I ordered one of these...

[Scott Greczkowski]

As you might know I have a C Band dish that has been giving me problems since I put it up. Sometimes it would hit part of the arc and not the other...

With some tweeking I could get the entire arc but the signals were low...

And so on...

So today (after being told for the past year from a few Old Timers) I ordered an ARC SET from Jim Roberts of Gourmet... ENTERTAINING.

Extended Arc-Set Information

The ARC SET is a Device that is supposed to get your DISH on the arc perfectly in a matter of minutes. And does it even if your pole is not plumb.

So its ordered and now I want for it to get to Connecticut all the way from the other side of the country (California)

Anyone ever use one of these?

I will post my report once I get it and (more importantly) have time to tweek my dish.

 

[Anole]

The thing was negatively discussed last year, here on the forum.
I'm surprised you'd buy one after reading those comments.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

The old timers all swear by it. So I am going to give it a shot.

 

[Dishman Dan]

The old timers all swear by it. So I am going to give it a shot.

What gauge shotgun are you using???

 

[Dishman Dan]

Seriously...

I know nothing about those gizmos...

But once you figure it out, please share the info with us!!!

 

[Sadoun]

.... And does it even if your pole is not plumb.

Hi Scott,

I don't think it will track the arc correctly if the pole is not plumb.

 

[hd fan]

With all due Respect Sadoun, I think it will ..... but it will be Robin Hood's Arc(hery) not Clarke for sure, lol.

I just still, even after a few minutes, can not possibly beleive that we are on July 2011 and still to this date this 8 footer of yours Scott is not tracking the arc as is supposed to. I just installed my old re-adapted actuator arm after having the dish for several months as a fixed EL/Az for Anik F3 therefore had to readjust everything but the Declination setting and my 6 footer keeps tracking the Clarke Arc as it was or very fairly close to what it was before. Well I made sure I made permanent markings so it made it easier but in any case unless your mast is not plumb that 8 footer of yours should be tracking by now. It will not surprise me that no matter Iphone 4 apps or Arc sets or digital inclinometers and military compasses it will be more likely that even Castro's brother dies before you have your 8 footer dish track the arc!!!!. Good thing you are not an MD otherwise lots of people would have died by now, lol.

 

[mjac]

The old timers all swear by it.

For some of the old timers I know, it doesn't take much for them to go from swear by to swear at.

 

[Anole]

I think you'd be better off importing a serious BUD fanatic to align the beast.
I know for a fact that Linuxman is available; but he's kinda far away.
Iceberg could do you up right, and he's closer, but I think his free time is currently spoken for.
ACradio may be too far down the coast, but he does venture far for ham conventions (couldn't hurt to ask).
I'm sure there are a whole lot more good folks in your area.
Heck, by now, even old Techfizzle might be able to help. - :up -

 

[Lone Gunman]

On thing that helped me more than anything after I found my due south satellite was to put a dial indicator on the mount so I could see EXACTLY how much I was turning it on the post. Point being is that in order to get it somewhere close, you also have to have the mount "slightly" tight or "snug" on said post to keep it from moving too much elevation wise when you do the final clamp down. Using the dial indicator I could see actual movement as small as a few thousands of an inch (FYI, a piece of paper is .003 thick) and that made a bunch of difference in getting my dishes to track.

Bottom line is it takes time and patience regardless of what you use! ;-)

 

[turbosat]

I worried with one for months before figuring out its problem. It was my old 5' solid dish , on polar moun t, back when I was using it for ku-only. Wouldn't track right no matter what I adjusted. Finally pulled dish/mount off the pole one day, and set my level on top of the pole, and moved it around in a circle, checking to see whether it really was level or not. It wasn't-which was throwing off the polar mount cap's ability to set level, Top of the pole had a 'low' spot on one side, amounted to about 1/4 of the diameter of the pipe. I glued a coin, a nickel I think, onto the 'low' spot of the pipe, put the polar mount/dish back on it, and it worked like it was supposed to! Just an example of how picky these things can be.

 

[ParaclipseCKu]

Pole is plumb and I did order an ARC-SET last year when I relocated my 10ft dish. It was the easiest tracking of a dish I have going back 20+ years.

 

[stanleyjohn]

Let us know how it works out scott! I still adjust mine the old fasion way with just a good compass plus alittle help from dish pointer.Im no pro but if you can use an extra hand someday let me know! Newington isnt that far from me.

 

[kingofku]

As you might know I have a C Band dish that has been giving me problems since I put it up. Sometimes it would hit part of the arc and not the other...

With some tweeking I could get the entire arc but the signals were low...

And so on...

So today (after being told for the past year from a few Old Timers) I ordered an ARC SET from Jim Roberts of Gourmet... ENTERTAINING.

Extended Arc-Set Information

The ARC SET is a Device that is supposed to get your DISH on the arc perfectly in a matter of minutes. And does it even if your pole is not plumb.

So its ordered and now I want for it to get to Connecticut all the way from the other side of the country (California)

Anyone ever use one of these?

I will post my report once I get it and (more importantly) have time to tweek my dish.

My only question is: Why, in this day and age, would a vendor ONLY accept American Express and not Visa/MC or Paypal? I would like to buy one for our company, but I'm not issued an AMEX, nor do I have company checks available for COD. And his website could stand an upgrade.

 

[PopcornNMore]

I bought one of these years ago from Shaun Kenny's Green Sheet and used it on my 10' mesh dish. It worked ok, but it didn't perform miracles.

 

[ayelvington]

Waiting to hear back on this. It sounds perfectly reasonable, but hearing a testimonial would be great!

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Lets put it this way, before my DISH was doing great, with high signals on most satellites and transponders of 70 or higher.. now they are all 40 or less. I was picking up 90% of the S2 signals up there now I get none.

I can track the arc and go from 72 to 131 with no issue, but can't get anything past 72, and I know I can see a lot further then that as I was hitting a lot of foreign birds when I was first setting it up.

Its off just a hair and I am not sure which way. I really wish I could fly Iceberg here but he don't fly. And I wish some of you guys lived around here but you don't. So I am hoping this will get me where I need to be.

 

[stogie5150]

Lets put it this way, before my DISH was doing great, with high signals on most satellites and transponders of 70 or higher.. now they are all 40 or less. I was picking up 90% of the S2 signals up there now I get none.

I can track the arc and go from 72 to 131 with no issue, but can't get anything past 72, and I know I can see a lot further then that as I was hitting a lot of foreign birds when I was first setting it up.

Its off just a hair and I am not sure which way. I really wish I could fly Iceberg here but he don't fly. And I wish some of you guys lived around here but you don't. So I am hoping this will get me where I need to be.

Dish twisted on the pole. Easy fix. You didn't need to buy anything.

 

[stogie5150]

Dish twisted on the pole. Easy fix. You didn't need to buy anything.

Have a look at this page, read number SIX on that page. Its your exact problem. you need to fine tune north/south alignment. Anytime your dish tracks part of the arc, usually the top, you have a N/S alignment issue.

Footprints by Dish Size - Adjusting the Polar Mount for Prime Focus Antenna - C/Ku-Band Satellite Systems - Tuning, Tracking, Azimuth, Elevation, Declination Angles, F/D Ratio, Focal Distance, Inclinometer, LNB/Feedhorn Assembly, Actuator Assembly, C

 

[Anole]

Dish twisted on the pole. Easy fix. You didn't need to buy anything.

Does this picture from the Geo-Orbit site help?