I'm up and running now ... but

[kuperman]

So, I got my dish mounted on the roof using the SuperDish mount from Sadoun and the RetroDeck mounting bracket from SmartHome. Dish is up and aligned ... and working ... kind of.

After everything was up and on, I realized why I can't get everything a few degrees off from true south (91). I've got a Stab HH90 motor, and realized that the post you mount the dish itself on is mounted about 4 or 5 degrees off from straight up & down (I noticed that when standing directly underneath the dish). That would explain why I can only get over to IA5 and a few degrees the other way before it just goes to hell.

I'm going to have to get up there (AGAIN), turn the dish on that post, turn the motor on the mast to get perfect on true south, and then try again. I hope to do that this weekend and get that going. Right now, I can't get my wife off the TV - she's too busy watching random Farsi programming on IA5.

Thanks to everyone on the forum - I've been lurking for a few weeks learning valuable tips from all of you guys. I plan to stick around as I get this next bit up and running.

 

[Tron]

A perfectly plumb (level) mounting post is an absolute MUST... especially when there is a motor involved. It just magnifies any degree of error. You can sometimes get by with a slightly off-level pole with a fixed dish, but with a motorized setup, a hairline can make all the difference in the world.

 

[digiblur]

So, I got my dish mounted on the roof using the SuperDish mount from Sadoun and the RetroDeck mounting bracket from SmartHome. Dish is up and aligned ... and working ... kind of.

After everything was up and on, I realized why I can't get everything a few degrees off from true south (91). I've got a Stab HH90 motor, and realized that the post you mount the dish itself on is mounted about 4 or 5 degrees off from straight up & down (I noticed that when standing directly underneath the dish). That would explain why I can only get over to IA5 and a few degrees the other way before it just goes to hell.

I'm going to have to get up there (AGAIN), turn the dish on that post, turn the motor on the mast to get perfect on true south, and then try again. I hope to do that this weekend and get that going. Right now, I can't get my wife off the TV - she's too busy watching random Farsi programming on IA5.

Thanks to everyone on the forum - I've been lurking for a few weeks learning valuable tips from all of you guys. I plan to stick around as I get this next bit up and running.

Are you talking about the angle in the pipe on the motor itself? If so, it's supposed to be like that so it auto-skew's as it tracks the arc. Check out Sadoun's site for correct settings and how to point the dish.

 

[kuperman]

I'm talking about the piece that comes down from the motor that the dish is attached to. It's not perfectly straight on that, so the motor attachment to the mast was calibrated to compensate. This is why I can get things at the top of the arc, but it loses quality when you get further away from that. I'll get up there tomorrow morning before it gets too hot and re-zero everything out.

Once everything got a good mount and a clear line of sight, getting things going weren't too terribly hard. What I had before was in a bad place with a lot of tree blockage; now I don't have that. I just some minor alignment to do. And man, am I glad I bought that heavy duty mount & mast... That thing is going NOWHERE.

 

[digiblur]

Yep, that angle on the motor is supposed to be like that. I'm not sure of your installation but a bolt on my fortec dish mount actually goes straight through the motor's mount so it stays straight on the motor. There's a setting on the elevation of the motor plus an elevation setting on the dish. Once you get this set you'll be able to track the entire arc and the motor will change the pitch of the dish as it gets away from true south to skew the LNB.

 

[kuperman]

Nah, unfortunately on the Stab HH90 motor I've got you have to use a U-bolt type device to put the dish on the motor post. Doesn't exactly make it foolproof system (they say get the line straight up and down, but with what I've got I kind of had to eyeball it). I'll get it fixed right in the morning.

Actually, I've got a good question for you LA guys, digiblur & Tron: how far East & West should I really expect to get a decent signal given a clear line of sight from between BR & NO (30.3 N, 91.0 W)? I've got a 36" dish and a motor that is SUPPOSED to do +/- 65 degrees. Should I realistically expect to pull anything off of Hispasat 1C/1D?

 

[kuperman]

Here's what I did wrong.

http://64.78.51.244/download/HH90TEST.pdf

On page 13 of that PDF, check out #9. Mine looks like "NO."
The stock Fortec mount that came with my system didn't really have anything to line it up with, so I had to eyeball it. I did so - poorly.

Once underneath it and from a slight distance, I can better see what is going on. A slight turn of the dish to the right, and slight pull of the motor to the left should get me to where I need to be.

 

[voomvoom]

You should be able to get 55-60 degrees in either direction with USALS and maybe a little further with Diseqc 1.2 commands. Probably closer to 55 degrees. Which would put it close to Hispasat @ 30.0w, but you may miss it by an inch or so. Not much to mention past IA7 in the other direction. Of course this is ku we're talking about with your Stabb motor. This is only my guess, I'm sure digiblur and Tron will know for sure.

Al

 

[kuperman]

OK, well, that makes a little more sense. For pure laughs (even though I knew it had no chance of working) I tried getting the setup to spin over to Hispasat but it kind of just laughed at me and didn't even bother moving. No big deal, my Spanish is just terrible so it's not a big loss.

 

[PSB]

Satellites at the extreme ends of the arc will have to be set up using DiSEqC 1.2

 

[digiblur]

OK, well, that makes a little more sense. For pure laughs (even though I knew it had no chance of working) I tried getting the setup to spin over to Hispasat but it kind of just laughed at me and didn't even bother moving. No big deal, my Spanish is just terrible so it's not a big loss.

I can pick up I-707(53W) to 129W. I'm not sure how much farther I can go past 129 due to LOS and mainly due to no KU birds past there. I know for sure I can't get 148w either as 19 degress elevation is a little low for me. I'm lucky to get anything with all the huge oak trees in the yard and neighborhood. My dish is under a tree shooting over another tree through a "slot" basically, the slot's shape basically follows the shape of the Clarke belt. It works well though!

 

[Tron]

I can't get Hispansat due to an oak tree and some apartment buildings that would block that satellite for me. According to Sadoun's sat calculator, it's a 17.4 degree elevation from New Orleans (90w, 30n). That's pretty low, but probably doable if you have a wide open area with no buildings anywhere nearby. I haven't tried any of the other Atlantic birds.

As for the western end of my arc, I can see all the way to 148w now that a tree across the street from my house was destroyed by Katrina. My dish farm is on the flat roof of my shed, and it barely gets 148w over the apex of my house roof to the west. Not that there's anything there, its just nice to know where your limits are.