I still do not think that I can use USALS because I do not have many of the popular satellites in memory (83 for RTV).
I think my best option is to manually move the dish slightly west (1 degree) and save/ lock on amc 5 @ 79. Then move it to 72 and try for NBC then to 125 for PBS - manually saving posistions as I go. Then go back and fill in the missing ones inbetween after peaking the dish.
Does this sound like a reasonable way to approach this? I can not find the RS232 cable and would have to find a copy af channelmaster to update the sat list. As mentioned before, when I manually enter a new sateliite, I can not enter a degree posistion. I would hope that this way would work also.
Thanks again for your help - I hope to try this on Sunday.
Steve
Steve,
You certainly can utilize USALS, even though many of the satellites are NOT listed in your receiver's list. You simply need to manually add them to your lineup. This is usually not too difficult, but you have to research the specific instructions for your specific receiver make and model regarding how to add them in. Every receiver is just a little different in the procedure.
Others have elluded to the FACT that you do not necessarily NEED to utilize the "true" south satellite in the setup process. This is true and correct. However, if your truest south satellite is very close to your site longitude and the satellite has a really strong and consistent signal that your receiver is able to detect and process, then it will certainly save you time and labor in the long run.
It is "best practice" to utilize the true south satellite if and when possible, but it is not a mandatory procedure. In reality, you can use
any satellite to get started, but often, especially for someone just starting out, it may require you to do a little more legwork and extra fine tuning in the long run.
For your specific longitude, you should have little worry. You have two pretty good satellites to work with which are both very close to your true south. You indicated that your longitude was 80.2°W or 80.3°W so either sat (79.0°W and 83.0°W) will work fine for you.
I would opt for AMC 5 @ 79.0°W personally and search for TP 11900 MHz @ 2170 KS/s SR Horizontal polarity. This would bring in the KTEL-DT channel, which is generally of a strong signal level/quality and would be closer to your site longitude.
The trick about using USALS is that you must dial in one satellite really well as a reference position so that the receiver and the motor can locate all the other satellites from that point. Using your truest or nearest south satellite is the
simplest route to do this, since here you can set your dish elevation most easily to the highest angle that is required and rock or pan the azimuth angle back and forth just a bit to peak the signal to the optimum reception.
It becomes a little less apparent what you are doing if you try to utilize a satellite that is five or ten or more degrees away from your true south. Using USALS, the procedure it just the same, but you may struggle with the angles and the forces of gravity when making refined adjustments.
You also have to remember to set your motor position to ZERO degrees or true south, then enter your latitude and longitude coordinates of the site and then enter a satellite position into the receiver's memory and tell the motor to DRIVE to that satellite position
before you start making mechanical adjustments.
If you leave the motor set at the ZERO position and try to dial in a satellite that is NOT your true south satellite, then you have defeated your whole entire purpose and you are working towards nothing that is legitimate.
Let's assume that your best true south satellite is 79.0°W, but at that position, you have a giant oak tree blocking your LOS or view of the satellite so that there is no way in heck you could ever utilize the signal from this satellite. What do you do?
First of all, set your motor latitude precisely to your site's geographic latitude coordinate. Use DishPointer or FreeHostia angle calculator (etc) to determine your recommended dish elevation and whole assembly azimuth angle settings. Physically set these angles accordingly. Set your motor (drive it with the receiver controls or use the manual controls on the motor itself) to zero degrees or its HOME position. Then, manually enter a satellite that you KNOW to be beyond the obstruction of that oak tree into your receiver's list. Add a known, strong and consistent transponder to that sat's list of TPs and then COMMAND the motor to MOVE to that satellite's position.
Next, physically pan your entire assembly (dish and motor on the mast) from east to west looking for the signal from that specific TP on that specific sat. If you don't locate it after being very careful and slow with your azimuth adjustments here, make a slight adjustment to your dish elevation and repeat the azimuth panning of the entire assembly. Keep repeating this process
without changing the motor position via the receiver until you locate the PROPER satellite signal. The motor position according to where the receiver positioned it should be at the perfect location for this satellite, you just have to dial it in physically / mechanically outside to make it match. In other words, you have to "calibrate" the mechanical side of the dish and motor to what the "electronic" side of the receiver and motor thinks it is at.
In other words, once you have told the receiver which satellite you are looking for and the receiver commanded the motor to drive to that position, take that as gospel and don't go back and try to adjust anything electronically with your remote. The rest of the adjustments NEED to be performed mechanically at the dish and or motor. Once you have found that particular sat by making physical adjustments, you can go back to the remote and command the receiver and motor to try a different satellite using USALS and check the signal from that point. More fine adjustments will usually be required to fine tune the mechanical side of the dish and motor and LNBF to get the entire arc to come in to your expectations.
RADAR
I must add a NOTE to this. The entire process is simple. It is a matter of geometry and a little trigonometry in a simple sense, but don't let math get in the way, you don't have to do the calculations yourself or understand them to do any of this. The "BIG PICTURE" of this all is that this is a calibration process that takes a great deal of time and patience. This is where I see most DIY'ers stumble and fail. They think that this project is going to just fall right into place immediately because they followed the instructions and their dish will be perfectly aligned in minutes. Not true! This is a bit of an art. Don't let your lack of patience be your distraction or your stumbling block. Take your time, allow the information to gel and process nicely, and then
don't expect to "git'er done" in a few minutes.
