Care and Feeding of a 12 foot Paraclipse...

[stogie5150]

Tracking time huh?? Well do not forget Geo orbit, and then someone posted on one of these forums a place where you could download the video "Tracking Made Easy" by outlook communications. it is pretty good.

This moring I sent you an email regarding the plastic bolts on the mounting plate for your feed horn.

If I recall correctly I had the same problem that you did because we both installed the bolts by following the instructions. I found that in order to get the 52.625 focal distance I had to reinstall the plastic bolts with the head pointed toward the center of the dish rather than with the head pointed away.

Good luck...

Yeah, I can see removing those nylon bolts...they're gonna shatter like glass the minute I put the pliers on them...LOL

I read the tracking page, then read it again, then read it AGAIN. I think I have an idea now what to do.Good to see that if I did my stuff correctly all I will have to adjust is elevation and azmiuth. That declination is NOT easy to adjust on that dish....

I think I will go ahead and move the feed before I go any further. because right now I am at 53.500.

 

[Mauiguy]

Yeah, I can see removing those nylon bolts...they're gonna shatter like glass the minute I put the pliers on them...LOL

I read the tracking page, then read it again, then read it AGAIN. I think I have an idea now what to do.Good to see that if I did my stuff correctly all I will have to adjust is elevation and azmiuth. That declination is NOT easy to adjust on that dish....

I think I will go ahead and move the feed before I go any further. because right now I am at 53.500.

Yeah on one of my feed plates the plastic bolts are real hard to move. On the one i have not yet installed they are real easy to turn with fingers. it would seem that the Paraclypse guys were always trying to make things easier.

In regard to elevation, if it is set correctly, you might need to adjust it again as a very last resort.

I would peak the highest bird with my refceiver, then go to the lowest to the east, and peak it with the tuner then rotate the mount to get the best signal, then back to the highest bird with the tuner only, then back to the lowest to check again and possibly rotate the pole again.

Once all is set with the lowest I would then go back to the highest for the last time, and it if needs a little adjustment on elevation, that would be the time. If it needs to be moved all you will probably need is about one sixth of a turn.

If you do adjust your elevation I would then check a few birds on the arc, by lifting and pressing down to be sure you are tracking the arc ok. That will be the time you find out if you were real good on your Declination settings....

Kind of like juggling three balls while trying to settle down with a cold one for relaxation.


If you can find that video i mentioned it is a fairly good show and tell about peaking your dish. if not, I do have the file and if some one can tell me how to eamil a 36 meg attachment I will do so.

I could burn a copy to DVD and mail it to you if you want, but that would set you back a few days....

 

[stogie5150]

Well I have limited success. I seem to have my tracking pretty danged good. What I don't have pretty danged good is my SKEW on that voltage controlled Dual LNB I am using! Some TP's MAX out the meter on the Coolsat 5000, some don't. Seems that the western most satellites are okay, but gets worse as I go east. To me that's a sure sign that the skew needs adjusting. When I put the LNB on it I just guessed anyway, so I guess I was just a little off. I tried the S2 MUX on G28, no dice. G11, my TS satellite, most TP's that I can get are dang near maxed out on the coolsat 5000, 97 quality. None under 90 percent. I am confident after I adjust the skew it will get better.

I had a bear of a time getting the 52.625 focal length, I ended up having to go to the Orange box and get three nylon 1" spacers and 3.5 inch bolts (longer than stock) to get it to work. When I adjust the skew I'll get a picture of the setup for posterity.

Another thing I noticed is that big 'ol dish bobs about a bit in the wind. I'd hate to try to get KU on it...LOL

Thus ends todays adventures.

 

[Mauiguy]

Well I have limited success. I seem to have my tracking pretty danged good. What I don't have pretty danged good is my SKEW on that voltage controlled Dual LNB I am using! Some TP's MAX out the meter on the Coolsat 5000, some don't. Seems that the western most satellites are okay, but gets worse as I go east. To me that's a sure sign that the skew needs adjusting. When I put the LNB on it I just guessed anyway, so I guess I was just a little off. I tried the S2 MUX on G28, no dice. G11, my TS satellite, most TP's that I can get are dang near maxed out on the coolsat 5000, 97 quality. None under 90 percent. I am confident after I adjust the skew it will get better.

I had a bear of a time getting the 52.625 focal length, I ended up having to go to the Orange box and get three nylon 1" spacers and 3.5 inch bolts (longer than stock) to get it to work. When I adjust the skew I'll get a picture of the setup for posterity.

Another thing I noticed is that big 'ol dish bobs about a bit in the wind. I'd hate to try to get KU on it...LOL

Thus ends todays adventures.

I like the signal quality that you get. My dish really hops abut in the wind, but I have never had a problem with Ku. Keep in mind that with the higher quality measutrements you have a little more head room for dish movement.

I did put some quarter inch guy wires on my mount, but they did little to stabilize the dish. At one point I was thinking of putting an automotive strut between the mount and dish to see if I could slow or dampen the wobble.

Today we are having steady winds of about fifteen with gusts to twenty or twenty five. No ku problems. It is expected that later this week the trades with be in the twenty mile per hour range with gusts approaching thirty.

I have a question because I have never used a voltage controlled LNB. How do you determine that you skew is off, as opposed to your dish being slightly off?

As I understand the voltage controlled stuff, you put the LNBf up there and switch between vertical and horizontal. Do you lose signal on both of the polarities or only one?

 

[stogie5150]

I like the signal quality that you get. My dish really hops abut in the wind, but I have never had a problem with Ku. Keep in mind that with the higher quality measutrements you have a little more head room for dish movement.

I did put some quarter inch guy wires on my mount, but they did little to stabilize the dish. At one point I was thinking of putting an automotive strut between the mount and dish to see if I could slow or dampen the wobble.

Today we are having steady winds of about fifteen with gusts to twenty or twenty five. No ku problems. It is expected that later this week the trades with be in the twenty mile per hour range with gusts approaching thirty.

I have a question because I have never used a voltage controlled LNB. How do you determine that you skew is off, as opposed to your dish being slightly off?

As I understand the voltage controlled stuff, you put the LNBf up there and switch between vertical and horizontal. Do you lose signal on both of the polarities or only one?

It takes a bit to get tuned just right...here's a thread I posted when I got it last year...Yes you can lose one polarity only if its off too much....LOL

http://www.satelliteguys.us/fta-mpeg2-equipment-reviews/108104-geosat-dual-c-band-lnb.html


Oh, and how I tell if its the skew, if you scan a satellite and you only get one polarity, chances are the skew is bad. Or if one is significantly weaker than the other. When I installed the LNB on the Paraclipse, I just took a guess and slapped it in there. I really fought it on my old dish for a long tme last year until Iceberg set me straight, he has the same LNB and gave me hints on what to look for.

 

[stogie5150]

I finally got it to track, somewhat. Some TP's are maxed out, some, not so much. Frankly I expected more...LOL

Linuxman and I talked a bit on the phone this afternoon, and he (and me) don't think I have the angles close enough. So I ordered a digital inclinometer tonight from harbor freight, I am gonna do some serious measuring pretty soon.

And I still have to experiment with moving the scalar ring assembly too.

Just for reference, I picked up 8 quality points on the S2 Equity mux on G28. from 72-74 with the 7.5 Perfect 10 on the Diamond HD to 80-82 with the Para. Not bad. but I think it has more to give. Some TP's on some satellites absolutely blow the meter off the TV...

I am tracking 139w TO 72W with little problem, other than inconsistant quality...I know the TP's are of varying strength though, I had written some TP strengths down before I removed my old dish, the only one I have checked so far is the Equity mux.

I still don't think I have the LNB skewed right. I put it the same way I had it on my 7.5 and had no signal on either polarity. Weird. So I just moved it until two H/V TP's on the same sat had about the same quality and tightened it down. I am going to look at that further. I'd like to set the skew at my TS satellite, but I'd need a bucket truck to do that....LOL

 

[Mauiguy]

I finally got it to track, somewhat. Some TP's are maxed out, some, not so much. Frankly I expected more...LOL

Linuxman and I talked a bit on the phone this afternoon, and he (and me) don't think I have the angles close enough. So I ordered a digital inclinometer tonight from harbor freight, I am gonna do some serious measuring pretty soon.


I have a digital level, and it is a nice tool. It measures to one tenth of a degree. It even has a nice magnet on it so I can hang it on the steel parts of the mount to set elevation.

If you have a nice calm day, and can measure then you are ok I think. The dish movement in the wind makes for interesting measurements though.

One other thing is that with all of the declination charts that have been published, it is difficult to determine which one is the absolute answer. If the chart is off by as little as one tenth of a degree, and my measurement is off by one tenth of a degree, then I am listening to Saturn as opposed to the satellite I want.

One day it will be perfectly calm, the sun will not be too hot, and it will not rain while I have a dozen receivers, TVs and spectrum analyzers out at the dish, and I will finally hit nirvana......

 

[linuxman]

One day it will be perfectly calm, the sun will not be too hot, and it will not rain while I have a dozen receivers, TVs and spectrum analyzers out at the dish, and I will finally hit nirvana......

When that day comes, please let me know!

 

[voomvoom]

When that day comes, please let me know!

He... He... He... He... He... He......

 

[stogie5150]

I finally got it to track, somewhat. Some TP's are maxed out, some, not so much. Frankly I expected more...LOL

Linuxman and I talked a bit on the phone this afternoon, and he (and me) don't think I have the angles close enough. So I ordered a digital inclinometer tonight from harbor freight, I am gonna do some serious measuring pretty soon.


I have a digital level, and it is a nice tool. It measures to one tenth of a degree. It even has a nice magnet on it so I can hang it on the steel parts of the mount to set elevation.

If you have a nice calm day, and can measure then you are ok I think. The dish movement in the wind makes for interesting measurements though.

One other thing is that with all of the declination charts that have been published, it is difficult to determine which one is the absolute answer. If the chart is off by as little as one tenth of a degree, and my measurement is off by one tenth of a degree, then I am listening to Saturn as opposed to the satellite I want.

One day it will be perfectly calm, the sun will not be too hot, and it will not rain while I have a dozen receivers, TVs and spectrum analyzers out at the dish, and I will finally hit nirvana......

I have a sheet of typing paper that was prepared by the original installer of the dish with ALL of the pertient info for this particular dish. It was shoved in the Paraclipse manual with the rest of the stuff I got with the dish. It looks more like the computations to send a satellite to orbit rather than aim a dish...LOL

So I HAVE the numbers, I just need a way to check what I have.

I set the dish up the other day in 20 MPH steady winds with 30 MPH gusts, so from what y'all say what I have now is nothing short of a miracle, or either by dumb luck I hit it by accident.

 

[stogie5150]

Well, looks like I don't have the LNB right, I blindscanned G28 and I got the same set of channels, twice.

Grrrrr....

 

[Lak7]

Which LNB are you using?

 

[stogie5150]

Which LNB are you using?

Sat Av Twin C-band. It worked when I took it off my 7.5 a week ago, now all it seems to get is one polarity....

I am getting ready to go mess with it right now...in fact. Check my cables and such. But It was doing it when I was out at the dish with a cable straight from the LNB to the receiver...so I think its the LNB....

 

[Lak7]

Does that one have an internal switch for Horz and Vert?

 

[stogie5150]

Does that one have an internal switch for Horz and Vert?

I guess...LOL...but I've figured it out....my next post will be full of satellite TP strengths as requested.

Thanks for the offer to help though.

 

[Lak7]

Sometimes it's the dumb questions that turns the lights on.

 

[stogie5150]

Sometimes it's the dumb questions that turns the lights on.

Actually, I fried my multiswitch in the attic...AGAIN. This is the third one...I think when I took my old dish down I left the coaxes laying in the yard...and we had a MONSOON that day, and I BET I powered on a receiver with the coaxes laying in water, and fried the danged switch.

But all is well now.

 

[stogie5150]

Well just goes to show you...I fixed the skew for DVB and I am SCREWED for S2. I have a 90% quality on a DVB TP on G28, the Equity mux is below threshold, 70-72 on the Diamond. GRRRR...

ANYWAY....

Some samples of quality on various sats...

All these are on lyngsat so I am not giving anything away here...all the qualities are from a coolsat 5k.

G28 3949 V 97 quality
4060 H 94 quality

G11/17 - 3720H CW Mux - 97 quality
3820 V 30000 Fox Mux 90-91 quality

G23 3714 H - 97 quality
3900 V - 93-94 quality

G14 3720 H 90 -93 quality
3780 V 93-94 quality

AMC 7 4060V 87-88

Pretty good. Even if they aren't al maxed out...I will simply HAVE to figure out my DVB-S2 issue though.

 

[stogie5150]

You guys that are rocket scientists...check this out. Here are the precise measurments someone took when they originally installed the dish in 1986. This was stuffed in the original Paraclipse book that the guy gave me with the dish. According to my handheld GPS the coordinates he started with are correct for my location.

Comments are encouraged.

 

[Mauiguy]

You guys that are rocket scientists...check this out. Here are the precise measurments someone took when they originally installed the dish in 1986. This was stuffed in the original Paraclipse book that the guy gave me with the dish. According to my handheld GPS the coordinates he started with are correct for my location.

Comments are encouraged.

Stogie,

. Supposedly the best measurements are the ones listed on the "modified polar mount tracking angles" list. They are designed to allow for the alignment issues when setting for true south, but being above the equator. I guess the way they work is to allow better tracking towards the ends of the arc.

I do not know your latitude, but when using that chart, my exact latitude was not listed because it is between some of those measurments. I am at latitude 20.9 degrees north.

With an error of only .25 of a degree having the potential to create problems, I did the math to to get a closer meqsurement than using latitude 21 degrees.

I must say i am pleased that some one made a chart, because i never did get to the math levels to be able to figure out how to aim one of these....

I looked at those numbers and not knowing your exact location i do not know if they agree with the attached chart.