need help! finally started my install.no success
- Thread starter outbackjack
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Replies 59
- Views 6K
- Status
thanks guys i will give it a shot again. probably missed something i will check the vpid and apid.
don't give up if you hit a black screen on those channels at 12055>sometimes they are in commercial breaks and a black screen is all you see. But rarely is all 4 channels that way.
Keep tweakin!
Keep tweakin!
finally got 72w True south channels but nothing else
Okay first of all thank you guys for all the help. I am learning a lot. Where I am now stumped is I have the NBC channels at my true south sat. I alligned the motor to true south and moved using diseq 1.2 to 72w and locked. All other sats are saved as diseq also. my motor is at 45-46 deg and the elev of the dish is at 33-34 degree setting. But nothing else comes in. No close sats at all to even tell if i am above or below the arc for the further sats like 97w. not sure what to mess with now the motor or dish elev. the other issue i have is how do i add sats to the coolsat that arent already loaded like 83w or 95 ku. i couldnt find anything on adding sats just tps.
Okay first of all thank you guys for all the help. I am learning a lot. Where I am now stumped is I have the NBC channels at my true south sat. I alligned the motor to true south and moved using diseq 1.2 to 72w and locked. All other sats are saved as diseq also. my motor is at 45-46 deg and the elev of the dish is at 33-34 degree setting. But nothing else comes in. No close sats at all to even tell if i am above or below the arc for the further sats like 97w. not sure what to mess with now the motor or dish elev. the other issue i have is how do i add sats to the coolsat that arent already loaded like 83w or 95 ku. i couldnt find anything on adding sats just tps.
Ohio News Network is right next door to where you are now-at 74W on Horizon2, check and see if you have a satellite in your list at 74degreesW. If so, you may already have the transponder info in your receiver. If you can 'bump' your dish west 2 degrees you should be able to scan in ONN. Try 11716H 6617SR, that's from memory, you can find it on The List, top of page also. Its usually a strong signal unless its stormy in Ohio.
From post one, your longitude is -68.7759°
Unless you locked on a 69 degree west true south satellite at reference point, I think you need to use DiSEqC1.3/USALS to point the dish to 72 ºW to zero in on TS.
Unless you locked on a 69 degree west true south satellite at reference point, I think you need to use DiSEqC1.3/USALS to point the dish to 72 ºW to zero in on TS.
Turbosat i had no luck with 74. i will measure the focal tomorrow cause i have the lnb at pushed back as far as it can go but i have been reading that could be off. i read the dish needs 24 inch to the focal point. Quapoharry I locked with diseq but should I now switch to usals and relock 72? would usals provide a better scan of the arc for all the sats? that is where I am confused on whether to use usals or diseq
I would suggest that parallel parking while blind folded and you wife giving directions would be easier than installing a motor using DiSEqC 1.2.
LOL!!!!I completely agree with guapoharry. Using DiSEqC 1.2 to align a dish is extremely difficult for a novice installer.
Too much emphasis is placed on the mysterious and legendary True South!
- Set the motor Latitude Scale to match your location latitude.
- Set the dish Elevation Angle to the setting specified in the motor manual
- Generally aim the dish towards true south while the motor is in the Zero (0) position then
- Use the USALS function to drive the motor to 72W (not DiSEqC 1.2)
Fine tune the dish Elevation Angle and /or the motor mount on the pole to peak the Signal Quality reading. You will most likely determine that the motor and the dish elevation angle were not set correctly and the additional satellites will now accurately track as you use USALS to move the dish from satellite to satellite.
Last edited:
Yes SatelliteAV i agree I think that is where i messed up i remember now i used usals to get 72 then i changed everything to diseq and have been trying to use that since. the weird thing is if i am at 72 and try to drive the motor towards lower sats like 50 it goes towards 97. but if i try 30w it moves in the right direction. this has been after 2 manual resets. but i did have the different sats marked as usals and some as diseq. man i think i am blindfolded to confused but i have used the basic settings of 196w for trues south. 46 deg on motor and 33 deg on dish
I think that is where i messed up i remember now i used usals to get 72 then i changed everything to diseq and have been trying to use that since. the weird thing is if i am at 72 and try to drive the motor towards lower sats like 50 it goes towards 97. but if i try 30w it moves in the right direction. this has been after 2 manual resets. but i did have the different sats marked as usals and some as diseq. man i think i am blindfolded to confused but i have used the basic settings of 196w for trues south. 46 deg on motor and 33 deg on dish
Changed title now get some sats but arc is off need advice please
Once again you guys have been great! i have been learning a lot. i finally locked 72w 61.5 and 79w. but i had to used diseq. i have had no luck with usals because i am off the arc. where my trouble lies is what Radar recommended i look at the diagram for the arc. it says my declination is to low. i didnt want to over think what to mess with and screw everything up so i will ask the pros. which do i mess with if i now get only my true south and the next closest sats to match the arc? is it the motor latitude go up and the sat elev go down or the other way around? my 3-5 hour a day messing with this because of my interest has caused my girlfriend to get really frustrated but the learning experience has been to much fun. im hooked
Once again you guys have been great! i have been learning a lot. i finally locked 72w 61.5 and 79w. but i had to used diseq. i have had no luck with usals because i am off the arc. where my trouble lies is what Radar recommended i look at the diagram for the arc. it says my declination is to low. i didnt want to over think what to mess with and screw everything up so i will ask the pros. which do i mess with if i now get only my true south and the next closest sats to match the arc? is it the motor latitude go up and the sat elev go down or the other way around? my 3-5 hour a day messing with this because of my interest has caused my girlfriend to get really frustrated
but the learning experience has been to much fun. im hookedUse USALS, to drive to your True South Sat. Double check that your Motor is set to your Latitude, adjust Dish Elevation to peak signal, adjust Azimuth to peak signal, and re-check Dish Elevation.
Have USALS drive to another Sat, check signal.
Determine if you are aiming Above or Below your target.
Outback,
As Lak7 and I and several others have stated, don't use DiSEqC 1.2 to position your motor. Use the USALS function, it is much easier.
When using USALS, ensure that your entries for your latitude and longitude coordinates are accurate for your site and entered in the proper lines and that your longitude shows W and not E and your latitude shows N and not S.
Now that you have located 72.0°W, you are in a much better situation. With your motor set to the proper latitude and your site coordinates entered properly and accurately in the USALS menu, you must be very close with your dish elevation and your azimuth positioning of the whole assembly on your mast.
From this point, you should monitor the signal from the TPs on 72.0°W and tweak your dish elevation and entire assembly azimuth aiming.
When you do this "tweaking", you should have a portable TV and your receiver right out at the dish with you so that you can watch the signal quality first hand and directly.
With your Coolsat 6000, you don't want to use the DISH SETTING menu to align your dish and motor. You want to use either the MOTOR SETTING MENU or the MANUAL SCAN MENU to do this. The reason for this is that in the DISH SETTING menu, the receiver only looks at the very first TP listed in the receiver to display the signal level and quality from. This TP may not be the TP that you want to use to align with. Using the MOTOR SETTING or the MANUAL SCAN menus will allow you to scroll through the list of TPs in the receiver's memory so that you can select the TP that you want to monitor. On 72.0°W, use the 12.055 V 6890 SR TP.
Now that you have your portable equipment out at the dish and your receiver set to monitor this satellite and TP, stand behind the dish and grasp the outside edges of the dish with both hands (like a steering wheel). Very gently pull/push the dish just slightly left/right or up/down. Make sure you use very little pressure when doing this, you don't want to move or bend anything, the slightest amount of pressure will tell you what you need to know. Observe the signal quality as you do this. When you see the signal quality increase, note which direction you were moving the dish. Stop and loosen the mounting bolts for that axis and move the dish elevation or the whole assembly's azimuth in that direction just slightly. Move only one axis at a time and then doublecheck your results. Take your time with this and readjust as needed.
Eventually you will have 72.0°W perfectly calibrated.
The next step will be to test the rest of the satellites on the arc. Don't be surprised if they are not tracked perfectly at this point and that further adjustments are required. This is typical for a first time installation. Obviously, this sounds like you will be defeating your initial alignment work on 72.0°W, but you will need to understand that not all the satellites and TPs are really that perfect and neither is your dish and your motor. It is therefore required for you to "comprimise" in order to get the entire arc to dial in with a motorized dish.
With a single, fixed point dish, you can align to the maximum signal on most all of the TPs from that satellite. However, when aligning a motorized dish, things are not quite that nice. You might have to sacrifice a bit of signal quality on one satellite to get a few others to come in. You will never get every satellite to come in with 98%+ signal quality on a motorized dish, but if you spend a lot of time with it, you might get a majority of the sats to come in with SQ in the mid to high 80's.
What I am trying to tell you is, when you get to the point of trying to track the whole arc, don't be greedy and try to get the maximum possible signal quality on any one satellite as that will inevitably reduce the quality on a number of other satellites.
There are several approaches to calibrate your motorized dish to the arc. Everyone of them require dedication, time, persistance and patience.
1] Start with your nearest true south satellite and work your way to both ends of the arc a little at a time, back and forth, making the finest (smallest) adjustments necessary to just get the signal fairly well above the threshold of the receiver. In your case, with the Coolsat 6000, this is roughly 63%, so try for something in the mid 70's to mid 80's to begin with. Then start all over from the center (true south) and work your way back out to each end of the arc once again.
2] Start at your nearest true south satellite and go as far east as you can and still pick up a satellite and fine adjust your dish elevation. Then drive your dish as far west as you can and still detect a satellite and fine adjust your azimuth. Then go back and forth, east/adjust dish elevation - west/adjust azimuth, over and over again until you reach the furthest points on your arc, then repeat as necessary. In this approach, it does not matter which axis you adjust on either side of true south, just as long as you always adjust that one axis on that side of the arc and the other axis on the opposite side of the arc.
These are just two calibration methods that you can try when you get to that point.
RADAR
As Lak7 and I and several others have stated, don't use DiSEqC 1.2 to position your motor. Use the USALS function, it is much easier.
When using USALS, ensure that your entries for your latitude and longitude coordinates are accurate for your site and entered in the proper lines and that your longitude shows W and not E and your latitude shows N and not S.
Now that you have located 72.0°W, you are in a much better situation. With your motor set to the proper latitude and your site coordinates entered properly and accurately in the USALS menu, you must be very close with your dish elevation and your azimuth positioning of the whole assembly on your mast.
From this point, you should monitor the signal from the TPs on 72.0°W and tweak your dish elevation and entire assembly azimuth aiming.
When you do this "tweaking", you should have a portable TV and your receiver right out at the dish with you so that you can watch the signal quality first hand and directly.
With your Coolsat 6000, you don't want to use the DISH SETTING menu to align your dish and motor. You want to use either the MOTOR SETTING MENU or the MANUAL SCAN MENU to do this. The reason for this is that in the DISH SETTING menu, the receiver only looks at the very first TP listed in the receiver to display the signal level and quality from. This TP may not be the TP that you want to use to align with. Using the MOTOR SETTING or the MANUAL SCAN menus will allow you to scroll through the list of TPs in the receiver's memory so that you can select the TP that you want to monitor. On 72.0°W, use the 12.055 V 6890 SR TP.
Now that you have your portable equipment out at the dish and your receiver set to monitor this satellite and TP, stand behind the dish and grasp the outside edges of the dish with both hands (like a steering wheel). Very gently pull/push the dish just slightly left/right or up/down. Make sure you use very little pressure when doing this, you don't want to move or bend anything, the slightest amount of pressure will tell you what you need to know. Observe the signal quality as you do this. When you see the signal quality increase, note which direction you were moving the dish. Stop and loosen the mounting bolts for that axis and move the dish elevation or the whole assembly's azimuth in that direction just slightly. Move only one axis at a time and then doublecheck your results. Take your time with this and readjust as needed.
Eventually you will have 72.0°W perfectly calibrated.
The next step will be to test the rest of the satellites on the arc. Don't be surprised if they are not tracked perfectly at this point and that further adjustments are required. This is typical for a first time installation. Obviously, this sounds like you will be defeating your initial alignment work on 72.0°W, but you will need to understand that not all the satellites and TPs are really that perfect and neither is your dish and your motor. It is therefore required for you to "comprimise" in order to get the entire arc to dial in with a motorized dish.
With a single, fixed point dish, you can align to the maximum signal on most all of the TPs from that satellite. However, when aligning a motorized dish, things are not quite that nice. You might have to sacrifice a bit of signal quality on one satellite to get a few others to come in. You will never get every satellite to come in with 98%+ signal quality on a motorized dish, but if you spend a lot of time with it, you might get a majority of the sats to come in with SQ in the mid to high 80's.
What I am trying to tell you is, when you get to the point of trying to track the whole arc, don't be greedy and try to get the maximum possible signal quality on any one satellite as that will inevitably reduce the quality on a number of other satellites.
There are several approaches to calibrate your motorized dish to the arc. Everyone of them require dedication, time, persistance and patience.
1] Start with your nearest true south satellite and work your way to both ends of the arc a little at a time, back and forth, making the finest (smallest) adjustments necessary to just get the signal fairly well above the threshold of the receiver. In your case, with the Coolsat 6000, this is roughly 63%, so try for something in the mid 70's to mid 80's to begin with. Then start all over from the center (true south) and work your way back out to each end of the arc once again.
2] Start at your nearest true south satellite and go as far east as you can and still pick up a satellite and fine adjust your dish elevation. Then drive your dish as far west as you can and still detect a satellite and fine adjust your azimuth. Then go back and forth, east/adjust dish elevation - west/adjust azimuth, over and over again until you reach the furthest points on your arc, then repeat as necessary. In this approach, it does not matter which axis you adjust on either side of true south, just as long as you always adjust that one axis on that side of the arc and the other axis on the opposite side of the arc.
These are just two calibration methods that you can try when you get to that point.
RADAR
Lak 7 and Radar i am going to be doing just what you guys said tomorow. i have the dish motored to 72w but i moved the dish over to set 72w (it wasnt on usals 72w but off a couple deg). in other words i knew where the true south was but usals was a couple degrees off so i moved the dish and not the motor so i am off the arc. i am plumb lining true south where it is locked from the dish to the ground. then putting the motor at true south drive the dish with the motor from 0 to 72 w and then i will try to line up where the plumb line marking is on the ground for 72w. then i should be able to tweak that and other sats from that point. i hope this is the right step to really align true south and my nearest true south sat. i finally got to see an anchorman before they went live and i loved it. he was cursing and such which i would never see on a scripted broadcast.
I like when they do colorful things like that.
Or when they primp and fuss over looks.
Or when they talk on the phone...
It is mundane usually, but you see a jewel from time to time...
Or when they primp and fuss over looks.
Or when they talk on the phone...
It is mundane usually, but you see a jewel from time to time...
again thanks guys for all the help. right now i used the plumb line and lined 72w up and managed to get another sat 83w with usals. i watched tuff tv and retro!!! awesome. but thats as far as i can go cause the rain started. i will take picks of the setup as i continue my work on it. i noticed the ground is so soft that i had to go and pull the pole back (so more concrete is needed despite 80lb bag used). my ques is if retro comes in at 70 is that the best most people get with the dish i have. once i mess with the more east and west sats i wanted a qual level to go by for the tougher ones like retro. thanks guys!!!
I think you should get a higher number than 70 with RTV. I have a 33in dish and I am getting RTV right now with 88 quality. I am in NY
Quality will depend on type of receiver you have!My sat hawk reads near 65 and my Neusat around 70.Here in Ct
okay so between 70-80 would be good if i use what Radar says to not try to peak any sat but try to get the useable amount for each one when scanning. Thanks guys i will see what happens tom when i go to my further sats.
- Status
Similar threads
