small town trouble

[alvinsimons1]

Looking for some new wisdom on locking down galaxy 17 91west...so far I've installed newer Norsat 3220 high stability c-band lnbs, which are on a 12' solid fiberglass dish, about 7' off the ground...i also have a birdog usb unit i've used to peak every dish we have, however it doesn't seem to lock on to any bird past 125west, heading for 95,91 or 93west feeds...any ideas

 

[T4Runner]

You don't say whether this is a new install by you? and needs to be adjusted because you already get everything C-Band in-between those sat's you cannot get? or an old system that a storm possibly moved the dish? Was it ever working?

Beyond that, sounds like you might have trees (Oregon...) blocking your Eastern end especially on the low end of the arc. If this is a new install, then your arc (Clark Belt) is off. Probably the declination?

I have been adjusting a small 5ft C Band dish for 3 weeks and experienced the same thing, but it's more due to the LNBF not at the proper focal depth I think. Also for us on the West coast (I'm California) it's lower on the horizon.

I had so much trouble (again, I'm talking a small 5ft solid metal dish), that I finally bought one of those C Band brackets that will hold a small KU Band LNB in it to lock 121W near my high center sat. I locked it on my SuperBuddy in 5 minutes. Then I switched it back out and put the C Band LNBF and BINGO! 73%Q locked. I know this is not for everyone, but I had lots of parts except the bracket. I wanted the FX East and West channels on 91W and moved my dish over to where it should be, and locked with 70%Q.

Only trouble now is I lose the satellite once in a while due to weather which you should never experience with a 12ft... (Course it rains every day in Oregon, doesn't it? LOL

 

[Anole]

T4runner covered most all the bases, above :up
Answers to his questions may bring better advice.

I'd just like to add a couple of points:
- have you string-tested the dish to see if it still has it's shape? (old, heavy, 12' solid fiberglass often sag)
- having the feed centered ON, and aimed AT the center of the dish is pretty important..

 

[rv1pop]

Where is halfway OR? I am 7 miles north of Rufus.

 

[alvinsimons1]

sorry about that, yes it did used to work fine...and the system is about 10 years old i am told...however I'm new to it.
only been working on it for 2 years, and most self taught with help from sister company's. i have questioned the possibility of trees, but the closest to block it is approx.200' away and about 18' high, it's a possibility? Unless you think those on the mountain range farther out (15-20miles) could be the problem? Since i haven't dealt with ku-band how does that work? does it see a broader bandwidth?

 

[rv1pop]

Well, you are about 273 miles east of me.... We went east part that way for a father's day drive. It sounds to me like you are no longer set to your south satellite.... 117 degrees to 91 is not that far east, but a ways. 97 should be easy - at least on KU so I can not imagine too much harder on C band.
We do not plan on going past Pendleton now until November or so. I used a soda straw inclinometer and looked through it to see clear spot.Dishpointer should do just as well if it will show your area. It does kinda show mine, but I have no trees and nothing east of me for over 35 miles....
If you can not get better advice here from people who really know. I will try to walk through what I did. My C-Band is presently on the ground because of horrid winds in December and January, But my rather unorthodox way of doing this might work for you. But doing things the right way is far better.

 

[alvinsimons1]

Well i appreciate the help rv1pop, i'll keep tinkcorin with it. Bound to stumble across the problem sooner or later. If you ever fell like headin past pendleton, there's a nice town called Richland, about 54mile from Baker city,OR. headed towards Hells Canyon, were are cable headend is located.
And you'd think since the dish i'm trying to find 91 galaxy 17 on, locks onto mpeg4 signal @ 125 galaxy 14 with an 80% signal strength and excellent bit error rate, would have no trouble? But there must be something i be doing wrong....

 

[Anole]

I used a soda straw inclinometer and looked through it to see clear spot.

This is an excellent idea! - :up

ThisBUDsForYou and his soda straw inclinometer
http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-ai...a-straw-inclinometer-line-sight-pictures.html
Delta Charlie had some variation on the idea, too
http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/146479-15-min-duct-tape-elevation-gauge.html

 

[rv1pop]

OK, if you are on 125, I would take a large piece of cardboard that you can mark as a protractor and fasten to your pole.Mark it at 125 degrees, mark your true south position, 117, and the positions of the the other satellites you want to get. You can get these headings from dishpointer or other URLs o the net. I do not see a picture of the setup, so I am <<<<< Assuming >>>>> you have an actuator on the set up. Move the dish to the highest point of the arc, you should have a bar on the mount the will be level at that point. Check that the dish is aimed at 117, true south. If so then move the dish to where you want to find the satellite and see if it is there. On my setup, I had to draw the protractor in reverse as I could only "point" at the protractor by a bar mounted on the backside.

OK you Gurus may not like my idea or may improve on it, but not having a box available at that time to move the dish, it did work. Also remember that you will be changing the skew as you go from 125 to 99 or what ever. and if not handled by the mount ....... ouch! and the polarity may not change. Actually, I am trying to answer you question by what I had in my front yard. Need some pictures to give better advice.
Oh, BTW, if I remember that road, it is not the friendliest to an RV and continuing East means a big backtrack to 84. It would not be too bad for a weekend get-a-way though. (close to 60 gallons of fuel, though).