Declination Angle?

[glen4cindy]

Hello,

I've had my system set up for a long time, so I have forgotten this.

My STB gave up the ghost several months ago due to a burst pipe. I just acquired a new one, but, now I have no signal. So, I am going back to the beginning. One set of instructions says: Set Dish elevation (do not subtract declination). This is from where I bought my equipment, Sadoun's Satellite site.

My information is:

Latitude: 38.7132° Longitude: -90.0807° Name: Moteck SG2100 Motor Latitude: 38.7°
Declination Angle: 6.1° Dish Elevation: 24° Azimuth (true): 180.0° Azimuth (mag.): 181.6° using Compass

My motor elevation is spot on. However, my dish seems to be at about 29 degrees. Not sure how it could have changed so much. There was an Invacom Quad QPH-031 LNB on there. I took that off tonight and put a standard FTA LNB on. Could that have changed the elevation over the last few years of being installed?

All my bolts are good and tight.

The other issue is my motor will not move, even with the button. It was dark tonight, so I am going to try a hard reset tomorrow to get true south pegged back in.

Am I on the right track? I need to get the elevation back to 24 degrees?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Jason S]

Before changing any dish settings, perhaps you could add detail as to what you have for the new receiver (set top box) and if you've done anything in the setup menus. Also, are there any switches on the system and current LNBF specs?

 

[glen4cindy]

Before changing any dish settings, perhaps you could add detail as to what you have for the new receiver (set top box) and if you've done anything in the setup menus. Also, are there any switches on the system and current LNBF specs?

I bought a NIB Visionsat IV-200 PVR. The LNB I switched out is also a NIB KUL2 standard FSS dual LNBF. No switches.

As far as setup menus, I started at the last satellite I believe I was using when my last receive died, Galaxy 19, 97.0W. I chose 10750 as the LO freq. with no switches. I first tried to see if there was any quality on some of the popular transponders shown on Lyngsat. Even thought I didn't find any, I still tried a blind scan, but, found no channels.

That's when I began investigating the dish settings and finally found the elevation might be off.

 

[FaT Air]

reference TheList for valid transponders. (it's probably the most up to date reference there is, especially for 97W. Lyngsat isn't as 'up to date' (I don't use it as a primary tp frequency reference)
Another that I use is sathint.com .

 

[glen4cindy]

reference TheList for valid transponders. (it's probably the most up to date reference there is, especially for 97W. Lyngsat isn't as 'up to date' (I don't use it as a primary tp frequency reference)
Another that I use is sathint.com .

I looked at both of these compared to Lyngsat, and they are all listing the same Transponders. Manually inputting a transponder and even doing a blind scan is not finding anything.

The most troubling thing to me is my dish elevation angle. It seems from everything I can find it should be about 24 degrees. I know my dish isn't at 24 right now, but, I have not messed with the manual dish settings for a very long time. I also know my mast is plumb, or was plumb. It's in concrete and a good deal deep so, it should not have moved.

Unfortunately, after working all day, there isn't much daylight left, and come next week, there will be no daylight left when I get home from work. And Saturday we are due for rain. All this makes it hard to re-aim a dish, especially if my motor does not start moving.

 

[LocutusOfBorg]

The most troubling thing to me is my dish elevation angle. It seems from everything I can find it should be about 24 degrees.

That's not right. Check it at http://www.dishpointer.com/

 

[FaT Air]

instead of 97, why not try 91w*, almost directly due south of you. Or have you not gotten the motor to move? Think that's where one should start. Is it the motor itself??
Turn off the FTA box whenever connecting/disconnecting coax, Disconnect the motor>receiver coax, turn receiver back on, measure voltage at the motor side of the coax.'
look for any corrosion in connectors while at it.
If voltage present, reconnect motor and disconnect LNBF, will motor move? If no voltage present, find cause in coax.
Once cause of motor not moving is rectified, reconnect LNBF.

*12010 V 11575 (I'm pretty sure that is still DVB-S)

 

[LocutusOfBorg]

I need my memory refreshed. Is the dish offset (declination/inclination) dependent on the dish or location? The dish pointing utilities that I've used doesn't give that measurement - only az/el.

 

[Titanium]

Both the motor latitude scale setting and the dish elevation setting angle are unique to the install location. All settings are dependent on the mast (pole) being perfectly plumb and level. If satellites are not being found at the correct elevation, it may also be possible that the LNBF support arm is bent and the feedhorn is no longer sitting at the right height and position.

The Latitude scale on the side of the motor should be set to match to your install location latitude. The dish elevation scale should be matched to the calculation provided with the specific motor model. Many motor tubes are 30 degree offset. For these motors the dish elevation scale setting will be between 20-30 degrees. Usually (for Moteck type motors), the declination is subtracted from the motor tube angle to provide the dish scale angle setting.

For example: in the first post the declination is 6.1 and the motor type is selected to be Moteck 2100, which has a 30 degree tube. 30 - 6.1 = 24 (approx.)

 

[glen4cindy]

I need my memory refreshed. Is the dish offset (declination/inclination) dependent on the dish or location? The dish pointing utilities that I've used doesn't give that measurement - only az/el.

Yes, it gives me the same figures.

Motor Latitude: 38.7° Declination Angle: 6.1° Dish Elevation: 24°
Azimuth (true): 180.0°
Azimuth (magn.): 181.6°

As Titanium stated, the Dish Pointers that I have used, when you select the SG2100, automatically takes into account the 6.1 and gets me to 24.

I took my motor apart tonight. I took the DC motor off the worm gear, as it was just 2 screws. It turned freely. Mounted to the gears that turn the rest of the motor, it seizes up.

I think it's just time for a new motor.

I saw a Stab HH 90 for around $99. I know I will need new values for that motor, but, I think it's the best place to go from here.

Thanks for all the help.

 

[LocutusOfBorg]

Yes, it gives me the same figures.

Motor Latitude: 38.7° Declination Angle: 6.1° Dish Elevation: 24°
Azimuth (true): 180.0°
Azimuth (magn.): 181.6°

As Titanium stated, the Dish Pointers that I have used, when you select the SG2100, automatically takes into account the 6.1 and gets me to 24.

I was thinking of dishpointer.com where it says your elevation should be set to 45.2 degrees for looking at 91.0W at your location. It's dark outside and my offset dish is 15 feet in the air on a Rohn tower so I can't go look to see what my stuff is set at for comparison. Anyway, you said that your motor is kaput so it's obvious that you need to take care of that issue first.

 

[glen4cindy]

Yes, 45.2 would be correct without a motor. Somehow, though I am not certain the exact math involved, the degree bend of the motor arm is taken into account with the elevation.