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iBoston said:

I am attempting to lock 131w. So, i am near that. Can some one identify where this signal is coming from?

3885V 7200 DVBS

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a33 said:

By the way.
There is a way, to calculate motor rotation angle (and so satellite longitude) out of actuator extension/actuator length.
I guess I will sometime in future make a spreadsheet calculator for that.... .

Greetz,
A33

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iBoston said:

Yea, its usually 30 pulses for every 2 degrees. I use that method on my other dishes... But for this particular dish, there is a DEAD motor holding it in place. I had to remove the motor and manually bring it in. Then i was rotating the dish on the pole and using a digital angle to try and pre-set it. - I wasn't having any luck, and went in side and just for kicks, i did a blind scan, and it saw the fox TP @ 133, but wouldn't scan anything in.

I then put THAT fox TP into my signal finder, and adjusted the height of the dish to tune to that TP. That got me close which then allowed me to rotate the dish to 131w and lock the signal and then i fine tuned it.

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arlo said:

My method uses simple encoder counts. Once you locate 2 satellites and determine the count difference, you should be able be able to bump the dish by that amount of pulses and be in the ballpark.
There will probably be some differences with the dish closer to the horizon vs up in the air towards zenith.
For example I get 32 pulses positive peaking 127W to 125W.
Lets say 127W reads 1032 on the display, 125W is very close to 1064 or thereabouts.
So that's 16 pulses per degree.
Add 32 to where 125W was, use the sat charts to find a strong tp on 123W and use your signal finder and start hunting. You will be very close and find it fast.
Keep a written chart. It will become important later on. You'll see why.
Now....as you get the dish up in the air you will most probably find that less counts are needed to hit a sat 2º apart from another. In my case it reduces down to 28 pulses. No biggie.
It's just geometry at work as the fulcrum point of the actuator changes.

The written chart will be important now because as you map and store positions, bumping the dish around to peak signals WILL freak out the encoder/dish mover count references. Gear slop, encoder pulses overlapping...I dunno. It will happen.
So once you get your arc mapped try to bump and peak signal as little as possible then store again.
Keep your paper tucked away and backup your dish mover memory if you can.
Good Luck!

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