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Well if someone on here knows a strong transponder on 78w im guessing that will be close to your true south satellite based on my guess work from your information you provided. if KE4EST jumps in he might be the source for helping you with your southern satellite. in the list that has strong transponders it shows 83.0 °W (AMC 9) 11840 H 26666 or 11900 V 30000 has a strong signal in the general direction of your true south. So if it were me id zero the motor, eyeball south with a compass (or use dishpointer and any reference points in the direction it shows true south) and move the dish to whatever satellite winds up being closest to your true south, and move the elevation of the dish up and down till you get a reading then peak it from there. Then once you get that as good as you can get it move the dish to the east or west twards the end of the arc and see if you can pick up one of those satellites and if you need to peak the dish some more. I was able to make a crude jig to set my compass on and affix to my motor to get my true south. Once i had elevation set i only had to bump the whole assembly a little bit to peak the signal. im still using the setup and pick up every satellite ive aimed at on the arc. Maybe i got lucky I dont know.


Well it's turning out to be a bigger job than I had anticipated. I need to look at the KE4EST document again and make sure everything is set up right. I have a hole in my motor mount but the dish isn't going through it. In fact it's just in some random position. So I need to fix that too because the furthest the dish will go down is 10 degrees, and I need to be somewhere around 5. This is proving to be a good weekend project for sure!!
 
Well if someone on here knows a strong transponder on 78w im guessing that will be close to your true south satellite based on my guess work from your information you provided. if KE4EST jumps in he might be the source for helping you with your southern satellite. in the list that has strong transponders it shows 83.0 °W (AMC 9) 11840 H 26666 or 11900 V 30000 has a strong signal in the general direction of your true south. So if it were me id zero the motor, eyeball south with a compass (or use dishpointer and any reference points in the direction it shows true south) and move the dish to whatever satellite winds up being closest to your true south, and move the elevation of the dish up and down till you get a reading then peak it from there. Then once you get that as good as you can get it move the dish to the east or west twards the end of the arc and see if you can pick up one of those satellites and if you need to peak the dish some more. I was able to make a crude jig to set my compass on and affix to my motor to get my true south. Once i had elevation set i only had to bump the whole assembly a little bit to peak the signal. im still using the setup and pick up every satellite ive aimed at on the arc. Maybe i got lucky I dont know.


....And if KE4EST jumps in maybe I can catch him down on 80... hihi... :)
 
Well it's turning out to be a bigger job than I had anticipated. I need to look at the KE4EST document again and make sure everything is set up right. I have a hole in my motor mount but the dish isn't going through it. In fact it's just in some random position. So I need to fix that too because the furthest the dish will go down is 10 degrees, and I need to be somewhere around 5. This is proving to be a good weekend project for sure!!

Never have seen a motor install that the dish elevation was set at 5 degrees. I believe that the assembly is wrong. What motor brand and model are you installing?

Could you attach a few photos of the motor/dish mount and the motor gift box?

Usually, the motor latitude scale is set to your location latitude and the dish elevation is set to an angle between 20-30 degrees based on your location latitude (chart in back of motor manual).

What is your location? Zip code or Longitude /Latitude?
 
Never have seen a motor install that the dish elevation was set at 5 degrees. I believe that the assembly is wrong. What motor brand and model are you installing?

Could you attach a few photos of the motor/dish mount and the motor gift box?

Usually, the motor latitude scale is set to your location latitude and the dish elevation is set to an angle between 20-30 degrees based on your location latitude (chart in back of motor manual).

What is your location? Zip code or Longitude /Latitude?

I tried uploading a pic, but it didn't work- I uploaded to picpaste instead- http://picpaste.com/dish-27Pl7dCb.jpg

36" Azureshine dish with STAB HH-90 motor.

zip is 27601

What do you think is wrong. From what I read this is a pretty common setup- (which is why I bought it!)
 
you are missing part of your dish bracket, im not where i can take a pic to show you my setup but the part that actually slides on the pole is missing.
 
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you are missing part of your dish bracket, im not where i can take a pic to show you my setup but the part that actually slides on the pole is missing.

What pole? It is attached to the pole in the ground, and to the motor mount.
 
What pole? It is attached to the pole in the ground, and to the motor mount.

oh wait. nevermind- yes this was the picture I took yesterday when I first set it up. You're right. I know what you mean- I have it corrected now. but I'm not sure if I have it setup with the right A or B hole now though. I took a picture of it late last night and I can't find it now.
 
Place the clamp on the motor post, align hole stamped with the "A" with the hole in the motor post, slide the butterfly elevation bracket over the clamp, insert the throughbolt through the holes in the butterfly bracket/clamp/motor post. Finger tighten the nut. Insert the two carriage bolts through the clamp/butterfly elevation scale slots, install washers and finger tighten the nuts.

Reference the motor manual and set the motor elevation angle to the correct angle. Reference the motor manual and set the dish elevation scale, page 83 (on the "A" scale to the correct angle (you will see the white edge maker to the left edge of the elevation nut on the "A" scale.
 
Thanks for the photos. Easier to see what is going on. The motor and dish mount are both assembled correctly. The motor latitude appears incorrectly set at 30 degress, but your latitude is 35.77. The dish elevation setting appears to be set at approximately 27 degrees, but the Stab HH90 instructions indicate that the angle should be approximately 39 degrees.
 
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Been out on service calls, looks like I missed a bunch.
Titanium is correct, 39° sounds right for your area. Mine is set on 41°.
 
Looked at the pics, your motor looks wrong also. Set the motor to 35 and a half.

EDIT: Looked at the calculation, it comes out to 35.8 so set it closer or on 36 for your Zip Code.
 
Looked at the pics, your motor looks wrong also. Set the motor to 35 and a half.

EDIT: Looked at the calculation, it comes out to 35.8 so set it closer or on 36 for your Zip Code.


Thank you all so much for all the help. I'm out of work tonight at 6. I can't wait to try this all out! One question though. What is the benefit of starting out pointing at the satellite closest to south? Why not set it for Galaxy 19 at 97 west and blind scan there? That way you know all the channels are active? And if starting at south is a must. How do I get the motor back to Zero? And I had another question. How in the world can you tell that the dish elevation is at 27 degrees from that picture? There must be a mark on the screw you are looking at to get that number. To me it looks like it could be anywhere from 22 to 35....
 
Go back and read my instructions. You don't have to start at the nearest south satellite to look for signal and I rarely do that myself. You DO though need to get the whole motor/dish assembly aimed close to true south so you have a good starting point. Once you have that done and you have your proper Lat and Long set up in your receiver. Then you can go in your receiver set-up menu select 97W Ku and make sure it is set for USALS and the dish will move to where 97W is supposed to be. Then the rest is up to you. If the motor elevation is set at 36 and the dish is set on 39. You should be able to slowly move the WHOLE motor and dish on the pole left and right and hit the bird. I would use the 12115 transponder. Once there then touch of the signal by adjusting the dish elevation, DO NOT TOUCH the motor elevation. If no signal at first raise you elevation a 1/2 a degree and try again and again. If you get up to around 44 degs then go back to 39 and drop a 1/2 at a time. I doubt that will happen though if you follow this and my guide, you will already have hit the bird before then. :) Just make sure the LNBF skew is on 0°.
 
The benefit of aiming for a satellite near the top of the arc is that it may be easier to locate. Be sure to have the LNBF skew set to "0" when the dish is aimed at the motor "0" position. With that said, I would probably aim for another satellite. 95w would be my choice as the CCTV channels are very strong and easy to find (11780 H 20760). There is no need to return the satellite motor to the "0" position. I would highly recommend that the STB install menu motor setting be selected to USALS and enter your Longitude and Latitude. The motor will automatically rotate to the calculated position.

27601.jpg

After the motor moves to the USALS calculated position for Galaxy 3C 99w, the motor bracket and body will be aimed at true south - compass reading: 193 and the dish will be roughly aimed at compass reading: 223. Identify a landmark in the distance that aligns with compass reading 223. This will be a reference when aiming the dish to receive the 99w satellite (Galaxy 3C). With the STB on transponder 11780 H 20760, SLOWLY pan the motor on the pole east and west 10-15 degrees on either side of the landmark. If no Signal Quality reading appears on the receiver's meter, increase or decrease the dish elevation in one degree increments and SLOWly repeat the panning motion will observing the Signal Quality reading.

Edit: KE4EST beat me to the post. His directions are also good...
 
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Go back and read my instructions. You don't have to start at the nearest south satellite to look for signal and I rarely do that myself. You DO though need to get the whole motor/dish assembly aimed close to true south so you have a good starting point. Once you have that done and you have your proper Lat and Long set up in your receiver. Then you can go in your receiver set-up menu select 97W Ku and make sure it is set for USALS and the dish will move to where 97W is supposed to be. Then the rest is up to you. If the motor elevation is set at 36 and the dish is set on 39. You should be able to slowly move the WHOLE motor and dish on the pole left and right and hit the bird. I would use the 12115 transponder. Once there then touch of the signal by adjusting the dish elevation, DO NOT TOUCH the motor elevation. If no signal at first raise you elevation a 1/2 a degree and try again and again. If you get up to around 44 degs then go back to 39 and drop a 1/2 at a time. I doubt that will happen though if you follow this and my guide, you will already have hit the bird before then. :) Just make sure the LNBF skew is on 0°.


That is a great explanation! Thank you very much! I will be trying it in an hour and a half at a new location closer to my house where I will be able to use 100 feet of RG-6 Coax so hopefully the receiver doesn't reboot when rotating the dish.

Thanks again!
 
For future reference, the satellite you found with Reuters and the Chinese/Taiwanese (not Japanese) stations was 113W.
 
Thank you all so much for all the help. I'm out of work tonight at 6. I can't wait to try this all out! One question though. What is the benefit of starting out pointing at the satellite closest to south? Why not set it for Galaxy 19 at 97 west and blind scan there? That way you know all the channels are active? And if starting at south is a must. How do I get the motor back to Zero? And I had another question. How in the world can you tell that the dish elevation is at 27 degrees from that picture? There must be a mark on the screw you are looking at to get that number. To me it looks like it could be anywhere from 22 to 35....

I like to start with peaking satellite closest to south then satellites closer to the ends of the arc for fine tuning, but thats just how we used to do it with sat uplinks in Iraq. of course this is a whole different deal here but i thought the principal would remain the same, and it did work for me when i set my first one up. but titanium and KE4EST have a lot more experience with this equipment and this hobby so i would sure defer to what they say.
 
Hey guys. I've been trying this all morning with no results. X2 m1 receiver is getting as high as 86 signal with 40 quality but never locks on (blue/yellow) I reset the receiver and everything. I've the the motor set to usals galaxy 19. I'm using ku band only and it appears 95w is c band only? Someone recommended that satellite. I've done plenty of blind scans and it never once found a channel. Very frustrating. Any ideas?!

Sent from my SM-G900V using the SatelliteGuys app!
 
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