a lost FTA newbie

[PSB]

Check here to see if there is an installer in your area......

www.dbsinstall.com

Freq : 11742
V
SR : 11.110

Is my strongest transponder......

 

[voomvoom]

If you look on lyngsat for KUEN, and set your transponder and signal rate correctly, you should get a strong enough signal.

Al

 

[sharris]

don't throw in the towel just yet. I know I spent probably a week before I figured everything out and wore a path in the shingles of my roof. I still am up there on occasion trying to peak and re-peak to get those elusive low signals out there. as one of the other members put it "we are pretty easy animals to track". anyways, what I did that worked for me was got a compass, set the motor to zero, and moved the whole assembly to my direct south, then used USALS to find each satellite. For me T5 worked the best because it is extremely strong for me. After aligning the setup to south I just got the receiver to goto T5 and saw if there was a signal. If I recieved a signal I went up on the roof and peaked with a signal meter. If I did not get a signal I moved the whole assembly both right/left, up/down until I got T5. Theoretically if you have a plumb pole and are able to get one sat close to your due south, the arc should be alligned and you will have no probs after that. Keep trying because you probably will be up on the roof again, like the rest of us.

 

[TiminMb]

Quote:

"...I then tore a old 22" dish 500 dish apart an using a arm from a 18" dish made it into a single LNBf 22" dish.. I climbed back on my roof an took the old setup down an using the info best I could mounted my motor an "custom" dish.. I have fought for days now trying to find satellites an make head or tails of what they are.. "


Could it be that you would be better off purchasing a 33" dish and arm and eliminating that weakness from the equation? Maybe the dish and arm combo you have put together isn't working properly.

 

[RAbbott]

yes TiminMb you hit the nail on the head there.. I had neglected to measure the length of the arms an noticed a 2" difference in them, which throughs off the focus point from the dish to the LNB.. so, I presently have a winegaurd ds2076 an a DMS international .5 dual Ku LNB model no. ASC322 an new roof/wall mount for it on order an on its way.. if I am lucky I can then help to get this deal set up better.. I have noticed from reading if I am not able to get ALL my transponders to peak out then I am fighting a loosing battle.. an with a complete system an the larger dish, with proper focus point, I should get far better signal an more transponders as well.. so if I am lucky once it all gets here I can then climb back up an try all this over again .. for now I am taking an well needed break though.. an if it get to be to big of a headache I spoke with a local stationary dish installer who said he would help me to peak it.. I was thinking if need be of doing it sorta as sharris mentioned an felt is a possible way to work around the issues I ran into the first attempt.. an yes I may still need further help on this thing..

if anyone knows if I am still lacking with this dish and LNB choice let me know, that way I can try to better prepare.. thanks again for all the great insight an advice, if it wasn't for all I have been told an read here I would be more lost.. thanks again for everything..

ok the guy said that they was going to have to wait serveral weeks for the LNB so tryin to get him to ship it without the LNB now, an purchased a INVACOM QPH-031 Quad Polar LNB (CL PL) with simultaneous reception of Linear & Circular polarizations an is .3db LNB also.. so my hopes are that it will give me a better signal strength than the other .5 would have.. an I had tried to find a better price on a 1.2 meter dish but didnt have any luck there though.. as I said I will keep this into one thread till I can work my issue out .. I hate overloading servers..

thanks again for all the great help an advice I have been able to find an read here so far.. it helps an means a great deal to me an I know many others too..

 

[RAbbott]

nothing like waiting on shipping is it?..

 

[RAbbott]

ok cool I got the dish an LNB in now finally.. an fixing to head up on the roof soon today here an try to tie it all in .. keyword being "try" .. with the luck I had the last time with all this I think we all know I will be posting more yet..

I am wondering since the LNBF I got is the 40mm horn style the holder supplied with the dish will work fine (till it becomes brittle an has to be replaced).. but I notice it allows the LNB to be slide forward an backward about 3/4" before locking it into place, is this to help me peak my focal point?.. or am I to set it either forward as it will go, or back as far as it will go?.. I ask being I seen some of the more knowing here also sell hardware an install it as well .. figured someone may have the insight there on it.. ALSO, with my DiSEqC switch how am I bes to tie it in so I can get the most from this new setup I am working with?.. I want to be able to get all I can off these birds needless to say, an also have the xcrypt card for IA-5 (which is why I was tryin to hit is before also)..

if any of you highly knowledgeable FTA users are still looking over my multiple postings, an willing to help I sure would appreciate it.. an thanks again for all the great assistance to date, been a load of insight an help..

oh, I was reading back also here.. TiminMb I was mentioning the channels the blind scan gave me when I spoke of the toon channel.. scrambled needless to say , but it was there though.. I hope this time around I will be able to better hit the birds an the signals will be better on all the transponders also..

 

[PSB]

I find usually the LNBF has to be as far away from the dish in its holder as possible, but watch the signal QUALITY meter for the exact focal position.

I would wait until you have finished the installation and are hitting all the satellites before adding any switch!

 

[RAbbott]

hey I have a few of the sats coming in but I can see I wont be able to use the mount I was using, it is limiting the western side of my satellite selections .. it gets to about 50 or 55 on the dial an then the edge of the dish touches the chimney.. guess my next move will be to try an make my old mini dish mounting bolts work for the new larger dish then.. unless I can get a good measurement on the old starband mounting bolts an it looks like those will work.. hmmm.. I guess I could expand the motor mounting u-bolts an take the starband dish off an slide it over that mounting pole.. hadnt thought about that one yet.. yes as the thread title said "newbie" .. plus been stressing over alot of other things here as well so brain is a little fuzzy.. but HEY it gives me a signal now an channels at least.. an believe it or not all I had to do was unbolt the homemade dish an bolt this one on an a little changing to my elevations an was pretty much dead on tacks with it on about 6 sats so far.. so maybe I was able to use the compass better than I thought after all .. hehehehe.. live an learn as they say I guess.. well I might be back to post more.. I am still getting doubled channels though so I know something isnt quite tweaked out right yet here.. but I am just happy to see signals an channels though.. an granted I can also see I am not getting all of the ones I see listed either but it is gett more now than before an most of my signals look better too.. if anyone cares to help explain the doubled channels that would be great though.. save on all the reading .. plus I had a drive failure an have since lost all my tools an toys I had downloaded to help edit with here so gonna have to go dig an download all over again it seem.. but wanted to post the sudden change in my situation an allow others to now see what happens when your using the right tools an equipment ..

 

[TiminMb]

Good luck and keep at it. It will be worth it once you have it all up and running.

 

[RAbbott]

yes we are trying to rethink putting up a new mount on the front side of the chimney here which will allow us a wider range of movement also .. an the folks are so happy with the quality of it an so forth from the old staband dish to this 76cm dish an the standard dish LNB's an this .3db one.. that they are thinking of looking into converting the 9 foot C/Ku into a HH setup an also FTA .. hehehe.. should be a fun task to try an pull off..