Aligning Atlantic side of h-h dish

[Vintagesports]

What is the best way to align the eastern part of the arc without affecting the western side. I can see well from 135W up until 61 W eastern side quality of signal gets worst from 58W and east of that at the point that there is no signal quality in 43.1W.
This is from Puerto Rico which according to Lyngsat I should have no problems with 43.1W. I think it may be alignment on that side of the arc but do not want to mess up the other side.
I have no obstruction whatsoever to block the signal. It is a beautiful blue sky.

 

[Magic Static]

Aside from making sure the dish is assembled accurately there are only three adjustments to make. Declination: I set this first. Measure as best you can and set it and forget it. Don't need to touch it again. Set elevation at due south. The dish in the middle of the arc. Finally move the dish to a sat just above the horizon, east or west. Adjust the azimuth for best signal. Move back to center and double check elevation.
Any thing you do to adjust the east side affects the west side. So if the east isn't aligned the west isn't either.

 

[Vintagesports]

Thank you Magic Static. I figured that would be the case because the satellites are in a perfect arc. That is why I decided to post the question. Boggles my mind why from 135w to 61w it is perfect with good signal on all satellites but the other side of the arc looses signal once the dish moves into the 43.1 w zone. Maybe a little azimuth and elevation tweak is needed yes.
I have not gone further than that since I do not have circular. I believe 43.1 is the last with linear Cband. East to that it is mostly circular.

 

[Titanium]

A linear feed will receive circular polarity signals. There is approximately 3dB loss and the transponder will scan on both polarities.

 

[Vintagesports]

Is that for real? I have never thought about scanning circular satellite transponders with a linear lnb. Will try tonight . That would awesome. Should I offset the skew from -45/+45 to a certain degree to get a more complete blindscan?

 

[Titanium]

The skew angle will make no difference. To avoid double scanning the circular polarity on both horizontal and vertical, set the STB to only scan a single polarity.

You may have problems with receiving weaker circular polarity transponders, but will have adequate signal strength for most "in footprint" signals.

Interesting to note that I have occasionally found that one polarity performs better than the other.

 

[wvman]

Thank you Magic Static. I figured that would be the case because the satellites are in a perfect arc. That is why I decided to post the question. Boggles my mind why from 135w to 61w it is perfect with good signal on all satellites but the other side of the arc looses signal once the dish moves into the 43.1 w zone. Maybe a little azimuth and elevation tweak is needed yes.
I have not gone further than that since I do not have circular. I believe 43.1 is the last with linear Cband. East to that it is mostly circular.

You may want to note that there are channels on 99W that are a lot weaker than other channels on the same satellite, like This and the Carribean channels. On my dish, these channels are 40 points lower than the LeSea channels, but they come in fine without breakup.

 

[Vintagesports]

You may want to note that there are channels on 99W that are a lot weaker than other channels on the same satellite, like This and the Carribean channels. On my dish, these channels are 40 points lower than the LeSea channels, but they come in fine without breakup.

Thank you wvman. I am good with 99w. My problem is east of 61w. Closer to 43.1w

 

[Titanium]

Another possibility is that the feed is not centered or aimed into the center of the reflector. A dish may be accurately aligned to track the arc, but if the feed is not aligned, the reflected signals will not track into the feed.

 

[a33]

So with a motor setup this usually means: start all over again: check everything from the very first steps!

Did you use modified motor angles?
For 18.25N, 66.42W this ould mean: motor elevation 71.35 degrees, dish declination offset 2.77 degrees.

greetz,
A33

 

[Vintagesports]

So with a motor setup this usually means: start all over again: check everything from the very first steps!

Did you use modified motor angles?
For 18.25N, 66.42W this ould mean: motor elevation 71.35 degrees, dish declination offset 2.77 degrees.

greetz,
A33

I will need to check all angles again. This is what I used:
PR latitude is 18.46
Elevation Angle is 18.93
Declination offset 2.77
Used Amazon at 61W as my zenith

From your numbers I may be off by a bit which could be enough to take me off the arc slightly.

 

[Vintagesports]

I will need to check all angles again. This is what I used:
PR latitude is 18.46
Elevation Angle is 18.93
Declination offset 2.77
Used Amazon at 61W as my zenith

From your numbers I may be off by a bit which could be enough to take me off the arc slightly.

BTW I do not mind starting over with the alignment. I enjoy every bit of this hobby

 

[Magic Static]

At the top of this forum is one sticky on aligning a bud. Good reading. In post #11 of that thread there is a zip file with all the PDFs wrapped up.

 

[Vintagesports]

At the top of this forum is one sticky on aligning a bud. Good reading. In post #11 of that thread there is a zip file with all the PDFs wrapped up.

Will read. Thank you Magic Static and all you guys. Always there to help. Nice to feel we are not alone with our questions on this hobby.

 

[AceB]

Start by making sure the pole is truly vertical, not just 'that's pretty good on a spirit level' but really vertical, ideally with a digital angle finder. If you can reach the LNB you can make a cheap and cheerful plate for circular signals using a polyethylene chopping board. Just cut it to size and slide it into the throat, most LNBs have guides in them where the plate fits. It will improve circular reception and should allow you to check weaker satellites further east.

 

[a33]

From your numbers I may be off by a bit which could be enough to take me off the arc slightly.

That little bit (for 18.46N, I used 18.25N) couldn't account for one side of the arc being off track.

You used 61W as zenith? That is 6.3 degrees motor rotation from 66.4 west (which would be about due south for the middle of PortoRico [Edit: sorry this is Dutch spelling. Should be Puerto Rico...] ).

Greetz,
A33

 

[Vintagesports]

That little bit (for 18.46N, I used 18.25N) couldn't account for one side of the arc being off track.

You used 61W as zenith? That is 6.3 degrees motor rotation from 66.4 west (which would be about due south for the middle of PortoRico).

Greetz,
A33

I should try using StarOne C1/EutelSat 65w closer to my 66.4

 

[a33]

I should try using StarOne C1/EutelSat 65w closer to my 66.4

Or rotate the axis 6.3 degrees, before finetuning to 61W.
Do you have actuator or HtoH-motor?

Edit: and PF dish, or offset dish?

 

[Vintagesports]

Or rotate the axis 6.3 degrees, before finetuning to 61W.
Do you have actuator or HtoH-motor?

Edit: and PF dish, or offset dish?

I have an ajak H to H motor moving a 12 ft Unimesh dish.
I do get all the satellites from 135 w until 55.5 w with no problems. The problem starts when I start going east of 55.5w. That is when I loose ability to lock into into any satellite east of that.

 

[Magic Static]

So when you are peaked on 55.5°W you should be able to move the dish exactly 160 counts east and be right on NSS806 at 47.5°W. It's circular c-band but you should get a signal from it. If you are using the sensor I sent you. 20 counts per degree, it's quite accurate.