1.2M Geosat Pro and DG380 Installation Pains

[Babadem]

Last Friday, I excitedly began the installation of my DG380 Motor attached on a 1.2M Geosat pro Dish and mounted on the second floor beam of my building. After I got someone to help me get the Dish on the pole mount and bubble balanced, I set the Latitude on my Motor to 42.7° approximately, and my dish elevation to 33.5°. (Note, the original elevation was supposed to be 29°, but as I had to invert the mount on the Dish to accommodate the Motor, I added 4.5° as prescribed by the manual to compensate.) I reset the motor to “0” using my Coolsat 5K, and then using USUALS to motor to 72.0W° which is my most southern satellite. For over 3 hours I panned east to west. Tilted up & down on the Dish elevation and Azimuth trying to lock on Transponders 12143 V 2573 or 12068 V 9755 (Is 12143 V still active, because Lyngsat doesn’t have SR listed for that frequency). This was maybe my final attempt to install my motorized Dish before the Winter. Here are my questions:
1) Looking at picture(s) do you think the satellite signal to the dish is being blocked by the roof next door?
2) Does the latitude of 42.7° motorized on inverted dish, as in my case 29° + 4.55 = 33.5° look at the satellite at 41.4° original elevation without motor for 72°W or does it see the sat @ 72°W at 33.5° motorized modified dish elevation?
3) I don’t know if the roof ofthe house next door is my problem, or my setting on both the Motor Latitude and Dish elevation is the problem?
4) What are the active Transponders on 72°W?
Short of placing this install on my front lawn and hope the neighborhood kids don’t get to it, I don’t want to climb any higher to install this dish and motor. Any ideas?

 

[mikelib]

Try 12053/V/6891, the NBC mux it has 4 TV Channels. The signal was weak on my 500 Dish, (SQ of 30 on my Fortec Dynamic, around 3:30 pm) but your 1.2 should be OK. As for the elevation that sat should be close to your TS, and the elevation should be around 44º.

 

[gremlin411]

The roof is not problem. I have trees closer to my dish then that and they do not get in the way.

did you subtract the offset of your dish from the total elevation. The Satellite AV web site said the offset angle is 27.3 degrees

 

[Lak7]

The Dish offset is 27.3, from the web site
I "looks" to be pointing low.

Can you measure the angle of the Face of the Dish?

 

[Bill_KY]

I can't help with 72, but I know 74W comes in 46% Q on a 76 cm dish, despite some limitations.

I had to point one dish at my neighbor's roof just to get 74W, for me a motorized set up would not work, unless I put it out 150 feet in the back somewhere. My other dishes point out to the street to get 97, 103 and 123.

 

[PANHANDLER]

Hi Babadem , i have the same motor and also was going thru the same situation you are , i was getting very frustrated also . What i did was raise the elevation 2 degr. It does look a bit low . I believe the markings on the DG380 are not totaly accurate , so get a bit bold and crank it up , let us know how it works .

 

[turbosat]

Baba
1. Hard to tell from the camera's angle. I'm with Lak-that looks pointed very low for your true south satellite. I'd round up one of those angle-meters with a magnetic base, stick in the middle of the dish-face and see what it's actually reading.
edit to add : I found the 380 motor's elevation indicator to be right on the money. I would work the dish higher using the dish-elevation adjustment until I hit a signal. 12144v 2573 is usually strong signal too.

 

[guapoharry]

As of tonight...
12143V is active, 63% SQ
11890H is active, 62% SQ

Fortec MercII SQ numbers...

You can use The List for the freq / SR settings. It seems to me Lyngsat has been losing valid data from some contributors errors... eg, 12143. (I think that same guy was the one who zeroed out RTV on 83ºW when it had brief problems...)

12068V is not active. (I don't see it. )

If you are confident the pole is plumb and the motor mount latitude is set, swing the motor elevation up and down to get higher signal strength before you try for quality. On my one meter Fortec, the dish elevation scale was way, way, off. Even if you are not pointed at a satellite, it seems like when you are close to the Clarke belt, the Signal Level or Strength increases relatively due to neighboring birds...

What are you using for a meter? The Coolsat? If so, you have to be deliberate. Move, wait a couple of seconds for a result. Repeat, Repeat, Repeat...

EDIT:

As to whether the neighboring roof is blocking things, use the stuff from your sig line... home made inclinometer (protractor like thing) or get an angle finder and survey it by sight or with a laser pointer. Use Dishpointer, or your favorite az/el calculator for the numbers...

 

[Babadem]

Try 12053/V/6891, the NBC mux it has 4 TV Channels. The signal was weak on my 500 Dish, (SQ of 30 on my Fortec Dynamic, around 3:30 pm) but your 1.2 should be OK. As for the elevation that sat should be close to your TS, and the elevation should be around 44º.

I tried that transponder, but no luck. Dish Elevation 44° on a motorized dish? Isn't that very high?

 

[Babadem]

The roof is not problem. I have trees closer to my dish then that and they do not get in the way.

did you subtract the offset of your dish from the total elevation. The Satellite AV web site said the offset angle is 27.3 degrees

I used Dishpointer.com It gave me Motor Latitude of 42.1 and dish elevation of 29°. following the instruction from the Geosatpro manual, I added 4.50° to 29° and set the inverted dish mount to approximately 33.50°. 29+3.50=33.50. I set the Motor latitude to 42.7 or so based on B.J.'s suggestions. How do you factor the 27.3° offset?

 

[Babadem]

The Dish offset is 27.3, from the web site
I "looks" to be pointing low.

Can you measure the angle of the Face of the Dish?

Forgive my ignorance. What am I actually measuring. I have an inclinometer, where should i place it to get the right readings? Using my location of Latitude: 42.08° Longitude: -71.03 what should my settings be on the Dish and motor?

 

[Babadem]

I can't help with 72, but I know 74W comes in 46% Q on a 76 cm dish, despite some limitations.

I had to point one dish at my neighbor's roof just to get 74W, for me a motorized set up would not work, unless I put it out 150 feet in the back somewhere. My other dishes point out to the street to get 97, 103 and 123.

Are you saying that I would'nt be able to lock on 72°W because on the Building's presence?

 

[knowmiddlename]

Last Friday, I excitedly began the installation of my DG380 Motor attached on a 1.2M Geosat pro Dish and mounted on the second floor beam of my building. After I got someone to help me get the Dish on the pole mount and bubble balanced, I set the Latitude on my Motor to 42.7° approximately, and my dish elevation to 33.5°. (Note, the original elevation was supposed to be 29°, but as I had to invert the mount on the Dish to accommodate the Motor, I added 4.5° as prescribed by the manual to compensate.) I reset the motor to “0” using my Coolsat 5K, and then using USUALS to motor to 72.0W° which is my most southern satellite. For over 3 hours I panned east to west. Tilted up & down on the Dish elevation and Azimuth trying to lock on Transponders 12143 V 2573 or 12068 V 9755 (Is 12143 V still active, because Lyngsat doesn’t have SR listed for that frequency). This was maybe my final attempt to install my motorized Dish before the Winter. Here are my questions:
1) Looking at picture(s) do you think the satellite signal to the dish is being blocked by the roof next door?
2) Does the latitude of 42.7° motorized on inverted dish, as in my case 29° + 4.55 = 33.5° look at the satellite at 41.4° original elevation without motor for 72°W or does it see the sat @ 72°W at 33.5° motorized modified dish elevation?
3) I don’t know if the roof ofthe house next door is my problem, or my setting on both the Motor Latitude and Dish elevation is the problem?
4) What are the active Transponders on 72°W?
Short of placing this install on my front lawn and hope the neighborhood kids don’t get to it, I don’t want to climb any higher to install this dish and motor. Any ideas?

I think I read all the posts and did not see the obvious question asked... Is the LNB and receiver functioning properly? I know that may sound pretty silly, but I've been there!

 

[Babadem]

Hi Babadem , i have the same motor and also was going thru the same situation you are , i was getting very frustrated also . What i did was raise the elevation 2 degr. It does look a bit low . I believe the markings on the DG380 are not totaly accurate , so get a bit bold and crank it up , let us know how it works .

What you're saying is for me to raise the motor latitude to 44° or 45°? What about the inverted dish elevation setting?

 

[Babadem]

Baba
1. Hard to tell from the camera's angle. I'm with Lak-that looks pointed very low for your true south satellite. I'd round up one of those angle-meters with a magnetic base, stick in the middle of the dish-face and see what it's actually reading.
edit to add : I found the 380 motor's elevation indicator to be right on the money. I would work the dish higher using the dish-elevation adjustment until I hit a signal. 12144v 2573 is usually strong signal too.

Good to know that I at least got one thing right. Are you saying I should move the inverted scale to above 33.50°. original 29°+4.50°= 33.50°. But I tried up to 38.0° without luck.

 

[Babadem]

As of tonight...
12143V is active, 63% SQ
11890H is active, 62% SQ

Fortec MercII SQ numbers...

You can use The List for the freq / SR settings. It seems to me Lyngsat has been losing valid data from some contributors errors... eg, 12143. (I think that same guy was the one who zeroed out RTV on 83ºW when it had brief problems...)

12068V is not active. (I don't see it. )

If you are confident the pole is plumb and the motor mount latitude is set, swing the motor elevation up and down to get higher signal strength before you try for quality. On my one meter Fortec, the dish elevation scale was way, way, off. Even if you are not pointed at a satellite, it seems like when you are close to the Clarke belt, the Signal Level or Strength increases relatively due to neighboring birds...

What are you using for a meter? The Coolsat? If so, you have to be deliberate. Move, wait a couple of seconds for a result. Repeat, Repeat, Repeat...

EDIT:

As to whether the neighboring roof is blocking things, use the stuff from your sig line... home made inclinometer (protractor like thing) or get an angle finder and survey it by sight or with a laser pointer. Use Dishpointer, or your favorite az/el calculator for the numbers...

I used both a coolsat 5K and a Viewsat Ultra for tracking. I used Dishpointer for my initial survey and calculations. The pole is plumb, that I sure of.

 

[Babadem]

I think I read all the posts and did not see the obvious question asked... Is the LNB and receiver functioning properly? I know that may sound pretty silly, but I've been there!

Yes! the LNB works perfectly. I was able to hit 95°W with minimum of 75% quality when I swung the entire setup to 95°W. Unfortunately, i didn't record the settings.

 

[turbosat]

Baba, I don't know how you're getting to that dish, on a ladder I suppose (feel for ya).
I would go about it just like any other motorized setup. Point dish/motor assembly due south with compass, get close as you can. Use USALS to move dish to nearest satellite to south (which I believe you said 72 for you!!). Adjust motor elevation to what is recommended for your latitude. Then raise or lower the DISH's elevation until you get a signal on 72, which may also involve some tweaking of the east/west setting. I suggested the inclinometer to help you determine whether your dish-face is actually close to the proper elevation for 72W at your site. Stick it right in the center of the dish, verticallly and check. Then remove it, and start seeking the signal. *If you think that house next door might be a problem, start the whole process over on a satellite further west, where you're sure nothing's in the way.

 

[knowmiddlename]

Yes! the LNB works perfectly. I was able to hit 95°W with minimum of 75% quality when I swung the entitre setup to 95°W. Unfortunately, i didn't record the sttings.

No problem, I'm sure you'll get back to where you were. Attached is my setup at 38.8 degrees for reference. Hope this helps.

 

[knowmiddlename]

My calculation for SatelliteAV 1.2m and HH motor at 38.8 degrees Lat:

Set motor elevation to 38.8 Latitude (51 degrees elevation from chart)
Set dish elevation to 19.4 degrees:
30.0 degrees elevation, minus 6.1 degrees Dec angle, minus 4.5 degrees bracket correction factor.

Anyway, that's what I found in my notes. :up