Installation of the GeoSatPro 1.2 M antenna

[pendragon]

With the exception of a few minor alignments to tweak my new dish, I have to admit that the difference between the dish sizes is greatly exaggerated. Either that or the DS-2076 dish is extremely exceptional.

The Winegard 76 cm is a very efficient dish. It's surprisingly close to many 90 cm dishes in gain. However the Geo 1.2 m is similarly efficient. Nowadays a lot of Ku birds have enough output power that smaller dishes do quite well, as long as the conditions aren't too tough. Once you exceed a certain threshold in SNR, more gain isn't going to buy a lot. However if there is adjacent orbital position interference or rain fade, the value of a 1.2 m becomes very clear.

One oddity about the Geo 1.2 m is its low f/D of 0.5. It's possible that LNBFs designed for the typically higher f/Ds of offset dishes will not illuminate this dish fully. That could make it seem like a smaller dish in terms of performance.

 

[AcWxRadar]

Another great write-up there Gordy! Looks like a fine job there my man! Waiting on more quality numbers you get on other birds there in your area!

Nice looking dish too! Great Pictures! :up

K E V I N

FTABman0,

Thanks Kevin.

When I get over this dang cold, I will ensure that I have all the alignments precise (peaked) and then scan for any missing channels and check the quality readings.

I am also going to test the BSC621-2 LNBF on this dish. However, I need to become familiar with it using my Invacom QPH-031 first (that I was using with the 76 cm dish). I need to ensure that I have a good reference.

RADAR (Gordy)

 

[Babadem]

Radar, that was an awsome!!! Excellent illustrations too!

Here, you said “The mount for the dish doesn't fit properly on my motor as it is upside down.” Are you saying the dish mount of the Geo 1.2M can’t be installed right side up with the DG380 motor as the a flange or angled portion of the dish bracket would interfere with the motor bracket during rotation or the inversion created the interference?

 

[FTABman0]

I got the touch of something too, dang WX! Yea, can’t wait for the after tweaked and peaked post! Friend of mine is using one off flea bay, now he swears by it!

The BSC621 looks like a nice LNB, a bit long though but we will know with a relentless tester as yourself! Have fun and post the overall if you would! Got me curious now!

Just wish I had a C-Band dish to try the GeoSat Group Buy LNB on on right now! Never got a chance to yet!

Is the BSC621 very heavy?

I would love to have a KU close to the ground like that for ease of working on it, but the kids around here would find it as a play thing and hang on it! Love that yours is close on the ground!

I just had to buzz in on your thread to say those were great pictures and a good follow through yet again!

Later!

K E V I N

 

[AcWxRadar]

Radar, that was an awsome!!! Excellent illustrations too!

Here, you said “The mount for the dish doesn't fit properly on my motor as it is upside down.” Are you saying the dish mount of the Geo 1.2M can’t be installed right side up with the DG380 motor as the a flange or angled portion of the dish bracket would interfere with the motor bracket during rotation or the inversion created the interference?

Babadem,

The upper portion of the dish bracket where it is supposed to install "over" the top of a mast or Stab motor tube is bent or folded inwards. This does not fit around the motor tube of the DG-380. Unless you were to cut these folded over pieces away, the bracket just won't fit around the tube. Here is a picture looking up at the bottom of the DG-380 motor tube and the dish mounting bracket.

I forgot to mention, the fine adjustment all-thread rod would not be permitted to be installed either as the motor tube would be in the way of this.

RADAR

 

[Babadem]

Babadem,

The upper portion of the dish bracket where it is supposed to install "over" the top of a mast or Stab motor tube is bent or folded inwards. This does not fit around the motor tube of the DG-380. Unless you were to cut these folded over pieces away, the bracket just won't fit around the tube. Here is a picture looking up at the bottom of the DG-380 motor tube and the dish mounting bracket.

I forgot to mention, the fine adjustment all-thread rod would not be permitted to be installed either as the motor tube would be in the way of this.

RADAR

So by inverting (upside down) the Dish mount you were able to mount the motor to the dish without further adjustments to the Dish mount? How were you able to find the right setting for the Dish Elevation as the mount in now upside down?

 

[AcWxRadar]

Is the BSC621 very heavy?

K E V I N

I don't know what it weighs exactly, but it is less than the Invacom QPH-031. My brother told me not to buy one as he has a spare that I may borrow for testing. I don't have it right now so I cannot actually weigh it. When this is installed, I will also have to install the scalar ring. This is going to add 8 ounces just guessing off the top of my head, maybe slightly more.

And by the way, the DG-380 motor has no troubles moving this 1.2 meter dish! It isn't even affected. I think you might be able to install an even larger or heavier dish on this motor. Fantastic!

RADAR

 

[SatelliteAV]

So by inverting (upside down) the Dish mount you were able to mount the motor to the dish without further adjustments to the Dish mount? How were you able to find the right setting for the Dish Elevation as the mount in now upside down?

We designed the GEOSATpro 1.2M dish Elevation Mount to allow the motor post to be either mounted top or bottom feed. If bottom mounted, read the elevation scale normally. If top mounted, subtract 4.5 degrees from the reading to obtain actual elevation angle.

Example: If the top mounted motor requires the dish elevation angle to be set at 25 degrees, set the elevation scale to 29.5 degrees (29.5 - 4.5 = 25 degrees).

 

[Babadem]

We designed the GEOSATpro 1.2M dish Elevation Mount to allow the motor post to be either mounted top or bottom feed. If bottom mounted, read the elevation scale normally. If top mounted, subtract 4.5 degrees from the reading to obtain actual elevation angle.

Example: If the top mounted motor requires the dish elevation angle to be set at 25 degrees, set the elevation scale to 29.5 degrees (29.5 - 4.5 = 25 degrees).

Thanks Brian! I will be installing my 1.2M GEOSATPro and the DG380 in the coming days or so and any information to make the install easy is greatly appreciated!!

 

[AcWxRadar]

So by inverting (upside down) the Dish mount you were able to mount the motor to the dish without further adjustments to the Dish mount? How were you able to find the right setting for the Dish Elevation as the mount in now upside down?

Babadem,

To be honest, I used the SWAG method in this case...

"Scientific Wild Ass Guess"​

I am quite familiar with where the satellites are in the sky at my location, so that helps a great deal. If I could install an LNBF in my head, I could dial in any satellite here in one second flat, just by looking up in the sky.

I use the solar outage calculators available on-line and then I go out and check the suns position when they tell me to for each satellite. This provides me with an instantaneous mental picture of where each satellite is on my horizon and I remember the landmarks such as trees and electrical poles and how far from my barn they are or how many degrees east or west they are from the water tower in the town to the south of me.

This might seem a bit braggish, but I am serious. By using the solar outage calculators, you can really get an excellent perception of where the satellites are. Add the natural landmarks to your mental image and VOILA!

As for setting the proper elevation angle of the dish without using the scale imprinted on the bracket, I did use the SWAG method. I had a good general sense of what angle the dish needed to be aimed, then I just did a trial and error search for the signal.

I went to the manual scan mode on my Coolsat 5000 and selected satellite Galaxy 19 @ 97.0W, TP 11.998 H SR 20.001 (where Al Jazeera English is carried). I know this to be a strong TP for my location, so I rely on it to help me aim my dish.

Since I did not alter my motor alignment during this dish exchange, I didn't have to worry about that. It remained set as it was. A few trials with the "BEEP ON SCAN THE SIGNAL" option set to ON and the TV volume set loud so that I could hear this out in the yard and I was done. So I really paid little attention to the actual dish elevation angle.

RADAR

 

[AcWxRadar]

We designed the GEOSATpro 1.2M dish Elevation Mount to allow the motor post to be either mounted top or bottom feed. If bottom mounted, read the elevation scale normally. If top mounted, subtract 4.5 degrees from the reading to obtain actual elevation angle.

Example: If the top mounted motor requires the dish elevation angle to be set at 25 degrees, set the elevation scale to 29.5 degrees (29.5 - 4.5 = 25 degrees).

Brian,

I wish to thank you for this dish. The setup is really quite easy. You have probably read through my entire dialogue here and observed my pro and con statements already, but I must say that this was a very easy dish to install and the instruction sheet is accurate.

I am just starting out with this new dish and I wanted to present a very straightforward and honest presentation of my personal experience.

I do believe that it is an exceptional dish. I had so much trouble trying to install my Winegard 1 meter dish that I was a bit apprehensive of this 1.2 M antenna, just because of the size. I had an idea in my mind that this was going to be a really demanding adventure. As it turns out, I think it took longer to focus my camera and take the pictures then it did to install the dish!

I am not yet done with this installation. I needed to take a break and try to get over this virus that I have contracted. I hope to dial in more channels. Since yesterday, I have been going back through my channels which were already saved using the 76 cm dish and I am really beginning to notice the difference.

Some of the channels which were weak and in my "gray zone" are now stronger and much more stable. When I finalize the tweaking and peaking, I am confident that I will have even more improved results.

I wish I wasn't so sick! I want to play with this so much, but I just don't have what it takes right now. When I get feeling better, I will continue this with proper justice. This is a good dish!

RADAR

 

[AcWxRadar]

I'm trying now to figure out and fix how to square up the dish axis with the dg-380 zero position axis because I think that's why I get off the arc about 20 deg each side of zero pos. It looks crooked to me so I have to figure out something to help me line that up - i'm thinking a clear plastic slab with a line on it, attach it to the fs90 mount, and line that up with the marking on the dg-380 tube and both should be in sync I would think. I can't just loosen the ubolts and play with it because the dish starts to slide off the tube due to gravity and the slickness of that tube that doesn't create much friction. If this were my stab, the ubolts could be loosened and gravity would keep the dish on the tube while I worked on the adjustment.

Sky,

All of your concerns are my concerns as well! I have experienced the very same troubles. In this installation example, I had some background experience and was concerned that the bracket would remain in position on the motor tube. I have to fight gravity here, too.

Since I found that the I could easily rotate the dish bracket on the motor tube with two U-Bolts completely snugged tight, I knew that I needed more surface area to grip and hold it in place.

Installing the third U-Bolt was sufficient to prevent the bracket from sliding off of the motor tube. However, if I were to experience a very strong wind, it could still "swivel" on the motor tube and alter my alignment this way. Drilling a hole through the sides of the dish bracket and through the motor tube and installing a bolt will prevent this. However, I will want to ensure that I have all my alignments set perfect before I do this.

I am certain to get this dish functioning top notch with a little more time.

This is a well constructed dish and even though some of us must modify, improvise and adapt in some areas like this, it will prove to be a very good antenna for your FTA setup.

For your situation, trying to square everything up... Read back through my posts here and there is an answer to this contained within. It is more of a process than an answer and requires the whole story to be unfolded to explain it. As you read through each step, one builds upon the other. So don't expect to find a simple and direct answer as it won't be presented in such a fashion. You have to build this all up step by step until you get to the end result and then you can say...

Oh! Oh! Oh!!! I get it! I get it! I got it!

LOL! I understand that I may seem rather goofy or aloof with this explanation, but it is really true. You try and try and work at this for a long time and then all of a sudden something opens in your mind and it just becomes so obvious. Not everything, of course, but a great part of it. You have to keep going through these new doors from time to time.

Hope you enjoy opening new doors! There are a lot of them!

RADAR

 

[AcWxRadar]

Still tweaking

I have been "satellite" surfing part of today. Just checking out the reception of this 1.2 M dish. Definitely there is an improvement. Sat Mex 5 and 6 are coming in quite strong! Not everything mind you, but several TPs with quality levels in the 96-98% area. That is good in my opinion.

I am scanning for FTA channels only, so I am only picking up those. I see a lot of TPs showing in the high 90's as the scanning process is underway, but no channels are registered... so I assume that these are encrypted channels or DATA feed channels.

I am just playing around, but this dish is proving to be quite a nice little buddy to me! I ran outside once and tweaked on the elevation just a little while looking at sat 113.oW Sat Mex 6.

Not too many FTA channels were picked up on the scan, but those which were were in the 96-98% quality range. The best or strongest one was a religious channel.

I am thinking that this 1.2 M GeoSat Pro dish is going to be a keeper! Yeah, it is looking pretty good right now!

RADAR

 

[AcWxRadar]

Sat Mex5 at 116.8W

Got a nice channel here. I don't speak or understand Espanol, but the music is really great! "Televida Abundante" on TP 12.060 V SR 3.078

90-92% quality reading here. Cannot complain about this! I did not pick this channel up on the 76 cm dish, now it is blasting in! Very clear and no pixelations or tiling.

RADAR

EDIT: I believe this is a religious channel. In Espanol.

 

[Babadem]

Babadem,

To be honest, I used the SWAG method in this case...

"Scientific Wild Ass Guess"​

I am quite familiar with where the satellites are in the sky at my location, so that helps a great deal. If I could install an LNBF in my head, I could dial in any satellite here in one second flat, just by looking up in the sky.

I use the solar outage calculators available on-line and then I go out and check the suns position when they tell me to for each satellite. This provides me with an instantaneous mental picture of where each satellite is on my horizon and I remember the landmarks such as trees and electrical poles and how far from my barn they are or how many degrees east or west they are from the water tower in the town to the south of me.

This might seem a bit braggish, but I am serious. By using the solar outage calculators, you can really get an excellent perception of where the satellites are. Add the natural landmarks to your mental image and VOILA!

As for setting the proper elevation angle of the dish without using the scale imprinted on the bracket, I did use the SWAG method. I had a good general sense of what angle the dish needed to be aimed, then I just did a trial and error search for the signal.

I went to the manual scan mode on my Coolsat 5000 and selected satellite Galaxy 19 @ 97.0W, TP 11.998 H SR 20.001 (where Al Jazeera English is carried). I know this to be a strong TP for my location, so I rely on it to help me aim my dish.

Since I did not alter my motor alignment during this dish exchange, I didn't have to worry about that. It remained set as it was. A few trials with the "BEEP ON SCAN THE SIGNAL" option set to ON and the TV volume set loud so that I could hear this out in the yard and I was done. So I really paid little attention to the actual dish elevation angle.

RADAR

Thanks, RADAR!!:up

 

[AcWxRadar]

Just an update on my progress

I haven't had a great deal of time to do too much, but with a bith of effort, I have relocated my 1.2 M GeoSatPro dish to the east side of my lot where I can have a better LOS for all satellites. I was able to get Hispasat 30.0 W to come in there. As I fine tune the entire dish and motor and mounting tripod, I am finding many new channels.

All of my old channels are now coming in with much greater signal strength (many in the 96-98% quality range on my CS 5K).

As for the slippage of the dish bracket on the motor stem, I believe that I fixed that. I added a shim washer to each U-Bolt stem that was about 1/8" thickness. This was just precisely enough with three U-Bolts to secure the dish bracket to the motor tube without being too tight that the motor tube would be deformed or crushed.

After installing these shim washers, I tried to rotate the dish on the motor tube and resulted in spinning the motor clamp on the mast instead, and this with a great deal of effort. This pleased me as now I am sure that it would take a really major wind to reposition the dish.

I still have some fine tuning to the arc to do, but today was a rather crappy weather day. Windy, a little chilly for June and damp, so I didn't accomplish as much as I desired.

I am hoping it will be sunny and warmer tomorrow or the next day.

Now, most of my high quality channels are at 95-98% as opposed to 88-91% in quality readings. This is surely going to be a benefit during any rain.

I will continue to follow up on this for any interested parties as I am able. So far, this dish has proven to be quite excellent, with a little learning curve for myself.

RADAR

 

[AcWxRadar]

Additional follow-up notes for the GeoSatPro 1.2 M dish installation - with a DG-380 PowerTech motor - in the Omaha, Nebraska area.

This is proving to be an exceptional antenna! I have been learning some intricacies and minor tips with this antenna. First off, there is some information on the web that is slightly misleading regarding the mast or motor tube required for this dish. This is the reason why I had some minor trouble with the dish slipping on the motor tube. My motor tube is 55 mm diameter, but if you read the actual literature that is supplied with the dish, it does state that the mast or tube should be 60~76 mm diameter. Somewhere within the mfg's info on the net, it stated something slightly smaller. This is not a problem as it only requires a person to incorporate three U-bolts instead of the two supplied, add a thick washer underneath each nut for these and then, if you like, add a rubber pad or anti-skid tape along the back of the motor tube. Easy fix guys and works very well.

Getting the dish bracket perfectly aligned with the motor tube axis is really easy, but requires a good "calibrated" eye. There is a small oblong cutout in the rear of the dish bracket. What the true purpose of this cutout is, I am not sure, but it is an excellent site window to align this axis. If you drive the motor off center a fair distance, you can view the seam of the motor tube through this window and align it to center. This worked excellently! I will try to attach a pix of this here so that you can see what I am referring to.

So far, I am getting the following satellites to come in with this GeoSatPro 1.2 M dish, Invacom QPH-031, PowerTech DG-380 motor and Coolsat 5K receiver:

30.0W Hispasat 1C/1D: 53 TV channels in the 90-94% Q range.

43.0W Intelsat 3R: 2 TV channels in the 92-96% Q range.

61.5W Echostar 3: Getting the test card channel 9902 in at 95-97% Q. All the others too, but they are encrypted.

63.0W Estrela do Sul: 10 PBS channels in at 69-70% Q.

72.0W AMC 6: 6 channels. NBC MUX at 97-98% Q and KFTL at 90-91% Q.

74.0W Horizons 2: ONN at 94% Q.

79.0W AMC 5: KTEL @ 98% Q and the NYN channels @ 88% Q.

82.0W Nimiq 2: These are all quite weak as they are HD and encrypted. 69-70%, but I can detect channels here.

83.0W AMC 9: NBC News Channel @ 94-97%. Here is where I am rather disappointed. No matter what I do, I can not pull the RTN channels out from Leo-1's power. Video 1 from Leo is at 92-94% Q.

85.0W AMC 16: Echostar Access center @ 97% Q.

87.0W AMC 3: 9 TV channels @ 94% Q.

89.0W Galaxy 28: ABC NEWS LIVE and 17 other channels (some encrypted) @ 94% Q.

91.0W Galaxy 11: Occasional use channels and 16 total with 87-88% Q.

91.0W Nimiq 1, 3: XPRS2* ITC and other channels @ 94% Q.

93.0W IA-6: Macy's 4 and 43 other channels most in the 92-96% Q range.

95.0W Galaxy 3C: CCTV and 51 other channels in the 96-97% Q range.

97.0W Galaxy 19: Many channels (250 TV - not all ITC, but many) in the 94-96% Q range.

99.0W Galaxy 16: 19 channels in the 90-92% Q range.

101.0W AMC 4: 53 TV channels in the 90-92% Q range. No adjustment to the LNB skew/polarization.

103.0W AMC 1: 27 TV channels in the 90% Q range.

105.0W AMC 15: 7 channels in the 94% Q range.

107.3W Anik F1R: 4 TV channels (HD) in the 92-94% Q range.

110.0W ES 10/12?: Test card channel 9900 @ 97% Q.

111.1W Anik F1: One encrypted channel @ 90% Q.

113.0W SatMex 6: 13 TV channels in the 94% Q range.

116.8W SatMex 5: 11 TV channels in the 93-94% Q range.

119.0W ES 7: NASA channel @ 98% Q.

121.0W ES9: Test card channel @ 97% Q.

123.0W Galaxy 18: 38 TV channels in the 91-92% Q range.

125.0 AMC 21: 12 PBS TV channels in the 97% Q range.

127.0 AMC Galaxy 13: Two encrypted channels in the 94-96% Q range.

129.0W Galaxy 27: WSTV @ 97% Q.

129.0 Ciel/ES?: Test card channel @ 97% Q.

148.0W ES 1/2?: Test card channel @ 97% Q.

All of these satellites except 30.0 W are set up using USALS motor control. Had to use DiSEqC 1.2 to position the dish to 30.0 W as USALS would not drive that far - it would only go as far as 37.5 deg for me, which is about 59 degrees +/- from my longitude position.

Since I had to relocate this dish to get out from behind a tree line to get 43W and 30W, I had to run a rather long cable. I opted to use RG11U. Works Very Good! I estimate that I have 220 feet of cable altogether and only lost a few points from my signal level. Motor and switching control is just as fast as with a 30 foot RG6 cable. My next endeavor will be to trench this cable underground and run it through some PVC conduit for easy removal.

RADAR

 

[AcWxRadar]

Here are some pix of a great LOS for satellite hunting.

The first pix is the direction for 97.0W, my true south satellite. The second pix is approximately where 83.0W would be found.

RADAR

 

[AcWxRadar]

This would be my new view for 43.0W (center of 1st pix) and 30.0W (near center of 2nd pix). Actually, 30.0W is in between the notch of the two large trees to the right hand side of the picture and just barely over the top of them. I am slicing the ball right through the "Vee" in between those two trees. It worked it out to perfection! Just a little above the tree tops, I think. Those trees are approximately 1/8 or less mile from where I am standing by my dish.

RADAR

 

[AcWxRadar]

I have always been a staunch supporter of the Winegard DS-2076 (76 cm dish) but now that I have grown accustomed to this 1.2 M GeoSatPro, I cannot imagine doing without it.

I hope that my walk through of my personal installation of this dish on the DG-380 motor will help others during their setup process. I hope that some of my own errors and pitfalls have presented good advice for this process. It was a great experience for me and I am extremely pleased with the results!

I can honestly say that I believe others will also be pleased with this dish. It is extremely well constructed and for some reason, it seems a great deal less cumbersome than my Winegard 1.0 M dish. Maybe that is through a self education program with a great deal of assistance and information from the rest of the members here, but things are becoming a lot easier for me now.

I wish everyone a great experience with your own adventure!

RADAR