Newbe to FTA Satellite

[belfner]

Good morning. My name is Bryan and I have recently developed an entire head of grey hair... trying to set up this dish, motor, and receiver. I am using a 30in dish, GTMedia G7 + receiver, LNB is universal 10750. I have it mounted on the side of my house and after installing the motor, pointed to south. I am using a G8 Finder and when that dies, I use my TV and the GTMedia receiver. I have done many projects in my lifetime, including building an off grid solar system for my home, construction work (very handy with hammer, screws, wood, and drywall), IT build. and support for healthcare, but this satellite stuff has me totally perplexed.

Her is a for instance: 97W Galaxy 19 was not listed as an available satellite in my receiver. So I added it. I added Galaxy 19 97W as the name, put in 097.00W for longitude, I have my LNB freq set to Universal (9750-10600), DiSEqC1.0 and 1.1. disabled, 22K set to auto, LNB power set to auto, and motor set up set to DiSEqC1.2 (which is where my brain really starts coming apart). In the motor set up screen, I have my new satellite I created listed, I have Transponnder set to 12152 H 20000. Then, I have Goto X, West, Save, East, and Recalculation. The dish has an elevation of 39 degrees, per DishPointer.com for my area. I even used the map on DishPointer and picked out geographical landmarks in the distance to guide me to 210.3 for true west (Or should I be using mag N at 221.7?). The only thing I have not adjusted yet is the skew on the LNB that looks like it should be 22 degrees (turning clockwise). Should the LNP be pushed all the way forward in the mounting bracket, in the middle, or all the way back?

I have tried to use USALS for my motor, but I keep getting "Out of Range", which I believe is a limitation when using USALS and the sweep it is able to use. I am using a STAB HH 90 motor/rotor. I did notice yesterday, the way I have my dish mounted to the motor looks suspicious. The mounting bracket for the LNP on the back of the dish will not let me really adjust the tilt of the dish so I had to loosen the nuts on the motor side and elevate my dish, but I am sure this is going to cause further problems down the road when I try to pull in other feeds. I am including pictures of my dish setup as well as my TV screens on the antenna set up screens.

At this point, I am thinking to skip the motor and go back to manual macro adjustments, and then micro adjustments to at least pick something up and making me feel like I understand a little bit of something. I believe all my issues are around, of course, pointing the dish and getting the correct elevation and the correct skew on the LNB. But at this point, I believe I am loosing the battle and decided to post here as some of your discussions have actually helped me a great deal. I have been working on this for the past 4 weeks, and my wife thinks I am full of BS with this whole FTA satellite setup. I would like to convince her, it will be worth it when she sees that it does work and I can finish cutting my "cable" cord to Sling.

Any and all assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for assisting this novice to FTA satellites fulfill his dream hobby.
Bryan

 

[comfortably_numb]

10750 is standard, not universal. So your LNB setting in the receiver should be for standard- 10750.

 

[belfner]

10750 is standard, not universal. So your LNB setting in the receiver should be for standard- 10750.

So, on the receiver menu, I just want to select "10750" and not one of the universal ones with 10750 listed in it? And thanks for that quick response!

 

[comfortably_numb]

So, on the receiver menu, I just want to select "10750" and not one of the universal ones with 10750 listed in it? And thanks for that quick response!

The range you said your receiver shows for 9750-10600 is not used in the US, so yes, you need to chance the starting LO to 10750 in the receiver.

 

[Brct203]

The range you said your receiver shows for 9750-10600 is not used in the US, so yes, you need to chance the starting LO to 10750 in the receiver.

I respectfully disagree - That range is very much used if you have a universal LNBF, and those are not a rarity in North America... What matters is that the setting in the receiver matches the type of LNBF being used

In this case, the OP mentioned a "Universal 10750" LNB, which is contradictory in itself. So the first step here should be to clarify what that LNBF is, and what LO it uses.

Belfner, can you clarify the brand/model of that LNB?

 

[comfortably_numb]

I respectfully disagree - That range is very much used if you have a universal LNBF

I guess I meant the main American satellites don't use that range. I realize some of the international birds that can be received in the US use it, but for the satellite he's trying to receive (97) a Standard is fine. I agree that we need to establish what LO his LNB is using.

 

[swyman18]

Bryan, I was in a similar situation about a month ago when I decided to get my feet wet with this hobby. I would recommend trying first without the motor and lock in on your first satellite in order to get a feel for how everything works. Then maybe try the motor later on.

As I’m sure you’ve noticed, it is very easy to get overwhelmed. I found that after spending a day or two tweaking and making changes, I needed to step away for a day or so to absorb and make sense of what I’ve learned.

 

[comfortably_numb]

Bryan, I was in a similar situation about a month ago when I decided to get my feet wet with this hobby. I would recommend trying first without the motor and lock in on your first satellite in order to get a feel for how everything works. Then maybe try the motor later on.

As I’m sure you’ve noticed, it is very easy to get overwhelmed. I found that after spending a day or two tweaking and making changes, I needed to step away for a day or so to absorb and make sense of what I’ve learned.

Absolutely- lock the desired satellite first, then try the motor later. I don't use any motors at all- 4 stationary dishes here.

 

[Jim S.]

USALS should be easier to set up than DiSEqC 1.2 if you're doing it right. Assuming that 97W is above the horizon where you live, you shouldn't be getting an "out of range" message. I can only assume that you haven't set your latitude and longitude correctly in the USALS settings.

 

[Titanium]

Agree with swyman 18 and Comfortably_numb. Find your first satellite using a fixed dish (not mounted on a motor). Be sure to rotate the Skew (LNBF rotation) to the correct setting when not mounting on a motor.

Agree with Jim S. Use USALS for the motor setting. If USALS is showing out of range, either the satellite orbital location or the install location's Longitude setting is not correctly saved. Some STBs require western longitudes to be entered as a negative (i.e. -097.00 for 97w).

 

[Cham]

@belfner

Guess you have to make a few more posts before you are able to post the pictures. Would like to see them. Find the specs on your LNBF too for us to help determine issues.
I have a GTMedia receiver too, I found it difficult to porgram. Really strange it didn't have 97w Ku already programmed. Did you input some transponder frequencies for 97W? 12115 H 22000 3/4 dvb-s is a good one to use for aiming.
-C.