Tuning my antenna

[64165]

Hello all,
I've got Starband Nova satellite internet, & I need to re-aim my antenna.
I bought a Channel Master 1007IFD signal meter & haven,t figured out how to use it correctly! The instructions seem kinda vague to me...
Heres how I tried- Connected the meter to the dish LNB, turned on signal meter, selected 18v/ level/ & tone switch.
I don't know what setting to use for the gain knob, so I set it mid position.
As I rotated the dish the analog dial indication would increase, I got it to where it seemed to peak & than secured the antenna & reconnected my modem.
Made no difference at all- still no signal on my modem. When my system was working well I had put marks on the dish mast to indicate where it was aimed when working, so I don't think I'm too far off.
Any advice on how to properly use the signal meter would be great!
One other thing- I noticed when I put my hand between the feedhorn & the dish, the meter indication would jump up... I would think that would block the signal to decrease the indicated signal???
Thanks for any help!

 

[bajadudes]

I use a birdog for my installs so I am not sure about your particular meter.

The easiest way is without a meter and to use the telemetry page in skymanager.

Do you know how to get into that?

With this new modem many of my customers elect to not get a meter or take advantage of our loaner meter.

You can connect a wireless router to the modem and go out to the dish with a laptop that has wireless or a wifi enabled PDA.

Or run an Ethernet crossover cable out to the dish for your laptop.
Or bring the modem and laptop out to the dish.

Then just watch the telemetry page . When it is found, the RX light on the modem will be lit, the signal bar becomes active and you can use the signal strength meter on the telemetry page to peak the dish.

your channelmaster meter probably has a way to select what sat and polarity you want.....What do you have it set to?

 

[64165]

tuning...

I use a birdog for my installs so I am not sure about your particular meter.

The easiest way is without a meter and to use the telemetry page in skymanager.

Do you know how to get into that?

With this new modem many of my customers elect to not get a meter or take advantage of our loaner meter.

You can connect a wireless router to the modem and go out to the dish with a laptop that has wireless or a wifi enabled PDA.

Or run an Ethernet crossover cable out to the dish for your laptop.
Or bring the modem and laptop out to the dish.

Then just watch the telemetry page . When it is found, the RX light on the modem will be lit, the signal bar becomes active and you can use the signal strength meter on the telemetry page to peak the dish.

your channelmaster meter probably has a way to select what sat and polarity you want.....What do you have it set to?

Thanks for your reply!!!
I'm not familiar w/ skymanager, sounds like a tuning program.
I do like the idea of taking the modem out to my antenna & watching the signal bar as I try to tune.
My Channel Master seems to be a pretty basic meter- I believe it's primarly for sat tv tuning. It has a F-style connector for a recevier & for a LNB. I have been hooking up the LNB at the feedhorn to the LNB connector on the meter (at this point I have the modem turned off). I don't know where to set the gain control on the tester, so I have been putting it in mid range. As I turn the antenna, I see the analog meter increasing, but after reconnecting the modem it remains the same- only the pwr. light stays on. When I first turn the modem back on the lights all illuminate in a downward sequence, then tx light flashes 4-5 times, then it goes out.
I live up in Alaska & have no installer/dealer around any more to assist, so I really thank you for your help!!!

 

[bajadudes]

Make sure the nova modem is off and plugged into the PC via a X-over cable.

Open network connections>right click on the ethernet connection for the modem>click on properties>in the window highlight TCP/IP> click on properties> set the network connection to use the following IP address: 192.168.1.2. and the subnet to 255.255.255.0. Ok your way back out.

open your internet browser and in the address bar type in 192.168.1.1 but do not hit enter yet.

Power up the modem and wait for all the lights to scroll (power on self test) in a min the TX light will flash 10 times. 5 seconds after that hit enter on the browser and that should bring up skymanager. click on the telemetry page to see the signal strength bar.

You can now start a slow sweep to find the bird

Of course this all assumes that the modem is configured properly and the coax cables are good and connected properly and the polarity on the feed horn is set properly.

once you found the satellite and are peaked don't forget to go back into the network properties for the connection and reset it to obtain IP address automatically.

Finding Galaxy-27

A lot of customers have a hard time finding this satellite because it is so close to horizons 1 and because Horizons 1 has a stronger signal. They are just about on top of each other. If you are using a Birdog meter set your meter to look for KV Starband 129 G-27 and when you are on it it will say FOUND and you can then peak to it. That is by far the easiest way but most folks don’t want to invest in a Birdog meter since it costs about $450 to $500 dollars.

You can use any sensitive digital satellite finding meter like a digisat III , at worst you can even use those little analog TV sat finding screamers. They just are not as sensitive, and require power from the modem.

The problem with the generic meters is you cannot be sure which satellite you are on. Only that you are on a satellite. If your modem is configured correctly, and it works, and all your cables and connectors are ok you will know you are on the correct satellite when the modem gets an RX light. It won’t come on if you are pointed at the wrong satellite.

Hint for Locating Galaxy-27 at the 129 W orbital location (formerly kown as T-7 or IA-7)

If you are NOT using a Birdog, once you determine your magnetic azimuth, *add*10 more degrees to the azimuth, before you start your azimuth swing. Since IA-7geographically sits West of California and Horizons 1, it is the first Ku-band satellite in the arc(starting from West to East). By adding 10 degrees to your calculated azimuth, your antenna will be pointing farther West than where IA-7 is located. This means that when you start your West-to-East azimuth swing (right to left, if you are standing behind the antenna), as you slowly swing, you will intersect the first Ku-band satellite, which is IA-7.
You can be sure you are on the right satellite, when the Rx light on the modem comes on. As always, for the Rx light to illuminate, you will need your correct parameters configured on the modem.
This is one of the hardest things for a first-time installer to fully comprehend. The first 3-5 times you set up may leave you pulling your hair out, but be patient and methodical. With practice, you will be amazed in retrospect at how easy it has become.
If you are having difficulty locking on the correct satellite, even with this method, lower or raise your elevation slightly and try the azimuth sweep again.
Remember the horizons 1 satellite is just east of your satellite and slightly higher.

Good luck and let us know how it works out.

 

[64165]

tuning

THANKS much bajadudes!!
I'll let you know how this works for me, can't wait to try it!
The weather here is real wet right now, so it might be a day or two before I can try it.
Thanks again! 64' 165

 

[64165]

tuning

Yowza zowie!!!!
I was able to get back on line & tuned up thanks to you, bajadude!
I don't know how strong of a signal you normally see w/ the telemetry page, but mine peaked around 6 or so.
Most importantly it works!
Thanks so much! 64165

 

[bajadudes]

Glad it all worked out.

Make sure you call into CVACS or TS to check your antenna alignment. They randomly poll all VSATS continually and you will get flagged and eventually turned off if your specs are out of limits.

cross pol needs to be 3 db or less
ASI 5db or less
Co-pol 23 or better

I really love how easy these new Starband modems are to self install for my customers. You don't even really need a meter anymore.

Signal strength will mostly depend on:

1) Where you are in the footprint of the satellites beam
2) your antenna size
3) the noise figure value of your LNB, the lower the more sensitive with a .05 or .04 being the best

Generally speaking in NC with a .75 meter dish and a .6 LNB a properly peaked dish on a perfect day will see about 8.5 to 10.

Where are you located?

 

[64165]

tuning

Thanks for the word of warning- it would be bad to get it all tuned up & have them cut me off!
I'm guessing TS is Starband tech support, but I don't know what CVACS is.
Are these other parameters, cross pol /ASI / Co-pol user adjustable? Sorry for my ignorance, when my system was set up there was an installer around, but I'm on my own now it seems. I do enjoy this kind of knowledge / troubleshooting & have thought I should look into becoming an installer up here- I'm in Nome Ak.- but I don't think there would be much of a market beyond the few systems already here.
Up here I have a 1.2 meter dish.
Thanks again!

 

[bajadudes]

You would do yourself and others on the network good to take the time to get Starband certified. Go to my website and click on the services page. Complete directions are there.

and yes all those values can be adjusted except co pol which you can only get so high even when perfectly peaked if your dish is too small for your footprint location.

There are always upgrades and maint issues that you can take care of for yourself and your neighbors.

It is really important for you to make especially sure that your cross-pol is 3 db or less and that your ASI (adjacent satellite interference) value is 5 db or less.

You can call tec support ( TS ) and ask them to run a CW test. tell them the painters may have bumped your antenna and you want to check alignment.

If you get certified you can call in yourself to CVACS which is a computer automated system for checking your site, takes about 3 min.

The whole subject of cross pol, ASI and co -pol would take up many pages and you owe it to yourself and others on the network to familiarize yourself with the system and make sure it stays in spec if you are taking a DIY approach.

Get certified its easy, then ask all the questions you want.