Help with dish setup and alignment

[xtantaudio]

ok, I am new to this FTA setup stuff, but I have gathered and installed all my equipment.

mounting pole is perfectly vertical.
DMS SG2100 motor
Fortec 80P 31" dish
Invacom QPH-031 LNB
Twinhan DVB card
all new cabling

Everything aligned at true south

Motor tilted at latitude setting 41 degrees
dish elevation at 24 degrees

LOCATION: Fort Wayne, IN ZIP: 46825

cabling is as follows:

DVB card --- Motor --- DisEqC switch ---LNB

Using Mytheatre for interface to card

DisEqC commands to motor work, motor turns east & west when I use the position console in Mytheatre

I used a generic satellite signal meter to help fine tune the alignment.

signal meter seems to receive multiple satellite signals as I manually move the motor east and west using the manual controls on the underside of the motor.

I have two questions: what is my true south satellite? in Mytheatre, there are several to choose from, but I do not understand the position degrees in the menu, and I have no idea what satellite I am currently aiming at....

perhaps my true south satellite is not even listed in Mytheatre, if that is the case, where can I find the files (.ini) to update the locations in Mytheatre ?

second question: have I set everything up right? are there any recommendations....?

I know that this may have been the wrong forum to post the questions about the DVB card and Mytheatre, but at this point any help is appreciated, and condsidering that I have not gotten a signal in Mytheatre, perhaps my latitude or alignment settings are off...

Thank you.

 

[Lak7]

True South Sat is the Sat on the Same (or close to) Your Long: AMC2 @ 85 (now called AMC 16) west for you.
SatelliteGuys.US - 85.0°W AMC 16 Ku

Are you using any DiSEqC / 22KHz switches?
Which port on the LNB did you connect to, "C"ircular or "L"inear?
What do you have entered for LNB settings in MYThr.

 

[brentb636]

I think you should use 87W, AMC3, because the TIP channel is very strong. It will be easier to find than the "iffy" test card on amc5 .
11716 H 4859 7/8

You really SHOULD have a real receiver, like a used Coolsat 5000 or Mercury II, for aligning your dish, and troubleshooting your computer based setup. It would make life much easier for you, if you KNEW that your real receiver was getting a channel on the same cable. That would be a real plus, PCI DVB can be confusing and a real world reference ( like a receiver ) would help you out a lot.

 

[Tron]

Brent is right... PCI cards are next to impossible to use for setting up a dish for the first time. There are lots of inexpensive, used DVB-S receivers out there now, some even with advanced features such as blind scan and component outputs. It really helps to have a receiver and small TV/monitor out at the dish site while aiming.

 

[xtantaudio]

Yes, I am using a DisEqC switch and I have hooked up the Linear and circular outputs of the LNB to the switch.

I figured that the best way to figure everything out would be to buy a stand-alone receiver and set up the dish that way.... I guess I should start looking at my options in that area.....

Any other suggestions?

By the way, thank you for everyones input so far...

 

[SatPhreak]

There seems to be a lot of coolsat 4000/5000/6000 recievers going on ebay cheap (under $50). Never tried one myself but others seem to give them thumbs up. Make sure whatever you get has blindscan as pci card don't and after you find new channels you can add the info manually in for your pci card.

 

[Cadsulfide]

Lots of coolsat clones out there, I got one last year off ebay to set up our old guy hangout in town with 123W (the old bakery), lasted about 6 weeks before the power supply smoked. Lots of good recievers on EBAY the eye patch crowd can't use any more that are good for FTA. If you can find a Fortec Mercury II at a good price, grab it. The Ariza Extreme is good too.