97W - can’t get good signal quality

[cyberham]

I've received BVN Amerika from 113W Ku in past. Would that azimuth direction be easier?

At your location, standing facing your dish, your LNB skew should be 23 degrees CCW for 97W and 45 degrees CCW for 113W. To receive 113W, you need to turn your dish another 22 degrees toward the west. And lower the dish elevation about 8 degrees.

 

[KKBeth19]

I've received BVN Amerika from 113W Ku in past. Would that azimuth direction be easier?

At your location, standing facing your dish, your LNB skew should be 23 degrees CCW for 97W and 45 degrees CCW for 113W. To receive 113W, you need to turn your dish another 22 degrees toward the west. And lower the dish elevation about 8 degrees.

Thanks for your reply. I did know about 113W also. View of it below. Kind of the same TREE issue but I will keep it in mind. How did you come up with 23 degrees CCW for the lnb skew? I am getting 18.8.

 

[cyberham]

I entered your lat long coordinates into Google, pulled out your street address and entered that into dishpointer.com. Dishpointer says 97W is 202.9 degrees for your site. That's 22.9 degrees west of your due south at 180 degrees.

Sent from my SM-G950W using the SatelliteGuys app!

 

[FTA4PA]

I've received BVN Amerika from 113W Ku in past. Would that azimuth direction be easier?

At your location, standing facing your dish, your LNB skew should be 23 degrees CCW for 97W and 45 degrees CCW for 113W. To receive 113W, you need to turn your dish another 22 degrees toward the west. And lower the dish elevation about 8 degrees.

Thanks for your reply. I did know about 113W also. View of it below. Kind of the same TREE issue but I will keep it in mind. How did you come up with 23 degrees CCW for the lnb skew? I am getting 18.8.
View attachment 142316

I entered your lat long coordinates into Google, pulled out your street address and entered that into dishpointer.com. Dishpointer says 97W is 202.9 degrees for your site. That's 22.9 degrees west of your due south at 180 degrees.

Sent from my SM-G950W using the SatelliteGuys app!

When I enter Bethlehem, Georgia into Dishpointer I got 18.9 for the skew on 97w. I don't have an exact location but that is very close to what KKBeth19 got.

 

[cyberham]

You are right. I didn't know you could scroll down on dishpointer and see the skew reported. I think my method is only approximate. It's better to read the skew printed on the web page.

 

[KKBeth19]

I entered your lat long coordinates into Google, pulled out your street address and entered that into dishpointer.com. Dishpointer says 97W is 202.9 degrees for your site. That's 22.9 degrees west of your due south at 180 degrees.

Sent from my SM-G950W using the SatelliteGuys app!

I was using 18.8 skew for the lnb which was given to me from Satellite Pointer app. I just set it to 22.9 with the same pixelation issues.
To the roof I will go. I will provide an update on Saturday ya’ll!

 

[olliec420]

I KNOW WHY, I KNOW WHY!!!! Dish is warped. Happened to me. Couldn't figure out for the life of me why my signals always sucked. Put me off the hobby for a while. The fine folks here showed me the "shake it like a baby" video (I love it when he says that) and signal is booming! Had a bad windstorm couple weeks ago and my 5 gal bucket mount fell over and when I put it back up I couldn't peak anything worth a damn. Laid it on the garage floor and it was warped again from the fall, shook it, all good.



And I think initially mine got out of whack by tugging on it too hard trying to make tiny adjustments without loosening the bolts properly. So don't be doing that either.

 

[a33]

Good point, olliec420! There might be another cause!

The 'line-of-sight cause' is till now just an assumption. It's unsure if the app picture gives the right result.

A way to check this, is:
Make a rectangular cardboard with base of 89.2, and hight of 99.0: exactly the values of the line of sight checker of dishpointer (see post #14).
Or multiply or divide these values by any number, to suit the size you want to make. It's the proportion that matters, nothing else.
Than cut the cardboard diagonally, from corner to corner. Then you get the exact elevation angle to your wanted satellite.

From your dish location, hold the cardboard in the direction of the satellite, with the base exactly horizontal (use spirit level or something).
Then look along the diagonal line. Do you see a tree there, or do you look above the trees?
That way, you can test if line of sight really could be an issue here.


There are, of course, other ways to test line of sight.
E.g. how high the shadow/sun transition is on a vertical stick at the dish location, at the time the sun has the same azimuth as the satellite. But some calculations are needed there (I use Satellite Look Angle Calculator ), and you need to knowthe exact distance to the 'obstacle'......

Greetz,
A33

 

[Titanium]

When looking up the bottom LNBF support arm of a GSP90cm dish, the actual look angle of the dish at the satellite is higher than the LNBF support arm is aimed (approx. 10 degrees???).

In my opinion, the photo shows that the line of sight to satellite 97w is clear.

 

[KE4EST]

It appears to be you have a good LOS to the satellite. Also, going back to your first pics....
That quality reading for that receiver is excellent. You will not get much better than that with that receiver. I mean if you are looking for close to 100, that will not happen with that box. It is just the way it is designed.

 

[harshness]

That quality reading for that receiver is excellent. You will not get much better than that with that receiver.

What do you suspect might be causing the broken up picture given an "excellent" signal?

 

[KE4EST]

Have you checked to see how much voltage you have coming out of the receiver? It sounds to me like a power supply issue, bad LNBF, or bad coax, or connector(s) on coax not installed correctly.
I have seen this with coax connectors just slid on and not a good connection to the braid in the coax. I have also seen this with store bought cable with ends per-installed, and not making proper connection.
....but if everything is new, I would suspect the power supply in the receiver.

 

[KKBeth19]

I KNOW WHY, I KNOW WHY!!!! Dish is warped. Happened to me. Couldn't figure out for the life of me why my signals always sucked. Put me off the hobby for a while. The fine folks here showed me the "shake it like a baby" video (I love it when he says that) and signal is booming! Had a bad windstorm couple weeks ago and my 5 gal bucket mount fell over and when I put it back up I couldn't peak anything worth a damn. Laid it on the garage floor and it was warped again from the fall, shook it, all good.



And I think initially mine got out of whack by tugging on it too hard trying to make tiny adjustments without loosening the bolts properly. So don't be doing that either.

Dish is flat on all edges on a flat surface. I had seen the video previously and checked the dish prior to install.

 

[KKBeth19]

When looking up the bottom LNBF support arm of a GSP90cm dish, the actual look angle of the dish at the satellite is higher than the LNBF support arm is aimed (approx. 10 degrees???).

In my opinion, the photo shows that the line of sight to satellite 97w is clear.

I thought that picture would be useful to you more experienced FTA folks! Hmmmm.

 

[KKBeth19]

Have you checked to see how much voltage you have coming out of the receiver? It sounds to me like a power supply issue, bad LNBF, or bad coax, or connector(s) on coax not installed correctly.
I have seen this with coax connectors just slid on and not a good connection to the braid in the coax. I have also seen this with store bought cable with ends per-installed, and not making proper connection.
....but if everything is new, I would suspect the power supply in the receiver.

Yes I measured the voltage at the cable by the LNBF prior to purchasing the new bigger dish.....it was good. LNBF is new - came with the geosatpro dish a week ago. RG6 cable, one pice approx 30 ft long, no splices and connectors are original and not loose or damaged.

I’m still leaning towards line of site. To the roof I will go. I want the permanent support anyway and gets that tripod out of the yard where it currently is in our way.

Stay tuned Saturday is almost here!

 

[ReggieA]

Might I suggest the diagonally-opposite corner of the house? If you're at the South corner, the North corner could be good. Maybe the West corner, and look around that tree?

 

[Titanium]

If it were a blocked line of sight to 97w, the Signal Quality reading would be much lower or fluctuating. Do you have a loaner DVBS S2 STB to swap and test?

 

[spongella]

I'd adjust the skew for the best reception and not abide by what the documentation says. If you look at the skew markings on an LNB they are not very exact. Good to see all the folks trying to help out, lots of great advice.

 

[olliec420]

Dish is flat on all edges on a flat surface. I had seen the video previously and checked the dish prior to install.

Damn, I thought for sure it'd be that. Good luck!

 

[KKBeth19]

If it were a blocked line of sight to 97w, the Signal Quality reading would be much lower or fluctuating. Do you have a loaner DVBS S2 STB to swap and test?

I put the dish up on the roof today, located 97W and same results - Pixelation. I have ordered a cheap/new dvbs2 which will arrive Monday, 12/23. Hoping for a clear picture with new Digital receiver. Fingers crossed!