Rebuilt Actuator Working on 12 Ft Dish - but can only get 3 Satellites, Need Advise.

[jsattv]

Finally got the Rebuilt and Regreased 4 wire - 8 magnet Von Weise Actuator Mounted and Installed on my 12 Ft Mesh Dish and it does work well with my V Box III. Can move it 1 pulse at a time and best of all it remembers the setting. BUT after about a week of testing & hard work I've been having some major problems.

The Problem:
Last week we have a huge gusting wind and drenching rainstorm and it knocked out my Dish Declination from 6.6 degrees up to 7.2 degrees. Still not sure how that happened since the Declination Adjustment of 6.6 degrees had been okay since March. Couldn't get any decent reception on 97.0W so I went out and reset the the Declination Setting back to what is now 57.4 - 50.6 = 6.8 degrees when I checked today. The objective for my area thanks to Linuxman's great advise is 57.18 - 50.57 = 6.61 degrees.

The problem now is I can get my true South Sat 97.0W, and 99.0W on C Band which are booming in, but as soon as I go too far East or West I lose my Signal? That is, I can get 101W, and 95.0W, with a reduced signal, but as soon as I try for 93.0W or 103.0W - I can't get anything!! I've also noticed my S Values on the Tp's are down about 5 - 10 points but the all important Q values are about the same as they were before! Could anyone advise me on what I need to do next? Any comments would be appreciated.

 

[Lak7]

This may help...

 

[sergei]

I would make only small adjustments and be sure to mark your starting place so you have a reference point.

 

[gabshere]

when you stop on the satellites you can get go out and push / pull on each side & top/bottom and see what affect it has ....this will let you know which way it is off. and then you can adjust it with the chart above

 

[Corrado]

The first thought that comes to mind, is the pole 100% plumb? With a 12' dish, heavy wind and rain, perhaps the dish settled in the ground slightly.

Secondly, is there any lost motion in the dish moving hardware? Any free play in the mechanism will cause the pulse count to change. Binding can cause similar problems.

 

[jsattv]

The first thought that comes to mind, is the pole 100% plumb? With a 12' dish, heavy wind and rain, perhaps the dish settled in the ground slightly.

Secondly, is there any lost motion in the dish moving hardware? Any free play in the mechanism will cause the pulse count to change. Binding can cause similar problems.

Thanks for the comments, Corrado, Lak7, Sergi, and Gabshere. Corrado the pulse count changed only after the severe windstorm, which unbelievably also knocked out the Declination from 6.6 up to 7.2 degrees, but I got the reception quality back on 97.0W after resetting Declination again back to 6.6 degrees yesterday, ...hope I don't have to do that again since it lasted 3 months previously. Also nothing is evident re loose hardware I'll check again. Corrado the Dish is on a Tripod and I can adjust it - it reads 99.8 on the Digital Level on the Pole and 99.9 in 4 directions on the Pole Cap of the Dish, and I can easily adjust it up to 99.0. But with only 1 welded Nut & bolt, and 1 screw without a welded Nut on the other side (instead of the required 2 Screws on each side on the Pole Cap) I wonder if this could this cause a Clark Belt tracking problem?

Gabshere, I have tried that procedure of Raising and Lowering the dish at various points, which worked well on my 1 meter Dish, - but it just doesn't seem to do anything on the 12 Footer, maybe the Dish is just too big?? Sergei, I definately agree that small adjustments are the way to go, but I'm just not sure what to try next!!

 

[Lak7]

Shouldn't the Level should read 0.0 or 90.0 vs. 99.X?

also, when you Raise / Lower dish elevation, try bumping Left / Right a few clicks.

 

[jsattv]

Shouldn't the Level should read 0.0 or 90.0 vs. 99.X?

also, when you Raise / Lower dish elevation, try bumping Left / Right a few clicks.

Thanks Lak7, I'll readjust Plum to 99.0 in all 4 directions and see if it helps. Also I did quickly notice after adjusting the Dish that bumping with the V Box III Left / Right a bit helps, and as you mentioned that is a great feature on the V Box III that I previously never had when I had to use the 12VDC Battery Charger.

 

[Lak7]

0.0 or 90.0 (not 99.0) is Plumb / Level.

 

[jsattv]

0.0 or 90.0 (not 99.0) is Plumb / Level.

Lak7 your absolutely correct, on rechecking the readings were 89.9 on the Pole Cap and 89.8 on the Dish Pole, thanks.