Motorised Dish - got the hardware installed...

Bishop22

Hi Forum,

I have fallen foul like many to the motorised dish setup and need some of your expert advice. Here are my details:

In Co. Longford
Technomate 6900 Combo HD receiver
Technomate Super Gain Quad LNB
Technomate SG-2600 Motor
Fracarro Penta 85 aluminimum dish

I tested with the dish on the ground and managed to tune in tons of channels on a couple of separate occasions from a two different sats (one was 28.2 and another German channels one) so the equipment is all operational. I now have the dish mounted on galvanised brackets at the back of the garage, out of sight of the house and neighbours.

Pole is beautifully plumb (pre and post dish install) I didn't want to fall at the first hurdle !
Motor Elevation is set for my 53 degrees latitude, 36 degrees.
Dish declination is set for my location, 30 degrees miuns 6.9 (hello, 7)=23.
I have my location co-ordinates set in the USUALS setting in the receiver.
Motor is set to 0 azumith.

Loosened the assembly just enough to rotate the dish/motor assembly to aim 'approx' south and then using the USALS to drive the motor to a known satellite, say 28.2E. I don't think I'll get far enough around to see 5W, some trees in the way but then I don't need to see absolutely every Sat in the belt.

I am not getting signal/quality sufficient to tune in any channels. Before I exhaust myself up and down ladders and crossing the lawn 100 times fine tuning, is there anything else I should be doing?

I am totally new to this stuff (being an ex Sky subscriber) and just following what I read on the boards and various sites. So if I can't start with 5W, can I choose a Sat in the East and use that to start alignment/tuning. Apparently I read its better to choose a Sat on the extermes rather than top of the arc which I subsequently defaulted to !

Is the compass on the iPhone any use at all to find magnetic South? How much should I adjust to get to True South for my part of the country?

Many many thanks for your advice.

tomslick

Without your due south sat 5W it can get very tricky. The problem with the likes of the stronger sats is you don't need to be too accurate (relatively speaking). The beams are so big you could be hitting the top or bottom and still be getting enough signal to view some channels.

If you could get to 5W it becomes much simplier. You set the Longditude on the dish, drive motor to 5W and rotate motor on pole and dish up&down, when you have max signal your pretty much done.

If you really can't get to 5W, I suggest a weaker sat with tight beams just so you are as accurate as possible. Something like 1w would do, if not maybe 16east. I would keep away from the strong sats or you'll break your heart.

I would also recommend setting up with the reciever and TV near/in view as you pan the dish. If you use a beeper you'll be back to the tv countless times.

Hope this helps a bit.

Bishop22

Thanks tomslick. I read on the forums that 16E is almost impossible to get though in Ireland, needs a 1m dish or larger and very weather dependent?

Yeah, I was thinking of moving the receiver and a portable into the garage for the tuning, save the laps of the garden !

Let you know how I get on.

tomslick

16east is tricky. Unfortunately that's the point. If you get it you'll be spot on. I pickup most of 16 in cork on a 80ish dish. If you need help with a viewable transponder for any sat let me know.