Help with a dish

[GreatFTA]

I have a 5 foot aluminum Wilson dish that I am trying to use with the FTA system. It was one of those dishs that rested on a 5 foot ring and was aimed to whatever satellite it was focused on at its time. I found a small C band mount and arm and adapted it to the dish.
This dish has a arm that comes up to the front of the dish from the bottom and has a place to mount a LNB with a scaler ring,
The measurement of the diameter of this dish is 57 inches, 7 1/4 inches deep, and the distance from the flat middle part of the dish to where the scaler ring is mounted is 27 3/4 inches. With the scaler ring attached, I measured from the edge of the scaler ring to the edge of the dish in four separate areas of the dish and the scaler ring is exactly centered to the dish.
I want to use the BSC 621-2 LNBF to receive the signals and use the V Box to operate the arm I am mounting.
So far I am having a really rotten time trying to aim this dish. I set the angles used in setting up the C band system. I really wonder if the focal point is the major problem. Can anyone help me on this situation?

 

[turbosat]

Well I thought I was the only one left who had one of those old Wilson 5' dishes, was the very first c-band dish setup I had! That lnb you are trying to use on it, is it a prime-focus job or not? Thats a prime focus dish, of course.
I think I would put the lnb/feedhorn for c-band back on it (if you have one) and set it up to where it's tracking right, then go back to the due south satellite for you, measure the distance from the dish-face to just inside the throat of the feedhorn (most say measure to 1/4" inside the feedhorn body) Be sure you have the best possible signals from the sats you use to correct tracking. Write down the measurement, then figure out how to get your new lnbf mounted to
the same distance from the dish face. I used that same dish for about a year,
with a reg primefocus KU lnb/polarotor, worked pretty well. But I found a 1M primestar raised my signal levels on the ku digital channels about 10-20pts so that's what I'm watching ku with now! I never was totally happy with the way I had the ku lnb mounted though, on the 5', was never certain is was the best it could've been. Had I tinkered/engineered more it might've outdone the p-star lol.

 

[GreatFTA]

Thank you so much, turbosat!
It didn't have a LNB on on it but I do have a 20 degree LNB I can mount on it till I get the tracking done. I will dig out the old C band receiver and start again.
I well let you know how it go...

 

[turbosat]

Your welcome, that dish came out before they crammed so many satellites in space, and there wasn't too much worry about interference from nearby satellites, it was great in its day, but I can put mine on G5 now and not see a lot without major problems from adjacent birds, gotta have 8' or bigger now for c-band, analog or digital. But mine still works fine on the upper end of the arc on the stronger transponders.
You'll be surprised at what it will do with a good lnb/feedhorn, when its tracking/declinaton is set right.