New to the game... no idea what to do.

[clueless]

Pardon me for my ignorance, I'm a noob to satellite systems and the like.

I'm trying to aim a dish at the AMC-3 satellite to get FTA programming. My dish is a Multistar AT90-1 (90 cm) dish and I have a single Ku LNBF (Model: ASC321)

All I have to go by is the following information:

Azimuth: 190.9024
Elevation: 39.03071
Polarity: Vertical
Orbital Location: 87 deg. West

I have no idea what to do with this information, or what all this means. I'm in Toronto, Canada, and have a full view of the western sky and a partial view of the southern sky.

In addition, the polarization for the LNB is supposed to be vertical, but I have no way of telling whether my LNB is oriented the proper way. Shouldn't there be a mark on it telling me if its vertical or not?

Can anyone please help?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Shawn95GT]

Hopefully this will get moved over to the FTA forum.

You'll need Line of sight to South-South West. Your numbers you posted look about right. You need to correct the azmuth for magnetic deviation. My guess is that you're looking at about 203 on a compass. You'll also need to skew the LNB or dish around 9° clockwise.

Azmuth - the direction to point the dish. That number you posted appears to me to be 'true' vs. magnetic.
Elevation is set on the dish (how high it points). There is usually an elevation scale on the dish.
Polarity / frequency / etc are all settings for your receiver.

 

[clueless]

Thanks Shawn95GT.

I think I follow what you're saying. After I posted, I decided to research Azimuth and Elevation and found them to mean the direction and height respectively to which to point the dish. I'm guessing then that the "87 deg. West" information is irrelevant, when pointing a dish, if I already know the azimuth and elevation values.

It's all clear, except one thing: what do you mean by "skew the LNB or dish around 39° clockwise".

Also, how do I know what polarity my LNB is set at? I've seen pictures of LNB's where there's a mark on the LNB indicating which way to orient the LNB in order for it to be vertical or horizontal. My LNB has no markings on it whatsoever, so at the moment I have no idea if its vertical or horizontal.

Lastly, when it comes to elevation, is simply setting 39° on the elevation scale enough, or do I need to account for the slope of the ground as well?

Please forgive all the seemingly ignorant questions. I've never had to point a dish before. All your help is highly appreciated.

 

[Shawn95GT]

Thanks Shawn95GT.

I think I follow what you're saying. After I posted, I decided to research Azimuth and Elevation and found them to mean the direction and height respectively to which to point the dish. I'm guessing then that the "87 deg. West" information is irrelevant, when pointing a dish, if I already know the azimuth and elevation values.

It's all clear, except one thing: what do you mean by "skew the LNB or dish around 39° clockwise".

Also, how do I know what polarity my LNB is set at? I've seen pictures of LNB's where there's a mark on the LNB indicating which way to orient the LNB in order for it to be vertical or horizontal. My LNB has no markings on it whatsoever, so at the moment I have no idea if its vertical or horizontal.

Lastly, when it comes to elevation, is simply setting 39° on the elevation scale enough, or do I need to account for the slope of the ground as well?

Please forgive all the seemingly ignorant questions. I've never had to point a dish before. All your help is highly appreciated.

Skew is easier than it sounds .

Basicly, with the LNB straight up and down, that's '0'. The LNB just clamps to the dish's arm in most cases so all you need to do is loosen the clamp and rotate the LNB it the clamp. 9° (clockwise) will will be about right for you but you can eyeball it. Once you get some kind of signal you can fine tune the skew to where you get the best signal.

I said 39 before - sorry about that. It was late and I read the wrong coulmn in the calculator . I'll fix my previous post to avoid confusion.

Shawn

 

[LER]

moved to FTA, where it belongs.

 

[raydio]

Hey Shawn...new avatar - nice

 

[Shawn95GT]

Hey Shawn...new avatar - nice

Hehe - thanks. When it's all done I want to do another animated one. This dish REALLY lays over almost straight up and down at 45w. It's tracking 45w-135w now. I get a hint of signal over at 137 but my trees are blocking half the dish there.

I need to trim my trees :dev .

Shawn

 

[clueless]

Thanks for all your advice Shawn95GT. I think, however, that I may not be able to use a dish after all. I've tried everything, with no luck. I went out and bought a compass, so I could get the azimuth down to the degree. I have the elevation correct too. Still, no signal from the AMC-3 bird.

I think the problem is that I live in front of a line of trees that's blocking the path to the satellite. I just assumed that I'd be able to use the dish, since my neighbours all have dishes, but I see now that their views aren't being blocked the way mine is. In addition, this grouping of trees is quite dense. Unfortunately, however, they are not on my property so I can't do anything about them.

Is this the end then for me and satellite systems?

 

[barney_555]

I have a Multistar 36in also. The elevation gauge on the side of the mount is not precise. Try to set your azimuth with your compass and after tune an active transponder in your receiver. After, adjust your elevation slowly, watching the quality bar graph.

Don't give up, once you have done it 1 time, it becomes easy and fun !

 

[Shawn95GT]

LOS to the South is what you need. 39° is pretty high up in the sky so it may just be a matter of finding a spot on your property where you can get LOS. For some getting the dish up on the roof does the trick. For me, locating the dish along the North edge of my property and having it shoot South over mine and my neighbor's two story houses makes it happen .

61.5 is real low for me (23° or so). This is my LOS to it:



91 is higher in the sky for me (45°ish) and I'm able to shoot over my house:




Shawn