jumping signal quality

[quasimodem]

I finally was able to tune my dish to get some signal quality.
My "nearest to true south" satellite is AMC6/72w.
There are two frequencies listed for this bird; 12143 (v2573), ande 11891 (h1666).
The 12143 frq. is listed as the "strong transponder", but I get no quality at all from it. The 11891 frequency jumps from 0 to 100....I cannot lock in on a channel when I do a blind scan.
I know I need to tweak my dish a little more. I used a signal meter to zero in on this bird, but haven't tried bringing my stb and tv up on the roof yet.
What I'm wondering is, why is the signal jumping??
Will this stop when I tweak the dish position/inclination? or is there something else that may be an issue?
any help greatly appreciated.
~Q

 

[Lak7]

I used a signal meter to zero in on this bird

Which signal meter?

but haven't tried bringing my stb and tv up on the roof yet.

That is the best way to setup

 

[turbosat]

quasi you will need a good sensitive rec to get that 11890H tp, symbol rate is so low a lot of receivers I've had would not even detect it. The first tp you mentioned should be good and strong though, its a religious channel. I get it at 12144.

 

[LoTech]

Is your setup motorized? If it is, one of the easiest things to try first is to adjust East/West from the STB using DiSEqC. If the signal pops in then you'll know which way to adjust your dish for best performance. If that doesn't work some other things to try are:
1. Elevation - tweak the up/down a little.
2. Focal Length - adjust the LNBF in/out a little.
3. Skew - double check the skew at DishPointer.
4. Try doing a blind scan to see if you can pick anything up where your dish is pointed. it may be off by a degree or two. If you do, then find the channels on Lyngsat, FTAList, or The List, and readjust your dish accordingly.

Good luck.

-LoTech

 

[SpiffWilkie]

I used a signal meter to zero in on this bird, but haven't tried bringing my stb and tv up on the roof yet.
~Q

Take the box and a tv up there. It will save A LOT of headaches. I use a screen from my portable dvd player to help aim the sat. I have one of those cheap analog sat finders and found it to be relatively useless. When I first tried to set up my dish there was a lot of climbing up and down ladders for nothing. The smallest movements are important and there's no substitute for hauling the setup to the dish (maybe the super-expensive sat finders but I've never used them )

 

[quasimodem]

thanks

thanks all, good suggestions...
it looks like, in order to get top quality signal, I am going to haul my 13" tv and viewsat up on the roof. I'll set two roofing brackets and a plank across them to put everything on.
I did a blind scan and was able to get channels...not terribly exciting but still a good start.
I live at the bottom of a 1600' hill that is directly to the south of me. Not ideal for sat finding, I realise. I'm at around 1300', so there is (just lol) a 300' rise to contend with. I have about 200' of clearing before the hill starts.
When I first switched to Dishnetwork from DTV, I had trouble hitting 119 because it is a bit lower than the DTV bird (I think). My solution was to move the dish away from the horizon to the northern end of my roof's ridge. This allowed me to see 110 and 119. (this was when you could save yourself some $$ and do the install yourself).
When I set up my DMSI Hotdish, I mounted it beside the 20" dish. I used the foot from an old Dishnet mast and a 6' post from a chainlink fence...with two outriggers from an old Primestar setup. I think what I may have to do is to raise the dish another two feet by replacing the 6' post with an 8 footer...or 10' if they make them.
But for now I'm happily scanning new sats and finding new channels....man, I love this hobby.
Thanks again all for your help. Unlike other sites, you all have something worthwhile to offer...
~Q

 

[LoTech]

Just curious, what channels did you hit, and what was the quality?

-LoTech

 

[quasimodem]

I found most of the AMC satellites, but not many channels on them.
Quality is around 65 to 70.
I haven't been able to scan any of the farther western sats. Can't figure this one out. I can "see" 123w. with the circular lnb from my 20" dish...I get a signal quality of around 45...but the Invacom won't pick it up...maybe I just haven't moved far enough west.
I've done something to gum things up tonight. None of the channels I've scanned and viewed earlier tonight are coming in...not sure if I've spent too much time moving the dish...
I'll wait until tomorrow and see where I stand.

update:
man am I relieved. I thought that I had burned out my motor trying zero in on sats...
when I checked this morning the light was on, and I could move it manually. then I thought it was the switch so I changed it. what had happened during my attempt to get the best signal was I had hit the "limits west" button....I was locked at about 80 degrees west...fixed it.
now on to fine tuning with a tv and stb on the roof.....