Newbie Troubles

[themango69]

Lak -

I did exactly what you said, but I'm afraid to do anything else at this point because after I hooked up everything like you said - the quality is showing 0 again - even for Tuner2 (which I assume is the one I have to be checking on). Is this expected?

If not, I will have to go up there and play around again as this thing is absolutely picky about where it has to be to the fraction of a inch.

 

[Lak7]

Forgot to mention you need to set your Switch setting for Nimiq2(for all Circular Sats for that matter)

In the Dish Setting for each Circular Sat(anything names Nimiq and Echostar) you now need to set:
DiSEqC - Port 2

All other Sats:
DiSEqC - Port 1

 

[themango69]

Hmm, that didn't work as expected.

So, let me aska few questions ahead of time to make sure I know which is which. When I am in the menu for USALS - it gives me option to "Go to Reference" or "Go to Satellite"...what is the difference between these?

The next question I have is, it shows Tuner1 and Tuner2 to select in Dish Select - do I need to worry about selecting these because I am using only one cable in and a loop through?

I actually tried both settings for moving to satellite you mentioned, but it did not give me any quality and the signal was weak. I then thought that I could select the original options of Nimiq2 and telling it to move here too - but now the Signal strength is 27 and quality at 0. It doesn't seem to be exactly what it needs to be at the moment.

Any thoughts to what is going on?

 

[Lak7]

Go to Ref = Go to "Zero" on motor.
Go to Sat = "Drives" to Sat

Focus on "Turner" 1 for now.

If your Signal Strength has dropped, switch settings probably not correct.
Nimiq2 - DiSEqC = Port 2

 

[themango69]

I'll have to get back up there tomorrow and bring tv back up and watch it move back and forth when I do the motor settings. I had trouble getting it any higher than 48 for Quality although I saw 70+ several times but could not get it to remain on that. I know one setting must be off a bit so I will need to work at this until I get the 70. I'll update tomorrow once I have that. Thanks for all your help today Lak.

 

[satcom1]

Hey Mango,

Sounds like your making some progress. Now that you got your dish put back together, you should take a small level "torpedo Level" at Sears. put iit on the back of the motor bracket vertical and level. Then place the level across the top mounting lugs of the motor and check level there. It must be really level and plumb or your motor will not track properly. Make sure your Latitude is locked in and your dish elevation is very close to 25 degrees.

If you look very closely at my dish picture above you can just make out the two 3/4" conduit pipes I installed to stiffen the dish bracket. First good Tropical Storm and your dish will be in the Atlantic.

 

[delta_charlie]

Both the Nimiq Sats are ment for Canada, subscription only no need to worry about the scan failing.
Take your time and get the Highest Quality on Nimiq2, then it's time to add the Motor and Switch.
Power Off(unplug or switch in back) the Receiver before connecting any Switch!!!!!!!!

Receiver--------------Motor----------------Switch Port 1---------------------"L" LNB
.........................................................................\----Port 2----------------------"C" LNB
---cut---

Hi Lak and the group, correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the switch an extra option that would only be needed if one wanted to continue using the Circular LNB.

As a beginner myself I found setting up the switch to be just a little confusing. I got it working fine but I think it may add too much complexity at this point.

What about simply hooking the coax cable to on of the L ports and forget about the switch for now.

Even better would be to hook up a 6 foot or so section of coax to L port 2 and the coax that runs into the house to L port 1. Then you can use the short coax to help tune the dish with the tv and receiver near by and then go inside the house and hook up the receiver without unscrewing the coax from the LNB. My LNB is not easy to reach so this really helped me and I found no difference in the signal between L 1 and L 2.

Hope this helps, DC

 

[themango69]

Ok I got back up there today and tested the motor and it was not moving as I expected when plugged in with configuration that Lak gave me. I then just set it up kind of like how Delta was talking about.

Receiver Tuner 1 ----- Motor ------ LNB C port
Receiver Tuner2 ---- LNB L Port

So, with this configuration I have to be set on Tuner1 to move the motor (as I expected) and then I can switch back to Tuner2 to see if I have any signal. With this setup, I am still unable to get any Quality while moving to 74W. What is odd, is that the motor actually moves WEST when it is going there --- I am at 82W and was previously at 61.5W and it was to the left (EAST) of 82W....so shouldn't the motor be moving in between these 2 or am I being blonde here?

I resituated everything so that it looks level now with the level that I have at the house. It is not where I can just barely move it up and it goes from 50quality to around 70max - but I can't seem to get the dish to stay in that position. This possibly could effect the end goal, but not sure if it will or not as I can't get it to stay there. An odd thing is that my elevation on dish when hitting Nimiq 2 is actually around 29/30 instead of 25 as we expected.


I'll await thoughts of you guys before proceeding.

 

[themango69]

Hmmmm...my suspiciions are true!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I thought that the motor was moving in the wrong direction and when I was up there playing some more....I changed to Tuner 1 and it said 100% quality!!! And above it, it showed Nimiq1,3 and so I went up and looked at that and sure enough - it was at 91W. So, the motor is moving in the wrong direction somehow.....please tell me I didn't put something on backwards as I can't see how I could've done this (being sarcastic a little)....is there maybe a backwards switch somewhere like they have in video games? Lol

Getting there gang!

 

[themango69]

I had thought that possibly if I tricked the system into making it East instead of west in USALS that possibly it would turn the right way. If I set it like this, the satellite doesn't move at all. If I set it to the correct lat/long - it only moves West for some reason. If I tell it to hit 91W or 74W it still goes WEST when these should obviously be 2 different directions!

Does anyone know why it would be doing this or seen this before?

 

[Lak7]

Be sure to be using only Tuner 1 and try Echostar 3 @ 61.5 west

Do NOT use Tuner 2!!!!! Wait until later.

Circular Sats - DiSEqC =Port 2
Linear Sats - DiSEqC = Port 1

 

[themango69]

Ok this is how I have it configured now:

Receiver Tuner 1 ----- Motor ------ LNB L port
Receiver Tuner2 ---- LNB C Port


I am not using the DiSEqC switch at all, do I have to or can I just test the above setup without it?

Right now, no matter what I do with storing 82 as my due south it is always moving the dish to the right (WEST) which is wrong. I am putting location 74W and 61.5W and it continously moves to the wrong direction. Why in the world would it be doing this?

Lak - would there be any way that I could call you while I am up there so I can see if there is something that you could tell me to check while i'm up there rather than having to come back and forth? It's ok if not able to, just asking.

 

[Lak7]

You probably need to set the USALS Long / Lat for each tuner.
But I would only use Tuner 1, until you are proficient using the receiver, keep it simple.
Now just focus on the "L"inear sats.

 

[themango69]

Ok I'm going to plug in just one port like I had before and have it go to L port instead with 0 set as 82W. I will see if it will move the satellite now, but last I tried the motor was not moving anything except manual moves so I'm worried now.

 

[Lak7]

Remember that you will not get Quality on Nimiq2(it's circular)
Double check you settings for Tuner 1:
Sat - 74west (what ever name they have)
LNB Type - Standard or Single
LNB Freq - 10750
Motor - USALS (re-check Long / Lat info)

Let the receiver try for 74west

 

[themango69]

Yea I made sure before unplugging everything that with C plugged in I was still at approximately 50 quality (meaning I was hitting it). I then plugged it in as I stated above. From doing this, I tried to move motor but now it won't move. It says "moving to sat position" but it never even tries. I can manually move using button and I can tell the motor to move east/west by receiver but it won't try to move to degree I tell it to. I manually tried to drive it east to hit 74W, but I got no luck in hitting it.

I did recheck Lat/Long and it it set correctly - 28.6N, 81.5W (rounded up since they were both at 8 on 2nd decimal place).

It was trying to move previously (although the wrong way), but now it won't move at all doing "scan to satellite". Any thoughts on this and why I cannot hit a FTA satellite to save my life? If I wanted scrambled satellite I would be ok as I've hit about 5 of those lol

 

[Lak7]

Are you saying the Motor only moves when connected to the "C" port?

 

[themango69]

That's what I've seen so far. I didn't change the port back and quickly test so I haven't been able to prove that but if it doesn't rain tonight I will test it. I had to stop working becuase it is like 100 degrees up on the roof and me and receiver are both burning up so I will wait until nighttime to do this work. I'm trying to get as many suggestions/ideas as possible so that when tonite i'm up there I can try everything.

 

[red2grass]

Themango,

I have not read thru this thread but it should not take that much trouble and more than 100 messages even for a newbie to install a system. There are basically too many variables: receiver settings, motor, switch etc. If you put all of them at once without any prior FTA experience, it is going to be extremely hard and confusing. Here is my suggestion to start out simple:
1. remove the motor and switch, just do a fixed installation first.
2. Pick a satellite close to your true south (not necessarily true south) with a known strong transponder and unscrambled video.
3. Try to lock on that frequency and get real video (not scrambled video) with good signal quality.
If you can get this far, it eliminates lots of variables. It means your dish is good, your dish assembly is correct, you receiver settings are right, your coax cable is good...
4. Now put back the motor, MAKE SURE THE MAST IS PLUMB! Set the motor elevation and dish declination angle according to the calculator
5. Set your correct lat/longitude in the receiver under USALS. Set the USALS for the sat you did the fixed installation. Tune to the channel you locked during the fixed installation and the motor should drive to the correct location.
6. More likely than not, you won't get any signal quality at this point. Sweep the motor and the dish together around your true south. If you get signal lock, very good. If not, move the motor elevation angle 1 degree up from the initial setting. Try the sweep again. If still no lock, move the motor elevation angle 1 degree down from the initial settings. Sweep the azimuth angle again. Repeat this process (moving the motor elevation further away from the initial setting in both directions) until you get the signal lock.

Hope this helps. Good Luck!

I'll have to get back up there tomorrow and bring tv back up and watch it move back and forth when I do the motor settings. I had trouble getting it any higher than 48 for Quality although I saw 70+ several times but could not get it to remain on that. I know one setting must be off a bit so I will need to work at this until I get the 70. I'll update tomorrow once I have that. Thanks for all your help today Lak.

 

[Lak7]

Here's what i would do to simplify things.
On the Back of the Receiver, remove the "jumper" cable for Tuner 2.
This will give you a clean shot....
Receiver-----------Motor-------------LNB "C" Port
Double check that you have the Cables correctly connected to the Motor, it matters.
At the LNB, connect to the "C" port.
Using USALS, try for Nimiq2(82 west), if you get quality, then try Nimiq1,3(91west - Dish moves to the west) - if you get quality, then try EchoStar3(61.5 west- dish moves to the East) if you get quality, select Galaxy17 @ 74 west(what ever its called) watch the dish to make sure it moves. After it stops, Power Off the receiver and connect to the "L" port on the LNB and Power On the receiver.
Receiver-----------Motor-------------LNB "L" Port