true south sat

[locell]

what would be my true south satellite? i am in tempe az 85282 north lat 33.4014 west long 111.918

im using a CaptiveWorks CW-600S, Winegard 76cm (31 inch) Dish, Dish Motor sg2100 and Invacom QPH-031 Quad LNBF

Just got it and it is HOT as hell here.. want to minimize tinker time on the roof....

 

[Tron]

Closest would be Anik F2 at 111.1w, but there doesn't seem to be any DVB programming there (All DCII)...

Next closest is the new SatMex 6 at 113w, but Lyngsat shows only feeds. Maybe someone will chime in with a live TP...

 

[mastermesh]

Don't think 113 has a lot of live tv stuff, but there are some live data tps out there. I am not at home at the moment otherwise I'd list them off for ya. If you can get F2 you should do so because it'll be closer to true south, so you'll probably track the arc just a little better. Always better to get as close to south as possible so that you won't be way off on the far east and west.

 

[Craig Henrikson]

what would be my true south satellite? i am in tempe az 85282 north lat 33.4014 west long 111.918

im using a CaptiveWorks CW-600S, Winegard 76cm (31 inch) Dish, Dish Motor sg2100 and Invacom QPH-031 Quad LNBF

Just got it and it is HOT as hell here.. want to minimize tinker time on the roof....

Don't sweat it! You are using a motor and, I'll bet, have USALS capability. Be sure your pole is vertical. Be sure your 2100 is at the center position ("0"). Point the dish generally toward the south. Now, using USALS, drive the dish to something close to your true south -- the EchoStar sats at 110 degrees are good - lots of strong signal. Yes, I know nothing to watch, but we are just aiming at this point. Now go up on the roof (in the evening when it is cooler) and physically move the whole dish/motor assembly slowly east or west around the pole until you get the max signal. (I assuime you have set your elevation and look down properly) When signal is maxed at 110, tighten up the mount and use USALS to drive the dish to other sats. You may need to do a bit of touching up to get perfectly on the arc, but the point is -- you don't need to know true south if you are using USALS. Oh, if you really want to know where true south is, drive the dish to the "0" position and see where it is pointing.

The USALS approach makes setting up a FTA dish a relative "piece of cake!" -- now go and enjoy FTA TV.

Craig

 

[Shawn95GT]

I'm in Phoenix and when I setup my SG2100 I used USALS to turn the motor to G10R (about 30° West azimuth of TS). I turned the whole motor for azimuth adjustment and the dish elevation for elevation tuning. The motor elevation you just set and forget.

 

[locell]

Thanks for all the tips! I am going to try it this weekend

 

[techno935]

Ok, just got the Fortec FC-80CM dish with a STAB "Horizon to Horizon" motor from Sadoun. I mechanically aimed for true south with my compass and figured in my magnetic declination of -5 degress.

My longitude is 80.1

Correct me if i'm wrong, but should I try for the 79 degree sat or figure in the -5 declination for my true south? say...75 degrees?. I think I need to do some more calibration. I'm still catching on with everything. Plus, I don't think the receiver (Coolsat 4000) has a go to "0" function. Maybe it does? I looked around for it and didn't see it.


I'll type in more later cause I'm late for work, I'll be on later.

zip code: 33060

 

[mrweather]

If your longitude is 80 west then your true south satellite would be 79 west (AMC-5).

It's related to geography in that lines of longitude run north-south. For example, if you're located at exactly 101 degrees west longitude the satellite due south of you (your true south satellite) orbits in the same location at 101 degrees west (i.e. AMC-4).

If you're using a compass to find true south you have to take into account the fact that magnetic north and geographic north aren't the same. You need to apply a "fudge factor" (i.e. magnetic declination).

 

[techno935]

Ok great. I'll do that tonight. Now, the go to "0" factor. How do I reset the motor to "0" on the Coolsat 4000. Does it have it? I may have missed it.

 

[Shawn95GT]

It'd be better to setup your position and USALS to your TS sat (AMC 5) since you aren't dead on a satellite at the top of your arc.

 

[techno935]

clarify please? I'm sorry.

 

[Shawn95GT]

Borrowing a pic from Iceberg's review:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/attachment.php?attachmentid=6142&d=1133806004

Go into motorized settings and select AMC 5 at the top. Choose USALS at the DiSEqC motor choice and verify the sat degree is correct at 79.0. You set your site location (lat/long) in the Antenna Position field.

Once you do all that the motor will turn just a hair East of center.

Assuming you have your Motor's elevation set according to your longitude, peak the dish using the dish's elevation setting and move the whole motor/dish assy for any azimuth adjustent. Once peaked, your USALS should be dead on for the rest of the satellites in your visible arc.

I'd use 12182H s/r 23000 to aim.

 

[GaryPen]

Ok great. I'll do that tonight. Now, the go to "0" factor. How do I reset the motor to "0" on the Coolsat 4000. Does it have it? I may have missed it.

When you choose USALS in the Motorized Setting screen, a button should appear that says "Move to Zero" or "Move to Reference", something like that. If not, it is also located in the "Antenna Location" screen, that appears after you click the "Antenna Location" button. It is just above the latuitude and longitude fields.

Then, you can follow Shawn's procedure.