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rogerduncan100

Last reply Nov 29, 2010 · posted in Free To Air (FTA) Discussion

SG2100 Tweak Angle

Can anybody tell me the answer to this technical question? If I use USALS user mode to move the dish east or west just one jump, how many tenths of a degree does the dish turn?

I am guessing that this property is dependent on the motor only and is not affected by the brand of receiver or whether USALS or DISCEQ is being used.

The reason I ask is because it seems two or three tweaks to the east increases my signal quality on all the satellites and I want to know how much to turn the dish mount to make my setup "more perfect".

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rogerduncan100

Nov 27, 2010

Interesting stuff here, thanks!

Radar, I heard somewhere that USALS is inaccurate in how far it turns (let's say from true south). Thus the sats at the extremes do not get aimed at exacly right. What is your comment about this?

PS: I don't think my Viewsat Max with SG2100 motor can even function in DiScEq.

rogerduncan100

rogerduncan100

Nov 28, 2010

Crackt, thanks for the link!

I had a feeling I needed to tilt the motor slightly upward and the dish slightly downward to track the Clark Belt better. I have been messing around with the geometry of cones and whatnot but this seems to be the chart that is the answer to what I was trying to accomplish. I can let the chart do the thinking for me!

You and Radar obviously disagree about the worth of USALS. Maybe it depends on the receiver and the USALS vesion.

rogerduncan100

Nov 28, 2010

I am finding the terminology very puzzling. I am sure different people mean different things when they use the same words. For example, the charts equate latitude and elevation angle. Others, such as myself think lattitude plus elevation angle equals 90.

What I want to know is how many tenths of a degree to change my motor axis from the earth's axis. Then after I point exactly at the hypothetical true south sat I will track the Clark Belt perfectly with my dish.

greg47

Nov 28, 2010

USALS set up correctly with a perfect aligned dish a new motor and peaked in correctly on your true south satellite will go to each satellite correctly. But you will find in time that the wear that happens inside the motor and in the gear reduction will eventually throw your position off. Also I have seen the position get thrown off by missed pulses inside the motor by any electrical problem, usually a surge or power out will cause them to be off. Sometimes the reciever gets confused by data recieved from the sat itself and it does a reset. I have seen it all happen, now you ask what I use ? USALS till I notice the wear then I switch to DiScEq.

AcWxRadar

Nov 29, 2010

rogerduncan100 said:
Interesting stuff here, thanks!

Radar, I heard somewhere that USALS is inaccurate in how far it turns (let's say from true south). Thus the sats at the extremes do not get aimed at exacly right. What is your comment about this?

PS: I don't think my Viewsat Max with SG2100 motor can even function in DiScEq.

rogerduncan100

Roger,

A true USALS compatible receiver is extremely accurate, down to a tenth of a degree or better. However, the USALS program is limited in its maximum east or west travel calculation.

USALS is nothing more than a math program that utilizes your site coordinates (latitude and longitude) and the orbital degree of the satellite to determine where to position the dish.
With a properly aligned dish and motor, USALS uses this information to calculate the accurate position that the motor should drive to. Once you have menchanically or physically calibrated one satellite, usually your true south satellite, the USALS program knows where all satellites are across the horizon.

It is not magic, and it is nothing new. It is just a math program that is beneficial to use. You can drive your dish to any satellite position using USALS and be 0.01 degrees accurate in the position. However, this accuracy is only applicable for as much as your mechanical accuracy of the dish and motor alignment are. The math program of USALS itself is accurate down to 0.01 degree, but your mechanical alignment of the dish and motor are limited to less accuracy than this. Since you cannot read this level of accuracy from any of your dish or motor scales, you have to use the signal from the satellite to align it.

Therefore, if you have calibrated your dish and motor to align at your true south satellite and you apply USALS, then all other satellite positions are known, with extreme accuracy - as accurate as you have aligned your dish and motor.

With my system, I can enter any satellite orbital position and tell it to use USALS to locate any satellite and the H-H motor drives right there. I don't have to use DiSEqC 1.2 motor control to "tweak" it in. If the given orbital position for the sat is accurate, then the system aligns itself to that position nearly perfectly. Using DiSEqC 1.2 motor control I usually cannot position the motor any better.

There is a limitation of USALS, however. I have found that all receivers and motors using USALS quit at approximately +/- 59° from your site's longitude position. Any satellite further than 59° east or west from your home location requires you to resort to DiSEqC 1.2 to locate the sat's position. This is not too much trouble, but you need to know of it in advance.

What you heard or read about the inaccuracies of USALS is a myth. It is extremely accurate all the way from the west most to the east most limit of its program. Beyond these limits (+/-59 or so degrees) it does not stop being accurate, it just stops operating, period.

You will not understand this concept fully untill you have aligned your dish and motor perfectly and tried it all out for yourself. If you are used to using DiSeqC 1.2 motor control, you may have a hard time getting used to USALS, because or since you have the concept of DiSEqC 1.2 control ingrained in your mind.

RADAR

AcWxRadar

Nov 29, 2010

rogerduncan100 said:
Crackt, thanks for the link!

I had a feeling I needed to tilt the motor slightly upward and the dish slightly downward to track the Clark Belt better. I have been messing around with the geometry of cones and whatnot but this seems to be the chart that is the answer to what I was trying to accomplish. I can let the chart do the thinking for me!

You and Radar obviously disagree about the worth of USALS. Maybe it depends on the receiver and the USALS vesion.

Roger,

There is no other version of USALS. USALS is USALS and there is nothing else. That is like saying that there is another way to add 2 and 2 together. There is only one way. Add 2 and 2 and you get 4. There is no other way to do it.

USALS is nothing more than a math program like this. But, it is copyrighted or owned like Einstien's theory of relativity. No FTA satellite receiver can sport the USALS LOGO and endorsement and lable unless they submit their reciever to the USALS lab and it passes the criteria set forth for USALS.

rogerduncan100 said:
I am finding the terminology very puzzling. I am sure different people mean different things when they use the same words. For example, the charts equate latitude and elevation angle. Others, such as myself think lattitude plus elevation angle equals 90.

What I want to know is how many tenths of a degree to change my motor axis from the earth's axis. Then after I point exactly at the hypothetical true south sat I will track the Clark Belt perfectly with my dish.

Forget the terminology for now, Roger. That is immaterial for what you want to do.

You need to know your site's latitude and longitude. Then you need to know the orbital position of your truest or closest southern satellite. The satellite which has an orbital location or slot that has the nearest degree location to your site's longitude.

i.e. My location is NW of Omaha, NE. My actual coordinates are 41.6°N and 96.4°W. Therefore my closest or nearest TRUE SOUTH satellite is Galaxy 19 at 97°W.

Set (align) your dish and motor as close as you possibly can for your nearest TRUE SOUTH satellite.

RADAR

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Scott Greczkowski

Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU! Cutting Edge

Last reply 7 minutes ago · posted in The Chit Chat Club

Song Name Game Part 3!

Sometimes a thread gets so many posts in it that is can cause issues for the server so that why today we introduce The Song Name Game Part 3!

So let the game continue!

The last song was added by Bobby who posted...

One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters

CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!

Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game

Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.

Example:

Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow

Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio

Another example:

Ride the Lightning -- Metallica

Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne

Get it?

An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....

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gms49ers

Today at 1:17 PM

Dancing Days - Led Zeppelin

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dishstaller

Today at 2:34 PM

Dancing in the Street - Van Halen

long_time_Dish

Today at 3:47 PM

Bakers Street - Gerry Rafferty

Reactions: gms49ers

Bobby

Today at 4:09 PM

long_time_Dish said:
Bakers Street - Gerry Rafferty

Let me fix that for you:
Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty

EatMyVolts

7 minutes ago

The 59th Street Bridge Song -- Simon & Garfunkel

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MartyDe

Last reply 32 minutes ago · posted in Over the Air Television By RabbitEars.Info

ATSC 3 converter boxes

Interesting article about the work being done to develope an ATSC 3 converter box. Yes it does mention affordable.

Pearl TV Issues Progress Report on Low-Cost 3.0 Converters in Advance of NAB Show New York

Group has secured lower pricing from key tech players to make less costly boxes available

www.tvtechnology.com

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navychop

Oct 20, 2026

DEATH TO NEXGEN!

Reactions: primestar31, RaVo68, gms49ers and 1 other person

primestar31

Wednesday at 7:29 PM

navychop said:
DEATH TO NEXGEN!

It's dead, they just don't know it yet. They killed it by forcing DRM on it, and that TOTALLY botched implementing it.

There is absolutely NO compelling reason for anybody to switch to ATSC3.0. They only want it as a total and complete money grab.

Reactions: slow_poke_pete, FTA4PA and navychop

navychop

Wednesday at 10:37 PM

I truly hope you are right.

Reactions: FTA4PA

Mister B

Thursday at 7:43 AM

What bothers me is the total waste of broadcasting spectrum in this very crowded market. It has been almost three years now since KFOX converted their broadcast tower to ATSC 3.0 and moved all of their channels to other towers causing noticeable degradation of the picture quality.
I have a Sony TV with 3.0 capabilities but still use the 1.0 version of locals due to the fact that one or all of the 3.0 channels are often missing or unwatchable. In this city of 800K I doubt that more than a few hundred even know about ATSC 3.0.
The only thing that could motivate me to be interested in 3.0 would be if all of the minor networks (diginets) could be in at least 720P rather than blurry ultra-compressed 480i.
Three years is long enough to waste one of the few available RF frequencies in the area for this trial.
It is time to either move on with this experiment or call it quits.

navychop

Thursday at 4:31 PM

Mister B said:
In this city of 800K I doubt that more than a few hundred even know about ATSC 3.0.

They might notice the hand going into their pocket for their wallet.

Reactions: FTA4PA

navychop

Thursday at 4:31 PM

Mister B said:
It is time to either move on with this experiment or call it quits.

QFT. Of course, my preference involves a curb and some kicking.

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slow_poke_pete

32 minutes ago

primestar31 said:
It's dead, they just don't know it yet. They killed it by forcing DRM on it, and that TOTALLY botched implementing it.

There is absolutely NO compelling reason for anybody to switch to ATSC3.0. They only want it as a total and complete money grab.

WHAT ABOUT THE INTERNET PART OF IT. NO ONE WANTS A BOX CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET EITHER.

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TRG

Pub Member / Supporter

Last reply 34 minutes ago · posted in Local Radio Discussion

House Passes AM Radio For Every Vehicle Act

House Passes AM Radio For Every Vehicle Act

(Washington, DC) - The U.S. House has passed the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act, marking a major step forward for broadcasters and listeners who have pushed to keep AM radio available in new cars and

wabcradio.com

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dishdude

Sep 18, 2026

It's probably been 2 decades since I've listened to an AM radio station. Very rarely listen to FM any more.

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Jimbo

Today at 8:35 AM

I am 1 that wants the AM to Stay ....
That said, since '08 I have had Sat radio available to me ... I think I have turned on AM 3 or 4 times, just to see if its still there.

Fwiw, if theres a Major disaster or bad weather or whatever, the chances of me finding out about it by going to the AM side of the radio is SLIM and None.
Even FM, I haven't really had on since '13ish, I may turn it on from time to time, just to see if its still there.

harshness

Today at 10:10 AM

Jimbo said:
Fwiw, if theres a Major disaster or bad weather or whatever, the chances of me finding out about it by going to the AM side of the radio is SLIM and None.

Automation has seen to that. You can't get evening drive traffic reports where I live, much less disaster reports.

dishstaller

Today at 10:41 AM

dishdude said:
Very rarely listen to FM any more

That goes for a lot of people. I've been advertising on radio for more than a decade now and am very familiar with this subject. While it is still a valuable tool, it has far less impact than it did just a few years ago. The best reaction I get is from a local Country music station....they play a mix of older and newer music and have a very big footprint.

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Jimbo

Today at 11:03 AM

dishstaller said:
That goes for a lot of people. I've been advertising on radio for more than a decade now and am very familiar with this subject. While it is still a valuable tool, it has far less impact than it did just a few years ago. The best reaction I get is from a local Country music station....they play a mix of older and newer music and have a very big footprint.

Do you do any Ad's on Satellite ?

If Not, why not, because it's not Local ?

dishstaller

Today at 12:29 PM

Jimbo said:
Do you do any Ad's on Satellite ?

If Not, why not, because it's not Local ?

No, just regular FM stations. One is the country station I mentioned and the other is a Talk Radio station which used to get fantastic results but honestly, since the death of Rush Limbaugh, talk radio just doesn't do as well. There were two guys who had an early morning show which was hugely popular here in the southeast but one of them retired a couple years ago and the show just doesn't garner the same numbers as it used to.

slow_poke_pete

34 minutes ago

Haven't listened AM or FM in years

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TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Today at 5:02 PM · posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Security Now 1101

Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ4Z4zafNLI

Direct YouTube Link - Security Now 1101
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed

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osu1991

Pub Member / Supporter

Last reply Today at 5:01 PM · posted in The Chit Chat Club

Susan Saint James, Emmy-Winning Star of 'Kate & Allie' and 'McMillan & Wife,' Dies at 80

Susan Saint James, Emmy-Winning Star of ‘Kate & Allie’ and ‘McMillan & Wife,’ Dies at 80

Susan Saint James, the Emmy-winning actress who starred in "Kate & Allie," died Monday after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She was 80.

variety.com

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Bobby

Today at 5:01 PM

Rest in peace.

JSheridan

Lifetime Supporter

Last reply Today at 4:58 PM · posted in DISH Network Support Forum

All DMA's now Western Arc

I know HipKat said that they were working on conversions but we got the official news yesterday right from Dish that starting next month all DMA's will be on the western arc, and all customers will be assigned to that. That's gonna mean a lot of customers around here aren't gonna get Dish unless there are exceptions. Too many mountains and trees.

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Strega

Friday at 10:01 PM

Even if you are broadcasting old SD-only shows, I would think advertisers would still want their commercials to look good.

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Jimbo

Friday at 11:17 PM

Strega said:
Even if you are broadcasting old SD-only shows, I would think advertisers would still want their commercials to look good.

Advertisers on SD channels are probably Far and Few, very hard to find, they have very few viewers to watch them.

Reactions: charlesrshell

Mister B

Saturday at 7:35 AM

Jimbo said:
Advertisers on SD channels are probably Far and Few, very hard to find, they have very few viewers to watch them.

I watch mostly SD channels (H&I, Start and ION, etc.). There are plenty of advertisers, this time of the year it is mostly Medicare Advantage plans, auto extended warranties and the occasional walk-in-tub. They know who is watching.

Reactions: Almighty1, savarese04 and charlesrshell

slow_poke_pete

Yesterday at 10:40 AM

Mister B said:
I watch mostly SD channels (H&I, Start and ION, etc.). There are plenty of advertisers, this time of the year it is mostly Medicare Advantage plans, auto extended warranties and the occasional walk-in-tub. They know who is watching.

can't forget the little blue m&m's

Reactions: Almighty1, charlesrshell and telstar_1

charlesrshell

Yesterday at 11:23 AM

slow_poke_pete said:
can't forget the little blue m&m's

That's what my wife calls my Viagra!!

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telstar_1

Yesterday at 8:12 PM

Why didn't Charlie end up launching starlink

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Foxbat

Yesterday at 9:01 PM

telstar_1 said:
Why didn't Charlie end up launching starlink

Because he didn't have a fleet of reusable rockets. Starlink works because SpaceX is able to launch hundreds (thousands?) of their Starlink satellites for what a single geostationary Internet satellite costs to build and launch on a disposable launcher.

Reactions: MikeD-C05, dishstaller, HipKat and 2 others

telstar_1

Today at 12:08 AM

But how is it reusable if it's disposable

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slow_poke_pete

Today at 2:09 AM

charlesrshell said:
That's what my wife calls my Viagra!!

My gf is 29 years younger than me :shh

Reactions: MikeD-C05, charlesrshell and HipKat

Almighty1

Today at 4:04 PM

telstar_1 said:
Why didn't Charlie end up launching starlink

He does not have the resources aka $$$ compared to Elon Musk as in reality, Elon can eat Charlie for lunch or even mop the floor with Charlie if he wanted to.

Reactions: charlesrshell

slow_poke_pete

Today at 4:58 PM

ment to 20 yrs dam phone

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Marques Brownlee

Today at 4:42 PM · posted in Marques Brownlee

This can SEE Sound!

Time for another AWESOME video from Marques Brownlee!

View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ai1gIWacf0I

Direct YouTube Link - This can SEE Sound!
The official MKBHD Website!
The MKBHD Store

0 Replies · 4 views

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iJustine

Today at 4:12 PM · posted in iJustine

New Dive Computer! Oceanic’s o.i 🤿

Time for another AWESOME video from iJustine!

View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/roM3DlRf5Gk

Direct YouTube Link - New Dive Computer! Oceanic's o.i

The official iJustine Website's Website
Buy her book!

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osu1991

Pub Member / Supporter

Last reply Today at 4:03 PM · posted in Movie Talk

Dune (2020)

53 Replies · 10078 views

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long_time_Dish

Jun 4, 2024

Also watched part 2 about a week or so ago after rewatching part 1. It's not as faithful to the book as I was hoping for. Part 1 stayed fairly faithful to the novel, but part 2 took some liberties that I felt were rather excessively non-novel. It looks like a prequel series will happen before part 3. My issue is: there's no prequel that was written as a novel, so what will it be pulled from? Or will it just be "based loosely" on the novel?

klang

Jun 4, 2024

long_time_DNC said:
Also watched part 2 about a week or so ago after rewatching part 1. It's not as faithful to the book as I was hoping for. Part 1 stayed fairly faithful to the novel, but part 2 took some liberties that I felt were rather excessively non-novel. It looks like a prequel series will happen before part 3. My issue is: there's no prequel that was written as a novel, so what will it be pulled from? Or will it just be "based loosely" on the novel?

There is a bunch of other Dune written by Kevin J Anderson and Brian Herbert (Franks son). I think the series in production is taken from one of their books about the Bene Gesserit.

long_time_Dish

Jun 4, 2024

klang said:
There is a bunch of other Dune written by Kevin J Anderson and Brian Herbert (Franks son). I think the series in production is taken from one of their books about the Bene Gesserit.

Correct. I've read all of them (yes, it took awhile, better part of a year, in my spare time). And they can't really consider or classify a series about the Bene Gesserit as a prequel. Sure, I suppose they can call it that, if they want to, because it begins before the time of Paul Atredies, but it's still a stretch. It's a Dune-related novel, not a prequel as we generally think of prequels...

klang

Mar 17, 2026

View: https://youtu.be/3_9vCamtuPY

Reactions: Howard Simmons, Foxbat, long_time_Dish and 1 other person

klang

Today at 3:41 PM

Big finish coming:

View: https://youtu.be/uJqaGLmZpGo?si=WBhK28F4HiSVI-qx

long_time_Dish

Today at 4:03 PM

Well, it looks good! I just hope they stayed close to the trilogy, but it doesn't look like it.

View all replies (53)

TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Today at 2:32 PM · posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

MacBreak Weekly 1048

Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AqVr7wezCQ

Direct YouTube Link - MacBreak Weekly 1048
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed

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SG2100 Tweak Angle

Song Name Game Part 3!

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