Declination & Elevation

[shultz]

I know i've read about this on here, but i can't get my 8'er to track the arc! I'm at 40N lat & 86W long, and can't pickup anything East of 61W without moving the elevation on the dish. If i move the elevation to get the "east" sats, i lose all the sats from 72W to 129W including my TS sat at 87W! I've read that my elevation should be at 40 on the inclinometer, and the declination is 6.26. I've got the elevation on the back of the dish (on the ring) set at 46, and the elevation on the pole set at 40. Isn't this right??
Thanks for any help.

 

[gpat]

Need pics on how you are measuring
Are you saying that you are measuring the back of the ring but only when its due south
or square with your mount?
did you use the calculator for your zipcode?
LinuxMan posted some good instructions for me so maybe you can follow those.
http://www.satelliteguys.us/c-band-satellite-discussion/112289-first-post-long-time-c-bander-2.html

 

[gabshere]

if you point all the way west and check your dish push up & down left & right how's the signal act.

 

[shultz]

Need pics on how you are measuring
Are you saying that you are measuring the back of the ring but only when its due south
or square with your mount?
did you use the calculator for your zipcode?
LinuxMan posted some good instructions for me so maybe you can follow those.
http://www.satelliteguys.us/c-band-satellite-discussion/112289-first-post-long-time-c-bander-2.html

Well i'm getting ready for work now, so i don't have time to run out & take pictures (maybe tomorrow), but i'm measuring on the dish ring itself, and also on the plate on the back of the dish for the declination, (both read 46 on the inclinometer) when the dish is true south. On the pole mount itself that connects to the dish, i have the elevation set at 40 (thats hard to explain without pictures, i know). If i leave it alone the way it is, i can pickup all sats from 72w to 129w with great quality on the pansat. anything east of 72w i can't get unless i change the elevation. then they come in great and i lose everything else.

 

[linuxman]

If i leave it alone the way it is, i can pickup all sats from 72w to 129w with great quality on the pansat. anything east of 72w i can't get unless i change the elevation. then they come in great and i lose everything else.

Hey Shultz,

Turn the whole assembly to the West. That will move the East satellites into the arc a little, and you will probably get both sides.

Don't adjust anything else until you try that.

Fred

 

[gabshere]

Turn the whole assembly to the West.

and your talking about a small movement right. I moved mine 3/32 of an inch and had a great gain

 

[gpat]

it doesnt take much when its 25,000 miles away

 

[shultz]

Hey Shultz,

Turn the whole assembly to the West. That will move the East satellites into the arc a little, and you will probably get both sides.

Don't adjust anything else until you try that.

Fred

ok, so your saying to loosen the bolts on the pole and turn the whole dish a hair to the west, then use the v-box to get back to the true south sat, right?
i'll give it a try when it gets daylight.

 

[gabshere]

yes mark your pole & mount first so you can easily go back if it doesn't correct the problem

 

[shultz]

GREAT NEWS!
Went out this morning and studied the dish, and found that the mount on the ring wasn't flush with the mount on the pole when it's parked at the true south sat! It was about an 1/8" off! I lined it all up and re-aimed the dish, went clear east, got a channel, went clear west, got a channel!! I don't know how i got this off unless it was when i was installing the superjack and wasn't paying attention
NOW i have another problem...some of the channels don't come in now! On my ts sat, i lost the spirit channel, on G3C, the Equity channels have a low quality reading and won't come in, theres a few others on different sats that have low readings, but not many. I did try to adjust the dish a hair both up & down & east & west, but didn't get any better quality than i had. Could the skew be off a hair now?? I know i'm gettin really close now, some channels that only had a reading of 60% before are now coming in at 80+.
I want to thank you guys for all the help you've gave me, and i hope you and your families all have a GREAT thanksgiving! :

 

[linuxman]

If you have the elevation set where you have best picture at your TS satellite, and best picture on the ends, that part is finished.

You can check the F/d ratio and Focal Length for better signal, then all you have left is skew.

Fred