Motorised Dish Advice Needed

[dalton565]

Hey guys

I need some advice regarding my new motorised setup. I have just purchased a 1m dish to use to try and receieve as many sats as possible. I spend all day yesterday getting it setup as its my first time doing this.

I have it up and running, it gets strong signal on 28.2E, 23.5E and 19.2E. However no other satellites get any signal. I reluctant to move the dish and i dont want to loose signal on these dishes by trying to fine tune others. which i have spent so long setting up. How can i fine tune the other sats without upsetting the ones im currently locked on ?

Also i live in n ireland so im not really sure how many sats i should be able to get with a 1m dish.

im using a vu duo+, 1m dish

the motor i have is below

DiSEqC 1.2/1.3 Usals Satellite 120 H-H Motor with GoTo X - 0

All help appreciated guys.
Thanks

[mdt]

Hey guys

I need some advice regarding my new motorised setup. I have just purchased a 1m dish to use to try and receieve as many sats as possible. I spend all day yesterday getting it setup as its my first time doing this.

I have it up and running, it gets strong signal on 28.2E, 23.5E and 19.2E. However no other satellites get any signal. I reluctant to move the dish and i dont want to loose signal on these dishes by trying to fine tune others. which i have spent so long setting up. How can i fine tune the other sats without upsetting the ones im currently locked on ?

Also i live in n ireland so im not really sure how many sats i should be able to get with a 1m dish.

im using a vu duo+, 1m dish

the motor i have is below

DiSEqC 1.2/1.3 Usals Satellite 120 H-H Motor with GoTo X - 0

All help appreciated guys.
Thanks

peak your dish on 1w or 5w and make sure your motor lat is correct for your area and your lat and long in the vu duo. once you have your dish peaked as long as your pole is 100% plumb the dish is centered on the motor spiggot and you have no line of site issues you should see a minimum of 28.2e to 30w but more likely 45e to 45w,regards mdt

[dalton565]

Thanks for he reply mate. How should he tuner connected to the dish be configured in the box. I have it currently configured as simple with positioner and I manually entered my lat and long.? Is this correct. Will try what you said about Thor. I'm running black hole image

[digicon]

Thanks for he reply mate. How should he tuner connected to the dish be configured in the box. I have it currently configured as simple with positioner and I manually entered my lat and long.? Is this correct. Will try what you said about Thor. I'm running black hole image

Tuner config is correct and as mdt says adjust when on either 0.8 west or depending on your longitude i have a feeling that 5 west would be more appropriate.

[dalton565]

cheers, will give that a go

[mapex]

See what i find the easiest is if you can get a TV near a window then set it up go into settings and play a little with the dish till you see the signal bar go up, touch left to right-touch up and down.

[cpslane]

Are you using a meter or the receiver to look at the signal?
Does your motor have 2 buttons on it for moving it east and west? and where abouts in Ireland are you. i normally use thor to line up then connect my meter to the dish them use either my meter to turn the dish or the buttons looking at the signal all the time till i get a perfect arch.

[grahampaull]

Where

Where in NI are you ?, if you are nearby I could call round and give you a hand, I have meters at the ready and have installed my own motorised kit.

[dalton565]

hi, im in county armagh northern ireland. I have an LED meter and the reciever close by.

Yes my motor has a button for moving east and west, however only one button not 2. I think a double press is east and single is west.

I wasnt really too sure what i was doing when i set it up so i went for a satellite i knew had a strong signal (28.2E), i got a very strong signal on this, and assumed the others would all fall into place, so then decided to have a go look for other sats on the receiver. I get a good signal on 19.2E and 23.5E, but no signal on any of the others. I will try what you guys said i will set the reciver to Thor 0.8W, and reconnect the meter and try and find the signal. i image i cant imagine i need to move it very far if im getting a signal on 28.2E maybe just up or down ?

I think i will maybe need to wait a few days as we are in the middle of monsoon over here !

@Graham if your close by send me a pm. thanks !

[dick b]

if your using usals as you say you can set up on 28.2 east and once aligned properly on that sat all the others will be automatically found providing your mounting pole is plumb and the dish dead central on the motor spigot.from what you say if you can find just 3 sats either your pole is out or the dish not central.

[dalton565]

hi dick,

Your could be very well right, we made a mistake when initially aligning, and moved the dish on its own instead of moving the motor. When i realised this i moved the dish back to as square as i could on motor, trying to form a 'T' shape, but it may be a fraction off.

Whats the best way to square the dish on the motor, or do you just use your eye for this ?

[alec]

hi dick,

Your could be very well right, we made a mistake when initially aligning, and moved the dish on its own instead of moving the motor. When i realised this i moved the dish back to as square as i could on motor, trying to form a 'T' shape, but it may be a fraction off.

Whats the best way to square the dish on the motor, or do you just use your eye for this ?

You really need to be true south to have the motor, LNB , and motor in line; which means they are pointing true south. Align it on 0.8w on BBC news. When the pole is at 90 degrees, the lang and Long is correct for your area and looking at the back of the motor , dish and LNB are in line, tune to BBC news at 0.8w. You should using USUALS pick up the rest of the Sats

[dick b]

hi dick,

Your could be very well right, we made a mistake when initially aligning, and moved the dish on its own instead of moving the motor. When i realised this i moved the dish back to as square as i could on motor, trying to form a 'T' shape, but it may be a fraction off.

Whats the best way to square the dish on the motor, or do you just use your eye for this ?

if you have moved the dish on the motor spigot its probably best to take it all down and start again.the dish Must be 100% central,every one will have their favorite method to do this but heres one of mine.(see pics)

[dalton565]

hi dick, thanks for that guide i will do what you said tonight. In fact when i was installing the intruction manual was totally different, it had me installing the motor first to the pole, then the dish to motor (all while up the ladder), which makes it nearly impossible to get it 100%.

Just to update where i have got to. I tried the center the dish on the spigot myself while pointing south think i got it pretty close but will try the guide above tonight.

Tried to find Thor 0.8W but for the life of me could not get a signal. Was getting like solid 80% AGC but 0% SNR, does anyone know what this means ? I think it may be obstructed although it doesnt appear to be.

Anyway i have it set now i can recieve sats from 17oE - > 28.2oE, but nothing under 17oE. If i could get hotbird i would be happy.

Have ordered an inclinometer so i will check the pole alignment at the weekend, and follow the guide above.

[digicon]

An inclinometer is a bit drastic just for checking pole alignment, do you not have a spirit level handy. AGC is the power from the satellite if you sweep the dish from left to right AGC rarely changes as it picks up different satellite's in the ARC