well, i obviously have set up something incorrectly. i had the viewsat look for 125W for the PBS stations and it found nothing. when i exited the setup menu and went back to Russia Today or BelarusTV on Galaxy 19 ... nothing.
a look at the dish shows it's moving, and to the naked eye it looks pretty close, but I've gotten something wrong. i reset the skew to 0 after it had been at 10 as a stationary dish. the mounting pole comes up pretty darn straight and level, all the coax cables are loose and not catching on anything... but i must be missing something.
i appreciate any advice, but I'll be away from the dish until next Monday - a holiday weekend away with the family
thanks again, and i'll be looking for help next week!
jeff
Jeff,
First of all, I want to say that I truly LOVE your avatar of Barney Fife! That brings back a host of memories for me. The Andy Griffith Show was one of my all time favorites!
Now, let's discuss your dish and motor alignment issues. You are in or near Cheyenne, WY, so your nearest true south satellite is 105.0'W AMC 15. On this sat, one of the best signals to dial in is TP 11.856 V SR 3548 (the Macy's channel that I mentioned previously). Use this sat and TP as your reference.
Since I did not wish to intrude into your home, I used the coordinates of the Plains Hotel near Cheyenne. This provides the coordinates of 41.11N and 104.82W. In your USALS menu, enter these coordinates.
Mechanically, set your motor's latitude scale to 41.11 degrees (I know you won't be able to read the scale to that fine of resolution, so 41 degrees and a tick higher will be sufficient).
Mechanically, set your dish antenna's elevation to 28.61 degrees. Again, you will have to use your best judgement as to where 28.61 degrees is as the scale's resolution is not that fine. Just get as close as you think you can.
Before you really get carried away in the alignment process, double-check your mast or pole to ensure that it is perfectly vertical in all directions. This point cannot be stressed enough. Use a quality level to check this. A two foot carpenters level is best. Check the plumb of the mast in all directions and if you detect that the bubble is off just a little, STOP and fix it! You will create a lot of work and frustration down the line if you don't address this issue right off the bat.
I highly recommend a ground mounted mast if you can do so. A rooftop or wall mounted mast requires some extra effort to secure it properly. If you are adept at that and don't mind the extra work, that is fine. But a ground mounted mast is the simplest you can have.
Next, drive your motor to the zero degree position. You can do this manually with the buttons on the motor itself, or through the motor control menus (go to reference or go to zero).
Attach the dish to the motor tube and ensure that the vertical axis of the dish is in line with the vertical axis of the motor tube.
Next, take a nice, small, portable TV and your receiver out to the dish site. Do not install any switches in the system, just run your cable directly from the receiver to the motor and on to the LNBF.
Select 105.0'W for your true south sat. Select TP 11.856 V SR 3548 (the Macys channel) in your manual scan mode or TP scan mode. Since you have a Viewsat receiver, I am not certain of what they call the menu. In the Coolsat 5000, it would be manual scan mode. Regardless of what it is referred to as in the receivers menus, you need to opt for the menu where you may select the TP on your own and not allow the receiver to select it. In the Coolsat 5K, if you select the antenna setup menu, the receiver will automatically look at the first TP listed. If that TP happens to be a feed TP, it may not have an active signal present at all times, so you don't want to rely upon this menu to align your dish.
Sorry that is kinda long and drawn out, but I think you will understand what I am trying to suggest here.
Next, fire up the receiver and the TV and start looking for Macy's TV on 105.0'W.
Do not adjust the dish or motor angles at this point. Just swing your dish east and west in the general area where you are pretty certain that the 105 sat should be. Just back and forth, slowly east to west or west to east in small increments. Stop after each small movement and wait a few seconds to allow the receiver to lock onto the signal if it is there. I allow about 2-3 seconds for my Coolsat to lock. The viewsat should be similar, I would guess.
If you do not detect the signal from this sat after you have panned with great patience, then make a mark on your dish elevation setting and readjust it one degree higher or lower and try panning again. Continue this process until you find the signal.
Don't readjust the motor latitude setting during this process. I can assure you that your motor and most other brands and models are very accurate in their latittude scale. You will determine if your lattittude is set incorrectly when you try to pan the entire arc later. Don't fret about this error at this time. The main objective is to locate the nearest true south sat first.
Once you locate and lock on this signal, then you should monitor your signal and quality level meters on your TV. Stand behind the dish and gently grasp the outer edges of the dish and place some minor pressure on the dish in order to tilt it just a wee bit up/down or right/left. While you are doing this, monitor the signal levels on the TV and determine which direction you need to move the dish to peak the signal. If neccessary, loosen the mounting bolts and move the dish in the direction needed to peak the signal.
This may sound like an intense ordeal, however, if you set the original angles as stated before, it should almost fall into your lap. Go ahead and cuss a bit as you do this, but don't allow yourself to become overly frustrated. Remember that this is a hobby and should be for fun.
If you are having no luck, take a break and go out for a pizza and catch a show with your friends or smething, come back to it later when you have plenty of time and clear weather.
Next step... once you have dialed and peaked your dish to your true south sat, have your motor drive east or west to the next sat that you know that you can or should be able to detect a signal from. Your true south sat in this case is 105, so move to 103.0'W and test your alignment there. Then try 101.0'W . Then go the other direction and try your luck at 121.0'W.
I wouldn't bother with 113.0 or 116.8 during this process. They may be a little squirrelly to set up and weak on signal. 121.0"W is good (Echostar 9) and you can find the test card channel on TP 12.013 V SR 20000.
The process of aligning to the arc requires persistence, dedication and lots of patience! But, I guarantee that you will accomplish it.
My best wishes are for your success and for the success of others as well. Since others here have helped me learn and repair all sorts of items, I hope that I can be instrumental in helping my colleagues in the same rite.
RADAR
