pulling my hair out aligning dish

[Kb Cool]

the pole is level east and west, but not north and south, but wont elevation compensate?

Don't know. Did you finally put your mount on true south yet? And have you bought an angle finder yet? And compass? I suppose elevation would make up for it being out of plumb, "only if its tilted back or foward directly across from true south" Other-wise dig it up and start over.

 

[Techfizzle]

ok i found amc 3 gene scott comes in horrible where as a feed on the same sat comes in clear

i peaked it there

yet any sats west of amc 4 at 101 come in horrible, so i moved my mount over to peak on amc 4

now amc 3 comes in crappy

i have tried for 8 solid hours today to make it track and it wont!

someone pm'ed me saying they lived a half hour away and would help but i lost that pm

 

[Inno]

also i wired up my polorator and i verifed if works, yet changing the skew doesnt help a bit

This is probably why you are getting some feeds with clarity and some not.
How did you verify that it works? Just by listening for noise when changing from a horizontal to a vertical channel or by looking at the probe in the feedhorn?
When you adjust the skew does the probe move in tiny little steps?
You are aware of the difference between skew and polarity right?

Is it just the odd numbered channels that work properly on some satellites and the even numbered ones on other satellites?

The mounting post, does it move at all when you move the dish from east to west or is it mounted solid? It is probably possible to make it track the arc even if it is not perfectly level but it is MUCH harder to do so. You're better off if you can make the mounting post perfectly plumb and square.

 

[Inno]

Anyone else notice from his pictures (aside from the fact that they take forever to load) that it doesn't look like the declination angle is adjustable? Although being as how the dish came from his location it's probably already set and not likely an issue.

Should be as simple as moving the actuator until the dish is at it's very highest point then rotating the entire dish, mount and all until you find your true south satellite, adjusting elevation as necessary.
Make sure the dish is secure when you run it east to west with the actuator and not able to "flop around" on the mount or you will never get it set correctly. Also look into the polarotor and make sure it is working properly.

 

[Techfizzle]

where the ring mount goes onto the post mount, there are 3 diffrent bolt holes for declination, i put it at the same one,

you mean highes point, the dish feedhorn is straight up in the air?

 

[Kb Cool]

ok i found amc 3 gene scott comes in horrible where as a feed on the same sat comes in clear

i peaked it there

yet any sats west of amc 4 at 101 come in horrible, so i moved my mount over to peak on amc 4

now amc 3 comes in crappy

i have tried for 8 solid hours today to make it track and it wont!

someone pm'ed me saying they lived a half hour away and would help but i lost that pm

I hope your not rotating your entire mount to 101°. Because if you are it'll never work. Your mount needs to be at true south plus or minus what the deviation map says for your location. Did you even look at it?

 

[Techfizzle]

what part of the mount points at true south?

 

[Kb Cool]

what part of the mount points at true south?

Now were getting somewhere.
I'll be right back with some pics of my dish.

 

[Inno]

Was gonna attempt an answer to that but perhaps a picture is the best way.

 

[Kb Cool]

Okay,
The part that slides over the pole and the actuator clamp mounts to it too.
In the pic you can see my dish looking at Galaxy 15. But, the mount is still facing my true south and it never moves only the bowl of the dish moves (pivots on the mount) to each satellite. Do you get it now?

 

[Techfizzle]

you can too

 

[Kb Cool]

Techfizzle is now outside looking at his dish.
Please be patient for his reply.

 

[Kb Cool]

Fizzletech,
Also, dont be alarmed that my actuator is on the east side of my dish. I'm located west of the mississippi river. So its where it supposed to be.

 

[turbosat]

Hope he figures out where the polar axis is. And that you can't compensate for bad tracking by moving the mount around and around on the pole lol.

 

[Techfizzle]

ok i see now, so the southrenmost part of my mount points south correct? how do i align it with a compas?

 

[Inno]

You don't........you make that part of your mount point to your true south satellite when the dish is at it's highest point.........the dish and the mount need to point at your true south satellite. As previously mentioned, you will not get a true reading with a compass due to magnetic deviation of the earth. There's a way to figure it out but for your purposes don't worry about it. Knowing your true south satellite based on your location will be easier.
From that point, the highest in the arc, when you go east or west with the dish, the elevation should drop.

 

[Techfizzle]

so i need to point my mount at true south and the move the dish untill its in the middle of east and west?

 

[Kb Cool]

so i need to point my mount at true south and the move the dish untill its in the middle of east and west?

Yep, you got it.
By the way you never told us your true south satellite. What is it?

 

[Inno]

Essentially yes.
When aligned with your true south satellite your mount and your dish should be facing directly (or close to it) south and the dish should be at it's highest point of travel.

 

[Techfizzle]

so all i need to do now is figure out what my true south is and how to set it
help