Motorized dish help

[rockinkolt]

Hello,
We are new to this. My husband successfully installed the GloryStar system. We have had it for about 3 weeks, but now want more channels so we ordered a motor. We are now getting a very week signal quality on the AMC4 and G25 satellites. We also can not pick up any other satellites. We also lost our volume on Daystar. We always had 67 or better for quality and now we can't get above 30. We have gone up and down east and west as much as we can, but nothing changes. Any suggestions???
Also, when we do get this figures out, do we have to go through each satellite, and each transponder to get a signal and then save to be able to do a scan for channels? This is looking to mbe more difficult than we thought.
We have the Fortec Star Mercury 2 reciever, DiSEqC 2.1 and DiSEqC H-H Motor.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Dina

 

[Lak7]

What is your Long and Latitude?
Which Motor do you have?

 

[Anole]

SatelliteAV / Glorystar, has this very nice manual on installing their motor on a Mercury II.
If it applies to your hardware, you might give it a look.
Actually, reading through it cover to cover would give you some valuable background.

If your motor is from someone else, Sadoun has a good list of documents on installing many other motors.
And one level up from that page , this one has more general info.

Plus, lots of folks here will assist, too.
Often, the terminology is confusing, but we're here to help in all departments.

 

[Fizbi]

Hello,
We are new to this.
Dina

Hi Dina,

I'm new to this too. My advice is to use copious amounts of patience.
Hang in there, it's worth the effort. There is a lot of good help here, and from what I read, we all have had problems at one time or another.

It sounds like you have a working system, which is a very good start.

I'm sure once you get that motor and dish pointed in the right direction, it will all come together. Please do not get frustrated.

 

[rv1pop]

Going from fixed to motorized ... MAIN problem I have heard is skew. the skew on motorized is zero at true south and the motor sets the skew everywhere else. Five degrees off on the skew meant no go on one of my dishes... I know little else -- and that is what I keep reading!
POP

 

[rockinkolt]

What is your Long and Latitude?
Which Motor do you have?

Long 102.79 W
Lat 46.88 N

Motor DiSEqC 1.2 H-H Motor SG2100 from WS International ( I thought I found them through your site, but I could be wrong).

We got the sound back on Daystar now, but the signal is so low that we just had interruption from a mild rain shower. We were also able to get a signal from a few sats with no programming.

Thanks all, we are going to keep our Dish Network hooked up until we can figure this out. Patience is a virtue, as someone said here! At least I can get Daystar on Dish until then. We will look through the manuals that were suggested and just keep trying. Will get back to you if we figure it out or need more help.
Thanks again

 

[amc1]

thats is where i bought my motor . some interesting tips there . also i might add they are not selling motors anymore. i ordered the 55milimeter piece for my motor and thats what the lady on the other end said .if you notest its no longer listed on their web page.

 

[jkiefer]

I am also needing help. This is my first system ever. Below is all of my system and location information and what my settings are now.

Morteck SG-2100 Motor
Invacom QPH-031 LNB
Winegard DS-2076 Dish
CW-800S reveiver

Latitude: 38.247°
Longitude: -104.629°

Current Settings:
24 on the dish
38 no the Latitude side on the motor and / 45 on the elevation side of the motor
LNB Skew is at 0

I used apx. 170 on a compus for true south

I have picked up a few stations (4 or 5) but not what I feel I should be getting. I do not understand the declination angle (6.1 for me) either. Where does this factor in. What am I doing wrong? I have been at this for 3 days strait and I am about to sell it all and get cable. Someone please help!!!

 

[Fizbi]

I used apx. 170 on a compus for true south

I have picked up a few stations (4 or 5) but not what I feel I should be getting. I do not understand the declination angle (6.1 for me) either. Where does this factor in. What am I doing wrong? I have been at this for 3 days strait and I am about to sell it all and get cable. Someone please help!!!

For starters, this is the calculator that got me on the right track:
Satellite look-angle calculator

As for declination, there may be some error from your compass reading to true south. The error would be 6.1 degrees. You would have to add or subtract the difference to correct for the wandering magnetic lines that go from magnetic north to magnetic south. So, if you are pointing your compass to 170, you may have to add 6.1 degrees to get it to point to TRUE south. True south is not the same as MAGNETIC south. 6 degrees will through you way out of alignment.

See this map:
http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/thecompassstore/decmap2004.jpg

More info:
Magnetic declination - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Once you get your dish aligned to TRUE south, you should get better results.

 

[tracker1998]

Another good tool is dishpointer.co*.

 

[Anole]

See post #3 above, for a very comprehensive answer.

Declination is the down-tilt on your dish so it points to the actual Clarke Belt, where the satellites orbit.
More declination is needed as you go more North (well, go south, if you are south of the equator).
If you didn't have declination, your dish would point out into space on a line parallel to a dish at the equator.
The dish at the equator, would see the satellites, but your dish at say 45 north, would simply miss the birds.

The place I found which finally explained it to me is on a BUD-related site, but it's worth a read if you are confused.

The magnetic deviation of a compass from true North/South, has to do with the local magnetic surroundings.
And it changes from decade to decade.

Both these numbers are included in the calculations of the motor-install instructions.
They are also included in antenna-alignment calculators (which give you a magnetic aim).
So, for the most part, you don't need to be overly concerned with either.

The SatelliteAV manual mentioned above, cover the Mercury II receiver and their own motor, which is essentially a 2100

 

[jkiefer]

Satellite look-angle calculator

Thanks for the help everyone. I am more informed but am even more confused at the azmeth angle now. I understand what it is but am getting some deviations for setup.

Satellite Look Angles Satellite Heading Calculator Azimuth Elevation Skew Tilt LNBF Latitude and Longitude values
tells me
Azimuth (true): 180.0°
Azimuth (magn.): 171.0° using Compass


Satellite look-angle results for
tells me:
True Azimuth: 104.63
Magn. Azimuth: 95.61

Its dark and late but I will try the new settings (104.63/95.61) when I get home tomarow. All my other settings are correct as far as I can tell. Maybe just some minor adjustments. I'm a bit learry though. That means I will max out at about 170 south and 10 south. pointing easterly direction. I was just at the understanding the dish was to be pointed due south. ???

 

[Lak7]

Satellite Look Angles Satellite Heading Calculator Azimuth Elevation Skew Tilt LNBF Latitude and Longitude values
Your TrueSouth Sat is AMC 1 @ 103 west
Motor elevation is set to your Latitude(46.9) once set, no tweaking to this. Marking are accurate.
LNB skew is set to Zero(movement of motor will skew the LNB)
Drive motor to Zero and Aim Dish & Motor together to 171.3° using Compass(only snug the bolts, allow for East / West tweaking)
Dish elevation is set to 23° to start, the Markings are known to be Off a few Degs.
In the receiver Setup Menu, select AMC 1 from the list, then select or enter a Live Transponder from the TP list. I would suggest:
Freq: 12101
Polarity: V ert
S can R ate: 20000

Using USALS, drive to AMC 1 @ 103(you are so close it may not even move)
If possible, bring the Receiver and a TV out to the Dish, even with 2 people you won't have to yell "Anything Yet" for an hour.
All move are small and slow, give the receiver a few second to react.
Now, unless you were lucky and have Quality, slowly raise / lower Dish elevation(not the Motor) Remember you are looking for Quality. The Signal Strength only tells you that there is power to the LNB.
If nothing, return Dish to 23, rotate Motor & Dish as one East & West watching for Quality. If nothing, raise / lower Dish elevation and again pan East / West looking for quality. Once you have Good Quality on AMC 1, then pick a Sat as far East as your Line Of Sight allows, may be Horz 2 @ 74 TP: 11733 H 6616
Have the receiver Drive to that Sat, pick a Live TP and check Quality, tweak if necessary. Once you can bounce between those 2 Sats with Good Quality, you should be Tracking the Arc.
It does take time, enjoy the process, it is time well spent together.
Ask questions when you stuck.

Long 102.79 W
Lat 46.88 N

Motor DiSEqC 1.2 H-H Motor SG2100 from WS International ( I thought I found them through your site, but I could be wrong).

We got the sound back on Daystar now, but the signal is so low that we just had interruption from a mild rain shower. We were also able to get a signal from a few sats with no programming.

Thanks all, we are going to keep our Dish Network hooked up until we can figure this out. Patience is a virtue, as someone said here! At least I can get Daystar on Dish until then. We will look through the manuals that were suggested and just keep trying. Will get back to you if we figure it out or need more help.
Thanks again

 

[Lak7]

Pole must be Plumb, re-check after mounting Motor & Dish.
Dish set to 24 to start. The marking on the Dish are known to be Off a few degs. (Motors are accurate.)
Motor "Elevation" is set to your Latitude = 38(only snug bolts, allow for tweaking)
Your TrueSouth Sat is AMC 15 @ 105, but I don't know if there is any Live Linear TPs on that sat. You could use USALS to drive to AMC 1 @ 103 and align there(your motor will not be at Zero) Select / enter a Live TP (12101 V 20000) and tweak. Small moves, allow a few seconds for receiver to react.
Once you have Good Quality, pick a sat as far East as you Line of Sight allows and tweak. Once you can bounce between those 2 Sats. you should be tracking.

I am also needing help. This is my first system ever. Below is all of my system and location information and what my settings are now.

Morteck SG-2100 Motor
Invacom QPH-031 LNB
Winegard DS-2076 Dish
CW-800S reveiver

Latitude: 38.247°
Longitude: -104.629°

Current Settings:
24 on the dish
38 no the Latitude side on the motor and / 45 on the elevation side of the motor
LNB Skew is at 0

I used apx. 170 on a compus for true south

I have picked up a few stations (4 or 5) but not what I feel I should be getting. I do not understand the declination angle (6.1 for me) either. Where does this factor in. What am I doing wrong? I have been at this for 3 days strait and I am about to sell it all and get cable. Someone please help!!!

 

[Lak7]

Just noticed jkiefer and rockinkolt are in same thread, with same questions. If you 2 could follow along and try not to ask the same questions. Stay cool!

 

[Fizbi]

See post #3 above, for a very comprehensive answer.

Declination is the down-tilt on your dish so it points to the actual Clarke Belt, where the satellites orbit....

Oops. Yep, I gotta be careful here. I'm thinking compass declination, not tilt.
This stuff continues to trip me up.

 

[rockinkolt]

Ok, here's another question. We have figured out the motor and getting signals now. Is there a way to scan all satellites at once, or do we have to find each one first then scan and save? Also, som eof the transponders that are listed on your list page are not in our list on the setup screen, how do we enter a new TP on our Mercury Star II receiver? I watched a tutorial on the Fortec Star website but it did not show how to edit, just mentioned that you can edit.

Thanks Lak7 for your info that was most helpful, and thanks to everyone else as well.

 

[Anole]

If you are using USALS to set up your motor, you should be able to lock onto the true south bird, then one satellite at each end of the arc, and the rest should fall into place.
If you are using diseqc 1.2 instead, then you are doing it the hard way and you'll have to save each satellite position individually.
hint: don't do it the hard way! -

There is a table in the reference material showing an arc and whether you need to adjust your dish up/down/left/right to get a typical eastern bird.
Same for a western bird.
Using that info, you should be able to tweak the dish elevation and twist the motor mount on your pole to get aligned cleanly from east to west.

see picture below, taken from the Geo-Orbit web site.

 

[Lak7]

If you don't have a Manual, you can download it from.....
http://www.satelliteguys.us/fta-manuals/92546-fortec-mercury-ii-3-different-languages.html

In the Antenna Setup menu, you should see an Blue "Add TP" Blue, use the Blue button on the remote and add the basic TP info: "Freq." "Polarity." "Scan Rate."

I think the Merc. II has Blind Scan. Blind Scanning should add any TPs found to the scanned Sats list, channels too.

I would not recommend Blind Scanning ALL Sats at once.

When you get the Receiver the way you like it, save / backup settings to PC.

 

[rockinkolt]

Thanks Anole and Lak7, we are going to play around with it some more this evening. I kinds got the idea that we could set up using the USALS but was not sure, so thanks for that bit of info. As for the TP's there are a lot of them on some satellites, and they are not TP's that are on the list??? Does that make sence? Can we delete those that do not have anything on them and leave the one's that do? There is some info about deleting in our manual, so I assume that we can.