Help setting up!

[Beachbum]

Basically I am a complete n00b who bought a complete system on eBay. I have it set up somewhat, the dish is mounted and the receiver is hooked up, its a fortec ultra receiver and a winegard dish, as some of you may already know.

As stated above, im a complete n00b here, numbers scare me. I have a sheet with the coordinates of the satellites based upon my zip code with "Sat finder". Basically all I need to do is find out how the heaven to point this dish! I am dumbfounded by the complexity and accuracy required to point a dish, but im going to persevere and find out if its the last thing I do! Can someone shed any light on how I can point this dish? My zip is 32503. I'm pretty slow and I just need a basic outline of what I have to point this darned thing in the sky!

:shocked

 

[PSB]

This should help, looks like AMC-3 is your true south satellite!

http://www.dmsiusa.com/documents/SG2100 easy manual.pdf

Motor elevation= 60 deg.
Dish (on motor) elevation=25 deg.

Pensacola, FL 32503
Latitude 30° 27.384'N Longitude 87° 12.624'W

Sat Name Sat Lng Az(t) Az(m) El Skew
-------------------------------------------------------------
*** All Satellites 61W - 160W ***

EchoStar 3 61.5W 136.5 138.0 44.8 -36.4
Rainbow 1 61.5W 136.5 138.0 44.8 -36.4
Brasilsat A2 (incl. 5.8 deg) 63.0W 138.4 139.9 45.8 -34.9
Brasilsat B2 65.0W 141.1 142.7 47.0 -32.7
Brasilsat B1 70.0W 148.6 150.1 49.8 -26.7
Nahuel 1 71.8W 151.5 153.0 50.7 -24.3
AMC 6 72.0W 151.8 153.3 50.8 -24.0
Galaxy 12 74.0W 155.2 156.7 51.7 -21.2
SBS 6 74.0W 155.2 156.7 51.7 -21.2
GOES 12 75.0W 156.9 158.4 52.1 -19.8
AMC 5 79.0W 164.1 165.6 53.4 -13.7
DirecTV 3 81.8W 169.4 170.9 54.0 -9.1
Nimiq 2 82.0W 169.8 171.3 54.0 -8.8
Brasilsat B3 84.0W 173.7 175.2 54.3 -5.4
XM Roll 85.0W 175.6 177.2 54.4 -3.8
AMC 9 85.0W 175.6 177.2 54.4 -3.8
AMC 3 87.0W 179.6 181.1 54.5 -0.4
Galaxy 9 91.0W 187.4 189.0 54.3 6.4
Galaxy 11 91.0W 187.4 189.0 54.3 6.4
Nimiq 1 91.0W 187.4 189.0 54.3 6.4
Brasilsat B4 92.0W 189.4 190.9 54.1 8.1
Telstar 6 93.0W 191.3 192.8 53.9 9.7
Galaxy 8I (incl. 1.0 deg) 95.0W 195.1 196.6 53.5 13.0
Galaxy 3C 95.0W 195.1 196.6 53.5 13.0
Telstar 5 97.0W 198.8 200.3 52.9 16.1
Inmarsat 2 f2 (incl. 1.7 deg) 98.0W 200.6 202.1 52.6 17.7
Galaxy 4R 99.0W 202.4 203.9 52.2 19.2
DirecTV 2 100.8W 205.5 207.0 51.5 21.8
DirecTV 1R 100.8W 205.5 207.0 51.5 21.8
AMC 4 101.0W 205.8 207.3 51.4 22.1
DirecTV 1 101.0W 205.8 207.3 51.4 22.1
AMSC 1 101.1W 206.0 207.5 51.4 22.2
DirecTV 4S 101.2W 206.2 207.7 51.3 22.3
AMC 1 103.0W 209.2 210.7 50.5 24.8
Solidaridad 1 (incl. 2.8 deg) 103.5W 210.0 211.5 50.3 25.5
AMC 2 105.0W 212.3 213.8 49.5 27.5
G-Star 3 (incl. 11.5 deg) 105.0W 212.3 213.8 49.5 27.5
G-Star 1 (incl. 6.0 deg) 105.0W 212.3 213.8 49.5 27.5
MSAT 1 106.5W 214.6 216.1 48.7 29.3
Anik F1 107.3W 215.8 217.3 48.3 30.3
Anik E1 109.2W 218.5 220.1 47.2 32.5
DirecTV 6 109.8W 219.4 220.9 46.8 33.2
EchoStar 6 110.0W 219.7 221.2 46.7 33.4
EchoStar 8 110.0W 219.7 221.2 46.7 33.4
Anik E2R 111.1W 221.1 222.7 46.0 34.6
Solidaridad 2 113.0W 223.6 225.1 44.7 36.5
Morelos 2 (incl. 4.4 deg) 114.9W 226.0 227.5 43.5 38.3
XM Rock 115.0W 226.1 227.6 43.4 38.4
SatMex 5 116.8W 228.2 229.8 42.1 40.0
Anik E2 118.7W 230.4 231.9 40.7 41.6
DirecTV 5 119.0W 230.7 232.2 40.5 41.9
EchoStar 7 119.0W 230.7 232.2 40.5 41.9
EchoStar 5 119.0W 230.7 232.2 40.5 41.9
EchoStar 9/Telstar 13 121.0W 232.9 234.4 39.0 43.4
Galaxy 10R 123.0W 234.9 236.4 37.5 44.8
Galaxy 5 125.0W 236.8 238.3 35.9 46.2
Galaxy 12 125.0W 236.8 238.3 35.9 46.2
Galaxy 13 127.0W 238.7 240.2 34.3 47.4
Telstar 7 129.0W 240.4 242.0 32.7 48.6
Satcom C3 131.0W 242.1 243.6 31.0 49.6
Galaxy 1R 133.0W 243.8 245.3 29.4 50.6
Satcom C4 135.0W 245.3 246.8 27.7 51.6
GOES 10 135.5W 245.7 247.2 27.3 51.8
AMC 7 137.0W 246.8 248.3 26.0 52.4
AMC 8 139.0W 248.2 249.8 24.3 53.2
Inmarsat 2 f3 (incl. 1.9 deg) 142.0W 250.3 251.8 21.7 54.3
EchoStar 1 148.0W 254.2 255.7 16.5 56.0
EchoStar 2 148.0W 254.2 255.7 16.5 56.0
TDRS 9 (incl. 7.4 deg) 151.0W 256.0 257.5 13.9 56.8
TDRS 10 (incl. 6.2 deg) 151.0W 256.0 257.5 13.9 56.8
EchoStar 4 157.0W 259.4 260.9 8.7 57.9

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

 

[Beachbum]

I have made progress today, slowly. I took the TV and receiver outside to attempt to find a signal, I was pretty much aiming at the sky and hoping to find something, and I did get a pretty good signal on IA6 (i think) And I powerscaned, it said that it had discovered 3 transponders? Then after that it did a channel search and no channels came up . The level or whatever it is on the top bar gets no higher than 75%, and quality, well nothing really ever comes up on the quality signal only that one time when I was randomly pointing at IA6. Of course it was raining like hell and I think there were a couple trees in the way....maybe tomorrow I may be able to see a channel!

 

[neil_kc1]

The key for me was using the USALS to help me locate true south. here is what i did.
1. make sure elevation is correct. 1. aim the dish to as close to true south as possible visually. 3. set up you usals to hit the closest sat to your south. don't worry about getting a signal yet. 4. go and move your dish in very small increments physically until you lock on the signal. keep adjusting at the pole until you get the best signal possible. tighten up your dish mounts. if you are locked onto the correct sat. when you tell your receiver go to 0 or your reference your dish should now point to exactly true south. i was missing the arc, just a little, getting several sats. someone told me how to do this and i went from 8 sats to 16!

 

[neil_kc1]

take heart beach i worked for 2 weeks without a signal. and my experience up to FTA was installing my own dishnetwork system. hang in there.

 

[Beachbum]

Oh but I have succeeded! Today the sky was clear and the rain went away, so I aimed away once again, and in no time I was watching some strange things on IA6 (looked like the outside of a courtroom camera?). I have been looking around at satellites and saw a couple of things, it appears now I can only get 2 religious channels. I am not receiving many transponders either, BUT, im almost 100% sure this is because of the 100+ year old live oak trees in my way! I am quite amazed at what I have gotten so far, but it probably wont be until this weekend when I take all the stuff to my house on the beach that I will actually get my FTA experience and see something worth watching! I'll keep posted.

 

[Beachbum]

Progress in some ways and in others not. I mounted the dish this weekend on the beach, much much better. I spent the most part of my day (4 hours) mounting the dish, and scanning satellites. I'm pretty board right now, and upset at this thing.

In some cases, I don't even have to move the dish to get a better signal, what's up with that? Some satellites I power scan and get a lot of transponders, only to find that I have 2-4 channels, the very same channels I have seen on other satellites! Only things I have gotten are: 3 Korean channels, 2 religious channels (one in English, the other in Spanish), one local news channel from somewhere in the country, one "I have successfully pointed my super dish", and...I forget what else. I want to be able to watch the Florida Education channel and all that weird crud! But for some reason I guess im out of luck? I know there is a house in front of the dish, weather or not its restricting the line of sight im not sure.

I am taking this all as a sign, I should learn Spanish, become a Christian, move to Korea, and buy a super dish! This thing tells my future!

 

[Wholeshoe]

It sounds like you might be pointed at AMC4 judging from korean and 2 relegious channels one being english and one being spanish.

I too have a Fortec Ultra, when watching these channels push the "i" button on the remote, record all of the info that pops up on the screen, it will tlel the freq, symbol rate and other info. Tell us what that says and we can tell you what satellite you are pointed at.

Next thing is I do not think you are setting up the motor right, have you actually seen the motor move and turn the dish? It sounds like you are just choosing other sats from the list but have not told the motor where these sats are so it is just staying on the one you have it pointed at and when you scan you are finding the same old 3 transponders.

You really need to set up for your true south satellite first (AMC3). To do this go on Lyngsat and find AMC3, then find any 5 digit frequency that is DVB in the clear and write down the Polarity (H or V), Frequency (5 digit number on the left), and the Symbol Rate. See here for an explanation of Lyngsat: http://www.dmsiusa.com/charts.htm

Next set you dish angle and motor angle to then ones the PSB posted above.

Now on your receiver push menu, click right once to get to the installation menu, select antenna setup, select amc3, Let LNB type and LNB Local Freq, next where it says TP find the one that has the info on it that you gathered from lyngsat.

Now move the whole dish and motor asspmbly from left to right on the pole slowly and watch the Level and Quality meters at the top of the screen. When you see Quality come up try to improve it by peaking the dish only, do not touch your motor.

Now set the positioner setting to USALS with you zip entered.

Then go to all of the other satellites you want and set their positioner setting to USALS and now when you sutch between satellites watch for the motor to turn.

A lot of info but if you get it this far your almost to home plate.

Wholeshoe

 

[Beachbum]

Well, believe it or not....I don't have a motor! I am literally moving the dish by hand with the receiver and TV right next to me! I select a satellite, and move the dish until the signal and quality is the highest, then I scan and there we have it. Sad thing is, sometimes I get the same signal level on different satellites, and if I move the dish the signal gets worse, im not understanding that. Soon enough, I will have a motor in hand, but not at the moment, so for now all I can do is experiment by hand.

 

[Beachbum]

Nobody cares? Jesus....

I tried again, and still im not gettin' sh*t, im getting mad and thinking FTA is worthless and not worth my time! I don't know what's going on but I thought maybe a motor would help things but I don't know if its even worth investing in a motor if I cant get anything manually. As stated above, im only getting those channels, now if something were to obstruct my view a little bit would that explain not being able to acquire most of the transponders? I might as well mount the dish higher up and see if I can get anything....

 

[SatelliteAV]

Start from basics ..... Let's reset the receiver to the factory default.

Press Menu, Left Arrow, Down Arrow 2 times, OK, Menu, I (info), 1668

Once the receiver resets select the Language of choice then press OK

Right Arrow, OK , Arrow down to IA5/KU, OK

Your LNB Type should be set to Universal 1 for the Equipment that you purchased (if you change this setting, press exit then OK to save the change, then press OK again to reenter IA5?KU satellite).

Go down to TP and right arrow to find an active TP frequency ( http://www.lyngsat.com/ia5.html ) look for a frequency that is listed on this site that is a KU frequency (11 - 12 GHz) Example an good TP to choose would be 11898, because it is a bouquet of 3 channels with a symbol rate of 20000 ( very good quality channels).

Now look at the Sat Finder Chart and find where the dish should be pointed.
Sat Name Sat Lng Az(t) Az(m) El Skew
-------------------------------------------------------
IA 5 97.0W 1 98.6 200.1 52.9 16.0

AZ (mag) is the corrected compass reading ( located an object on the horizon that lines up with this compass reading), El is the angle that the dish is set to if it is mounted on a level post. Skew is the rotation of the LNBF (0 is straight up and down, viewed from the front of the dish the coax cable coming will be aimed at approx. 5 o'clock position).

Set dish to approximate position and view the Quality bar at the top of a TV screen placed next to the dish. SLOWLY move the dish side to side within 10 degrees of the object on the horizon. If you do not see any change in the Quality reading adjust the elevation by a degree (up or down) and slowly repeat the pan. You may have to repeat this several times after increasing of decreasing the elevation of the dish mount. Once you have a quality signal make minute adjustments to the Azimuth and the Elevation to peak the Quality. Next slide the LNBF towards or away from the Reflector to peak the signal Level and Quality, then rotate to peak the Quality.

Now once you have found the correct satellite, press EXIT 2 times, Down Arrow 5 times to Power Scan, OK, (IF IA5/KU is not selected, do so before continuing), Up Arrow once to Scan <FTA>, OK.

Satellite will scan active frequencies then program the individual services. Your first satellite is scanned. If you wish to find another, you will need select the next satellite and repeat the above steps to add that satellite. Remember, every satellite that you scan will put channels into your channel list. If you are using a fixed dish and try to view channels from another satellite, your screen will display " NO Signal Scrambled".

If you need additional assistance call the number on your paperwork during normal business hours and the technicians will assist you!

Enjoy the Hobby!

 

[Beachbum]

Been there done that, no dice. But, tomorrow is another day! I will let yall' know tomorrow my progress, and pictures!