After 4 weeks I need a pro's advice

[serendipity1969]

another newbie <<groan>>

here's what I have:
Pansat 2700a
Microyal H2H motor
DiSEqC 4x1 Switch (after motor)
Wineguard 30” dish
Invacom Quad Polar QPH-031 LNBF

I was told to line up with the echo bird at 119 for my area as it's probably the best for true south (don't quite know what that means but I do what I'm told... lol). Whatever I did it seemed to get me into a decent swing with the motor and for getting other birds. Well, I went through most of the birds, set up the USALS and did a bunch of blind scans. I now have a TON of scrambled/pay channels and very few FTA. the birds that use the standard circular setting of the lnb come in yet the birds that do not come in using this setting i try to change to universal 2 and still get nothing. in fact, i have no sats where the universal 2 setting (linear) seem to do anything. Anyone else using this lnb and if so any examples of sats where the linear part of the lnb is used AND if so, what is the proper settings for this lnb with the 2700a.

 

[PSB]

Moved to the main FTA area!

The QPH-031 is a Standard LNBF so the linear side of the LNBF L.O. should be set to 10750

(The Circular side should have the L.O. set to 11250)

 

[Tron]

There are only a handfull of clear channels on 119w (NASA, Dish 101, and a couple of slate channels), as that is Dish Network's satellite. You should be picking up a bunch of audio channels though...

If you're just trying to get up and running, I suggest doing 'FTA only' when you scan so you don't get a ton of useless channels.

 

[serendipity1969]

didn't expect to get anything usable off of 119. I was just told that it would be a good bird to set up the initial positioning of my dish

 

[PSB]

Setting the L.O. to 10750 for your LINEAR FTA channels should do the trick

 

[serendipity1969]

what's a good bird to try this out first PSB?

 

[PSB]

I like IA-6 but most folks like to go for G10R

 

[serendipity1969]

thanks PSB.. I'll give it a shot

 

[playyymaster]

In order of signal strength:

This is with a 33" dish linear LNB:

AMC 5 tp 11900 I get 99% in Vancouver despite of the distance and low angle
IA6 I get about 89%
AMC 3 only The patient Channel is strong (75%). PBS Montana about 60%, other PBS channels are barely there, even on a good day I get about 45%
G10R on a good day tp 11800 I get 65- 70%
I wish IA5 had channels that I liked. I've scanned it by mistake a couple of times and ended up deleting all of them.

With a Circular lnb on my 32 Starchoice dish I get GOLTV from Echo 6,8 110W with 90%.

The reason for locking on your true south sat is because it is located on the same long. as your location. This means:
Highest elevation point on the arc
0 deg. setting on your motor
no tilt to play with. Just set it to 0
One side of your motor will have the scale in Latitute degrees. Set that first and then just adjust the elevation of your dish for maximum signal.
If the pole is perfectly vertical, the other sats will fall in place nicely.

Good Luck!

 

[serendipity1969]

so playyymaster.... I live in Thunder Bay, ON.... what would you (or anyone else... PSB) say would be the best bird to set up first alignment starting at zero on my motor. I recently used echo at 119 and it seemed to be okay but g10 is very low strength.

 

[PSB]

Your True south satellite is IA-8 89.0W

      Latitude 48° 0.000'N Longitude 89° 0.000'W

              Sat Name Sat Lng Az(t) Az(m)   El  Skew
-----------------------------------------------------
            Telstar 12   15.0W 102.0 106.1  1.9 -40.9
                      
          Intelsat 901   18.0W 104.4 108.4  3.9 -40.4
                      
                 NSS 7   22.0W 107.5 111.6  6.5 -39.7
                      
          Intelsat 905   24.5W 109.5 113.6  8.1 -39.1
                      
          Intelsat 907   27.5W 112.0 116.0 10.1 -38.4
                      
         Hispasat 1C/D   30.0W 114.1 118.1 11.6 -37.7
                      
          Intelsat 801   31.5W 115.3 119.4 12.6 -37.2
                      
          Intelsat 903   34.5W 117.9 122.0 14.4 -36.2
                      
           AMC 12/T 11   37.5W 120.6 124.7 16.3 -35.2
                      
               NSS 806   40.5W 123.3 127.4 18.1 -34.0
                      
             Pas 3R/6B   43.0W 125.7 129.7 19.5 -32.9
                      
                Pas 1R   45.0W 127.6 131.7 20.6 -32.0
                      
          Intelsat 705   50.0W 132.5 136.6 23.3 -29.5
                      
          Intelsat 707   53.0W 135.6 139.7 24.9 -27.9
                      
          Intelsat 805   55.5W 138.3 142.4 26.1 -26.4
                      
                 Pas 9   58.0W 141.0 145.1 27.3 -24.9
                      
              Amazonas   61.0W 144.4 148.5 28.6 -22.9
                      
            EchoStar 3   61.5W 145.0 149.1 28.8 -22.6
                      
             Rainbow 1   61.5W 145.0 149.1 28.8 -22.6
                      
      Estrela do Sul 1   63.0W 146.7 150.8 29.4 -21.5
                      
          Brasilsat B2   65.0W 149.1 153.1 30.2 -20.1
                      
          Brasilsat B1   70.0W 155.1 159.2 31.9 -16.3
                      
              Nahuel 1   71.8W 157.4 161.5 32.4 -14.9
                      
             DirecTV 1   72.5W 158.3 162.3 32.6 -14.3
                      
                 AMC 6   72.0W 157.6 161.7 32.4 -14.7
                      
                 SBS 6   74.0W 160.2 164.2 33.0 -13.1
                      
            Echostar 4   77.0W 164.0 168.1 33.6 -10.6
                      
                 AMC 5   79.0W 166.7 170.7 34.0  -8.9
                      
               Nimiq 2   82.0W 170.6 174.7 34.5  -6.3
                      
                 AMC-9   83.0W 171.9 176.0 34.6  -5.4
                      
          Brasilsat B3   84.0W 173.3 177.4 34.7  -4.5
                      
              AMC 2/16   85.0W 174.6 178.7 34.7  -3.6
                      
                 AMC 3   87.0W 177.3 181.4 34.8  -1.8
                      
                  IA-8   89.0W 180.0 184.1 34.9   0.0
                      
             Galaxy 11   91.0W 182.7 186.8 34.8   1.8
                      
             Nimiq 1/3   91.0W 182.7 186.8 34.8   1.8
                      
          Brasilsat B4   92.0W 184.0 188.1 34.8   2.7
                      
             Telstar 6   93.0W 185.4 189.4 34.7   3.6
                      
             Galaxy 3C   95.0W 188.1 192.1 34.6   5.4
                      
             Telstar 5   97.0W 190.7 194.8 34.3   7.1
                      
             Galaxy 4R   99.0W 193.3 197.4 34.0   8.9
                      
       DirecTV 1R/4S/8  101.0W 196.0 200.0 33.6  10.6
                      
                 AMC 4  101.0W 196.0 200.0 33.6  10.6
                      
            Spaceway 1  102.0W 197.3 201.3 33.4  11.5
                      
                 AMC 1  103.0W 198.5 202.6 33.2  12.3
                      
                AMC 15  105.0W 201.1 205.2 32.7  13.9
                      
           Anik F1/F1R  107.3W 204.0 208.1 32.1  15.8
                      
           DirecTV 6/5  109.5W 206.7 210.8 31.4  17.5
                      
            EchoStar 6  110.0W 207.3 211.4 31.2  17.9
                      
            EchoStar 8  110.0W 207.3 211.4 31.2  17.9
                      
               Anik F2  111.1W 208.7 212.7 30.9  18.7
                      
         Solidaridad 2  113.0W 210.9 215.0 30.2  20.1
                      
              SatMex 5  116.8W 215.4 219.4 28.7  22.8
                      
             DirecTV 5  119.0W 217.8 221.9 27.7  24.2
                      
            EchoStar 7  119.0W 217.8 221.9 27.7  24.2
                      
 EchoStar 9/Telstar 13  121.0W 220.1 224.1 26.8  25.5
                      
            Galaxy 10R  123.0W 222.2 226.3 25.9  26.7
                      
             Galaxy 12  125.0W 224.4 228.4 24.9  27.9
                      
         Galaxy 13/H 1  127.0W 226.4 230.5 23.9  29.0
                      
  Telstar 7/Echostar 5  129.0W 228.5 232.5 22.8  30.1
                      
                AMC 11  131.0W 230.5 234.5 21.7  31.1
                      
             Galaxy 1R  133.0W 232.4 236.5 20.6  32.0
                      
                AMC 10  135.0W 234.3 238.4 19.5  32.9
                      
                 AMC 7  137.0W 236.2 240.3 18.3  33.8
                      
                 AMC 8  139.0W 238.1 242.1 17.2  34.6
                      
            EchoStar 1  148.0W 245.9 250.0 11.6  37.7
                      
            EchoStar 2  148.0W 245.9 250.0 11.6  37.7

   Satellite Finder is (c) Copyright 2004, P. Lutus

 

[playyymaster]

Thurder Bay, ON:

Lat. 48.78
Long. -89.9

I believe IA8 at -89.9 is the closest to your true south. Unfortunately there is very little on that bird and there will be a small amount of tilt. Very small.

I'm sure PSB will send you the full list

 

[serendipity1969]

thanks men..... playyymaster, what do you mean by tilt? If I "tilt" to bring in IA8 will I still be in alignment with the belt to get most of the other birds (ie IA6 and g10r)?

 

[PSB]

When setting up a motor to your true south satellite no "Skew" or tilt is needed! The LNBF should be straight up and down, "0" skew.

 

[serendipity1969]

right then. IA-8 then I'll be good to go for everything? I'm also thinking of streamlining things and attach my BEV receiver and then I can get rid of my 18". My family are NOT fans of dish farms... lol... geesh... I only have three!?!

 

[PSB]

Yes your lucky to have a true south satellite BANG on south!

It sets its own skew as it travels east and west.

Best TP. on IA-8 (listed on lyngsat) to use seems to be.....

DFreq. 11780

SR. 29000

Pol. H

 

[serendipity1969]

n-i-c-e... Thanks so much Pete

 

[serendipity1969]

Oh my goodness Pete! Dr. Gene Scott on IA-6.... hahaha... haven't seen that man since I was a youngen' playing with a BUD (that i wasn't supposed to). too cold tonight to tweak my positioning but looking forward to doing so.

 

[PSB]

NICE! Its great watching the late Dr. Scott (RIP) changing costumes over the years.

I like the 70's style with the hat with a feather in it

 

[serendipity1969]

just flipping through my list of birds in antenna setup..... no listing on my 2700A for IA-8 <groan> unless someone knows how to add birds to the stock list I guess I'll have to use AMC3 to properly align my dish (still would be better with IA-8... ho hum)