help required

[olico]

this is the continued saga that was written by shark1959 regarding signal quality. the latest dilema really has us puzzled. imagine setting up a tripod with a 18 inch oval dish and a circular lnb leading to a new coolsat 8000 receiver, for signal purposes only. and everything works accordingly.
receiver shows signal strength and quality both at 90 + %. then replace the dish/lnb on the tripod to a 33 inch FTA TECH dish and a new invacom
quadlnb and receive zero signal quality. yes there is signal strength,90% and yes the coaxial is hooked up to circular on the lnb but no quality.
frustration caused me to move the quadlnb around in front of the dish,
closer, further away, nothing. so desperate Ive tried one more crazy idea,
using the original 18 inch dish on the tripod minus the circular lnb and holding the quadlnb in my hand at the exact location where the circular lnb was i actually received a signal for the first time ever. the next step is to figure out if my if 33 inch dish or arm for the lnb is correct? why is it not reflecting or receiving or is it a bent dish? the distance between the 18 inch dish and quadlnb in my hand was about 12 inches, the distance on the 33 inch fta tech dish is about22 inches. not sure what my next step is at this point. all tech data is on shark1959 first posting regarding my coolsat 8000. the last two weeks of no signal period on linear or circular
has me stumped, good receiver with correct software update, thanks iceberg. ive proved my coaxial cable is good, I now know that my quadlnb also works. this latest experiment proved that. so the last and probably the least expensive is the dish and arm. why so difficult? please help.

 

[Hermitman]

My first thought is that you're not pointed at a satellite. Please remember, signal strength does not mean the signal strength from the satellite, it means the signal output strength from the LNB. You can have a signal strength of 90 and be pointed out into empty space. Make sure your azimuth and elevation settings are correct for the FTA dish. The adjustments and setting are probably different from the smaller dish. Good luck.

 

[colbec]

Have you looked up the specs on your dish and found the exact distance to the focal point? I remember vaguely reading that the focus of the incoming beam should be a quarter inch inside the feedhorn, but might be wrong on that. Measure precisely where your lnb should be inside the mount so that the focus falls where it should be. If this fails at least you can be sure that your lnb is in the right place with respect to the focus of the dish.

I've noted that larger parabolic dishes have interesting sound properties. Have you sung into your dish to see if it makes interesting echoes? Presumably even slightly bent dishes are not quite as sonically interesting.

 

[Tron]

I've noted that larger parabolic dishes have interesting sound properties. Have you sung into your dish to see if it makes interesting echoes? Presumably even slightly bent dishes are not quite as sonically interesting.

Tip of the day: Don't let the neighbors (or significant other) see you doing this.

 

[rdel]

Tip of the day: Don't let the neighbors (or significant other) see you doing this.

Hey Tron, you live in new orleans. People wouldn't even notice you singing into a dish there, if they did they may come over and join you and bring the beer

 

[Anole]

Iceberg - merge threads?

Bent, warped, or crushed flat, I can't see the 33 inch dish not getting the DBS satellites.
Put a $10 meter on it and sweep the sky.
I've hit birds holding a dish in my hands (just to check if the LNB worked).
Put the DBS circular LNB on your 33" dish and give it a try.

The advantage of the cheap meters, is that they react instantly.
If you sweep across a satellite, they'll make noise (change tone, etc)
You don't need to be careful nor precise nor SLOW in your adjustments.

My guess is that you're relying too much on the markings on the dish mount.
Sometimes you just have to trust yourself, close your eyes, loosen all hardware, and use the force.

 

[stogie5150]

Bent, warped, or crushed flat, I can't see the 33 inch dish not getting the DBS satellites.
Put a $10 meter on it and sweep the sky.
I've hit birds holding a dish in my hands (just to check if the LNB worked).
Put the DBS circular LNB on your 33" dish and give it a try.

The advantage of the cheap meters, is that they react instantly.
If you sweep across a satellite, they'll make noise (change tone, etc)
You don't need to be careful nor precise nor SLOW in your adjustments.

My guess is that you're relying too much on the markings on the dish mount.
Sometimes you just have to trust yourself, close your eyes, loosen all hardware, and use the force.

I am gonna concur with Anole. I have put up many D* dishes and not a one of them has the markings been correct. Well not correct per se, but a particular installation may be just a little off from ideal, (heck most of them are FAR from ideal). When I got started last month (seems so LONG ago! ) the markings on my P* dishes are 5-7 degrees off for MY installation.
Yesterday I moved my motor and dish from my old pole to my new one and it took me all of five minutes to hit my true south satellite, correct my elevation because of the lack of plumb on the old pole, I was right on it.

A roof install is the absolute worse case scenario unless you have a little tv you can drag up there......FTA is so picky you cannot be 'close enough'. You have to be EXACT. I leaned that quickly myself, even though y'all told me ahead of time.

Hang in there, you'll get it.

 

[Tron]

Hey Tron, you live in new orleans. People wouldn't even notice you singing into a dish there, if they did they may come over and join you and bring the beer

Well, the neighbors already think I'm a few cans short of a six pack, and I have no significant other. But if I did, I can just hear her saying "You sing to the #@*$ dish, why don't you ever sing to ME?"