1000.4 Aiming Advice (RV'er)

[Tumbleweed2010]

Hello, new poster here. I'm an RV full timer and had DISH installed about a month ago. I have the 1000.4 dish and the VIP722 receiver. Everything is working great! I'm going to be leaving the area soon and I'm starting to stress over setting up the dish in a new location. The installer set the dish up on a flat, metal frame contraption with 4 slim cinder blocks to hold it down. Nice arrangement for the price (free), but I'll probably eventually invest in a tripod. I see how the elevation, azimuth, and skew are set on the dish; I bought a Winegard SF1000 Satellite Finder meter, and a Brunton sighting compass. I have Dishpointer.com bookmarked for new coordinates. Can you give me general advice on the set up process when I get to my new locations? Which of the three satellites (61.5, 72, or 77) do I aim for first? Do I set the skew first? What's with the different transponders? (I know each sat has multiple transponders, but is that important in the aiming process)? Once I get proficient, about how long should the set up process take? Any aiming guides on the web that you can recommend? I'm eager to learn, I'm just a little nervous and have visions of getting to a new location and spending hours trying to get the thing set up. Thanks very much for any advice you can offer this newbie. Jim

 

[scoobyxj]

The .4 can sometimes be a PIA to point for a tech let alone the do it yourselfer, but regardless some pointers. First and foremost when you set up your mount it must be plum. The markings on the polar plate are designed for the mast being plum, and they mean nothing if it's not. Even though it's a PIA to move I would use that pad your tech gave you. The EA dish is a heavy beast, and it fairly sensitive. It doesn't take much to knock it out of alignment if it's not on a sturdy mount. The meter you bought should work, but not sure how well. I would defiantly play around with it at your current location before trying to set up the dish with it. Connect your peaking meter to PORT 2 on the LNBF, to peak on 72.7°W. After maximizing the signal received from 72.7°W confirm signal on 61.5°W. If your peaking meter does not output at least 600 mAmps of power, connect a receiver to PORT 1 of the LNBF to power the LNBF while peaking. Default output ports of the DP Plus 1000.4 LNBF are 77°W on Port 1, 72.7°W on Port 2, and 61.5 °W on Port 3.

 

[TheForce]

scoobyxj- The word is PLUMB. plum is a fruit.