FTA Setup

[Brentano]

Pleaseeeee Help......
I’ve been trying, unsuccessfully, to set an FTA system. I’m good at technical things and figuring things out but this FTA stuff is killing me! I have the dish mounted and “thought” I had it pointed in the right direction which I apparently did not. I even purchased a Satellite meter thinking this would simplify things and it did not. Can someone please point me in the right direction and possibly assist me with their knowledge.
My equipment is as follows:
Dish - WS9036NE
LNB – Avenger PLL321S-2
Amiko HD-8200
Diseqc 1.2 (not installed yet)
Orbital Tracker Digital Satellite Meter
Location: Central California
I’ve tried to hit 119W, 110W, 97W, 91W with zero luck.
So if anyone has any pointers on what I can do, please share. I’ve read the forum tutorials from multiple sites and I’m getting nowhere.

Thanks for reading…….

 

[FTA4PA]

Pleaseeeee Help......
I’ve been trying, unsuccessfully, to set an FTA system. I’m good at technical things and figuring things out but this FTA stuff is killing me! I have the dish mounted and “thought” I had it pointed in the right direction which I apparently did not. I even purchased a Satellite meter thinking this would simplify things and it did not. Can someone please point me in the right direction and possibly assist me with their knowledge.
My equipment is as follows:
Dish - WS9036NE
LNB – Avenger PLL321S-2
Amiko HD-8200
Diseqc 1.2 (not installed yet)
Orbital Tracker Digital Satellite Meter
Location: Central California
I’ve tried to hit 119W, 110W, 97W, 91W with zero luck.
So if anyone has any pointers on what I can do, please share. I’ve read the forum tutorials from multiple sites and I’m getting nowhere.
Thanks for reading…….

A few things to check: Is your pole plumb? Is elevation setting correct for your location? Do you have a clear line of site to sats? Is coax good? Is LNB setting in your receiver correct for the Avenger PLL321S-2 (Universal/9750/10600)? Is LNB skewed properly for the sat you are trying to receive? Are you using an active transponder while searching? If you haven't already done so, enter your zip code at www.dishpointer.com, select the sat you want to point at and it will give you the correct azimuth, elevation and skew. 97W is a good choice to start with for KU as the signal is strong. Zoom in and use the map on dishpointer to find a reference object that runs along the sat line on the map. Point your dish at that to get the azimuth close. Have you tried taking a small tv and your receiver to the dish? Remember to move the dish slowly east and west of your reference point to give your receiver time to lock a signal. If you don't get a signal try a degree higher or lower and repeat. Good luck!

 

[Cham]

I'm thinking for central California 125w might be easier, should be a smidgeon west of 180degrees due south, depending on where you are in California. Try the following TP:
12180 V 29997 8psk 2/3fec

This one has a good signal here, should show up. Check your dish elevation on the mounting bracket and set up as dishpointer.com indicates and sweep back and fourth. If you have done everything as FTA4PA says above it should be findable.

Another thing, your receiver should show a signal as long as the LNBF is connected. If you have no Signal level there is a problem with the feedline/LNBF. Do you have any switches or splitters in the line? Take them out of the circuit if you do. You'll be looking for Quality to pop up as you pan around looking for a satellite TP.

Maybe show us a picture of your setup?

-C.

 

[GI_Joe]

Use dishpointer.com as a starting point to find the general location and parameters for setting this dish. http://www.dishpointer.com/ Then as previously pointed out - adjust the dish VERY SLOWLY while watching the meter. I also recommend (for the first time) taking a TV set out to the dish and use the signal quality meter on the receiver - instead of a signal meter. Make sure you are set on an active channel and transponder.

 

[iBoston]

I got a used Satlink 6906 for $50.00 on Ebay. That was a very well spent 50.00 bucks. I use that every time i fine tune and used it when i originally setup. It just doesn't do DVBS2.

 

[scarecrovv]

Also if your dish is an offset dish your "look angle" will be 20 or so degrees lower than your elevation for your sat.

 

[Brentano]

I'm thinking for central California 125w might be easier, should be a smidgeon west of 180degrees due south, depending on where you are in California. Try the following TP:
12180 V 29997 8psk 2/3fec

This one has a good signal here, should show up. Check your dish elevation on the mounting bracket and set up as dishpointer.com indicates and sweep back and fourth. If you have done everything as FTA4PA says above it should be findable.

Another thing, your receiver should show a signal as long as the LNBF is connected. If you have no Signal level there is a problem with the feedline/LNBF. Do you have any switches or splitters in the line? Take them out of the circuit if you do. You'll be looking for Quality to pop up as you pan around looking for a satellite TP.

Maybe show us a picture of your setup?

-C.

Thanks for the much needed info.....Ill mess with it some more and get back to you.....Either it works or theres gonna be a garage sale

 

[beavs2112]

welcome to the forum. what channels are you looking to receive? I wouldn't waste too much time trying to point at 110W & 119W (subscription services). Just a friendly reminder we support and discuss legal KU/C band Free to Air (FTA) Satellite Equipment and reception! (Note - NO HACK TALK ALLOWED) & http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/thr...ot-on-lyngsat-thelist-in-the-main-area.73264/

 

[FaT Air]

And by SLOWLY sweeping the dish left and right. Make that EXTREMELY slow. May find it beneficial to move it whisper L or R and wait a few seconds or more for the receiver to 'lock' the signal and display Quality. I've seen some signals/receivers take up to 10 seconds before anything 'registered'.

 

[. Raine]

Pleaseeeee Help......

My equipment is as follows:
Dish - WS9036NE
LNB – Avenger PLL321S-2
Amiko HD-8200
Diseqc 1.2 (not installed yet)
Orbital Tracker Digital Satellite Meter
Location: Central California

The dish is big enough and that's a good LNB, the receiver is DVB-S2 capable, so all that should be good, unless you have settings wrong in the receiver or a bad cable, LNB, etc. [I myself got a bad Avenger from a vendor on Amazon once, it wouldn't lock unless it was on a horizontal transponder.]

Diseqc 1.2 (not installed yet) --I don't understand what you mean by this-- if you mean a motor, then try setting the dish up without it, fixed on one satellite first, to get the hang of it. It's much easier to setup up a fixed dish than a motorized one on your first try at it and once you get the hang of locking in a few sats you can put the motor on later. If you set the dish up as a fixed dish, you will have to rotate the LNB to the correct skew.

[Orbital Tracker Digital Satellite Meter] What model meter is this? They sell some meters that are the cheap and pretty much useless ones and then they sell some that are the same as FS1 meters. If it's like the FS1 meter, with the Avenger LNB, try turning on the 22khz option if you have it set to off now.

Location: Central California - like others have said: http://www.dishpointer.com/

Make sure the Lo setting in your receiver is set to Universal/9750/10600, 22khz on or auto and that there is a active transponder in the list for whatever satellite your aiming for. Check like Cham said about the signal bar showing something, my Micro will show 45% signal with a LNB connected. Like Cham said, if it shows zero signal then you have a cable or LNB problem, or a Lo selected out of range for the LNB, or no transponders in your list.

make sure your pole is plumb, set your elevation, azimuth and skew according to dishpointer and slowly move the dish back and forth to try and get it, some elevation scales on dishes aren't completely accurate too, you can try adjusting up and down a bit too, Slowly. One of my dishes here that I bought new is off on the Elev scale by about 7 degrees. My first few dishes I setup it helped me to put a pencil mark on the pole and dish mount so I could easily bring it back to where I started if I wanted to start over. Make sure nothing is blocking your LOS [line of sight to the sat], trees, buildings, etc. Like Scarecrovv said, for an offset dish like yours the look angle will be 20 or so degrees lower than your elevation for whatever sat you're aiming for.

Good luck And Welcome to SatelliteGuys!

 

[rsmithwi]

I still amazes me that people try to sneak FTA "questions" that are most likely trying to steal Dish or Bell. When are they going to shut down piracy once and for all. How long has this been going on?.

 

[TheHamNerd]

Well, I would start with 97 West G19 (Galaxy 19). It has the most programming and some of the strongest KU TP's. As stated above, making sure your pole is plumb and solid makes the difference. Once you find a bird, just 1/8 or 1/16 of an inch adjustment is a huge difference in signal. The beams are narrow, and keep it down to baby steps. Find G19 and set a fixed dish on that bird and work on adjusting that. Also a GOOD QUALITY meter is a MUST! Please post model number of your meter so we can help. RG6 Quad Shield coax is very good as well. Make sure you have a clear view to the South. I would suggest Dishpointer to help you out as well. If you have a smart phone look up SatelliteAR! This program will allow you to see all the birds on the ARC and bring into perspective how your dish see's the birds in the ARC. It uses your camera on your phone, and if you have trees in the way, then forget it!

 

[. Raine]

I still amazes me that people try to sneak FTA "questions" that are most likely trying to steal Dish or Bell. When are they going to shut down piracy once and for all. How long has this been going on?.

You could be right, the OP hasn't responded back, but we really have to give people the benefit of doubt. Sure, the sats they aimed at and the receiver they're using hint that they might have that in mind, but they might not. The first receiver I'd bought had hack stuff in it, I never used it and never intended to and it was soon replaced with a MicroHD. I had no idea it had that capability when I'd bought it or else I wouldn't have bought it, but at the time I really knew nothing much at all about satellites or FTA [never mind the various receiver types!] and it was cheap! And when you're setting up a system for the first time, you try to lock onto anything and everything when you can't get nothing. Might be the same scenario with this person.

There's actually some things in the works that will cut out a lot of piracy, if it's implemented. It will end the most common methods used now. If I can find the articles again, I'll post them.

If they're intending to hack, the basic setup information for a dish is all over the web and they will find it anyway. If they're not intent on hacking, we'll probably just scare them away from this site by accusing them of it when we really don't know for sure. I have to say that hack is what came to my mind when I saw the aimed for sat list and the receiver model, but I couldn't say for sure whether that is their intent or not from just that.