Equiptment advice

[gpat]

I wouldnt trust a 7 year old battery let alone a 10 yr old one.
Dont leave the 920 or 922 unplugged very long.
if possible buy a cheap UPS unit,charge it up and use it for
keeping power on both the 920 and 922 while transporting.
Then use the UPS for protection when installed.
If you think this is just hysteria do a search for 920,922 battery loss
and see what comes up.Its about $200 to have the board replaced.
marking the pole will do no good,you wont get it back in the same
relative compass heading.
This is why I suggest to hit the closest one to due south and see how far off it is.
You heading is somewhere around 94.5*W(G3 on your receiver).
Position the dish to this one before removing and dont change anything.
Unplug,tag all wiring(I like to snip the last 1/2" leaving the color intact for easy
hookup)
Run new cabling and hook up then power up with the dish pointed due south.
You will have very little trouble finding that satellite and everything else should be very close to falling in place.Good luck

 

[Lil Chris]

The 920 and 922 have a Lithium Battery for memory. It lasts about 10yrs, and the 920 is about 10 yrs old. If the battery dies, the memory of one of the chips is lost, and the unit must be sent out for repairs. When you get the equipment home, and learn your way around the menus a little, there is a quick way to check. When you're ready, just ask, and someone will help.

Oh, I understand now... Thank you for explaining this to me.

 

[Lil Chris]

I wouldnt trust a 7 year old battery let alone a 10 yr old one.
Dont leave the 920 or 922 unplugged very long.
if possible buy a cheap UPS unit,charge it up and use it for
keeping power on both the 920 and 922 while transporting.
Then use the UPS for protection when installed.
If you think this is just hysteria do a search for 920,922 battery loss
and see what comes up.Its about $200 to have the board replaced.
marking the pole will do no good,you wont get it back in the same
relative compass heading.
This is why I suggest to hit the closest one to due south and see how far off it is.
You heading is somewhere around 94.5*W(G3 on your receiver).
Position the dish to this one before removing and dont change anything.
Unplug,tag all wiring(I like to snip the last 1/2" leaving the color intact for easy
hookup)
Run new cabling and hook up then power up with the dish pointed due south.
You will have very little trouble finding that satellite and everything else should be very close to falling in place.Good luck

Thank you for your advise gpat...
I'm so nervious about getting things right before I take it down, I've made a list of things to do tomorrow when I'm over there before we take it down. Could someone review this list and let me know if i've missed anything... Thanks in advance...

MY LIST OF TO DO:
Ask if the "UA" number on the Back of the 922 matches the Number in the System Info Menu.

Take a compass with you and ask him to move the dish across the arc.
Record the extreme ends(East and West) and site these in on your property.

Need to take note of East / West compass readings and elevation.

If you get directly behind the dish and look at it when its aimed at the satellite you will see the LOS. Use the LNB which is in the center,mounted on arms,like a gun sight and record that compass heading.

Also ask him to hit the true south satellite and record how far off in degrees it is with a protractor. This will aid in setup at new location.

You do not want to Warp the Dish, so be careful moving.
There are 3 basic parts: Dish, Mount w/ actuator, and Pole. I couldn't see re-using the existing pole. Probably best to install new one, it has to be Plumb. Separate the Dish from the Mount, then remove the Actuator from Mount. Next remove Mount from Pole. After that, gather receivers, remotes, manuals, and place a birdhouse on the Pole.

This is why I suggest to hit the closest one to due south and see how far off it is.
Your heading is somewhere around 94.5*W(G3 on your receiver).
Position the dish to this one before removing and dont change anything.
Unplug,tag all wiring(I like to snip the last 1/2" leaving the color intact for easy
hookup)
Run new cabling and hook up then power up with the dish pointed due south.
You will have very little trouble finding that satellite and everything else should be very close to falling in place.Good luck

 

[turbosat]

Don't sweat the move, it's easier than it sounds. The biggest thing is having enough help to get the dish down without dropping it on it's edge and warping it. Usually just a few bolts and it's loose from the mount. Be sure not to take the dish actuator motor loose without having the dish held in place by someone (dish falls, motor-arm raises up and pokes hole thru mesh!!).
If it's only 30miles from ur location now, prob won't be a lot of adjustment to setting it up at your house, dish elevation won't change much at all. Taking the old pole may or may not be easy, depends on how much concrete they put it in, and how hard the earth is there lol. Dig around it, push it over with a tractor or truck bumper gently and it'll come up. Damned heavy tho. Post back on your progress!

 

[Lil Chris]

Thanks turbosat,

I'd also like to thank everybody else for sharing their input as well... I'll report back after the successful move...

 

[Lil Chris]

O.k. I'm back with another question that may sound wierd...

So, I was out there again this morning, and we set the satellite to C3 channel 7 (we couldn't find a signal on G3 to set it to as mentioned earlier, this could have been to the big pine tree sitting right in front of the dish). Anyway, on my compass when we did the line of sight and the numbers on the compass were 268 right at the W on the compass.

My question is, where is C3 in relation to the other satellites, like is it in the middle or more to the east or west...? I'm trying to determine the travel from the 268 setting in my yard (I have 1 large tree that might be in the way, depending on where the dish is placed). I hope this is making some sense...

Also, if this helps the E limit was 5081 and the W limit was 5197 on the reciever. Now unfortunatly I didn't get the compass readings when it was pointed at the E and W limits (D'Oh).

 

[voomvoom]

C3 is @ 131.0w, it was once F3, then became C3, and is now known as AMC11 and is @ 131.0w..... G3 is @ 95.0w
Hope this helps..!

 

[turbosat]

Check your longitude>I think you said you were in MO someplace, not that different from mine, whatever satellite is near your true south (85,87,89??) should be right about the middle of the arc for you. For me it's a toss-up and I usually use 87.
AMC11 is way west , for me, pointing much lower in the sky, will be fairly west for you too.

 

[Lil Chris]

Thanks voomvoom but, I haven't learned what all that stuff means yet... I understand that the satellite used to be called C3 and is now AMC11, it's the numbers I don't get yet...


turbosat,
yes i'm in KCMO... I must appologise first, I am compassly challenged, how do I check my longitude and when you say true south 85,87,89 what does that mean?

The only numbers I was working from were the tiny numbers printed on the compass itself. I used a compass that has a wire in the lid and we lined up the LNB with the pole and the wire in the lid of the compass then wrote down the number that lined up on the compass dial (which was 268). Somehow I'm beginning to feel I did this wrong...

Here's the thing we already set the receiver to C3 - 7 or AMC11 as it's now called (it was cspan I think) and turned it off (but left it plugged in and plugged in the 920 as well for the battery life), as per previous instructions, then we took the dish down so I can pick it up in a few weeks... I was thinking that it wouldn't matter where it was set to as long as when I go to put it back up I point it to the measurements I took before taking it down.

Now in my yard the is a huge tree (more tall than wide), if I place the dish at the end of the house where I plan on using the tv, according to my measurements of 268 (this is the tiny numbers on my compass) it's in line with the big tree, which is in right about at the W on my compass. I'm assuming that this is the far end of the spectrum as far as west travel of the dish... So, when it travles east I should be ok with picking up the rest of the satellites after it passes the big tree... Does this sound correct (I understand it may be hard to visualise what i'm trying to say. But if I set the dish at the other end of the house when it goes south it will have to pass through the big tree, farther into the southern satellites (it's ok if I can't pick up a few satellites, I guess I'm trying to determine which end would be best if I can't pick up a few sats) does this make sense...?

I'm so confused...

 

[Lak7]

Satellite Positions are according to Long., like on a map, not direction like a compass. So your "Southern" Sat would be the one closed to your Long. . South on a Compass is 180 deg. When aligning your dish( or any motorized dish) you must know what your Southern Sat is and start there. Look at the Top of this page for The List tab. In there select the Sat Ang. Calc. enter your zip and scroll down looking the the on that says "Southern Sat" in green. The Southern Sat is the Highest in the Sky from where you are. You're in the Midwest, like me, so our Southern Sat is around 90. NY City is 74, Los Angeles is 119. As the dish travels East or West the Sat are Lower in the Sky.
Google the "Clarke Belt" Once you are properly aligned to your Southern Sat you drive the Dish to the far East or West and Tweak Signal. You bounce back and forth untill you have tweaked the best Signal on those 2 Sats. Then the rest should fall in place, you will be "Tracking the Arc" Google what you don't understand, ask questions when you're stuck. At some point it will all make sense. WARNING: this is very addictive!

 

[charper1]

Heading compasses WILL provide very useful when setting up a dish. Assuming you know how to read /use one. Everyone should have at least one or two in their home/car anyway.