My Visionsat IV 200 PVR Arrived

[phlatwound]

Thanks phlat.

I'm sure that v1.45 is the one that I want to be using. And, yes, I saw that the Extended Signal is much bigger. It should make things a little easier. With this added function, would you still think that a signal meter would help?

I have my packet of printouts from this forum and I'm on my way to set up the dish!! It looks like the weather will cooperate, too!

Dennis

I'm all for using whatever tools are available but I have never used a signal meter....ever.

I know some people find them useful but if you have a tv and a receiver out at the dish I don't think you need anything else.

I would look at dishpointer and move the "cursor" to a location that is as close as possible to where you will be placing the dish, and pick the satellites you will be trying for. That way you know right off the bat pretty darn close what your azimuth will be. Once you have the first sat locked you have it made, the rest will fall in after that.

Good weather, info packet, tv/receiver, tools, spare cables and any other pieces/parts....and some patience, you'll be fine.

 

[dennis33]

I'm back from my trip to the barn and setting up the dish. First, I replaced the old wire on the OTA antenna with the RG-6 that I brought up for my satellite setup and did a scan on the TV and it found 7 channels - 4 ION and 3 PBS. Fortunately one of the PBS was Create! so I watched 'This Old House' and 'Hometime' most of the night. That's better than watching Babar on ION.

The next day I set up the dish, receiver and my small TV outside. I pointed the dish to the 97W sat (222.5), set the elevation of the dish to 36.9 and LNB skew to 22.4 (or as close as possible to those numbers). I was getting a signal level of 80 but 0 quality. I ran a blind scan on the Visionsat and it found nothing.

Then I nudged (barely moving it) the dish E/W, played with the elevation (it was around 42 on the scale) and got a 83 signal level (couldn't get it any higher) but still 0 quality. I ran a scan again and it found 4 channels - 3ABN English, 3ABN Latino, 3ABN Radio and Radio 74 (nice calming music which was needed at the time!). I went through my paperwork and saw that I was on 101W.

So, I slowly moved the dish until the 101W signal broke up and moved the dish elevation a little, assuming I need to raise the elevation for 97W(now it's at 44). Ran a scan - 3 channels - News 1 live, ABSAT CH2, ABC NEWS NOW. Looks like I'm at 89W. I completely missed 97W.

It was getting very cold out so I ended my session.

I figure that the elevation scale on the dish is very inaccurate but at least I found 2 sats and can extrapolate something from the numbers.

I never saw the quality get above 0. Not sure what that means.

Next time that I go up there I'll do the "string test" to see if the dish is warped. I'll also set everything to point at the 'true south' sat (74W) and try to find it.

 

[phlatwound]

That's odd that you never saw any quality register on the meter. I have had receivers that didn't show quality before a scan, but after they scanned in live tps they always showed quality.

Were you actually able to view the channels, or did they just scan in?

Did you install the v1.45 firmware?

Probably a simple answer to this that I am just missing, at least it sounds like you are making good progress on your FTA and your OTA, congrats.

You should put some marks on your pole showing where you hit those sats, then you can interpolate from there and get pretty close when you aim for others.

 

[dennis33]

I actually viewed the channels...looked good on that 5" TV.

Yup, installed the v1.45.

Now I wonder if I had quality after scanning. I'll look into that next time!

Thanks,

Dennis

 

[dennis33]

I see that there are holes on the left and right side of the dish. Could these have been for additional support brackets for the LNB support pole? Would that maybe change the angle of the LNB if they were there at one time?

 

[phlatwound]

I see that there are holes on the left and right side of the dish. Could these have been for additional support brackets for the LNB support pole? Would that maybe change the angle of the LNB if they were there at one time?

It's possible that is what those holes are for, and I guess it is possible that angle is off, but unless the dish/arm is tweaked or you are using a real heavy LNBF (like an Invacom Quad) I'd be surprised if it was off.

With a prime focus dish you can use a laser pointer to determine if you are pointing at the exact center of the dish, not sure if you can do that with an offset dish.

When I put an Invacom on my Fortec 90 cm I made some support arms out of a couple of aluminum tubes from an old OTA antenna.

 

[Larobpra]

You only have to move a fraction of an inch from 101 to hit 97, and the elevation adjustment isn't much either. You should catch signal without changing the elevation, and then adjust for best signal after you find something on 97.

 

[Mr Tony]

If you make a mark on the back of the dish, move the dish maybe 1/32" off that mark. Thats how close it is

I think 6 degrees is 1/16"...now what I mean is make a mark on the dish and the bracket and move off that

 

[dennis33]

If you make a mark on the back of the dish, move the dish maybe 1/32" off that mark. Thats how close it is

I think 6 degrees is 1/16"...now what I mean is make a mark on the dish and the bracket and move off that

You only have to move a fraction of an inch from 101 to hit 97, and the elevation adjustment isn't much either. You should catch signal without changing the elevation, and then adjust for best signal after you find something on 97.

Thanks for that info. It's exciting to get any signal at this point but I'm sure that will become 'old' when I really want to lock on a specific sat! Now I just hope that the dish is still pointed at the last satellite that I remember... I think that it was 89W. I'll make a mark there and keep going east from there making marks as I scan.

Thanks again everybody for sharing your knowledge!

Dennis (waiting for the weekend - and good weather)

 

[dennis33]

phlatwound,

I remember seeing Lak7 mention that my dish was a Bob Jones dish. After doing some research he's probably right, of course, and I noticed that you also have one of these.

Since I'm getting ready to get a motor for it, probably a SG2100, should I also order a new LNB for the dish. Any recommendations?

It's not that I'm having problems with the old one and I haven't used it enough to even know if there's a problem with it, but a spare is always a good thing! Maybe even get one that has degree markings on it!!

It looks like this weekend is a washout so it'll be another week before I get to visit my setup in PA. In the meantime, I'll keep reading here and taking notes.

Thanks to everyone for sharing their knowledge!

Dennis

 

[phlatwound]

phlatwound,

I remember seeing Lak7 mention that my dish was a Bob Jones dish. After doing some research he's probably right, of course, and I noticed that you also have one of these.

Since I'm getting ready to get a motor for it, probably a SG2100, should I also order a new LNB for the dish. Any recommendations?

Yes, I do have a BJU dish, it is not in use now but I like it a lot, that little elevation adjuster is nice. Seems like it was going to need some modification to make it fit a motor but don't quote me on that. I think Lak7 put his on a motor?

I haven't tried a lot of different LNBFs, but if you are going to a single linear standard I really like my WSI/Galaxy DMX521 (light blue case).

Here is a comparison I did with it and one of my Techsat Tracker IIs (red case).

http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-ai...t-trackerii-vs-wsi-dmx521-single-ku-lnbf.html

For a dual linear standard I like my WSI/Galaxy DMX522 and my GeoSatpro SL2 Bullet, but they are the only ones I own or have ever tried.

 

[dennis33]

phlatwound,

My dish had tabs that prevented a motor drive from being installed, which I removed. Maybe that's what you may be thinking about as far as Lak7 modifying his dish.

I did order the DMX521 and a SG2100. Now I just need the weather to cooperate when I visit the barn in Pennsylvania.

Can anyone let me know... what would be the most eastern satellite that I probably need to be able to 'see'? I'm thinking of moving my dish to a treeline behind my barn that may block some of the sats east of 74W. If there are any that I might want, I can move the planned site before I dig the hole (which probably won't happen until spring).

I'm in Northeast PA...

Thanks,

Dennis