Need Help aiming dish

[GMFreak8]

Ok, so just got my dis put up, and all the connections made. I'm having trouble getting a signal though. I've made sure everything is plum, and all the settings for aiming are right, to the best of my knowledge, but all I'm getting is a fluctuating signal quality of 0 to 4 percent on all the satellites, which makes me think it's noise. If anyone can help me through this process, I would really appreciate it.


Also, I'm a little worried, the switch is making a rapid clicking noise, ever since I connected the receiver. What does that mean?!?!

 

[Anole]

this is in your signature:
-Fortec Star 100cm KU dish, SG2100 Motor, Mercury II receiver,
are we to assume that is the equipment you are talking about?
We really need more info.
And no switch is mentioned....

 

[GMFreak8]

this is in your signature:
-Fortec Star 100cm KU dish, SG2100 Motor, Mercury II receiver,
are we to assume that is the equipment you are talking about?
We really need more info.
And no switch is mentioned....

Sorry about that. I'm a little excited.

My setup is a 100CM fortec dish, connected to a SG-2100 motor, with the mercury II receiver. The LNB is the Quad Linear/Circular Polarity from soudon, which is connected to a 2x1 switch.

The receiver goes to the Motor, which then goes to the switch, and from there the two feeds one for linear and one for circular feed into the switch. The switch is making a rapid clicking noise.

My location is:

MALONE, NY 12953
United States

Latitude: 44.837 N
Longitude: 74.257 W

I set the motor for latitude 44, and I set the dish for an elevation of 22.

What am I doing wrong?

 

[SatelliteAV]

I would update the Fortec Star Mercury II firmware to the latest version. The earlier firmware had a difficult Signal Level indicator. The Signal Level would hover between 1 - 4% unless the receiver was on the correct satellite and all of the receiver parameters were correct. On the newer firmware, the Signal Level will indicate 40 - 50% if connected to a functioning LNBF and then relect higher if aimed at the correct satellite and the receiver parameters are correct.

I would suggest that until you become familiar with the system that you take the motor and the DiSEqC out of the setup and confirm that you have the receiver programmed correctly you understand the operation of the receiver and the components are working.

Once you have a few hours of fixed dish operation, then move into the advanced usage.

Your true south satellite is SBS6.

Connect the receiver directly to the L port on the Invacom QPH-031

Place your receiver on Satellite SBS6
LNBF Type Standard - 10750
TP freq. 11741 / Horizontal / Symbol Rate 6616

I have attached below, the aiming coordinates from GeoSatFinder.com for your southern satellite location SBS6. Aim the dish using these coordinates.

Once you find and peak the Quality Reading, press the Yellow button to scan for the Free to Air channel "Ohio News" Sit back relax and enjoy the moment. Sight down the LNBF arm and note where the arm is aimed. This is your approximate true south for your location.

Now that you have a channel scanned in and you know that the LNBF and receiver are working, turn off the receiver Master Power and mount the dish on the motor and connect the receiver to the Motor and the motor directly to the L port of the Invacom QPH-031.

Power up the receiver and enter the Installation Menu. Turn the Positioner on to USALS and press OK. Enter your Longitude and Latitude. Press Menu to return to previous page. The motor should have slightly moved. Exit and place your receiver on Channel 1 "Ohio News" and Press the SIG button.

Place the motor latitude on 44.8 and the Dish angle to 22

Pan the motor slightly left or right on the mounting post, pointing the LNBF arm at the same direction that you had noted earlier . If the Signal Quality does jump up and stabilize and the "Ohio News" channel doesn't appear, increase or decrease the dish elevation angle by one degree and sweep the small area of the horizon again. Repeat the panning motions while increasing or decreasing the elevation in one degree increments. You may have to go 5 or more degrees higher or lower to find the signal. Once you find the Quality Signal reading and peak, reward yourself by pressing the Power Scan button and scanning for all of the other back haul feeds that might be broadcasting.

When the scan is complete and you have watched some interesting unedited news feeds on some of the occasional use transponders, Turn off the Master Power switch and connect the DiSEqC switch. Place L on input 2 and C on input 1. Connect the receiver to the switch then turn on the Master Power switch.

Go back into the Installation Menu and with satellite SBS6 and Transponder 11741 selected, set the Switch to DiSEqC 1.0 and the Port to 2. Does the Signal Quality show good Quality? I.E is "Ohio News" still come in? If not, is the Signal Level 0 or 47 (with new firmware). If 0, there is no connection to the LNBF. If 47% there is a connection to the LNBF but the switch may be bad or the motor is not passing the DiSEqC commands. Exit and save the DiSEqC setting.

If there is no Signal Quality, Turn off the Receiver Master Power and bypass the motor. Turn the Master Power back on. Is "Ohio News" coming in? Press the SIG button. If the channel is coming in, the motor might not be passing the DiSEqC commands to the switch. If the channel is not coming in, is the Signal Level 0 or 47 (with new firmware). If 0, there is no connection to the LNBF. If 47% there is a connection to the LNBF but the switch may be bad.

Hope that this helps!

 

[GMFreak8]

I would update the Fortec Star Mercury II firmware to the latest version. The earlier firmware had a difficult Signal Level indicator. The Signal Level would hover between 1 - 4% unless the receiver was on the correct satellite and all of the receiver parameters were correct. On the newer firmware, the Signal Level will indicate 40 - 50% if connected to a functioning LNBF and then relect higher if aimed at the correct satellite and the receiver parameters are correct.

I would suggest that until you become familiar with the system that you take the motor and the DiSEqC out of the setup and confirm that you have the receiver programmed correctly you understand the operation of the receiver and the components are working.

Once you have a few hours of fixed dish operation, then move into the advanced usage.

Your true south satellite is SBS6.

Connect the receiver directly to the L port on the Invacom QPH-031

Place your receiver on Satellite SBS6
LNBF Type Standard - 10750
TP freq. 11741 / Horizontal / Symbol Rate 6616

I have attached below, the aiming coordinates from GeoSatFinder.com for your southern satellite location SBS6. Aim the dish using these coordinates.

Once you find and peak the Quality Reading, press the Yellow button to scan for the Free to Air channel "Ohio News" Sit back relax and enjoy the moment. Sight down the LNBF arm and note where the arm is aimed. This is your approximate true south for your location.

Now that you have a channel scanned in and you know that the LNBF and receiver are working, turn off the receiver Master Power and mount the dish on the motor and connect the receiver to the Motor and the motor directly to the L port of the Invacom QPH-031.

Power up the receiver and enter the Installation Menu. Turn the Positioner on to USALS and press OK. Enter your Longitude and Latitude. Press Menu to return to previous page. The motor should have slightly moved. Exit and place your receiver on Channel 1 "Ohio News" and Press the SIG button.

Place the motor latitude on 44.8 and the Dish angle to 22

Pan the motor slightly left or right on the mounting post, pointing the LNBF arm at the same direction that you had noted earlier . If the Signal Quality does jump up and stabilize and the "Ohio News" channel doesn't appear, increase or decrease the dish elevation angle by one degree and sweep the small area of the horizon again. Repeat the panning motions while increasing or decreasing the elevation in one degree increments. You may have to go 5 or more degrees higher or lower to find the signal. Once you find the Quality Signal reading and peak, reward yourself by pressing the Power Scan button and scanning for all of the other back haul feeds that might be broadcasting.

When the scan is complete and you have watched some interesting unedited news feeds on some of the occasional use transponders, Turn off the Master Power switch and connect the DiSEqC switch. Place L on input 2 and C on input 1. Connect the receiver to the switch then turn on the Master Power switch.

Go back into the Installation Menu and with satellite SBS6 and Transponder 11741 selected, set the Switch to DiSEqC 1.0 and the Port to 2. Does the Signal Quality show good Quality? I.E is "Ohio News" still come in? If not, is the Signal Level 0 or 47 (with new firmware). If 0, there is no connection to the LNBF. If 47% there is a connection to the LNBF but the switch may be bad or the motor is not passing the DiSEqC commands. Exit and save the DiSEqC setting.

If there is no Signal Quality, Turn off the Receiver Master Power and bypass the motor. Turn the Master Power back on. Is "Ohio News" coming in? Press the SIG button. If the channel is coming in, the motor might not be passing the DiSEqC commands to the switch. If the channel is not coming in, is the Signal Level 0 or 47 (with new firmware). If 0, there is no connection to the LNBF. If 47% there is a connection to the LNBF but the switch may be bad.

Hope that this helps!

Thanks for the detailed explanation. I'm gonna update the firmware and play around with the dish using the information you provided and see if I get anywhere. I'll report back in a bit. Thanks again.

 

[GMFreak8]

I got the quality at about 27% now, and the signal strength was hovering around 80%. I think I'm closing in.

 

[GMFreak8]

OK, why does the signal quality show 28% when in usals mode, but just in the antenna setup, the signal quality is 0% - 1%? It doesn't make sense to me. One minute I think I'm getting somewhere, the next I'm not.

 

[GMFreak8]

Well I managed somehow to get the signal quality to about 67%, and was able to pull in Ohio News Now on SBS6, but the signal disappeared as soon as it came. Stupid me went out and screwed with the dish, and now I can't get the signal back again. I guess I'll take a break and play with it again tomorrow.

 

[SatelliteAV]

Really can't add any advice at this point. Are you are set up on a motor or fixed, DiSEqC or direct connection, C or L LNBF connection, etc?

 

[GMFreak8]

Really can't add any advice at this point. Are you are set up on a motor or fixed, DiSEqC or direct connection, C or L LNBF connection, etc?

Still set up on the motor. I didn't feel like taking it apart last night. It's all directly connected, bypassing the switch, but still going to the motor. It's the Linear LNBF connection.

 

[gabshere]

your doing a good job if you already found ONN and it was on the motor. if you can get back to that point and tweak it you will be spot on. some people it takes several hours and even days before getting frustrated and asking so your well ahead of the game

as you have found small adjustments on a live transponder usually works best , i perfer being out at the dish with a small tv so they can be made on the spot.

keep it up your almost there

 

[GMFreak8]

your doing a good job if you already found ONN and it was on the motor. if you can get back to that point and tweak it you will be spot on. some people it takes several hours and even days before getting frustrated and asking so your well ahead of the game

as you have found small adjustments on a live transponder usually works best , i perfer being out at the dish with a small tv so they can be made on the spot.

keep it up your almost there

Well I got the signal quality on SBS6 to hover around 50% spiking to 57% every so often, but I can't seem to get it in any better. Plus whenever I move the motor to a different satellite, the signal quality goes back to the 20s. Does that mean I'm off plum somewhere?

I've got my cordless phone on room monitor and I'm listening to the tone of the signal meter on the tv to see where I am. I come up and check occasionally or have someone in the room also to tell me the quality. The signal level is decent at 82% steady, but the quality I just can't seem to get about 50% now. Is it possible that I'll never be able to get a higher quality reading on SBS6 because I'm so far north?

Thanks for the encouragement and tips.

 

[GMFreak8]

Edit: This is great, watching some news reporter at live earth. Exactly why I got this.

Well I seem to be able to get channels on a few of the satellites in the arc, spread out from each other, so that should mean I'm on the arc, correct? I'm still playing around with the settings, so it may be for the satellites I can't get anything on, I have to do a scan, and set everything correctly.

I still haven't been able to get a signal quality of over 67% though on any satellite.

 

[GMFreak8]

Does anyone know what an acceptable quality level is on the Mercury? I can get 70% on one transponder on SBS6, but all the other satellites and a few transponders on SBS6 don't get above 45% quality. The signal level hovers around 82% constantly though.

 

[gabshere]

well if you are getting channels on several different sats then at least your close

do you know which satellites your receiving .

Is it possible that I'll never be able to get a higher quality reading on SBS6 because I'm so far north?

you should get a above aveerage signal like i do with a small dish. but my small dish is down now and its setup as a stationary until i get a new motor.
when it was getting ONN signal level was 97% and signal level quality was 81% on a coolsat and primestar 1 meter dish.

i can tell you this :
even though you checked and your pole is perfectly plum you also have to mount the motor level with the bracket . since you are getting several sats then it must be close.

you can try this since sbs6 isn't reading that great move it to one of the other sats that has a channel that you founf and try to tweak the dish to that channel then move and see if it gets the other satellite channel you found. then go back to sbs6 and see if ONN is better,

 

[GMFreak8]

well if you are getting channels on several different sats then at least your close

do you know which satellites your receiving .


you should get a above aveerage signal like i do with a small dish. but my small dish is down now and its setup as a stationary until i get a new motor.
when it was getting ONN signal level was 97% and signal level quality was 81% on a coolsat and primestar 1 meter dish.

i can tell you this :
even though you checked and your pole is perfectly plum you also have to mount the motor level with the bracket . since you are getting several sats then it must be close.

you can try this since sbs6 isn't reading that great move it to one of the other sats that has a channel that you founf and try to tweak the dish to that channel then move and see if it gets the other satellite channel you found. then go back to sbs6 and see if ONN is better,

SBS6, AMC5,Galaxy 25, galaxy 3C and I know there are a few others, but that's all I can recall.

I'm getting a signal level of around 85% and a overall signal quality of 50% on SBS6. It seems no matter what direction I move the dish in, I can't get any higher, it just goes down.

How can I make sure to mount the motor level to the bracket, and what bracket is this? Also how can I be sure that the dish is perfectly aligned on the motor shaft? I tried to look at the pictures on sadoun, but I can't click to enlarge them.

I can take the level, and the bubble is pretty much right in the middle. It may be off a little bit, but a very very little bit. It's driving me insane. I think I got it, yet I don't.

I appreciate any information or tips you can give me.

 

[GMFreak8]

I need encouragement!! I just can not lock onto a friggin satellite. Not even a Dishnetwork one. If I do, I only get some of the transponders in that are supposed to be active and live. I have gone plum crazy and made sure everything is straight and on the level. I've got the dish mounted right at the bottom of the motor arm as to make sure it's the same level as the motor. I can't even lock onto SBS6 and get ONN anymore. I wish I had my camera, maybe if I took pictures you guys would see something I'm doing wrong. I'm about ready to take the dish and use it as a frisbee.

 

[SatelliteAV]

Why not get to know your receiver without the extra effort of struggling with a motor? There are so many variables with switches and motors, I would suggest that you start basic and when you are comfortable with the operation of the receiver, start adding accessories.

When you are trying the Dish Network 119W for the free TV and Radio channels, are you remembering to connect to the C port on the LNBF and change your LO from 10750 to 11250 so you can receive the circular polarity signals?


The following information is used to correctly align your satellite dish installed in MALONE, NY United States to receive signal from the EchoStar 7 (119.0 W) satellite.

Compass Reading: 248.1 deg.
Dish Elevation: 22.2 deg.



A 100cm dish should have pretty good gain. Each satellite, transponder and where you are located in the footprint will affect the Signal level and Quality. Example Quality reading: A Mercury II with a 90cm GEOSATpro in Northern California on Galaxy 25 TP12177 will read approx 85% and on TP 11966 reads 60%

Try performing a Factory Reset on the receiver and try aiming for SBS6 without the motor. Follow the instructions provided earlier in this thread.

 

[GMFreak8]

Why not get to know your receiver without the extra effort of struggling with a motor? There are so many variables with switches and motors, I would suggest that you start basic and when you are comfortable with the operation of the receiver, start adding accessories.

When you are trying the Dish Network 119W for the free TV and Radio channels, are you remembering to connect to the C port on the LNBF and change your LO from 10750 to 11250 so you can receive the circular polarity signals?


The following information is used to correctly align your satellite dish installed in MALONE, NY United States to receive signal from the EchoStar 7 (119.0 W) satellite.

Compass Reading: 248.1 deg.
Dish Elevation: 22.2 deg.



A 100cm dish should have pretty good gain. Each satellite, transponder and where you are located in the footprint will affect the Signal level and Quality. Example Quality reading: A Mercury II with a 90cm GEOSATpro in Northern California on Galaxy 25 TP12177 will read approx 85% and on TP 11966 reads 60%

Try performing a Factory Reset on the receiver and try aiming for SBS6 without the motor. Follow the instructions provided earlier in this thread.

I know I should probably try without a motor, but I had to hire someone to hoist the dish up and help me install the pole, because I have nobody else capable of doing it. I can't just take it down and start over. So I guess I'm stuck going the complicated way. I've made everything plum and I've locked onto a 60% signal quality on SBS6 on 11741/H/6616. I'm scanning to see what else it can pick up. I'm capable of getting a signal, but I just can't seem to get the quality readings very high.

 

[GMFreak8]

Anyone in upstate new york want to help me point this damn thing? :