Can't get Galaxy 10R

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bloomdog

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Sep 20, 2006
306
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I am near Boston and, for the life of me, cannot pull this bird in. Line of sight is okay, but not perfect. I have a Channel Master 1.2 meter dish. Anyone have any thoughts?
 
for some reason G10 is one of my hardest sats to find but lately i find that the problem isn't always the operator sometimes a bad wire or connector ... or even a bad receiver :(

good luck and verify the equipment , before writing it off
 
for some reason G10 is one of my hardest sats to find

Was for me too. I knew my mast was just slightly off of perfectly plumb. Tried to replumb it, (but still not exact) and I got a few G10 transponders, Once I bit the bullet and made it perfectly plumb, G10 popped up out of a clear, blue sky and I could get all the active transponders.

Still not sure what was going on, because I could sweep the arc and get all the other satellites, but G10 wasn't there untill everything as right on. Might have something to do with it's spacing being between two more powerful satellites.

Harold
 
I am near Boston and, for the life of me, cannot pull this bird in. Line of sight is okay, but not perfect. I have a Channel Master 1.2 meter dish. Anyone have any thoughts?


Just south of you and have no problem with G10R, have both a 1m winegard and 90cm geosatpro. It's a tough bird to get a good lock on since it is very weak and I believe will be replaced in the next year.
 
G10-123.0W is almost directly above me in So Calif and it was hard for me too but I got it. I did notice that I had to adust my elevation a tad higher to peak the signal while all other sats seamed to be in perfect alignment on the arc.

Take note of this, last night I was having trouble with the reception on 79.0W, 87.0W and 123.0W due to possible sun flares or other interference, all other sats were peaked signal. Try again later when the reception is better.
 
I'm in Ohio and my dish for G10 almost looks like it is aiming at the ground. I tried for two days to hit it but I had the elevation wrong, I got mad and kicked post which moved the dish forward and bang I got a signal.
 
I'm in Oregon and can get this sat to come in good only if I spend a lot of time lining up my dish (motorized).

This is with either my 90 cm dish or my 12 ft. mesh dish which I just finished lining up today.

I just moved my big dish and spent most of Friday getting it adjusted. But my adjustments were not good enough for this and several other sats.

Then I spent most of today getting everything as perfect as I could (every sat in the arc correct height), then this sat came in just fine.

To adjust, I use a signal meter and point my dish at east sats, due south sat, and west sats. I adjust the signal meter so it is reading 5. Then press the dish slightly up, then slightly down (with my hand). I see if the meter goes higher or lower. If the meter goes lower when the dish is moved up or down, then the alignment is right on.

And this is what takes so durn long! Due south will be right on, but east needs to go higher, and west lower. Then make adjustments and both west and east need to go higher, etc., etc., etc.

So anyway as of Friday night, I could not get this sat to come in well (many channels were garbled). But after spending all day today adjusting my dish so it is right on, all the channels on this sat look good. Same thing with my small dish. There is a ton of difference in picture quality between a dish which is almost lined up ok, and a dish which is lined up as close to perfect as possible.
 
I concur with all on G10. Hopefully G10's replacement will be stronger and not so weak. Even on my bent dish, I get a decent, but not perfect signal. I can count on only getting the 11720 Mux ONCE in a while. The weather has to be perfect for it to come in.
 
I have my Channel Master 1.2m on a SG2100 motor and it doesn't always stop exactly were it should when the dish rotates. This is why I think people use dedicated dishes for various satellites. It also allows multiple receivers to view programming from different satellites at the same time.

I am seriously thinking of having a dedicated CM 1.2m dish pointed at Galaxy10R another pointed at Galaxy 25 and another at AMC 3 (PBS). Right now my spare 1.2m dishs are just sitting in the garage. Also, the mount is heavy duty and the dish will not shake on windy days like it does attached to a 1 5/8" SG2100 motor shaft.

I just need an understanding wife who would allow me to install that many dishes. :)
 
I have my Channel Master 1.2m on a SG2100 motor and it doesn't always stop exactly were it should when the dish rotates.

Ive noticed this as well with my 1m winegard. 123 is my true north an as a test if I come from the far east to 123 I get a different signal % then if I come from the far west.

I went up on the roof and there is defn slack in the motor, with my spectrum I can go from no signal, to full signal, to no signal, all within the slack.

Ive had the motor for just over a year, its quite windy here and the dish does get a good rattleing some days lol.

premeture wear ?
 
Ahhh... but sometimes it can be something so simple. I remember I tried and tried to bring in G10R. 80-85 signal and 0 quality. :confused: I KNEW the post was plumb, tried moving ever so slowly...1 tick at a time. Still no quality. Some good folks here pointed out that G10R is a tough one to lock into sometimes.

Til I finally realized I had the azimuth and elevation right. But I forgot the skew angle! Set that and BAM! I currently have 94 signal and 91 quality. :D
 
Ive noticed this as well with my 1m winegard. 123 is my true north an as a test if I come from the far east to 123 I get a different signal % then if I come from the far west.

I went up on the roof and there is defn slack in the motor, with my spectrum I can go from no signal, to full signal, to no signal, all within the slack.

Ive had the motor for just over a year, its quite windy here and the dish does get a good rattleing some days lol.

premeture wear ?

I had my Winegard next to the house at ground level, well sheltered....the SG-2100 ran it for 2 or 3 years, it was fine for a couple of years but I noticed the same as you, slack started to get more and more. I also noticed when lifting up the bottom lip of the antenna, the sg-2100 shaft would lift up also, not only slack side to side but also up and down, after a while I lost the sats at the far arc ends and couldn't re-tune the dish to get them anymore. If your's is up in the wind like you say, that motor is probably taking a lot of abuse, the Winegard is a big heavy dish, catches a lot of wind. I'm thinking like PopcornnMore, I might put my winegard on G10 stationary, its too nice a dish to let sit in the garage:)
 
I just completed installing one of my 1.2m dishes on my back deck here in PA and it takes a lot of abuse from the wind. When I lived it Florida I had the dish insalled right in front of a side wall of the house which blockled a lot of the wind.

I am thinking of installing a few sections of plastic fence in the backyard and installing the dishes in front to block the wind more. It will also hide the dishes from the neighbors so my wife will be happy. :)

Galaxy 10R is tricky to get a lock on. With my Coolsat 4000 receiver I get a signal of around 70, but if it falls to 65 it starts to break up. I can't wait until that satellite is replaced by a much stronger one.
 
Go out to images.google.com and type in compass in the search and pick out a nice picture of a compass. Print it out, and cut a white circle of paper to blot out the middle decorations leaving just the numbers on the outside. Then copy the compass so you have a nice clean one to start with.

Then go buy a 99 cent protractor and run a coat thread or heavy thread tied to a small plastic button on one end. Run the thread through the center hole and cut it just below the edge of the protractor and clamp a fishing weight on the end.

Find the azimuth of the sats you want to hit, and draw the lines across the face of the paper compass and any other info you want.

Here is what they will look like when finished:

compass-protractor.jpg

Then use your real compass to find North. Find a landmark not too far away, and point the North of the paper compass towards it sitting right on top of the dish. Then look at the LNB arm of the dish and line it up with your drawn line.

Follow the directions at this site for using the protractor.

All that will get you very close.

I already had the mount up, and pretty close to plumb and the dish on it and all wired up when I started today, so all I did was loosen the bolts and did the above.

Had G10R locked and fine tuned in less than 15 minutes.

I did the same with G27 and it took me about 30 minutes because I got cocky after G10 and didn't sight North just right. :D

These two hand made tools are the best I have ever found, and I made them myself.

Hope they help you.

Fred
 
LinuxMan - I like your idea.
It's something you prepare in the lab, then take out to the field to use.
Especially great for multiple birds.

My recent field-only technique seemed to end a thread without further comment.
Either it was too poorly written to be understood, or everyone thought I was crazy. :rolleyes:
But, it's basically the same concept you propose.
Which is: have a tool by the dish, to help you get it aimed on the proper azimuth.

Then, a simple rule to know which way to skew (assuming you know how far) is posted in the same thread.

If I were more organized, I would try your nifty idea, but when I find myself out back, it's easy to improvise.
Keep the great ideas flowing!
 
Go out to images.google.com and type in compass in the search and pick out a nice picture of a compass. Print it out, and cut a white circle of paper to blot out the middle decorations leaving just the numbers on the outside. Then copy the compass so you have a nice clean one to start with.

Then go buy a 99 cent protractor and run a coat thread or heavy thread tied to a small plastic button on one end. Run the thread through the center hole and cut it just below the edge of the protractor and clamp a fishing weight on the end.

Find the azimuth of the sats you want to hit, and draw the lines across the face of the paper compass and any other info you want.

Here is what they will look like when finished:

View attachment 16559

Then use your real compass to find North. Find a landmark not too far away, and point the North of the paper compass towards it sitting right on top of the dish. Then look at the LNB arm of the dish and line it up with your drawn line.

Follow the directions at this site for using the protractor.

All that will get you very close.

I already had the mount up, and pretty close to plumb and the dish on it and all wired up when I started today, so all I did was loosen the bolts and did the above.

Had G10R locked and fine tuned in less than 15 minutes.

I did the same with G27 and it took me about 30 minutes because I got cocky after G10 and didn't sight North just right. :D

These two hand made tools are the best I have ever found, and I made them myself.

Hope they help you.

Fred

What I do is point my BUD at the satellite and use it as a guide . Pretty easy to get in the general vicinity that way. But heck Im cheating. Although after working with satellite tv since 1987 I have a good feel to where the bird's are and do pretty well without the BUD.:rolleyes:
 
Fortunately for me, the Primestar LNBs have little markings on them for setting the skew. There are several sites which will tell you which way and how much to set it for each satellite.

I did have the skew already set per those instructions.

I also did not add that I usually start out at a slightly lower elevation than called for, and make a mark on the mast/cap for a beginning point.

Make sure you have a strong transponder to find the signal quality. See Iceberg's list. It is fantastic.

The mast is plumb, and the cap rides on top, so just slowly and gently move it back and forth up to 1/4" from each side of the starting point. Give the elevation bolt a 1/4 turn, and go again. Eventually, the SQ will come in on the setup screen meter.

From there on, it is just a matter of oh so slightly moving up or down, back and forth until signal is peaked.

Any tool will work, if you learn how to work the tool. :D

This is the method I began with, and it has served me well over the past 9 months.

Just like you Anole, I just hope it helps someone else.

Fred
 
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