DiSEqC (SG-2000 Motor)/Azimuth/Dish Alignment Query

[exortio]

Hi guys,

Getting to the point, I'm curious about the alignment of satellite dishes - I have an SG-2100 type motor that has hardware alignment degrees below the swivel portion ... after aligning with True South, the degree of a satellite (e.g. 28.2E), is the true south minus the 'azimuth' outlined on e.g. Satellite Finder / Dish Alignment Calculator with Google Maps | DishPointer.com (angles taken from the underneath of the motor), or am I missing something. Does the dial relate to that calculation, or 28.2? E (awfully specific for the size of scale.

Practical application (e.g.): 180? (true south) - 140? (28.2E azimuth [true] from given location) would give me 40? to dial/setup according to the hardware scale below the motor? Should the LNB be skewed otherwise ... does the LNB skew with the rotation of the dish? I'm completely confused with the whole motorised concept, aligning a dish without is simple enough when following the data. Any help greatly appreciated.

[ramjet]

the zero pointer on the dial points due south of you , so at zero degrees
the lnb is not skewed at all at this point, so is "straight"

the motor angles have no relationship to the actual satellites unless you were in greenwich in london
so if the satellite due south of you is 19 east , then the zero pointer points at 19e
but if the satellite due south of you is 5 west (western ireland) , then the zero pointer points at 5 west

[markwi]

If you use this calculator you can determine what the degree reading will be on the azimuth scale on the motor: Satellite Finder - Satellite Az-El Calculator to help point your dish Just enter your long/lat position and the satellite then press Calculate and the "Polar Mount Axis Rotation" will give you the angle.But this will be for a system that is setup and working....I think.

[dufmyster]

usually technomate motors i sort. i would simply line it up with 0.8 or 1 east. then rotate the motor checking to see if your hitting all the sats your interested in. once thats done you then sort your box to save the satellites

[markwi]

Hopefully this will help:
1 The pole the motor is to be mounted on has to be perfectly vertical.You'll need a very good spirit level for this.
2 Hopefully you don't have any houses or trees too close to you,in the southern sky.
3 Put the motor on the pole at a height that suits your dish pointing due south.Tighten the bolts enough so that the motor can't move.This adjustment will be fine tuned later
4 Set the latitude scale on the motor to match your location(can be found with Satellite Finder / Dish Alignment Calculator with Google Maps | DishPointer.com )This adjustment won't be moved again.
5 With the motor connected to receiver make sure it's at the zero point(should be possible from the Motorized Setting menu)
6 Mount the dish on the motor arm so that the seam or zero line of the motor arm is in line with the centre of the dish.You can measure from either side of the dish to get this accurate.Tighten up the securing bolts well,this won't be moved again.
7 Set the angle scale on the dish to the "dish bracket angle",found in the motor installation manual,for your latitude.This will be fine tuned later
8 Make sure the lnb is at it's zero position ie with the cable coming down at 6 O'clock
9 With everything connected go to the Motorized setting menu of the receiver and select USALS for the DISEqC Motor setting and enter your longitude and latitude..
10 Then select a satellite that is the most southerly to you and a valid transponder(check with kingofsat).Then you need to do a Go To command to move the dish.
11 Adjust the dish with very small movements,until you get a signal,by the moving the motor assembly on the pole left or right.If there's no signal increase the dish elevation slightly using the angle scale on the dish then try the horizontal movement again.If still no good then move the dish down past the previous position and try again.When you have a signal tighten up all the bolts evenly and check by flexing the dish gently up/down,left/right that there's always a reduction in signal ie you have the optimum position.
12 You should now be able to go to any satellite,within reason, and pick up channels or do a scan for channels.
Good luck.Cheers
Edit. You may find it easier to leave the motor in the due south position and fine tune azimuth by changing the longitude setting in Motorized Settings

[exortio]

Thanks for the replies, managed to get everything set - however, I can't manage to catch some satellites. I have +80% SNR (requires some tuning, seen above 90 at times) on most of 28.2E TP's, and on 19.2E as a control - for whatever reason, I cannot get Eutelsat (16E in particular). The dish elevation seems to suit both of those satellites, but I cannot get the TP's to show any strength (dozens manually inputted from KingofSat & LyngSat).

Downloaded AJ's channel list for 28.2E which was brilliant general calibration, 19.2E was found manually via. moving the dish from the receiver (+1140 of the 1200-odd channels there) - zilch for Eutelsat 16E. Could it be the hardware? I'm running an OpenBox V8S, SG-2100 motor, 80cm dish & a single 0.4dB LNB. Eutelsat's website states that I could catch 16E with a 60cm dish, but I'm starting to think that it's rubbish.

UPDATE: managed to scrape a ~22% SNR on one frequency, what could be the issue? The other satellites are perfectly aligned.

[markwi]

Are you saying that 16E is the only satellite you can't get? You won't pickup all transponders on all satellites,it can depend on your dish size,location and the transponder you're trying to get.What transponder,in particular,are you having problems with on 16E?

[digicon]

The 80cm dish size is perfectly adequate to pick up most of the transponders from 16? east, where you say you are having no problems picking up other satellites such as 28.2? and 19.2? east with ease would suggest that the dish is not accurately aligned correctly.

For example 28.2? east you could probably pick up on a saucepan lid especially 2E/2F the transponder power is that strong, which relates to your problem as you have an 80cm dish even if not aligned correctly the size of the dish would still pick up the more powerful transponders this can also be said about certain powerful transponders on 19.2? east.

Your ARC could be slightly out without you even knowing as you appear to be concentrating on aligning your dish to the most powerful satellites in the sky, what you really need to do is concentrate on aligning to the more weaker satellites such as 4.8? east and possibly 0.8? west

[dinartao]

Hi I need some help to set the motor elevation.
My post code is m22 1bt.
On motor book say something like 35,can anyone tell please how to set the motor elevation?
If is 29 or 53.3 ftom thd satellite finder or 35.t35.thanks
Ps sorry to post here but I couldnt gind how to post new treat