hi, got a few questions from a noob

[Dee_Ann]

The birdog is not the problem, that is a nice piece of equipment , specially the last version 4 (USB Plus). Yours does not even say USB therefore it is version 2.5 but still a nice machine. Version 3 says USB

Dee_Ann . I would suggest you to update the SAT list of the Birdog first and foremost. Go to www.birdog.tv and using the provided USB cable or a similar one for that matter download the latest file for the different SATS up there. Click on News and Downloads , then click on Configure then read, it explais how to do it , it is easy. Basically at the bottom you will see a list of SATS to the left then Highlight every SAT you want on your Birdog (yours might handle only 32 SATS) and click on the double > sign . Once you have reached the 32 Sats limit or less if you prefer then click on Generate and it will ask you to save a .exe file . save it and then run that file and follow instructions.

All that will make sure the Birdog has the proper info for that SAT 129W for the TP for WhiteSpring. Maybe yours already has it but to be safe you should update it. Also when selecting the SATS make sure you select both polarities , for linear SATS it starts with KH or KV for Horiz and Vertical. Circular birds it starts as BR or BL for Right or left polarity.

Keep in mind that White Springs uses a very low Symbol Rate and for SR lower than 4000 it is recommended to move the dish slowly and wait kind of like when using the Receiver as a signal meter but not that slow !! otherwise the Birdog will not find it.

the birdog uses DDSI technology that basically reads the USID data stream coming from the Satellite and helps him identify it. Internet sometimes is a powerfull resource but in this case I am unable to find anything related to how this technology really works. I know the Sats emit also a beacon but have no idea whether it is the same or not...... Finally and now it all makes sense to me (the other day , well the post would be too long, lol). Forget the before mentioned technologies. The Birdog acctually searches for a particular carrier that it has on its list for every bird. That is why it is so important from time to time to update the Sat list as DVB-S carriers on Birds could change their parameters and also make sure you load both polarities. So basically on Galaxy 27 when the KH Galaxy 27 129W is selected it will probably search for the Starband or White Spring Horizontal Carriers , probably the highest powered for every bird. The birdog has like any other receiver a QPSK tuner only and therefore will not identify DigiCipher , or 8PSK or Analog or any other signals. Verion 4 that says USB Plus allows you to create a Custom Carrier and will also control a DiseqC and a 22 Khz Switch. nice piece of equipment , my hats goes off for the British for this one , well I do not even have a hat but you get my point lol.

Thank you! This is some very helpful information.
The man I bought it from showed me how to download new files and install them on it. It is a version 2.5 My neighbor made a programming cable for me for free because the man I bought it from (his friend) lost his cable for it.

It does already have several entries in it for the 129 satellite,
it has the following

BR Dishnet 129
UH Galaxy-27 129
KV Galaxy-27 129
KH Galaxy-27 129
KV G-27 Starband

I have tried all of them to no avail.

I sent an email to the birdog company to ask them for advice on finding the White Springs satellite. Hopefully they can tell me some secret trick or tip that will help.

Thank you!

 

[Anole]

The short answer is: yes

OMG!! That last one, the AZbox! I like that!
It has Youtube on it too!
Can it record like a Tivo?

With an additional hard drive, it can record shows.
There won't be a guide, and so you'd have to set it up like an old VCR...
... record channel A at 3pm for 1 hour, record channel Z at 8pm for 30 minutes...
I would not get that as my first receiver, but it -is- something you might aspire to!

And what is blind scan?

It's a feature on a receiver, to scan through the transponders on a satellite, and ferret out all the stations.
If you don't have it, you must know the transponder frequency and specs, enter then, and then have the receiver do a search within those pameters (on that transponder).
Obviously, the fully automated technique is preferred for finding new and unknown signals.

Oh, and not saying I would do it, BUT, IF I get someone to put up one of those huge satellite dishes (the kind I hate) would that neato AZbox control it and would it be able to get all the satellites, even the little k ones?

The short answer is: yes
It's not the proper time for the long answer, but you can have it when you are ready.
For now, I'd go SD on a small dish, and get into the hobby.

There will be time to grow, and plenty of folks here to help ya.

 

[Dee_Ann]

With an additional hard drive, it can record shows.
There won't be a guide, and so you'd have to set it up like an old VCR...
... record channel A at 3pm for 1 hour, record channel Z at 8pm for 30 minutes...
I would not get that as my first receiver, but it -is- something you might aspire to!
It's a feature on a receiver, to scan through the transponders on a satellite, and ferret out all the stations.
If you don't have it, you must know the transponder frequency and specs, enter then, and then have the receiver do a search within those pameters (on that transponder).
Obviously, the fully automated technique is preferred for finding new and unknown signals.
The short answer is: yes
It's not the proper time for the long answer, but you can have it when you are ready.
For now, I'd go SD on a small dish, and get into the hobby.

There will be time to grow, and plenty of folks here to help ya.

Awesome! Thank you for clarifying the blind scan thing. It definitely sounds like something I very much would prefer to have, it sounds like it the easy way to do it vs the hard way (read expert)..

I really can't afford any of that right now anyway, I took a huge pay loss recently and working from home means I need to take it easy on the purse...

 

[Anole]

walk first:

I really can't afford any of that right now anyway,...

Yes, and that just brings us full circle -
- Inventory what you have
- decide what you want to do (probably with existing stuff)
- identify what pieces you 'd need to accomplish your short term goal
- identify valuable trading material you can get rid of
- horse-trade what you got, for what you need -
- assemble the simple phase-one system and get educated.

After all that, we'll see.
In the short run, I'm sure you can talk some of the guys out of a Standard Def blind-scan-capable receiver if you don't have one.
Just don't give away anything that -you- might conceivably need down the road.
We can minimize or delay your expenditures, considerably.
If you eventually need to buy some queer switch to tie an expanded system together, then that may be the only $20 out-of-pocket that's needed.

 

[Dee_Ann]

Yes, and that just brings us full circle -
- Inventory what you have
- decide what you want to do (probably with existing stuff)
- identify what pieces you 'd need to accomplish your short term goal
- identify valuable trading material you can get rid of
- horse-trade what you got, for what you need -
- assemble the simple phase-one system and get educated.

After all that, we'll see.
In the short run, I'm sure you can talk some of the guys out of a Standard Def blind-scan-capable receiver if you don't have one.
Just don't give away anything that -you- might conceivably need down the road.
We can minimize or delay your expenditures, considerably.
If you eventually need to buy some queer switch to tie an expanded system together, then that may be the only $20 out-of-pocket that's needed.

I'll try to get someone to go out to the lot with me to get pictures of those big satellites that are stacked up there. I am afraid to go out there alone to be perfectly honest. I'll also try to get into that junk room here and find those tuner boxes. I remember there was a stack of them but I'm not real sure if they are there anymore or not. I recall throwing away a stack of black box things about a year or two ago.
They may have been old VCR's, I don't remember.

Thank you!

 

[Dee_Ann]

I received a reply from the birdog people.

They suggested that perhaps the finder isn't locking on to the signal because it's set up sort of generic like. Or something like that. It's mostly setup for finding subscription pay satellites. Ok, that makes sense to me.

They sent me an editor and instructions on how to make new files for the finder that would target the specific channels that I am trying to tune it.

I pretty much understand what to do though I don't really understand all the terminology yet and all the ABC shorthand stuff. Lots of initials are used rather than full words. :rant: All that little two letter stuff isn't very helpful to folks that are just starting out.

So I'm reading the instructions over and over and later today I think I will try to make a file for the Birdog that targets specifically the White Springs channel and the Retro channel on the other satellite so I can adjust them perfectly. I hope.

I really think I can do it. I'm determined to. I don't give up easy, I'm a hard headed redhead.

 

[Larobpra]

You got RTN on your first try, so you're good to go, I would say. You'll get White Springs eventually. It's a pretty strong signal, although the quality of most of their stuff leaves a lot to be desired. Kind of like old VHS tapes that have been recorded over too many times on long play!

 

[Dee_Ann]

I am sooooo frustrated...

I am wondering if trees may be causing me trouble.
I can use the bird dog and find the Dishnet 129 satellite but I just can not find the Galaxy satellite that has White Springs on it.

The Dishnet signal is weak but it does show on the meter as found.
I take that LNB off and put the direcway LNB back on and nothing.

The other day I got lucky, sort of, and was able to see White Springs on TV a little.
It was mostly a frozen picture and sometimes it would unfreeze and play for a few seconds.

Now I can't find it again. The Birdog just will not show that satellite at all.


I know the dish is good because I can move it around and find other satellites.

And this LNB, I just can't get anything at all with it.



clicky clicky 4 biggy piccy

I guess that one's a dud.

One thing I noticed on the meter is that the signal goes up and down, it doesn't stay steady. I noticed that when the wind is blowing it changes. That's why I think a tree may be in the way. But when I look in the direction the arm is pointing on it, there's no trees in the way. There are trees overhead of it though. I looked at a site about installing satellites and they have a picture that says that where you point it isn't really where it's pointing. Arrrrrrrgh! :rant: So confusing!

I still don't understand how it is that it will see the Dishnet 129 satellite but not the White Springs satellite at 129. There are two different satellites in the same place up there, right?

Don't they make a thing you can look through to see if there is something in the way or not? Trying to figure it out just by looking at the dish itself is pointless for me, I failed geometry and I'm just not good with math at all. I use my cellphone calculator in the store for everything.

I swear it was pure dumb luck that I found that other one with the Retro TV on it. Since then I've just had no luck at all.

Thank you!

 

[turbosat]

Dee that is a good representation of how an offset dish looks at the sky. If you got a few frozen frames off WhiteSprings, the tree might be in the way. Or maybe you just momentarily hit the signal, and something moved again before you got to tweak the aim fully. I have a big walnut tree in the back yard, to the east, when I aim my dish at 72W-it looks like the dish is pointed right in the middle of the bushiest part of the top of it, but I get 93signal, 99quality on most of the transponders on that sat. So don't give up yet.
*oh and ifyou go out to the place where the parts are stored, watch for the snakes! I found a snakeskin in a flower bed here, 2wks ago already, 5' 6"long (rat snake, they are good guys)
I'd already seen the snake so I was sure who it belonged to !!

 

[Dee_Ann]

Dee that is a good representation of how an offset dish looks at the sky. If you got a few frozen frames off WhiteSprings, the tree might be in the way. Or maybe you just momentarily hit the signal, and something moved again before you got to tweak the aim fully. I have a big walnut tree in the back yard, to the east, when I aim my dish at 72W-it looks like the dish is pointed right in the middle of the bushiest part of the top of it, but I get 93signal, 99quality on most of the transponders on that sat. So don't give up yet.
*oh and ifyou go out to the place where the parts are stored, watch for the snakes! I found a snakeskin in a flower bed here, 2wks ago already, 5' 6"long (rat snake, they are good guys)
I'd already seen the snake so I was sure who it belonged to !!

I guess this is why the satellites are out in the middle of the yard and not on the house like everyone else. The house used to be totally encased in trees until a hurricane took a lot of them down. There are still plenty left though. Oak trees. They have been causing trouble with the slab and sewer lines here forever.
It costs a small fortune to have them removed. I don't know why someone would ever let trees grow that close to a house in the first place.

Snakes. Oh yes. They are there. I have seen them. Rats too and goddess knows what else. There's always something scurrying around your feet out there. And the weeds are over my head, it's pretty bad news. It used to be a family business out there many years ago but that's long gone but all the junk is still there. I wish I could just sell the lot as is, junk and all. Sigh... It's also in an area where scary people can happen upon you out of nowhere so there's no way I'm going there alone. I'm not in any big hurry to get out there, that stuff has been there for years, it's not going away, if no one stole it by now they never will. They already stole everything else of value.

Trees.. I guess there's nothing you can do but cut them down or move the dishes, right?

I guess I can carry one of them further out into the yard away from the trees and see if the birdog can find it. I sure would hate to have to put another pole up out there, there's already one little gob of poles out there now to mow around and the weeds in that area are evil.

Sigh... Just can't win with this stuff I guess..

 

[Anole]

take a breath - you're doing fine:

The dish is a reflector. Acts just like a mirror.
Everything you see in it, is reversed.
In fact, think of the dish as you would a flat mirror, and see if that helps.
Your picture reflects that analogy (pun intended) -

As for knowing if your overhanging tree is the problem...
(and by your description, it is)
... here is a little tool you can make for a buck to help you out . . .

ThisBUDsForYou and his soda straw inclinometer
http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-ai...a-straw-inclinometer-line-sight-pictures.html
Delta Charlie had some variation on the idea, too
http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/146479-15-min-duct-tape-elevation-gauge.html

 

[zamar23]

Dee_Ann

Here is a pic to understand what dish elevation angle is. As you can see, its much higher than the angle your dish seems to be pointed at due to dish offset angle. So, may be your tree isn't obstructing the beam at all, despite the dish may seems to be pointed at a top of the tree, as the beam reflected by your dish towards the LNB really comes from above the tree.

 

[hd fan]

The Dishnet signal is weak but it does show on the meter as found.
I take that LNB off and put the direcway LNB back on and nothing.

Dishnet signals are stronger , way stronger than this other Sats you are triying to get. You can even get Dishnet behind trees when using the bigger parabolic reflectors. I think you are having a problem with the tree branches. you can also use www.dishpointer.com to confirm this without the help of an inclinometer or the straw version if you prefer. this website will give you the maximun height an obstacle should have for your dish to be able to have a clear Line of Sight. just move the green baloon to the location where the dish is in the yard. the site uses google earth so is easy to see your yard and the surroundings. If the tree is in the way you should consider either going higher or relocating the Dish.

As Anole said you are doing fine , even better than most people.I am acctually surprised you have acomplished and learn so much so fast. Congratulations. It just takes time and practice and yes it also feels frustrating sometimes.

 

[Dee_Ann]

Thank you guys for your very supportive comments. I really appreciate your help.

Ok.. Still frustrated.

I spent all day with the bird dog trying to find that satellite again and it just will not at all see it. I can find the Dishnet 129 satellite pretty easy but not other one there.

I also put the birdog on the dish that I am currently watching RTV on (I see they changed their logo) and it can not find the satellite. I know darn good and well it's there because I'm watching it right now. All I did was take the cable off and put the meter on it. Nothing. The birdog must not like these direcway dishes at all. I tried all the settings too, KV & KH and something that says HNS 83. It doesn't see it.

I put up a little dish and could find all the pay satellites easy. The free ones? Not so much.

Ok so I might have a tree problem. The arm on the dish is NOT pointing at trees but as I've just learned, that doesn't mean much, it seems the satellite dish is "looking" at a much different place than where the tip of the arm is pointing.

So I went out there tonight and braved the mosquitos and took my nifty neato camera and tried something. I set the camera on a tripod and pointed it towards the dish and the trees. I set it to hold the lens open (is that the right term?) for 15 seconds then set a 30 second delay timer.

I pushed the start button on the camera and ran over to the dish.

I placed a toy laser pointer against this flat triangular plate on the side of the LNB then when the camera began to take the picture, I moved the laser up and down, shining it where ever it would shine. The dot showed up in the trees but only when I was pointing it very high. I have no clue where the dish is really "looking" so I don't know for sure if it is looking up into the trees or not.

The tip of the arm it pointed at a telephone pole back there but the pole is not in the way. But again, the dish is probably looking (that sounds stupid, it's an inanimate object) much higher than the telephone pole.

I took a few pictures but had to get back in pretty fast as the mosquitoes were eating me alive.

I attached the two pictures I took. I used a paint program to highlight the dots because they are extremely hard to see but I could spot them since I could see them when I pointed it, I can see far better than the camera can.

They laser dot jumped around a bit as I moved it because it was hard to hold it still with the bugs chewing me to death. But you get the general idea, the dots are a little crazy but in general are pretty close to where they really were.


I'm about to give up on the birdog. I even took a loose dish out further into the yard so I KNOW it was clear of any tree problems and still could not find the free satellites.
It's sooooo frustrating!

I think I need to read and reread the instructions the birdog people sent me and make a custom file for the meter just for those two satellites, 83 and 129.
I read somewhere that the direcway LNB has a tone switch(?) built into it and maybe that's why the meter can't read it.

I gave up on that universal LNB, it doesn't work at all, it sees nothing I point it at, no matter what I set the meter too. Junk. As is most everything around here.
I'm getting close to setting it all out to the curb.

Thank you!

 

[Anole]

Universal LNB:

I must've overlooked the fact that your test LNB was Universal.
(that means the LO is 10600, you know... set your receiver accordingly)
The meter probably has no way of sending 22khz tone to the LNB (I don't know).
You're probably better off not playing with Universal this early in your FTA life.

edit: the picture you posted above, of the ROC, is Standard.
So, this whole discussion is moot.

The DirecWay LNB is Standard, has a 10750 LO, and is impervious to the 22khz tone.


another edit:
I looked at your nice laser dots. Very creative. Not sure what it means, though.
I really think you would be put well at ease, if you were to build up the soda straw instrument described above.
You hold it next to your dish, look up at the angle required, and see if the limbs give you trouble.
From all you said, and your laser-dot pix, I'm sure that's the problem.

If you want to be even MORE creative, put the laser on instead of the straw, and use the thing at night!
Just be sure the laser line is parallel to the flat side of the protractor.
The lasers will be off a bit - you can see the error by rotating one around it's centerline.
So, just shim a little to calibrate it.

Maybe moving the dish forward, backward, or to the side just a few yards, might get you a hole to shoot through.

 

[zamar23]

Dee_Ann

Don't give up so easily. Keep in mind, aiming at Linear sats require a lot more precision due to their signal being so weak. They're especially sensitive to small dish elevation angle errors, and your dish bracket angle scale may be somewhat OFF. Set your dish at required elevation, and turn it in small increments east or west from required azimuth waiting after each move for signal meter Q value. If nothing found, angle in small increments the dish a bit higher (or lower), repeating the above East-West procedure on each increment until signal is found. Your meter can only show a signal, if you aim the dish properly, and the meter is calibrated and adjusted properly as well. F.e., cheap meters require to adjust sensitivity depending on signal strength, but may be your's auto range it. Also, to detect a signal, you need to select a TP in your receiver (or program into your meter) emitting strong signal while you aim at the sat, so look at Strong TP List Thread in this forum. To find your signal, install a proven to work Linear LNB brand (not Circular type you use to catch subscription sats like Ceil 2) with low noise figure.

Pic below gives easy to visualize way of checking for signal obstructions. Point the dish roughly at the sat in question, attach the laser pointer and a cheap angle meter to a broom, and fix the broom to your dish at required elevation angle (regardless of the dish offset angle) using an extra support or tube near the dish to help holding it. Step aside and look if the broom or laser beam points to any obstruction, and make a broad view or panoramic photo.

I'm curious, what did you do professionaly before started working from home? You seems to be unusually well adept to things women try to avoid. That much adept that I'm wondering if you're a real McCoy in this forum saga?

 

[Dee_Ann]

Dee_Ann

Don't give up so easily. Keep in mind, aiming at Linears sats require a lot more precision due to their signal being so weak. They're especially sensitive to small dish elevation angle errors, and your dish bracket angle scale may be marked somewhat OFF. Set your dish at required elevation, and turn it in small increments east or west from required azimuth waiting after each move for signal meter Q value. If nothing found, angle in small increments the dish a bit higher (or lower), repeating the above prosedure on each increment until signal is found. Your meter can only show a signal, if you aim the dish properly, and the meter is calibrated and adjusted properly as well. F.e., cheap meters require to adjust sensitivity depending on signal strength, but may be your's auto adjust it. Also, to detect a signal, you need to select a TP in your receiver emitting signal while you aim at the sat, so look at Strong TP List Thread in this forum. To find your signal, install a proven to work Linear LNB (not Circular type you used to catch subscription sats) with low noise figure.

Pic below gives easy to visualize way of checking for signal obstructions. Point the dish roughly at the sat in question, attach the laser pointer and a cheap angle meter to a broom, and fix the broom to your dish at required elevation angle (regardless of the dish offset angle) using an extra support or tube near the dish. Step aside and look if the broom or laser beam points to any obstruction, and make a broad view or panoramic photo.

I'm curious, what did you do professionaly before started working from home? You seems to be unusually well adept to things women try to avoid. That much adept that I'm wondering if you're a real McCoy in this forum saga?

LoL.. My dad was a mechanical engineer in a refinery and he also owned a TV and radio repair shop on the side, when I was little. I was surrounded with stuff like that and used to play with my dad's stuff a lot.

Both my mom and my dad were above average college graduates.

I was ripped off over the years a number of times on having things repaired and learned how to do some things on my own. I read a lot and absorb a lot, have an incredible passion for knowledge, extremely creative and a stubborn red headed determination.

My last career was selling POS cash registers. That's Point of Sale, not you know what. I didn't work on them mind you, just sell them.

And lastly, my ex was a junk collector and he liked to piddle with everything, trying to fix things he would find on the side of the road. It started off with ceiling fans and went down hill from there. He brought home everything you could plug into an outlet. I learned a bit from him too over the years.

So I've been pretty much immersed in electrical stuff most of my life. Reading is my friend.


So. How about you? How did you learn all this stuff? Were you just born knowing how? Is that how it works with men? Or did you read a lot and mess with things and go through the trial and error process?

Honestly, I'm curious to know, is intelligence a male privilege?

kthxbai...

 

[Dee_Ann]

I must've overlooked the fact that your test LNB was Universal.
(that means the LO is 10600, you know... set your receiver accordingly)
The meter probably has no way of sending 22khz tone to the LNB (I don't know).
You're probably better off not playing with Universal this early in your FTA life.

edit: the picture you posted above, of the ROC, is Standard.
So, this whole discussion is mute.

The DirecWay LNB is Standard, has a 10750 LO, and is impervious to the 22khz tone.


another edit:
I looked at your nice laser dots. Very creative. Not sure what it means, though.
I really think you would be put well at ease, if you were to build up the soda straw instrument described above.
You hold it next to your dish, look up at the angle required, and see if the limbs give you trouble.
From all you said, and your laser-dot pix, I'm sure that's the problem.

If you want to be even MORE creative, put the laser on instead of the straw, and use the thing at night!
Just be sure the laser line is parallel to the flat side of the protractor.
The lasers will be off a bit - you can see the error by rotating one around it's centerline.
So, just shim a little to calibrate it.

Maybe moving the dish forward, backward, or to the side just a few yards, might get you a hole to shoot through.

Thank you!

I will try the soda straw, I have a lot of them from Sonic around.
All the LNB stuff is beyond me, at this time. I don't understand what all that LO and IF stuff is, yet.

Is there a wiki somewhere that covers all those little details? The usual wikipedia is sadly lacking when it comes to things like satellite stuff. About all they say is "yes, there are big electrical TV thingies in the sky orbiting Earth. Please move along to the next article now."

This is why I was hoping there is a book I can buy that gets into the details of all this. I've found it's deeply complicated and that there is a *lot* to learn. Reading through forums for knowledge is slow and tedious and usually lingo is tossed back and forth with no explanation of what it's about.

Oh, and not to be critical, but the correct spelling is "moot".. Just so you'll know.

I've sweated off at least a pound, cut my hands all up and broken almost every nail off. After all of that I'm not about to give up. Those stupid satellite dishes owe me now after all of that.

Thank you again!

 

[SatPhreak]

Men learn mostly the same as women, read on a subject and get an understanding of it then apply that read knowledge to applying it to a real world perspective. Even with all the theoretical knowledge in the world on a subject you still need to roll up your sleeves and aim the dish in this case. It does become easier in time as most things do with practice. I've never used a birddog meter or any other meter except the ones in the receivers, but since you are using a pci card you will need a meter of some kind to get real time feedback as you are aiming.

I have seen a book on satellite TVRO, but it was written in the early eighties and it won't help much with the digital side of this hobby. It would be a good reference for building and aiming large dishes, but it is only covering the analog side of TVRO and since now that format is getting in short supply, it won't help you out too much in your current problems trying to find Whitesprings.

 

[melgarga]

OMG! A redhead, I KNEW it! Independent and self sufficient, like there are any other kind.....lol. Not speaking critically, just as an informed person. My mom, her three sisters (all from Cut-n-Shoot to boot) all of my female cousins and two of my daughters came 'from the factory' with the curly/wavy locks of crimson as standard issue. I am quite familiar with the redhead psyche......:yikes :dev
To your issue, I agree with the consensus that you have tree limbs waving in the breeze giving you WSTV receiption issues. As was pointed out the pay TPs (transponders) are much stronger than our target linear FTA TPs, so seeing DN bird @ 129W and not the WSTV TP thru the waving limbs and leaves is quite possible. Polarity adjustment is another variable that can become very confusing when doing an initial alignment. A motorized unit will, once properly aligned on the true south satellite, automaticly compensate for polarity and dish skew across the arc.
I dont know if you are having performance issues with the 'Dog, but I would suggest trying,
1- move back to where you were getting the DN 129 signal. Tweak all adjustments for max signal.
2- Switch the meter to 129KH or whatever parameters you have input for the 129W, 11964H/02920 you are looking for
3- Install the linear lnb and mark w/sharpie etc, the positition of the lnb in it's mount to a fixed position. One mark on the movable part (lnb) and one mark on a fixed portion of the mount.
4- Leave the mount just loose enough to allow you to rotate the lnb w/o moving or even 'flexing' the dish assy, and rotate the lnb VERY slowly in it's mount to 90+ deg (that's 1/4th the way of a full circle) You might want to mark (on the fixed part) where your movable mark stopped as well for future reference.
4- If the meter doesnt respond, move back to 'center' (your original mark) and do the same in the other direction.
This allows you physical and mechanical control over the polarity of the lnb regardless of the position called for by the meter (or receiver if/when used)
If you see no response, change the Birdview to drive the lnb to the vertical orientation then rinse, lather and repeat. It is possible that the lnb is not working on one of it's polarities, or the Birdog isnt driving it to the opposite polarity for some reason.
I dont have, or have ever used a Birdog, so I have some operational Q's for anyone that does.
1- Does the meter HAVE to supply the voltage and polarity signals.
2-Can it be, or must it be used as a passive (non lnb powering) device?
3-If it is, or must be the active device then the voltage and control from any 'slaved' rx must be disabled in configuration correct, or it has a means of blocking it?
It would be helpful to have your DVB receiver tuned to the WSTV channel, or in the portion of the menu that will display signal strength for that TP (11964H/02920).
If you cant get the meter to respond, repeat w/o it in the line, using just the receiver. The meter is supposed to have a very small insertion loss, ( the amount of signal that is reduced to any devices downstream of it) but it appears we are dealing with threshhold level signal strengths here, and every little bit helps, (or hurts) With a clear LOS (line of sight) WSTV is a very strong signal, at least for us here in SE Texas.
If you have a means of setting up another dish in a known clear LOS (line of sight) for 129 that would be a good alternate plan.
Being plumb (perpendicular to the ground in all vertical planes) is essential for a tracking system since the sat positions in the arc are relative to each other from the point on the earth (one's dish) they are being tracked.
On a 'one dish, one satellite' install, it is desirable but precision isnt necessary as the AZ-El (Azmuith-direction in degrees. In the context of us looking at satellites, facing south the degrees east to west. Elevation how 'high in the sky', in degrees above the horizon) adjustments will compensate, but WILL NOT match settings used on a pole that is not exactly the same orientation, unless they are both plumb.
Regarding using laser pointers for alignment, I have never seen any novelty/presentation type pointer that emits parallel to it's case. Likely that's what Anole was referring to when he said rotating it on it's centerline. A fractional error at the laser can translate into several feet 'off' per tens of feet of distance.
Yeilding to logic and common sense, if the signal varies as a function of the wind and movement of the branches, it is safe to presume the tree limbs are a factor in receiption.
Now that I know you're a redhead, I know you will get it. Your stubborness wont allow anything less.......lol

Something to keep in mind while you are looking for WSTV
http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-ai...ite-springs-tv-changing-freq.html#post1857516
It seems there is no info on when, but you might want to check with the board to be sure its still at 11964 when you start out trying to hit it again.