Dish Setup Help

**Bulld0g** · 12 July, 2012, 17:49

I take it your saying your not getting a picture. If this is the first time your setting up your system you will have to move the elevation of the dish up and down as move the motor around slightly to get the strongest signal.
It's not just a matter of putting co ordinates in and setting elevation, unfortunately.

**cooldood01** · 12 July, 2012, 18:02

Am i right in having the dish pointing south and then going east from there or keep it pointing south and adjusting the dish elevation etc?

**Bulld0g** · 12 July, 2012, 18:05

Plumb it all up and point the dish south. Send it to Thor 1W 0.8W BBC world news and tune it in from there.

**ramjet** · 12 July, 2012, 18:06

Originally posted by cooldood01

I have read the How to a dozen time but am stuck. Its more than likely something i have over looked but i'm stumped.

I have mounted my pole to the only wall that allows the dish to look south.

The Mounts are all perfectly level and the dish is pointing compass south.

See Picture http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...0712-00055.jpg

I have the disk elevation set to 22.5
The motor is set to 53.7

My Lat is 53.7124
Long 2.6458

So i think i have them set up correctly.

My Box is a Spiderbox 9000 HD that shows singnal strength at 73% and Quality at 2%
I have an 80cm Dish with a Dark motor

Any help appreciated as im stumped!

compass south is not the same as true south

install my uploaded spiderbox channel list, and set the coordinates for your longitude and latitude in usals

Digital Kaos

http://www.digital-kaos.co.uk/forums/f11/s-y-uk-spiderbox-channel-list-241272/index3.html

then select thor 3/5 at 0.8w and choose ch1 the music channel or ch2 bbc world news which are both fta channels

the motor will now go to where it thinks those channels are

leave your motor alignment on your latitude of 53.7

if you are not "seeing" those 2 channels you havent got the left/right/up/down set correctly

my darkmotor booklet shows the dish on 27.4 for your latitude so try that, and swing the whole motor left or right until you get those 2 channels

then lock it up and test 39e , 28e , 19e , 13e , 4.8e , 5w , 15w and 30w, testing fta channels
(you will find fta channels at the beginning of each satellite position around ch1 and ch2 etc)

once you get those fta channels you can fine tune and test further

**Carew6** · 12 July, 2012, 18:29

Dishpointer shows the elevation for 0.8 W as 28.6 degrees , so start there and adjust for best signal.

Satellite Finder / Dish Alignment Calculator with Google Maps | DishPointer.com

**cooldood01** · 12 July, 2012, 19:04

Originally posted by ramjet

compass south is not the same as true south

install my spiderbox channel list, and set the coordinates for your longitude and latitude in usals

then select thor 3/5 at 0.8w and choose ch1 the music channel or ch2 bbc world news which are bot fta channels

the motor will now go to where it thinks those channels are

leave your motor alignment on your latitude of 53.7

if you are not "seeing" those 2 channels you havent got the left/right/up/down set correctly

my darkmotor booklet shows the dish on 27.4 for your latitude so try that, and swing the whole motor left or right until you get those 2 channels

then lock it up and test 39e , 28e , 19e , 13e , 4.8e , 5w , 15w and 30w, testing fta channels (you will find fta channels at the beginning of each satellite position around ch1 and ch2 etc

once you get those fta channels you can fine tune and test further

This is with my dish/motor pointing compass south still?

**ramjet** · 12 July, 2012, 19:11

Originally posted by cooldood01

This is with my dish/motor pointing compass south still?

0.8w is almost due south , true south for you is about 2.7 west I think, so slightly west of me

a compass has little to do with it as it points to magnetic south, not true south , and will be a few degrees out

so thor is not far short of true south for you

the point here is that setting your spiderbox usals settings will make the motor go to thor, once you have aligned it your ZERO setting on the motor will point to true south

I have no wish to debate the difference between compass south (magnetic south) and true south

my information will allow you to setup your motor correctly and is how I setup my darkmotor using my spiderbox

edit

sorry, you are at 2.67 east, not west as you have a + longitude , so you are about 5 degrees east of me

in any case , the info is still correct, so try lining up on thor as its either 0.8w or 4.8 east for your lining up as being nearest your due south

**ramjet** · 12 July, 2012, 19:28

hmmm, checking your details in dishpointer puts you in the north sea

I dont think your longitude is correct m8

**cooldood01** · 12 July, 2012, 19:30

Originally posted by ramjet

hmmm, checking your details in dishpointer puts you in the north sea

I dont think your longitude is correct m8

This is what i get with my postcode:
53.7125663757324 -2.64718770980835

I missed the "-" out.

**ramjet** · 12 July, 2012, 19:35

Originally posted by cooldood01

This is what i get with my postcode:
53.7125663757324 -2.64718770980835

I missed the "-" out.

hi, yes you did, hence my confusion as I thought you was in lancashire at -2.64 which is 2.6 west , from your profile location

your 2.647 longitude mentioned in post #1 puts you in the north sea at + 2.647 which is 2.6 east

so use my channel list and put your usals at 002.6w , 53.7n

then follow my earlier instructions as thor is only a couple of degrees from you and me at most and is your nearest reference satellite

once found and locked up, the zero on your dish will be true south

**cooldood01** · 12 July, 2012, 20:29

Threw in the channel list and the long and lat again but still only coming out with 77% Signal and 2% Quality.
Have been up the ladder while the Mrs watches the quality and it doesn?t want to go past 79%
I have tried elevation on the motor and tried moving the dish/motor slightly left and right of compass south but zip.
Think i will have to step away today and go back to it tomorrow with a clear head.

**daithi** · 12 July, 2012, 20:34

Originally posted by cooldood01

Threw in the channel list and the long and lat again but still only coming out with 77% Signal and 2% Quality.
Have been up the ladder while the Mrs watches the quality and it doesn?t want to go past 79%
I have tried elevation on the motor and tried moving the dish/motor slightly left and right of compass south but zip.
Think i will have to step away today and go back to it tomorrow with a clear head.

bit late now but what i did was mount the setup at ground level and practice... this is a lot easier and you will get your head around it easier as you can bring the telly out beside it and work on your own and not have the missus in yer ear

telling ya you dont no what yer at

**ramjet** · 12 July, 2012, 21:05

Originally posted by cooldood01

Threw in the channel list and the long and lat again but still only coming out with 77% Signal and 2% Quality.
Have been up the ladder while the Mrs watches the quality and it doesn***8217;t want to go past 79%
I have tried elevation on the motor and tried moving the dish/motor slightly left and right of compass south but zip.
Think i will have to step away today and go back to it tomorrow with a clear head.

nobody said it was easy, especially the first time you try setting up

once the motor is locked onto 53.7N dont alter it at all (the motor elevation), ie:- dont mess about with it like you have just done

ensure the spiderbox usals is as I said earlier , 002.6w , 53.7n and save it, then send the spiderbox to thor and bbc world news , this will drive the motor to the correct spot

press info twice so you get the signal and quality bars up onscreen

then its a case of twisting the motor left or right, and also adjusting the dish slightly up or down from its 28.5 elevation until bbc world news pops up, then fine tune your up/down/left/right to get the signal and quality as high as possible, probably up around the 70% to 80% mark

then tighten the dish elevation and motor nuts to lock it onto the pole and lock the dish too

then try other satellites to see if it needs a fine tune

also make sure there are no obstructions like buildings or trees, you can check for obstructions in dishpointer by placing the dish onto your house wall onscreen once you have zoomed in on the overhead view, in the place you have actually bolted it, if there are any obstructions it wont work

**cooldood01** · 13 July, 2012, 14:53

Ok, Having been at it since 6 this morning i started again and used the tips above.
However, after much fettling i get a 92% - 94% signal and 2% quality.
I think the tree height / density has beaten me:

http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/k537/cool_dood01/Sat%20Dish/Trees.jpg

I cant put the dish above roof height due to the restrictions in the area and no sat installer locally wants to touch a motorised set-up.

Dish Setup Help

Dish Setup Help

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