Canadian relocating to California

[gemillon]

*** WARNING: VERY NEWBIE QUESTION ***

Greetings,

I'm from Montreal, and we are moving to the San Jose area, in California. We are already with *C, and we plan to stay that way, especially after reading on this site that their signal can be received as far as Mexico.

My question is simple: is it difficult to point the dish in the right direction? Is there some kind of diagnostic mode that says "you're hot, you're cold" while turning the thing around? I've come the coordinate system used to specify the correct position (azimuth, elevation and so on), but I believe that you need specific equipment to do that.

The Canadian address part is taken care of. It's only the hardware that concerns me.

Thanks to anybody who can help.

-- gemillon

 

[keithb]

Shouldn't be too hard to set up your *C system in California. The highly technical tool you'll need is called a compass!. I've done the homework for you.

For San Jose, California:

Eliptical dish: Azimuth or compass heading 143 degrees (corrected for deviation)
Elevation 44.42
Skew 78.4

Round dish : 141 degrees
Elevation 44.39
No skew for the round dish

When your dish is set roughly to these coordinates, then you can play the hot - cold signal game by pressing options 6-3-1 on your remote. Be patient and move your dish in slight increments till you hit the satellite. Not sure how much you know. If this is all too confusing come on back and post with your progress and someone here will help you through it.

Keith

 

[cablewithaview]

You should not have any problem with a 75 cm dish. Option 6 then 3, enter password, then option 1. make sure receiver is tuned to ch.299 when you start. once you lock on and peak it out then channel down to ch. 298 (without exiting the menu) and line up F2 and lock it in. From this point it would be a matter of fine tuning and getting the strongest signal possible. I never used azimuth, & elevation when I set mine. I already had a general idea where the satellite(s) are located at here.

 

[sarusso]

I live in San Jose and have had no problems get *C. The strongest signal I've been able to get is in the high 60's. I'm subscribed to the Bi-lingual package and have no problems getting the French and HD channels.

By the way I'm also from Montreal, welcome to San Jose ...

 

[Mr Tony]

use the ebno number...much easier

options 6-0-5 right arrow to diagnostic C

there is a + or - number in the far right. When you have a hint of signal, the number turns to a + and fluxuates

+5 is minimum
+7.5 or above is good

 

[gemillon]

Thanks to everybody who answered. I'll get myself a compass and try to earn my first stripe as "satellite guy"...

And thanks to Sarusso for his warm welcome.

-- gemillon

 

[keithb]

Good luck, let us know how you make out.

 

[gemillon]

Ok, I received all my stuff. I tried to do some testing by holding the satellite and aiming it at what I thought was azimuth 143 degrees. The best signal I could get was a meagre 20.

I'd like to check some things if you don't mind:
- I assumed that North = azimuth 0. Is that correct?
- When you mentionned a 75 cm dish, I always assumed that was the large axis of the dish. But suddenly, from my college years, I suddenly remember that a dish is best described by its focal distance. Is that what the 75 is about? I may be in trouble, since the dish I got has 60E written all over, and it looks like it has 60cm of focal distance.
- Is there a kind of coaxial that works best for satellite? Or is the regular coax that we also use for VCR is OK?
- On the menu of options 6-3-1, there is a mention of a provider ID. Anybody can give me a hint about what it is?

Best regards,

-- gemillon

 

[Jumbo Dumbo]

You have the wrong dish - 75cm (and 60cm) refer to the length of the widest part of the ellipse (approximately)

You should be using RG6 cable (not RG59)

Calculations are done to true north (not magnetic north)

 

[cablewithaview]

after option 6, 3 then enter password then 1 to tune satellite. Don't worry about the provider ID. just channel up or down between 298 and 299 to align both satellites. 299 for F1R and 298 for F2. of course turn to ch. 299 before going into the menu.

 

[gemillon]

You have the wrong dish - 75cm (and 60cm) refer to the length of the widest part of the ellipse (approximately)
You should be using RG6 cable (not RG59)
Calculations are done to true north (not magnetic north)

Thank you for the feedback. I just want to be sure: although the dish seems to be a 60E, the widest part of the ellipse is at least 80cm. However, if I measure the distance between the cup of the dish and the tip of the receiving end (where you plug the cable), that is about 60cm.

Best regards,

-- gemillon

 

[sarusso]

Yesterday might have been a bad day to try aligning any dish due to the nasty storm here in the bay area. I am assuming you are in California now right?

 

[gemillon]

Yesterday might have been a bad day to try aligning any dish due to the nasty storm here in the bay area. I am assuming you are in California now right?

Yes, I am, more precisely in Cupertino. And you are right: the weekend's weather was awful. My trials and errors were done mostly on Saturday, between showers.

By the way, did you move with your *C dish to San Jose or did you order it afterwards? In the first case, were you able to specify the dish size? I'm still not sure I have the correct dish size. Was I only unlucky or impatient to get only as strong a signal as 20?

Best regards,

-- gemilllon

 

[sarusso]

I bought my dish and receiver after I had moved here on one of my many trips back. I have the elliptical dish and aiming the dish requires patience. Using a satellite finder would help and once a signal is acquired waiting 15-20 seconds for the receiver to get a lock is needed. Then slowly adjusting the elevation and azimuth to fine tune the signal. If the I remember correctly the provider id is 4120 and helped me determine whether I was pointing at the right satellite. I will confirm and get back to you. If you have the elliptical dish you will need to point to a different satellite than if you had the single round dish. This would allow you to receive the signals from both Starchoice satellites once the skew is adjusted correctly. All this information is in the manual that ships with the dish and receiver so hopefully you did not throw them away. The skew settings are only given for Canadian cities but I was able to get one for San Jose from a friendly starchoice CSR. I will also need to get back to you on that. I am at work and do not have my stuff with me.

 

[sarusso]

Checked online at www.kusat.com and the provider id is 4128 (I was close)

Here are some good links from them:
http://www.kusat.com/go.php?path=/install/sc.php
http://www.kusat.com/go.php?path=/install/sc-75cm.php
http://www.kusat.com/go.php?path=/install/sc-ellip.php

 

[Mr Tony]

I guess nobody listened to me and the better instructions : )

If it’s a virgin receiver, tune to Ch 284…if the receiver can tune 299, then do that
Options 6-0-5 right arrow to Diagnostic C
See the number in the right corner (the + or – number)
aim dish in general direction
slowly tune until number moves (if it catches a glimpse of a signal, the – turns to + and moves every second or so
fine tune until + number is the best

 

[gemillon]

I guess nobody listened to me and the better instructions : )
If it’s a virgin receiver, tune to Ch 284…if the receiver can tune 299, then do that
Options 6-0-5 right arrow to Diagnostic C
See the number in the right corner (the + or – number)
aim dish in general direction
slowly tune until number moves (if it catches a glimpse of a signal, the – turns to + and moves every second or so
fine tune until + number is the best

Iceberg, I'm sorry but I tried your suggestions . The only figure with a +/- sign on the right was -3.0. And it stayed at this value, wherever I point the dish...However, I will try first with ch 284. As you sound experienced, I'm wondering if you know what is the behavior of the receiver if the dish is too small. Is it consistent with the result I get (signal strength starts at 13 and rises up to 19 when I aim it at a certain point).

Best regards,

-- gemillon

 

[Mr Tony]

Iceberg, I'm sorry but I tried your suggestions . The only figure with a +/- sign on the right was -3.0. And it stayed at this value, wherever I point the dish...However, I will try first with ch 284. As you sound experienced, I'm wondering if you know what is the behavior of the receiver if the dish is too small. Is it consistent with the result I get (signal strength starts at 13 and rises up to 19 when I aim it at a certain point).
Best regards,
-- gemillon

The -3 means that there is no signal. Try with 284 first as a new receiver doesnt have 299.

Aim in the general direction and when you get close, go S L O W...KU band takes longer to recognize the signal than DBS.

Smaller dish shouldnt have issues.

 

[gemillon]

Arrgghh! After many trials and climbs on the roof, I still have not succeeded in getting a signal from any *C satellites. I believe I followed every advice I received, especially those from Iceberg, KeithB and Sarusso, but to no avail. I'm still stuck with a signal strength of 18-19, and an EBNO at -3.0. I think my line of sight is clear, since there are no high trees or buildings in the line of the dish. I even bought 100 ft of RG6 cable for the occasion.

I even tried resetting the receiver to factory default, but no change. One thing worth mentionning: there is an old-style roof antenna on the roof, sitting next to the dish. Can it interfere with the dish signal?

As a final measure, does anybody know of a good dish installer that knows how to install elliptic dishes, in the SF south bay area?

Best regards,

-- gemillon

 

[gemillon]

I finally got it to work. It was a good old manipulation error...I thought I set my azimuth correctly, but it was actually offset by a good 15 degrees. I started a bit too much on the SW and stopped at the first increase of signal strength I got. If I had continued a bit, I would have hit it straight from the first day...

It is a lesson about one being too sure of himself.

Thanks to everybody who sent a reply. The combination of all your information plus some sound advice from my visiting mother-in-law made this installation a success.

See you around!

-- gemillon