Dish Alignment Advice Please

[blakie8]

Hi Chaps

I'm up on the ladders today putting my new & first motorised dish up, just wanted to air a slight issue I might have.
Finding true south won't be a problem, I'm putting a Dark Motor on and Triax dish up.
In the instructions for the Dark motor it talks about elevation & decination.
Theirs a handy table in the back with states that if i'm Latitude 52 (which I am)

The Elevation is 38 (so thats the angle on the motor) Got that
The Declination is 7.5? (what do I do with that) ?
Dish Bracket Angle 27.5? (is this the angle of the bracket fixed to the dish) ?

What I'm asking is what do I do with Declination and Dish Bracket, Its going to look rather Vertical if I just do the Elevation.

Help i'm being blond

Thanks

[Manic01]

Just set the motor elevation and tighten up.
Leave motor itself hand tight on pole.
If using usals
send dish to 1w
Then move dish by hand to 1 west eg bbc world.
adjust dish up/down untill optimal signal is received.
Tighten dish/motor.
All others should now be ok.

[blakie8]

Just set the motor elevation and tighten up.
Leave motor itself hand tight on pole.
If using usals
send dish to 1w
Then move dish by hand to 1 west eg bbc world.
adjust dish up/down untill optimal signal is received.
Tighten dish/motor.
All others should now be ok.

Thanks, but the dish angle bracket needs to be set at an agle so that should be 27.5? according to the Dark Motor Guide, is that right?

[Bulld0g]

Don't worry about the angle, move due South and move the dish up and down as Manic said when you get the best signal then tighten up.

[Manic01]

Just set the angle approx as you will need to adjust as they are never spot on.

[ramjet]

the triax dishes are usually around 26 degrees , so in your case the dish angle will be around 18 and will be almost vertical on 0.8w bbc world

as stated , set the latitude on the motor to 52 and tighten , then send to bbc world on 0.8w in usals , then adjust the motor left-right and dish up-down a touch until its good and strong on bbc world , then check other sats after tightening , fine tuning as you go

[blakie8]

the triax dishes are usually around 26 degrees , so in your case the dish angle will be around 18 and will be almost vertical on 0.8w bbc world

as stated , set the latitude on the motor to 52 and tighten , then send to bbc world on 0.8w in usals , then adjust the motor left-right and dish up-down a touch until its good and strong on bbc world , then check other sats after tightening , fine tuning as you go

thanks, but i've aborted the installation. Its too windy to be on a ladder without anyone with you today

[Nutsandbolts]

Hi. Good idea to abandon as it can be tricky working on your own. Try and get someone to give you a hand in holding the dish while you are tightening nuts and bolts etc. As regards alignment take it from me that motor manuals, from my experience, are a waste of time. As already mentioned you need to send it to a satellite, fine tune it on a FTA channel. Then check the other channels on the same satellite(make sure you have correct frequencies for the channels). It is really simple but you may need to adjust the dish several times till you get it right. Remember if using USALS you cannot go far wrong once you have set it up on the first satellite. USALS will know the distance between each satellite and when the dish stops if you dont get a signal/picture its because you need to adjust the dish slightly either left or right or up and down. It took me ages to get it right the first time but now i know it like the back of my hand. I have installed more than 40 motors (all TM2600) in 12 months. An important thing to remember also is make sure you know you're way round the receiver menus. It helps a lot if you know how your receiver works etc. If you get stuck you can always ask for advice. Good luck.

[abr]

@blackie8

may be a silly question now "but is it not possible to get a good position for your dish" near the ground.
i have my 1.2 cm in back garden fixed to the garage wall
remember if its windy now what do you think about having to go up to adjust if neccessary.

[Nutsandbolts]

Hi. I agree. You dont need a dish way up on top of a roof etc. You can get satellite signals from any height from ground level to above. You just need a clear line of sight to the signals. If possible always experiment a bit to see how low you fix a dish to get signals. The lower you can have it makes it easier to work with when problems arise. Regards.