Search results for query: *

It will depend on the actuator and geometry of your dish mount.

A "handy" way of estimating degrees of elevation is to hold your arm out in front of you in a horizontal position. Your fist (pinky to thumb) will cover about 10 degrees. Extend your index finger and it will be covering about 2 degrees. By stacking these body metrics you can get a pretty good...

Thanks, Truckracer. The weather head protects and gives an install a nice finished look. Plus, it gives me a place to hide the end of the poly twine I pull through the conduit along with the coax (which comes in handy later if/when you need to pull another cable alongside the original one.)...

Thank you, and yes. Astronomy is my other space-based hobby.

12 Foot Orbitron - High Mount I installed my 12 foot Orbitron in '91 and it has been in continuous service ever since with only one tracking adjustment (shortly after installation.) Schedule 40 pipe salvaged from an oil drilling outfit's scrap yard is concrete filled and set in a 5 ft...

Can't beat free + 1 hour! ... never thought about salvaging the mounts, just the dishes.

Congratulations to you too, Defcon! Two Trackers and a 9 ft. dish for $0, great score. Also, it is encouraging to learn of yet another Satguy with "troubleshoot to the component level" skills. It would be great to see a future thread on your power supply repairs.

Unless your situation prohibits you from digging a hole in the ground, I suggest doing a normal in-ground install but keep the top of the concrete 4 inches or so below grade. Later, if you decide to move or get rid of the dish, it will be relatively easy to cut the pipe off below grade and...

Take both DC and AC measurements. I'm not sure exactly how low the AC (ripple) reading on a healthy 920 should be, probably millivolts. Maybe one of the guys has some idea of how smooth the DC powering an LNB needs to be.

This is a weird one indeed. If I understand correctly it basically comes down to your being unable to power up both LNBs simultaneously, which may suggest a power supply or loading issue. Maybe the power supply in your receiver is degraded (e.g. partially blown diode bridge), or one of the LNBs...

Looking at the footprint maps I think it's pretty clear you are going to want a larger dish. How large I cannot say. Advice from someone with local experience would be your best bet. Perhaps an installer in your area would be willing to advise you.

Samc, if you go with a smaller dish it might be a good idea to install it on a pole and in a location which can handle a larger dish - one of at least 10' dia. This way, should you be dissatisfied with the results of your initial installation, it will be relatively easy to upgrade.

I would try to avoid pulling the actuator if at all possible. Is the actuator's movement limited, or does it not move at all? If not moving, does it make any noise when told to move? (...any noise at all, even a brief hum.)

The actuator should be clamped so that it is almost fully retracted when the dish is pointed at your westernmost satellite.

Good tip. I had that problem when I first installed my 12' Orbitron w/24'' actuator. The factory clamp is too wide and smooth to get a bite on the actuator tube. No matter how tight the bolts, the clamp would slip with the first strong wind. The problem was solved by installing two...

Techno935's location way down there in sunny Florida will make playing with a 1.2 meter even more of a challenge on some North American beams.

A multimeter is an electrical measurement and troubleshooting tool, sometimes also known as a VOM (Volt-Ohm-Meter, although most also measure amperage.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multimeter Me too. That can happen if the east limit is set too far east. How far is too far varies with...

This typically means the receiver is (or thinks it is) sending power to the actuator motor in hopes of making it move, but is not seeing a steady stream of pulses coming back from the actuator. Check for poor connections at both ends of the actuator cable. If there are no obvious problems...

A well tuned 6ft dish properly aligned should give you good performance for everyday viewing ... but just in case you want to supersize it later on - when you install your 6ft, plant a pole tall enough with a footing strong enough to handle a 10. All it will cost you is a few feet of pipe and a...

The importance of stability has been demonstrated to me in a big way when experimenting with SCPC audio on C-band. As the feedhorn cover moved into or out of the sun the IF of the receiver would drift, not enough to effect NTSC video, but narrow little audio carriers would go dancing across the...

Cast iron or steel ... ...and dferg's advice on preventing the pipe from being rotated in the concrete is important. If you can't do it yourself, stop at a welding shop on your way home with the pipe. With any luck they will take care of you on the spot.

Schedule 40 pipe should be good enough, schedule 80 is great if you can come by it. I've had great luck buying scrap from well and pipeline contractors. Additional rigidity can be gained by filling the void inside the pipe with concrete, but this is usually not necessary. Plain old...

The Outdoor Channel was there as recently as Friday night. I assume you have tapped into the C-band LNB's IF using a splitter, and routed that to the IF in of the Pansat. The DRS is controling both dish position and LNB polarity. Make sure your DSR is tuned to a horizontal transponder on G-10...

I'd say a dish in the hand is worth two in the bush. Sink a pole robust and tall enough to accommodate a 10' or 12' foot dish, mount the 7.5 on it and experiment. I expect you will be happy with the results, but if not the infrastructure will be in place for a larger dish. Looks like the...

If you are sure the other channels you mention are on PAS-9 (proving it's not a dish alignment issue) and at least one of the other channels is also horizontal polarity (proving it's not an LNB or polarizer issue) I'm out of ideas. ... never been anywhere near a PowerVu receiver myself...