need help.....getting a quality but not much

[outbackjack]

okay. i posted before and have had great help from everyone here. my problem is i switched to a universal ku lnb to make things simpler. my l.o.s. was crap so tonight the dish went to the roof where direct once was. i plumbed and mounted dish just fine. here comes my inexperience. i still couldnt lock 97w with no avail. everything was set properly for my location. i did notice from moving the dish slowly from right to left a signal strength of 30 percent for 107 and 111 anik. i tried moving the lat to get it better but no good. i moved the lnb slowly but still at 30 percent. how close would you guys think i am getting to locking onto a real sat? is it better to just get a motor and find the true south and let the motor do the rest? in maine my window is closing for good weather on the roof. so i want to go with the best poss outcome in the shortest time until spring comes. again thanks for all the help in the past and in the future.

 

[SatelliteAV]

okay. i posted before and have had great help from everyone here. my problem is i switched to a universal ku lnb to make things simpler.

What is the dish elevation setting? What is the dish azimuth (compass) setting? What is the LNBF skew setting (standing in front oof the dish looking into the reflector + is counter clockwise and - is clockwise). Have you set the receiver's LNB LO frequency to match your new Universal type 9750/10600 and placed the 22KHz either on 22Hz ON or Auto? Selected a strong active transponder like 12177 or 11836? Make sure taht you have a small TV up near the dish so you can continually monitor the Signal Quality readings.

I would not recommend installing a motor until you have installed the dish for a fixed satellite. Motors will only add one more level of difficulty.

 

[turbosat]

Outback, once you set your info in the sat receiver, like satAV said, and set the "skew" of your lnbf you should be able to find 97W. Also, you didn't mention how you're doing this, if you have help or if you brought the receiver/tv up on the roof so you can see results as you search. The elevation scale on your dish may or may not be very accurate so remember to adjust the dish up and down a few degrees from what is shown on the dishpointer sites for your location. I found that on one dish I have, the elevation scale was off by nearly 10degrees! Takes patience to find that first signal but once you do, it'll all fall into place.

 

[outbackjack]

thanks SatAv and turbosat for the info. i will wait on the motor. my settings are 31.5 skew, 234.3 azimuth (magnetic) and lnb skew is +25.6. i set the skew behind the lnb (counterclockwise). i set the azimuth by compass at 234 and the the skew at 31.5. the pole is plumb the settings for the lnb were at 9750/10600 with 22khz on auto. i tried 12177 and 11836 and both i couldnt get any better than 0-31 percent. i moved the skew very slowly up and down all the way and nothing better and also moved the dish horizontally and it dropped to the 0-7 percent range. i was on the roof with a tv and the receiver to see everything while i adjusted but nothing. i'm not sure what else to do. i tried for 2 hours and nothing i tried anik 111 and 107 and nothing better either. any other ideas because i'm lost.

 

[Lak7]

Possible Warped Dish?
"Eyeball" the Rim of the Dish, or give it the String Test.

 

[turbosat]

Sometimes it takes a while to hit that first satellite. It might be easier if you haven't done this before, to pick a satellite closest to your longitude, where you can just aim the dish toward the south, trying to find that satellite. Set skew to zero when the dish is pointed south. You can use the List , here, top of page, to find your true south sat, and enter an active transponder for it. Might be easier to find, for your first time, and give you an idea of what you have to do to hit it.
It does take patience.

 

[concord]

Not sure about your WSI dish, but the elevation marks on my Fortec dish were a few degrees off, so don't forget to adjust up and down also. Make small changes left/right and up/down, pausing a few seconds between moves. I found that having an inline meter helped to find the sat. Be patient. Good luck.

 

[outbackjack]

thanks guys for the help. turbosat i never even thought of the true south alignment. i will give that a shot. in the next couple days. we have rain coming once again i will let you guys know how it goes. thanks again.

 

[outbackjack]

i thought i would add that i just got a sf95kl meter from sadoun so that might help a bit. and my true south is 68.8w. is this a strong bird for the meter to get?

 

[Lak7]

72west is going to be the closest Sat to hit.

One thing about that signal Meter, is that it will indicate any strong signal. Including the very powerfull DishNet Sats that are close by. It does not matter how you have the receiver set up.

 

[turbosat]

Outback you will surely find something soon. Aim your dish south with the compass , and put this satellite transponder info into your receiver. (This channel is on 74W which won't be far from your south-pointed dish) Check for Horizon2 in your sat list, if it isn't there, add it, then enter this transponder in that satellite's list : 11734 horizontal symbol rate 6616. That should help you find a signal, Ohio News Network, and it is a very strong signal. Check this site for correct elevation for that satellite for your location:
Satellite Look Angles Satellite Heading Calculator Azimuth Elevation Skew Tilt LNBF Latitude and Longitude values
Then just turn the dish slowly west on the pole and watch for signal activity on your rec.
I use that one all the time to locate a signal if I'm aiming a new dish. Good luck.

 

[outbackjack]

i wanted to say thanks again for all the help. you guys have been great here. i wanted to ask and let you know that I finally got 97w for a couple channels. i was so thrilled to see those lights go green. i was able to get 63 percent for tp 11867 (i hope i remember correctly). i waited on a sat meter from Sadoun. the meter was more frustration at first because im new to this. it did get me in the right direction and i finally got to see how it takes very little movement to lock a tp. my only thing is i can lock a couple tp's on 97w but not the whole satellite no matter what i do. what else beside movement am i missing? does a stationary dish lock all tp's for one sat? reason i ask is i was able to lock other tp's if moved upwards but i would loose 11867. is there one tp for 97w that will lock all the tps? this is the part i am cornfused about.

 

[turbosat]

You have several different factors to consider, with a fixed dish its basically, azimuth (east/west), elevation, and skew. The dishpointer sites should give you skew for that satellite if you enter your location, and the other parameters too. Think of looking through a gunsight and putting something in the crosshairs, you're doing that with your dish. If you're a little low or high, or to the east or west too far, you may get some of the transponders but not all of them. I've done that before, and been able to get some tps of vertical or horizontal but not both,until I tweaked out the aiming just right.
Provided your dish pole is perfectly plumb as you can get it, and the skew is right and no obstructions between dish and satellite, you should get it right eventually. It can get tedious.

 

[1ADAM12]

If you are trying to setup a mini-bud. It is going to be a lot of work.

If your LNBF is a DMX741U c/ku, the Ku performance is poor.

This LNBF is designed for a prime focus dish.

Most of these LNBF wind up on the shelf.

Did you get the WS conical scalar?

 

[outbackjack]

your right turbosat it can get tedious. i was locking the one tp and as soon as i tightened the screws the dish would drop a hair and it was lost. i played this dance for a half hour. i do have trees that are high but i think it is more of an adjustment because i could lock the other tps when i moved it a hair. the meter i put to the side of the dish and it kept locking sats but when i went inside nothing. the meter would also spike if i got near it. i was getting to many false reads so i finally brought out the tv and receiver. it has been fun to say the least. i want to get a motor asap. so this week i will be trying to get as many sats a poss by manually aiming them so i can get ready for the transition.

 

[outbackjack]

1Adam12 i did get the dmx741 with the conical but i took it off and i am learning with a pearl edition universal lnb. i hope to switch to the dmx at a later date once i am used to the dish or in the spring when i put up the 1.2 meter i have in the garage