Don't know much

[Lost In Space]

Hi, folks,
I am new to satellite technology. I have purchased FTA equipment real recently and can't get it working. I searched the forums here for a couple of days - the posting by Houston was most similar to my situation, tried suggestions, couldn't find answers.

Equipment:
Spitfire ASC321 KU LNBF
Hotdish75 30" Dish
Viewsat Ultra receiver
No motor

My coordinates:
Latitude = 33.7609, Longitude = -117.9904
Lat = 33 degrees, 45.7 minutes North
Long = 117 degrees, 59.4 minutes West

Mounted on bottom of roof pointing South-ish, (exactly where previous Dish network dish was).
Looking for Anik sat or anything I can get from my location.
Anik shows close to 100% signal 0% quality. This is the same for all sats on receiver list. I get signal for several, but no quality,(no picture), even after moving dish up-down-left-right and rotating LNB up to 50% clockwise or counter.
My inline meter just produces a constant beep when turned almost all the way up and never changes - maybe doesn't work with KU band?
My receiver meters work ok.
It would be nice to get just 1 sat to start with. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
By the way, I received about 4 channels clearly (Echostar)with the old Dish Network dish & their LNB before switching to the bigger dish & Spitfire. I understand their Sat transmits a more powerful signal, but I should get something.


Thanks for any help,

 

[dougruss]

Did you try a "Blind Scan" ?

 

[Das Hammer]

Anik shows close to 100% signal 0% quality. This is the same for all sats on receiver list. I get signal for several, but no quality,(no picture), even after moving dish up-down-left-right and rotating LNB up to 50% clockwise or counter.

Any sat you select should show "signal" regardless of whether you're actually pointed at it or not. Signal in this case refers to the connection between the receiver and lnbf.

My inline meter just produces a constant beep when turned almost all the way up and never changes - maybe doesn't work with KU band?
My receiver meters work ok.

Is it the SF-95 style meter with the needle? The knob on the front is an attenuator. You actually want it turned down far enough that you are barely moving the needle. Actually, just turn it down (counter-clockwise) far enough that the needle is somewhere in the middle of the scale. This way, when you're moving around your dish, you can tell when you hit something because you will be able to see (and hear) the needle go up the scale. Then, you can turn the knob down a little more to help peak out the location of the dish.

It would be nice to get just 1 sat to start with. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
By the way, I received about 4 channels clearly (Echostar)with the old Dish Network dish & their LNB before switching to the bigger dish & Spitfire. I understand their Sat transmits a more powerful signal, but I should get something.


Thanks for any help,

First off, I don't see anything that you'll be able to get with that equipment on either of the Aniks. If I was in your location and didn't have a motorized dish, I'd probably shoot for the Echostar 7@121W or Galaxy10R@123W slot because Echostar 7 is pretty strong and not too much off of your southern direction. You will only get one channel on Echostar 7, but at least you will then have a reference point (make marks on the mast and dish mount with a sharpie so you can go back to them if need be). From there, you should be able to move the dish slightly to the west and down just a little in elevation and pick up Galaxy10R which has a lot of free programming.
Also, you won't be able to pick up anything from the DBS birds because you're using a linear lnb. That may be where some of your confusion is coming from. It doesn't mean that your equpment is not working. If anything, it sounds like it is working as it should.

 

[SatelliteAV]

One of your longitude/latitude coordinates puts you in the middle of Mount Wilson, CA, so I went for the 2nd set which indicates that you are in Westminster, CA.

Remove the satellite meter from inline as we have found that occasionally it prevents your receiver from locking onto and displaying a Quality reading. Use the meters that are built into your receiver by placing a small TV next to the dish while installing. Your receiver will indicate if it is on the right satellite if configured properly, but the satellite meter will only indicate that you are aiming at a satellite.

Go to GeoSatFinder and enter you location. Select Galaxy 25 (IA5) from the satellite list. The calculation will show you the correct Compass Reading, Dish Elevation Angle, and LNBF rotation as shown in the attached PDF below. Place the dish on a perfectly plum post and set the aiming with the PDF coordinates. Compass Reading 132.7 (Left / Right) Reference a geographical point like a telephone pole or a tree in the distance that lines up with the compass reading, Dish Elevation Angle 44.8 degrees, and rotate the LNBF to -28 degrees (Clockwise / Right).


Enter the Antenna Setup menu on your Viewsat Ultra and select the following:

Satellite - Intelsat 5 97.0W
LNB Power - ON
LNB Type - Standard
LNB Freq - 10750
22KHz - OFF
TP Freq - 12177
Search Option - ALL
DiSEqC - NONE
Motor - OFF
Legacy SW - NONE


Slowly move the dish left or right 10 degrees on either side of the geographical point that you identified with your compass. If the QUALITY Reading (Right Bar) doesn't turn Green and jump above 30%, increase or decrease the dish elevation angle by 1 degree and sweep the same 20 degrees left to right. Repeat until you have a Quality Reading. Peak the Quality by slightly rotating the LNBF several degrees clockwise or counterclockwise and towards or away from the dish reflector.

Once the Quality is peaked, press the Green F2 button to Blind Scan the satellite for all available free to air channels.

 

[Lost In Space]

Wow!

Wow, You guys are awesome! Didn't expect so many great replies so soon!
Thanks for all the info! I am at work, right now. When I get home later, I will try a number of the suggestions given and post an update. As for blind scan - yes - tried it - got nothing. Thanks a bunch folks!

 

[Lost In Space]

I know even Less than I thought

Hey, Guys.
I wanted to wait and exhaust all possibilities before bothering you again.
I tried all the suggestions. I couldn't locate Echostar 7, Intelsat 5 or anything.
I used a compass & I compensated for declination. My elevation estimates were a little more rough. I tried sweeping patterns up, down, left, right, and rotating the LNB in both directions and moving it forward & back on the arm.. My wife sat and watched the quality meter on the Viewsat Ultra. It never read more than 0. The signal meter hovered around 75% for sats that registered. I am baffled. There must be something wrong. Could the arm be too short that the LNB attaches to? There is a dent in the HotDish 75. It's very shallow - about 4 inches in circumference - would that impede reception?
About ready to blow up my equipment.

specs: HotDish 75
Spitfire ASC321 standard KU LNBF (DMS International)
Veiwsat Ultra

Loc: 33.752756 North
117.991312 West

 

[Tron]

A dent will affect reception, but its possible that the dish is also warped. You would check for this by laying the dish flat on a level surface to see if it wobbles.

It is much harder to aim for a Ku satellite than it is for a DirecTV or Dish bird. You must use VERY small movements of the dish, just a little bit of movement, then stop and step back to see if the quality is affected. You are looking for signal quality only, strength doesn't mean much.

 

[Lost In Space]

Warpage

Thanks for the input, Tron!

I will check - I actually do remember the dish being a little wobbly when on the ground. The box it came in was damaged. If that's the problem, I wonder if it's fixable?
You don't think the distance between the dish from the LNBF is a factor, too?

Thanks!:up

 

[Tron]

If you are using the factory-supplied LNB holder and arm with the correct dish, it should be close enough to get signal under normal conditions. You can fine-tune the LNB to dish distance by sliding the LNB a bit closer and farther from the dish to see if this helps, but this is really just a tweak.

I suspect dish damage. Sometimes you can bend a warped dish back into shape, but that four inch dent concerns me...

 

[Lost In Space]

Warped Dish

I am using the Hotdish 75 with the arm & parts that came with it. I assembled exactly as shown. I had first slid the LNB all the way back in the arm, then forward.
Nothing either way. I suspect the dent in the dish is reflecting the signal clear of the LNB. I will see if I can fix it somehow.






Specs: HotDish 75
Spitfire ASC321 standard KU LNBF (DMS International)
Veiwsat Ultra