
My sensor resolution is rather high at around 14 counts per degree. If auto peak is used the receiver will 'bump' the dish back and forth until it's happy with signal. That bumping causes the previous saved positions to be off by several counts either way and once you go back to a satellite another manual peak is necessary.
For me manually peaking signal when initially setting up positioning keeps the garbling at a minimum.
But then again I've never used USALS.

 

[a33]

My question is this: Once the auto focus has run its course, how do I save the results and make the dish stay at that position for that satellite?

I wonder: Is it just the one satellite that is not 100% OK, or is it all satellites, or is it just the satellites at the sides of the arc?

In the first case, you could alter the 'satellite position' for USALS in your receiver of only that satellite with some tenths of degrees or so. Though it would be strange that only one satellite would have this problem.

In the second case, your USALS zero is not at the actual zero. This setup problem can be 'fooled' by changing your longitude setting a bit (though it is better to correct that at the dish).

In the third case, you could alter your latitude setting a bit. Normal USALS calculation assumes rotation axis exactly parallel with earth axis, but with a proper 'modified motor angles' setup it would be 'normal' to set the USALS latitude in your receiver also on the 'modified motor latitude', so probably .6 or .7 degrees higher than your actual latitude.

Greetz,
A33

 

[NorthernOhioGuy]

Thanks for the additional input and suggestions. I'm thinking maybe something got knocked out of alignment. The initial problem was on 99W, but it seems to me like other people sometimes have problems with that one more so than other satellites for some reason, and I wasn't noticing any other issues. I'm now starting to notice that I'm missing some things on other satellites and signals not being as good. We did have a few episodes of pretty wicked winds here. We're getting nice weather now so I'm going to need to take a look at it.

However, I am a person that is actually blessed enough to be working a significant amount of overtime now, so I need to take advantage of that while it is there. Everyone stay safe and healthy!

 

[mr3p]

When you have time, I would start over, make sure you pole is plumb, recheck your motor angle and realign the dish. If properly positioned, USALS should get you good signal without need to tweak each satellite.

Sent from my MI 8 using the SatelliteGuys app!

 

[NorthernOhioGuy]

I had some time today and the weather was nice so I tried to get things better aligned. It was a success. My signals have improved significantly; sometimes up to 3-4dB. I have also picked up a few channels now that I never received before. Thanks again, everyone, for your input on this.