how to find true south
- Thread starter mike652
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true south satellite is the same satellite as your longitude. SO as an exanmple, I am at 93.0W so my True South is G26 (IA6 aka Telstar 6)
Take a look at the Sadoun installation page for motorized dishes.
http://sadoun.com/Sat/Installation/HH-mount-installation.htm .
You actually don't need to know "true south" exactly, just approximately. The satellite that is closest to YOUR longitude will be your initial aiming point, once you've gently tightened your motorized dish on the "perfectly verticle" mast.
1) With your motor at it's zero point, aim your whole dish assembly at what you "guess" is true south, and gently tighten it down.
2) Have your receiver move, using it's USALS function, to an active tp on your closest satellite to your longitude ( that is your "true south" satellite for aiming ).
3) The motor should move the dish slightly to aim at the bird . The receiver now "thinks" it is pointed at the correct place in the sky. Your job is to "fine tune" the azimuth adjustment ( east-west ) at the mast/motor mount , and the dish elevation adjustment, on the dish bracket. Do the Azimuth adjustment first, gently moving to get the best quality signal you can. Move in tiny increments, and wait for your receiver tuner to catch up with your movements, so you can tell when progress is made. Touching the top and sides of your dish gently can move it and perhaps give you a clue for the next adjustment. Once you have ANY quality signal, it is usually just a matter of tiny moves to optimize it.
I set up my new 90cm dish a couple days ago ( I'm at 84.4, so I used AMC2 @85W , I have 100% quality on that bird ). The most important thing for good operation is a verticle mast. The most important thing for fine tuning is making sure you have selected an active transponder in your receiver setup. That transponder is what you are focussing on.
http://sadoun.com/Sat/Installation/HH-mount-installation.htm .
You actually don't need to know "true south" exactly, just approximately. The satellite that is closest to YOUR longitude will be your initial aiming point, once you've gently tightened your motorized dish on the "perfectly verticle" mast.
1) With your motor at it's zero point, aim your whole dish assembly at what you "guess" is true south, and gently tighten it down.
2) Have your receiver move, using it's USALS function, to an active tp on your closest satellite to your longitude ( that is your "true south" satellite for aiming ).
3) The motor should move the dish slightly to aim at the bird . The receiver now "thinks" it is pointed at the correct place in the sky. Your job is to "fine tune" the azimuth adjustment ( east-west ) at the mast/motor mount , and the dish elevation adjustment, on the dish bracket. Do the Azimuth adjustment first, gently moving to get the best quality signal you can. Move in tiny increments, and wait for your receiver tuner to catch up with your movements, so you can tell when progress is made. Touching the top and sides of your dish gently can move it and perhaps give you a clue for the next adjustment. Once you have ANY quality signal, it is usually just a matter of tiny moves to optimize it.
I set up my new 90cm dish a couple days ago ( I'm at 84.4, so I used AMC2 @85W , I have 100% quality on that bird ). The most important thing for good operation is a verticle mast. The most important thing for fine tuning is making sure you have selected an active transponder in your receiver setup. That transponder is what you are focussing on.
Just picked up a motor and had a quick question:
What do you do if your true south satellite does not broadcast any channels to pick-up?
For instance, my true south satellite for zip code 21801 is Galaxy 4R (76.8 degrees). According to Lyngsat, there re no FTA channels available.
Do I aim to a nearby satellite instead?
actually there is a data tp on that satellite (77W) that is strong
12110
V
5000
Excellent - thanks for the tip!
no problemn. I added it to the "I need a strong transponder" thread too 
But to answer the question, if you're not at a true south (like as an example, if you're at 94W) then we say to use USALS to move the motor first to the nearest True SOuth then aim the dish/motor assembly
But to answer the question, if you're not at a true south (like as an example, if you're at 94W) then we say to use USALS to move the motor first to the nearest True SOuth then aim the dish/motor assembly
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