Got My Stuff Where Do I Start Looking

[The Sanman007]

I have a PANSAT 2500A with a 36 inch (90cms) FTA dish with Fortec LNBF Where do I start setting up?
I'm sure I need to get the pole straight,level,and Plum
then what?
I hear about true south is that where I start?
I'm not sure what I'm looking for as of yet.
What Sat is the most popular as a starter?
A co-worker has a LNB strapped to his DTV LNB and something about 119?
The Pansat manual has no starting point.
I live in North Carolina, Zip 28166

 

[charper1]

http://www.lyngsat.com

Here are some satellites of interest to me. You need to go buy a $6 heading/map compass from walmart or hunting supply.

SATFINDER - http://www.arachnoid.com/satfinder/
Troutman, NC 28166
Latitude 35° 41.178'N Longitude 80° 52.932'W

Sat Name Sat Lng Az(t) Az(m) El Skew
-----------------------------------------------
Intelsat 903 34.5W 119.1 126.5 26.3 -45.2
Telstar 11/IA11 37.5W 121.7 129.1 28.5 -43.7
PAS 3R 43.0W 126.9 134.3 32.5 -40.5
PAS 9 58.0W 144.1 151.5 42.0 -28.4
AMC 6 72.0W 165.0 172.4 47.5 -12.1
SBS 6 74.0W 168.3 175.7 47.9 -9.5
AMC 5 79.0W 176.8 184.2 48.5 -2.6
AMC 9 85.0W 187.0 194.5 48.3 5.7
AMC 3 87.0W 190.4 197.8 48.1 8.4
Galaxy 11 91.0W 197.0 204.4 47.2 13.7
Telstar 6/IA6 93.0W 200.2 207.6 46.6 16.3
Galaxy 3C 95.0W 203.3 210.8 45.9 18.8
Telstar 5/IA5 97.0W 206.4 213.8 45.2 21.1
Galaxy 4R 99.0W 209.3 216.7 44.3 23.4
AMC 4 101.0W 212.1 219.6 43.4 25.6
AMC 1 103.0W 214.9 222.3 42.4 27.7
AMC 2 105.0W 217.5 224.9 41.3 29.6
Anik F1 107.3W 220.4 227.9 40.0 31.8
SatMex 5 116.8W 231.2 238.6 33.9 39.2
Telstar 13/IA13 121.0W 235.3 242.7 30.9 41.9
Galaxy 10R 123.0W 237.2 244.6 29.5 43.0
Galaxy 13 127.0W 240.7 248.1 26.5 45.1

Satellite Finder is (c) Copyright 2004, P. Lutus

 

[The Sanman007]

what is Az(t) Az(m) Im confused with these
Az is Azimuth ?

Example :Intelsat 903 34.5W 119.1 126.5 26.3 -45.2

Intelsat 903 = Sat. Name
compass Reading = 34.5W
Azimuth = 119.1 ? 126.5 ? 26.3 ? this is the confusion Hope the rest is correct
Clockwise rotation = -45.2

 

[PSB]

Az(T) True south Az(M) Magnetic south (compass reading)

34.5w is the satellite orbital position in the sky

45.2 is the skew or how much you need to rotate the LNBF. If you are going straight for the motorized setup (I recommend you do not use the motor for now) you do not need to worry about that as the LNBF sits straight up and down on a motorized system.
For a - negative skew rotate the LNBF clockwise (looking on front of dish)

For a + positive skew rotate the LNBF anti-clockwise " " "

 

[The Sanman007]

OK what is the 26.3 ? Elevation?

 

[PSB]

E=Elevation : )

 

[The Sanman007]

Any Suggestions on Sat. choices

 

[charper1]

Those on the list and the lyngsat link will show you a lot of what is one each.

 

[PSB]

If you follow my advice and just go for one satellite at a time for now then its got to be G10R at 123W
http://www.lyngsat.com/g10r.html

You True south bird will be AMC-5 79W!
http://www.lyngsat.com/amc5.html

 

[The Sanman007]

Thanks Guys you have been a BIG HELP.
Is there anything else the veterans could suggest?

 

[PSB]

I use "THE TUBE" : )
To find G10R

11720 Freq.
V Polarity
27692 S/R

 

[charper1]

Since you are REALLY new to all this, I too would follow Petes advise and go the one satellite at a time method with G10r for now til you get familiar.

 

[The Sanman007]

Thanks again for the help.

For a future Question:

if the elevation is fixed with a DIGIWAVE Moteck SG2100 MOTOR how can you change Satellites while only being able to more right or left?

 

[PSB]

The mounting tube is set at an angle so as the dish moves east and west it moves up and down in height and follows the arc.
Here is a good place to learn how motors work.

http://www.usals.info/inglese/home.htm

 

[The Sanman007]

Galaxy 10R 123.0W 237.2 244.6 29.5 43.0

i mounted my dish low to the ground as sujested a www.psbsatellite.com
29.5 is so low grass is in the way?

 

[PSB]

: ) Must be some mighty long grass! Remember on off-set dish the elevation angle is much steeper than it looks, usually around 22 deg. higher than where it is actually pointing. Cut the grass and you will be fine!

 

[PSB]

Offset Antennas

"The dish design of choice for most digital DBS systems is called an offset-fed antenna. Here the manufacturer uses a smaller subsection of the same parabolic curve used to produce prime focus antennas, but with a major axis in the north/south direction, and a smaller minor axis in the east/west direction.
With the offset-fed design, the feedhorn is no longer positioned at the front and center of the reflector but rather offset to the bottom of the dish. However, the feed would be centrally located if we extended the parabolic curve of the offset fed dish to the full length of a prime focus parabola.
The offset fed antenna design offers several distinct advantages over its prime focus counterparts. There is no feedhorn blockage, an important consideration when the antenna aperture is less than one meter in diameter. Moreover, the offset angle at which the feedhorn tilts up toward the reflector is such that if the feed looks over the antenna's rim it will see the cold sky rather than the hot earth. Due to these advantages, the offset-fed antenna can achieve higher efficiency levels than prime focus antennas can generally attain.

The low inclination angles required by offset antennas also may be beneficial in certain climate zones. In tropical or semi-tropical environments, rain will not collect inside the reflector. In cold weather climates, snow will slide off of the antenna surface rather than accumulating inside the reflector."