I took the leap and need help.

[svenelven]

All,

First hello to all of you, I have never posted before. Great site with
many helpful posts.

Here is my issue, I have never done this before but I am technically inclined and I (believe) that I have followed the instructions as given.

My location is in Longmont, Colorado at near 40.2 N latitude and -104.9 W longitude.

Equipment list:

FTA Receiver is the IV 200 Pro, with an SG6000 motor from WS international and a Wineguard 1 meter dish DS-3100 with their 1 meter mount DS-5200. Also the LNBF is a universal Linear mini bullet from GeoSAT Pro.

I have it mounted on the roof as plumb as I can get it, both ways it is almost perfect at plum (maybe 1/5 a degree off).

I Believe I need to set the motor at 40.2 degrees and the dish at 24 degrees (motor declination is -6.23 degrees from 30 according to the manual), the azimuth I am trying to hone in on is 180 for the AMC 15 at 105 on the clarke belt. In addition I believe the magnetic Declination I need to get that sat is -9.4 E degrees from magnetic south.

What I do not know is how to set the LNBF (other than it is set at 0 degree skew) on the mount, I have it mounted with Winegard's universal holder at 0 skew but there are adjustments that can move the cap end of the LNBF both on the arm and of course the LNBF can move in and out also moving it about an two inches closer or further from the refelctor itself.

Here is my issue 0% quality at these settings. I see between 78 and 81% signal strength.

Would someone be so kind as to set me straight if I am wrong on these settings?

If the settings are fine then I will get a better compass and try again.

Any help, tips and suggestions would be very appreciated.

Even cheers for trying to learn something new would be great!.

Again thanks for being here guys and I wish I could have gotten into the CEDIA expo to see your rep. (I work in Denver)

 

[Corrado]

I've never setup a motor personally, but I'll try to help the best I can.

First, if your using a universal LNBF...set the LO freq. to 10600 or select it from the menu if the receiver has it. I think that you would have been better off with a standard LNBF.

If AMC15 at 105° is your true south, try to scan TP 11969V.

 

[Wescopc]

svenelven

Like Corrado said be sure you are set up for a universal LNBF.
The rest of your settings seem correct.

I would recommend that you find the satellite first with out the motor mounted.

Many times the degree markings on the dish are off by up to 5 degrees. First make sure you are tuned to to a live transponder and the receiver and TV are set up close to the dish. Then sweep your azimuth slowly left to right on the pole, "no signal quality" raise the dish by 1/2 degree and repeat. When you have no quality by 5 degrees, then repeat the above by going down from your original setting by 1/2 degree at a time.

I recently installed a dish (not a wineguard) that was off by 11°!

Again welcome, good luck, patience is the name of this game.
Bob

 

[SatPhreak]

As for the lnb, pull it as far from the dish as possible and rotate it so it is staight up and down (zero skew) when the dish is pointed at true south. Set the reciever lnb settings to universal LO 9750/10600. Signal strength means a lnb is connected, quality is the signal from the sat. Adjust dish for max quality.

 

[concord]

As wescopc stated, dish elevation marks can be off, so be prepared to move dish left/right as well as up/down in small incrments with a short delay.

If you have a sat meter, it helps. When I replaced my Merc II with the VisionSat, I received no quality even though my sat meter indicated I was on the sat. Only after Blind Scanning did quality showed up. I guess the default transponder it set for was not one that was working at the time.

 

[svenelven]

Ok, so just to make sure, you guys do not see anything wrong with what my settings should be, right?

I have a crappy compass and think that may be partial issue but I do have a meter and if I can get the elevation johnny on the spot then it is just a matter of swinging left and right.

I will not be able to get to it until late tomorrow afternoon, (fingers crossed) I hope I will have better luck then.

Also thanks for info on how to place the LNBF, it was a mystery to me other than the skew.

 

[WSInternational]

A universal LNB has 2 LO frequencies which must appear in the receiver:

Low LO is 9750
High LO is 10600

Keep your LNB at zero degrees. For the most accurate results, use the latitude side of the motor.

You may need to make small minor adjustments on the elevation and azimuth of the dish and the azimuth of the motor.

Other than that, you are looking good. :up

 

[Fizbi]

My location is in Longmont, Colorado at near 40.2 N latitude and -104.9 W longitude..... (I work in Denver)

svenelven

You are just about a stones throw from my house.
If you get really stuck, I may be able to swing around if you think it would help.

 

[Anole]

must be a heck of a drive home

Originally Posted by svenelven
My location is in Longmont, Colorado at near 40.2 N latitude and -104.9 W longitude..... (I work in Denver)

svenelven
You are just about a stones throw from my house.
If you get really stuck, I may be able to swing around if you think it would help.

Fizbi: Location: Wild and Windy Casper, WY

 

[SatPhreak]

svenelven

You are just about a stones throw from my house.
If you get really stuck, I may be able to swing around if you think it would help.

Wow you must be a dedicaded FTAer to drive a couple hundred miles to help someone out!

 

[svenelven]

Ok, I got help from a sat guy who has a super buddy meter and we locked the 107.3 sat with most trandsponders at 85% or better. Went into the house and set up the reciever USALS then hit ok to "go to reference". We went back on the roof and realigned Hit the 107.3 again and locked it as good as we could, again the super buddy meter said locked with 85% or better Quality and over 90% signal strength.

Went back down stairs and touched nothing... Still 0% quality, I set it to blind scan... No channnels, no quality.

What am I missing?

The motor is set to 40.2 latitude and the dish is set to 23/24 (declination from motor is -6.something degrees from 30) The guys meter claimed a high quality when set up for a universal LNBF and yet I get nothing. The only fluke I hade was that I went to the 105 in the reciever and tried advanced and set for the 11969 transponder and for a second it read 63% quality then I have not been able to get it back.

Again please help I am out almost $400 between the help and all the gear, yet I seem to be miles away from getting this up and working.

Discouraged but still trying.

 

[Fizbi]

Wow you must be a dedicaded FTAer to drive a couple hundred miles to help someone out!

I don't need much of an excuse to go for a nice motorcycle ride.

 

[Fizbi]

A universal LNB has 2 LO frequencies which must appear in the receiver:

Low LO is 9750
High LO is 10600

Keep your LNB at zero degrees. For the most accurate results, use the latitude side of the motor.

You may need to make small minor adjustments on the elevation and azimuth of the dish and the azimuth of the motor.

Other than that, you are looking good. :up

Those LO numbers don't look right to me...

Here in Casper, WY, ...I'm using 10750/11250.

 

[Fizbi]

Those LO numbers don't look right to me...

Here in Casper, WY, ...I'm using 10750/11250.

....Hmmmm...I guess it depends on the LNB.
I have another LNB that uses 9.75/10.6. that I'm not using.

I thought 10.75/11.25 was for North America use only...
Now, I'm not sure...

 

[voomvoom]

....Hmmmm...I guess it depends on the LNB.
I have another LNB that uses 9.75/10.6. that I'm not using...

These are numbers for a Universal Linear LNB

I thought 10.75/11.25 was for North America use only...
Now, I'm not sure...

These are numbers you might use with an Invacom Quad C/L LNB, the C = circular and uses 11250, while the L = Linear and uses 10750

 

[svenelven]

I have an SG6000 motor, is there a way to set it back to zero?

I am thinking that maybe the issue is that it was not at zero when I started and thus it got messed up. I am almost posotive that the elevation difference for the 107.3 versus the 105 is nearly the same so if I can get the motor to factory zero and reset the receiver then I will be able to swing back and forth then find a sat with a quality reading and once I locate the 105 I will be money.

Thanks.

 

[Lak7]

There should be a Hardware reset button on the Motor.
Probably uses a Paperclip to press it.
See attached.....

 

[svenelven]

There should be a Hardware reset button on the Motor.
Probably uses a Paperclip to press it.
See attached.....

Lak7,

Do I reset it when it is powered or when it is unpowered and move it back to a locked spot by hand?

Thanks for the info!!!

 

[Lak7]

Power On, hold the reset until you see the Light flash(Orange?)

Edit: If that does not work, at the receiver, look for Goto 0(zero) or Goto X in the Sat setup menu

 

[svenelven]

Ok, I have tried to rest the motor and I used a piece of 12 guage copper wire and nothing happened.

Do I need to use something smaller?

Also I have an IV-200 PRO VisionSat and I cannot find the GOTO X function spoke of in the manual.

If I could get the motor to zero and reset it i think I would be fine.

The problem is that now that I found the 105, everything is off, the reciever thinks that Galaxy 26 at 93W is good to go, but it is receiving all the channels from Galaxy25 at 97W!!! and the 105 and 103 are both showing the same channels and not to mention that the 97 is receiving the Pentagon channel marginally!!! I messed up and hit the recalculate many times between those satellites and jacked up the motor settings.

Help please.