Retrofit My Radioshack Dish Onto My KTI Mount

[JFOK]

A33 and All,

My axis is at 47.3 and my declination is at 48.5 and I'm receiving 78W 3885v 23000 with an unsteady signal between 11.1 and at times 21db. The signal strength on my Sathero signal finder is flickering at 15. Is this because I'm not totally on the satellite positioner wise or do I have to tinker with the LNBF skew and the f/d. I'm wondering what I have to do next. I'm kinda rusty here its been a while. This is a one man job and I've twisted the dish on the pole to get the strongest signal. Now I'm going up and down the stairs where my positioner is, moving my dish ever so slightly to find the strongest signal using the dish mover.
Any thoughts ? ?
Thanks in advance.

John

 

[JFOK]

HI All,

Just to update...
I've been working on this the better part of the day,
I discovered earlier that I was actually on 81W not 78W. When I turned the dish a little farther east I picked up all the operating transponders on 78W. The steadiest (3885v 23000) is still bouncing between 11and 18 db, but a little steadier now. I haven't tried viewing with the stb yet, but may try now that it seems to have settled down a bit.
Will keep all of you updated.
Thanks,

John

 

[JFOK]

Hi Again,

I just tried watching 78W on my Edision Mio stb and all I get is a quick flash on all available transponders to 2.1 db and then nothing.
The Sathero satellite finder shows I'm on the satellite, I tried bumping the dish a little each way with the positioner, but no difference. I'm using a (newer) coax directly from the LNBF to the the coax that leads to my stb inside.
I'm stumped here and ready to call it a night.

John

 

[primestar31]

78w is the Simon Bolivar satellite. It's not aimed at the U.S.,(aimed at mexico/south america) and it's a near miracle that you can receive it at all, since you are in Cape Cod.

Be happy, stop thinking so hard and have fun, lol. You are almost there.

 

[JFOK]

Hi Mike,

I'm just wondering what the issue with my stb is.

John

 

[primestar31]

I can't tell if you have an issue at all. Does it do that flashing on other sats, or just this one?

Try 87w: 4165 V DVB-S2 8PSK 4750-2/3

It'll probably be at least 70 to 85~ clicks to the WEST of 78w, if you are still on that and using a 24" motor

That's Folk Tv, (might scan in as UTFEEDS) and it's pretty strong. If that flashes, there's something going on for sure. However, since we don't know if your dish is even aimed right as of yet, don't get frustrated for now.

 

[JFOK]

Mike,

I'm generally a patient person, but i was at this all day today and was hoping to see at least something tonight.
Might not have as much time tomorrow to work on this.
Thanks for the encouragement.

John

 

[primestar31]

You'll get there. When you mate two different dishes together, you have some possible unknowns you are dealing with. You've come a long way already, and you'll get there eventually if you keep plugging along.

Personally, I'd wait for a33 to chime in again, but here's some light reading (lol) you can study for now to help get your mind a little more wrapped into what's going on.

Footprints by Dish Size - Adjusting the Polar Mount for Prime Focus Antenna - C/Ku-Band Satellite Systems - Tuning, Tracking, Azimuth, Elevation, Declination Angles, F/D Ratio, Focal Distance, Inclinometer, LNB/Feedhorn Assembly, Actuator Assembly, Cabling, Connectors,Waterproofing, Feedcover

Footprints by Dish Size - Adjusting the Polar Mount for Prime Focus Antenna - C/Ku-Band Satellite Systems - Tuning, Tracking, Azimuth, Elevation, Declination Angles, F/D Ratio, Focal Distance, Inclinometer, LNB/Feedhorn Assembly, Actuator Assembly, Cabling, Connectors,Waterproofing, Feedcover

Footprints by Dish Size - Latitude Declination Chart - C/Ku-Band Satellite Listing

 

[JFOK]

Mike,

Believe it or not I have all that “light reading” you suggested, saved in a folder on my computer. Some great info there.
I will wait until someone chimes in with an answer to the issue I’m having. I hope it’s soon, the warm weather here is a gift and won’t last forever. I’m not a fan of cold weather dish tuning

John

 

[a33]

My axis is at 47.3 and my declination is at 48.5 and I'm receiving 78W

So, here I am again.
As the 47.3 should be against the horizontal, and the 48.5 should be against the vertical, I'm wondering how it is set now (if you really have declination offset enough).
So it is time for a photo again? Showing pole, axis-angle (your red bar), and the dish face angle; so photo from the side.

You receive 78W now; is that your true south satellite?
Or how have you set your true south? (I prefer the sun method. Needed for the calculation of sun-at-true-south time, is your longitude!)

greetz,
A33

 

[JFOK]

A33,

Welcome back
You have really helped me get my dish properly set and it’s much appreciated.
My axis is set at 47.3 and the vertical (declination) is set at 48.5.
I will try to get you a picture today of the current dish angles, but not sure exactly when... busy day.
I am using 78w as my southern most satellite as I have in the past and it took me a while to confirm this if you have read my earlier posts. The signal however, is unsteady and I’m not able to view it on my stb.
I do have a clear shot at it so trees aren’t an issue.
Thanks for hanging with me on this. I feel with your help, I’m getting closer to a solution

Thanks,

John

 

[a33]

I am using 78w as my southern most satellite

And how much different is 87W from your longitude?

Cape Cod would be about 70.0W till 70.5W, I guess? So that looks like a big difference with 87W, and not so perfect fit to the satellite arc.
Am I wrong there?

Greetz,
A33

 

[JFOK]

A33,

My Latitude is 41.65.
I always choose 78w because it’s latitude 41.0 was closest to my location’s latitude. It helped me in the past.
I’m away presently from my dish.

John

 

[primestar31]

And how much different is 87W from your longitude?

Cape Cod would be about 70.0W till 70.5W, I guess? So that looks like a big difference with 87W, and not so perfect fit to the satellite arc.
Am I wrong there?

Greetz,
A33

I suggested 87w just to test whatever was going on with his receiver "flashing" as he said with 78w. 87w is the only satellite closest to him that has good solid c-band signals that we KNOW are good.

 

[a33]

My Latitude is 41.65.

So it is 41.65N instead of 42.00N ? We could have used that value for the modified angles calculation . But we'll leave it as it is I guess .

Let's first check the mount and dish angles, from your coming photo.

And for the next step(s): do you know your exact due south direction, already? If yes, how did you determine that?

I always choose 78w because it’s latitude 41.0 was closest to my location’s latitude.

I don't quite follow that, I'm afraid.

Greetz,
A33

 

[JFOK]

a33,

Just got back to the house and it’s too dark for a decent photo tonight.
Will do so tomorrow.
I always followed the rule that true south is 9 degrees east of magnetic south, so that's the formula I’ve used.
I also used the satellite closest to my latitude. It always worked for me in the past. Was this a wrong method to use ?

John

 

[a33]

Should be closest to LONGitude.
So if you are close to 70 West Longitude, at Cape Cod, then a satellite near 70W would be somewhere near south.

For finding due south, I prefer to use the sun. No abberations from the sun! (See the post I linked earlier.)
But if you trust your compass and the 9 degrees, we can use that.

greetz,
A33

 

[. Raine]

78W is the one I use here too in CT, closest to true south that has anything on it.

 

[JFOK]

a33,

Here is the picture you requested.
It was taken this morning with my dish pointed at 78W.
Thanks,

John

 

[Titanium]

Has the reflector tor been string tested for panel alignment? Might be a photo distortion, but the assembled reflector does not appear to form a parabola. The lower edge looks to be bowing out.

(Says a guy, looking at a photo, from a few thousand miles away).