no luck with motor so far

[LoneShark]

without the motor I seem to be ok with aiming to some of satellites, just not having any luck when I install the Digipower SG2100. I have been all over the place with elevations, azimuths etc. I have been going over alot of material and some places have different settings from each other. If anyone could be kind enough to tell me all the numbers I need, I would be greatful (elevation, azimuth, declination (what is that? etc.).

My latitude is 38.7763 and longitude is 77.5693

I have a FortecStar 80cm dish, Digipower SG2100 motor, Classic NA reciever.

I believe my true south should be at around 193 and satellite AMC5 at 79 degrees

When I point to the TS satellite, my numbers are completely different than what sat finder tells me (45.1). I am not sure what I am doing wrong. Any insight would be wonderful. Seems I might have to start from square 1.

 

[PSB]

Motor Elevation = 51º

Dish on Motor Elelvation = 24º

You are right about AMC-5 being close to true south, why not try SBS6 next as its just slightly off your true south setting. If you use USALS it will not be an issue!

 

[LoneShark]

Since my satellite (79) is a couple of degrees off of my longitude (77), should I be pointing my motor to 77 and move the dish over to 79?

 

[PSB]

You should set the motor to "0" enter your Lat and Long in the antenna setup screen, the motor will move slightly. ONLY then do you want to move the whole dish/motor assembly to catch the satellite signal. The dish elevation may well have to be moved to peak the signal but the motor elevation should never be moved!


http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=50257

 

[mastermesh]

MAKE SURE YOUR POST IS PLUMB... i.e. take a level out there, preferably a small one (you can get them at wal-mart, etc), and make darn sure the bubble is smack dab in the middle, testing both n/s, e/w, and any other way you want to position it... because if the pole is not right, the motor won't track the arc correctly...

Once you finally do get the thing going on true south, you will probably need to do some adjusting for the other satellites in the arc. Having just spent from about 7:30-around 2:30 putting up my motor and dish yesterday, I sympathize with you. First couple of hours I was accidentally looking for ia5 but should have looked for ia6... then I tracked the arc, got it all going, and realized that the pole was not plumb, so I had all of the east ok but the west was off... so I redid the pole, adjusted like crazy to get true south again, and then tweaked on both east and west (I tweaked on weak signals on g10 + on the the satellite that has ONN, as well as a few others, including Amazonas).

First thing, find a strong tp on the satellite in question. Mounting without the motor may be a good idea, so that you can get a good idea of where the satellite is, and can mark the pole so that you can get the general vicinity easy with the motor. I mark my pole with a china marker... it's a special grease pencil type of thing that you can get at office supply places - it can be used on glass, cars, etc. but also on satellite dish poles. Since it's a grease/wax based pencil, it's markings resist water (i.e. rain), so the markings should stay around for months so long as you don't rub them off. Also makes a nice water resist in water color paintings if you are in to that sort of stuff. After you get the signal in the receiver, go and put the motor on. Adjust to find the signal as needed. I usually set my motor's elevation to where it's suppossed to do and do the fine tuning in the dish's elevation on the motor's pole. That way, you don't have as much weight to adjust for fine tuning. Make sure that your lnb is pretty much stright up and down since true souths are usually 45 degrees or so. Then start tracking the satellites.. make signals strong as you can on the weaker signals. G10 is good for that on one side of the arc because it's signals are so weak on some tps. Then do the other side. Slightest little bump or misplacement of lnb could throw you off. Take your time, and work on it til you get it. Hopefully, you aren't doing it all on the roof on a 90+ degree day like I've been known to do before.

 

[GaryPen]

Is it possible that elavation and latitude numbers are being confused in terms of setting up the motor? In my case, I was supposed to set my motor's elevation to the actual LATITUDE of my location. The scale on the motor's brackat was LATITUDE, and needed to match my LATITUDE number. (37, in my case.) Unfortunately, I initially set it to the ELEVATION specified in SatFinder (46). Additionally, once I changed it to 37, I inadvertantly misread the scale on the bracket, and set it to what I thought was 37, but was another number.

I decided to setup the dish temporarily with the motor, before going back to the motor. I was able to easily locate G10 (my TS sat). I marked the direction, reinstalled the dish with the motor with correct settings, and was easily able to hone in on G10, knowing where to point.

So, double-check what type of number you are supposed to enter (latitude or elevation - it should actually say on the bracket). And, make sure that little arrow mark is pointed at the correct number on the bracket scale.

PS. What is the 45.1 number you mention? Azimuth, Elevation, or sat position?

 

[PSB]

I have the Moteck SG2100 and it has ELEVATION on one side and LATITUDE on the other. Have a look at the picture below for the elevation marks........

The below motor is set at 45º I am lucky as both my Elevation and Latitude are the same

 

[GaryPen]

I have the Moteck SG2100 and it has ELEVATION on one side and LATITUDE on the other. Have a look at the picture below for the elevation marks........

Even more confusing for a novice. It's so much easier to just make it "latitude" on both sides. (Of course, mine was like that, but I f-ed it up anyway, being used to setting elevation on sationary dishes.)

 

[PSB]

I personally think its a great idea to have one side marked ELEVATION and the other LATITUDE as it helps people better understand the angles that they are dealing with when setting up a motor. The more information the better (IMHO)

 

[LoneShark]

PS. What is the 45.1 number you mention? Azimuth, Elevation, or sat position?

Gary,
According to Satfinder that is the elevation for AMC5 (my TS sat) from my location.

PSB, where did you find 51° to be my motor elevation. I would like to know the source so that I can use that as well for future references.

 

[PSB]

Gary,
According to Satfinder that is the elevation for AMC5 (my TS sat) from my location.

PSB, where did you find 51° to be my motor elevation. I would like to know the source so that I can use that as well for future references.

I used page 7 of the Moteck SG2100 manual!

Can also be seen here..........



http://www.dmsiusa.com/documents/SG2100 easy manual.pdf

 

[GaryPen]

Gary,
According to Satfinder that is the elevation for AMC5 (my TS sat) from my location.

PSB, where did you find 51° to be my motor elevation. I would like to know the source so that I can use that as well for future references.

What does it say on both sides of your motor bracket? Does it say Latitude on both sides, Elevation on both sides, or Latitude on one side and Elevation on the other?

If it says Latitude on one or both sides, just set that for 38, or whatever you said your latitude was. Then, look in your motor manual, and see what you should set the dish elevation for. (For my lat of 37, the dish elevation was 24, when used with a motor.)

Of course, without a motor, you just set the dish elevation for whatever it says in SatFinder. Piece of cake. But, it is easy to confuse non-motor and motor setup procedures. I did the same thing myself just a couple of days ago, even with tons of expert advice from here.

Also, make sure to set the LNB skew to 0, in a motorized setup. The angle of the motor arm automatically adjusts skew as it sweeps across the sky.

Recap:
-Mark the direction that your dish was pointed when you succesfully locked into your TS sat without the motor. Then, remove the dish, and re-install with motor.
-Check both sides of the motor bracket for the word Latitude. One the side where it says Latitude, set it for your actual Latitude, not elevation. Then, set your dish elevation to whatever the dish manual recommends for your latuitude. (24?)
-Go into motorized setup screen for your TS sat. Choose USALS. Enter your latitude and longitude in the "satellite location" field. Move the motor to 0. (It may say "move to reference" or something like that.) Then, choose "go to satellite", or whatever your receiver's wording is, to move the motor to your TS sat's position.
-Go out to the dish, and point it to where you marked. Then, move it in tiny increments, 1/8" at a time, for a few inches in either direction. You should get some quality at some point. Try sweeping back and forth in that manner 2 or 3 times, if you don't get it on the 1st sweep.
-If you get some quality, move it back and forth a hair at a time until you get your highest quality. Then, bolt the motor tight to tha mast, so it won't rotate.
-Loosen the elevation bolts on the dish slighlty, and move it up and down, a hair at a time, until you get your best number. Then, lock it down. Do a blind scan (also called Power Scan) to make sure the channels and TP's match the sat you were aiming for.
-Once you know you're locked on the right bird, you can go in to each satellite's setup screen, and set for proper LNB type and frequency. Then, go into the motorized setup screen for each sat you want, set it for USALS, and do a blind scan.

At least that's how it worked for me. And, I just did it a couple days ago, so it's fresh in my mind. I hope it'll work for you.