i have had my dish now for 3 months and have not touched the declination on the dish. i have to lower the dish on the west sats and higher on the east side. i was told to spin dish to the east. i moved it a bit east and it did nothing but make me have to reprogram my sats. so i heard it must be the decline of the dish. i know how to adjust the elevation of the dish, but where do you adjust the decline of the dish? i dont want to mess with anything that doesnt need to be touched. i am currently getting sats from 58 deg to 107 or so with the elevation like it is now,but i have to lower the dish to get the others from 109 to 139. shouldnt i be able to track the arc good for at least 65 degrees or so without having to change the elevation? i know not much feeds are on the west side,but i will be buying a 4dtv soon and want to be able to catch the feeds on the east and 4dtv channels out west without having to take a wrench out to the dish everytime i want to switch between the two.
adjusting the declination on the dish.
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With a properly tuned dish you should be able to get all the satellites visible to you, provided that you are in the signal footprint for that satellite, and your motor can turn to the satellite.
I have a 1.2 Meter offset dish and I can pick up all the satellites from 53 Degrees West all the way to 148. The 53 Degrees West Satellite is 65 Degrees from my true south satellite.
With a motor setup the declination angle is changed by changing the elevation on the dish. If you can not get both sides of the arc you might have to rotate the pole like you said, or your pole might not be leveled. You should check the level of the pole on three sides.
I have a 1.2 Meter offset dish and I can pick up all the satellites from 53 Degrees West all the way to 148. The 53 Degrees West Satellite is 65 Degrees from my true south satellite.
With a motor setup the declination angle is changed by changing the elevation on the dish. If you can not get both sides of the arc you might have to rotate the pole like you said, or your pole might not be leveled. You should check the level of the pole on three sides.
What kind of dish is it? Your elevation should be 30.5 degrees and the declination is 4.5 degrees so when the dish is in the middle (not leaning east or west) the angle of the reflector should be 35 degrees.
I read the following site 'till my eyes were bloodshot, and eventually felt very comfortable with the required geometry for dishes.
Of course, that understanding didn't happen for months... and I had to refer to the site many times to finally "get it".
I set my declination back in 1989 and haven't touched it since. I set it on G1 then, Im in the midwest. What I remember is you set it at the extreme ends of the arc. Hope this help's:tux:
Joe:
The adjustable bracket on the back of your dish is the declination adjustment. You'd most likely set it for your true south "look angle".
You'd set the adjustable bracket on your motor for your latitude.
Your owner's manual should explain all this because it depends on your equipment.
Harold
From what you have stated sounds like the north south Axis is out. This is the most difficult thing to get spot on. Yes, to the East would be the go, I think. I have to think backwards
as I'm on the south side of the equator. I would be reluctant to adjust the declination. Unless your really sure that is the problem. If you can measure off the degress accurate enough for the declination at the Arc Zenith (top of the arc). It is unlikley you will have to tweak it after you set that up so long as your pole is perfectly plumb. As you are probably no doubt aware, the declination, the differance between the mount and the angle of the dish. That is, the dish will be more tillted forward than the mount on the pole cap. How much? Depends on your latitude. To adjust this I use a good sized plastic see thru protractor and light fishing line and painted black. (Makes it easier to read.) With a plumb bob weight on the line. With this I can usually read down to .25 (1/4) of a degree.
To make a big dish track the arc perfectly gives me more pleasure than watching anything I can pickup on it
Good Luck
Steveo.
as I'm on the south side of the equator. I would be reluctant to adjust the declination. Unless your really sure that is the problem. If you can measure off the degress accurate enough for the declination at the Arc Zenith (top of the arc). It is unlikley you will have to tweak it after you set that up so long as your pole is perfectly plumb. As you are probably no doubt aware, the declination, the differance between the mount and the angle of the dish. That is, the dish will be more tillted forward than the mount on the pole cap. How much? Depends on your latitude. To adjust this I use a good sized plastic see thru protractor and light fishing line and painted black. (Makes it easier to read.) With a plumb bob weight on the line. With this I can usually read down to .25 (1/4) of a degree.To make a big dish track the arc perfectly gives me more pleasure than watching anything I can pickup on it
Good Luck
Steveo.
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1. Lower at one end, higher at the the other ends to get better signal: incorrect north/south axis.
2. Lower or Higher at both ends: incorrect declination settings.
Off course it could be in the case that you have both North/South axis and declination incorrectly.
I suggest to move the whole Polar mount towards the East, then perform the test at furthest East/West sats, hopefully you have it tracks the arc correctly, or at least you have to raise the dish or push it down to get better signal.
Tunning dish take time!!!
good luck
2. Lower or Higher at both ends: incorrect declination settings.
Off course it could be in the case that you have both North/South axis and declination incorrectly.
I suggest to move the whole Polar mount towards the East, then perform the test at furthest East/West sats, hopefully you have it tracks the arc correctly, or at least you have to raise the dish or push it down to get better signal.
Tunning dish take time!!!
good luck
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