looking to expand into the c world

[stanleyjohn]

Thanks Lak! starting with KU first because i know what i can get then will move to C.My gbox was acting weird! when i tried to store a sat!the motor would go crazy on not stop at the set points i put in.I did a master reset on the box and hoping that will fix the problem.Using Sathawk now and it saved sat position ok.I think i now know what all the fuss is with this switching problem!Im using the DMX741 which has a built in 22k switch and i cant seem to activate the switch from the sathawk unless i put it on fixed ant!Looks like i will be using the sathawk back on the 90cm motorized setup and using my neusat and geosat on the c-dish.Oh by the way sytem working!locked in and scanned AMC 6.Good sig and Q

 

[Lak7]

Use the GBox's remote to set the Limits and Positions.

 

[stanleyjohn]

Use the GBox's remote to set the Limits and Positions.

Thanks again! but that may be a problem for now!G box was doing some strange things that i couldnt figure out so i did a master reset which seemed to make the box behave but now i lost the sat position list.Any easy way of getting it back?

 

[Blindowl1234]

Sathawk isn't for the faint of heart lol....I'd probably start with a different receiver to get everything lined up etc...The switching issue is a pain on the Sathawk. Blind

 

[stanleyjohn]

After that little set back with the motor going crazy im ready to proceed foward.Using the receiver hooked up to the c/ku LNB and the G-Box for moving the dish and storeing satellites.After almost 2 days the motor seems to be working well.Now the next problem!I set up my True South Satellite (AMC6) with good signals then went to 30w for Hispansat and found a very weak Q! Had to adjust the dish angle some to get a good strong sig then went back to AMC 6 to find it missing!so it looks like a arc problem.Started out with a Axis of 42 and zenith of 48!looking at angles after 30w adjustment i got 41 and 47.My Location here is LAT 41.45N and LON 72.60W.Can someone figure out the match to see if i got angles correct and what should be my next move.

 

[Blindowl1234]

Stan, You might try this. loosen the dish on the mount and physically move it an 1/8" or less to the west....try your various sats.If no luck with that try 1/8" or less to the east. Mark your starting point with a magic marker! I was losing my upper sats and shifted mine on the pole about an 1/8" and it helped. I can only go reliably from 87W to 139W. I've have 72W a few times but I've had to manually raise or lower the dish. I never could get it to track right below 72W and I have major tree issues there too. Also the declination is real touchy. In my case it's set at 52 with my inclinometer. If I go 1 degree either way I lose something either on 87W or 133W-137w. It's a matter of tweaking it to a point and leaving it there. Make sure you mark everything before you move anything though.....Blind

 

[stanleyjohn]

Making some progress

Its been slow but I'm making some progress.hitting the satellites has been time consuming since i did a master reset on the v-box 3000 and lost the stored satellite list.It has been much more of a challenge setting up this Motorized C-dish and LNB compared to the .90 cm motorized dish.The DMX741 is verry sensitive to adjustment!the slightest movement on that LNB means a difference of a verry weak sig to a good strong one.Not sure how good the arc is yet!I have 4 sats so far!Hispasat 30w (ku),intelsat805 55.5w (c),intelsat9 58w (c) and AMC6 72w (ku).AMC6 has been very touchy!Quality varies from 60s to 5 I don't think its an arc problem because i have slightly adjusted the dish height with no sig improvement!I do have a large tree which might be causing the poor sig.I did some earlier sat checks on the 100+west part of the arc with no positive results,but hoping this has changed since i did some LNB adjustments.I do have a line of trees of different heights from around 85 w to 125 that might be a problem!heres hoping not.The 90cm dish as no problems with signals from 30w to 125w but that dish as an advantage of being 15 feet up on the garage roof and set back 10 feet more away from the tree line.I'm sure i will be hitting more sats but only time will tell how many more.Actuator is set up to give me a range of 30w to hopefully up to 130

 

[Blindowl1234]

Stan, I started logging in all my Cband sats first then went back looking for Ku stuff later. I found I was missing some of the KU stuff using the big dish. So I kept the big dish just for cband and the 30" motorized just for my Ku.
It would've been nice to get everything on the one big dish but it didn't work 100% for me. Blind

 

[stanleyjohn]

how do you set the proper f/d ratio on the DMX 741??.I still think DMX not correctly set up!seems that im getting best Q when 20-0-20 mark is set for around 3 oclock and about 1 inch is showing on dish side of scaler ring.sometimes when im blind scanning i get repeats of the same TP!has anyone seen this? and i have also had a problem of blind scanning two close satellites and the same TPs show up on both scans.

 

[stanleyjohn]

This mourning went out to recheck everything on the dish.I did find that my true south was off a few degs!that would really screw up the arc.Checked mast for 90 deg.It was maybe 1.5 deg off!reset that! now its less than +/-.5 deg.Checked scaler ring!Bulls eye!.Set LNB to proper f/d ratio and have offset markings on LNB at 12 noon.Thats it for now!Lots of yard work to do today so later in the day i will scan sats again.

 

[Lak7]

i get repeats of the same TP!has anyone seen this?

If the Skew is not correct, that can happen.

 

[stanleyjohn]

Darn!!Looks like no AMC9!Dish pointing directly at my tallest tree in the west.Looks like more wood for my wood stove coming next winter.

 

[Blindowl1234]

Stan, My lnb is at about 3 oclock position. As far as the in and out I've had it anywhere from 1/2" to 3/4" or so...kinda have to mess with it. As to the other issues.
Sometimes with the six foot dish you'll end up with it scanning two sat's together. 99W and 101W are two good examples. Also the Sathawk seems so scan in stuff once and then if I have it search again, it will duplicate a couple of channels on the same sat. It maybe the Sathawk lol....You can always delete the unwanted channels. Another thing...I get from 87W to 139W no problems. The weaker stuff on 87w like @sports...El Salvador etc...I can't get. If I adjust the declination even one degree down I get them ok....then I lose the stuff up on 135W and above. As you start scanning the upper sats you may run into the same thing. It's a matter of finding that near perfect place and marking it and leave it there. Glad you got the true south sat issue worked out. Need anymore help let me know....Blind

 

[stanleyjohn]

Thanks Blind! Im hopeing that i finally got the arc right!but it does look like AMC-9 for now will have to do with my .90 cm dish on the garage roof.Next few days ill see what this c-dish will bring in.PS It seems i have my LNB set just about how yours is.

 

[stanleyjohn]

Ill get this right yet!!! LNB adjusted for max Q on 72 west.But loosing all Q on ends!ARC still off!but now i know i have a bullseye at true south.I took some measurements today!moved the dish 40 degrees west and east of true south and found about a 1 inch difference from center bottom of the dish to my deck.At least now i have an idea how much I'm off and will adjust declination angle till both ends match up.

 

[Lak7]

But loosing all Q on ends!

If East and West are both "too high" or "too low", then adjust Declination
If one side is "high" and the other side is "low", then adjust Azimuth.

 

[stanleyjohn]

C -band on hold till later next week!

Ordering another G box!This one a different model from Galaxy Marketing.The G box i had is still giving me problems!thought it was working correctly when i started using it independently from the receiver but i guess i was wrong.When moving motor!it will once in a while keep moving and i have no control stopping it except unplugging it.Set points get trashed and need to be reset.I have noticed that I'm getting a smell from inside the box like a transformer over heating.This sure hasn't been as much fun as setting up my .9meter motorized dish.For now i have c dish set for AMC6 and watching NBC feeds.

 

[stanleyjohn]

Whats happening here??

Ok! Back in business! New V box seems to be doing what it should do and i have saved two satellites that i got before.The two sats are AMC6(72) and AnikF1Rc(107.3).Question!! When i have a lock on the C portion of 107.3 and then switch over to the Ku!i have to click the positioner a few clicks in one direction to get the KU to lock in then when i go back to the C part! No more lock.I'm guessing it has something to do with the LNB (DMX741).Is this a common problem?and what can i do about it other than storing both.

 

[stanleyjohn]

Now what???

It started out as a good day with the c dish set up but ended up with some headaches.Stored a few more satellites but not getting others due to tree line or arc still not correct.New v box started to do some strange things later in the day like when ever i pushed the e or w button a P77 kept coming up on the display!in fact just about any button i pushed came up with P77.I did a master reset (bummer) and the problem went away.Also one time when i went back to a stored satellite it wasn't locked in!i had to move dish a few clicks to get it back.I'm started to wonder now if the first box i was using had any problems in the first place and the problem is not a box but a intermittent reed on the actuator.I know that my wife is going to kill me!ill really need to be carefully what i say to her when i tell her i ordered a new actuator.I could just get a new reed but this HARL 3624 has really taken a beating from when the motor would take its time shutting off when the set points failed.I ordered the heavy duty model (QARL-3624) from sadoun and really hope after this is installed i can have a reliable normal set-up working.I will keep the other actuator and fix it up when i have the time.Feel free to add any comments to what is happening to me!I could really need some support right about now.

 

[stanleyjohn]

Well! looks like the new actuator and v-box work well now

Hooked up the new QARL 3624 actuator and it works like a charm.This beast really looks tough and well built compared to the HARL.Still dont like the way my DMX741 seems to be working!Like tonight!strong signals on AMC6 then poof!! no sig or very little(no wind).Checked another sat i had stored and signals going all over the place.Maybe its the weather tonight but i dont think so! Dont seem to be having problems with my 36" ku set up.I will monkey around with the DMX741 for a while more but if i continue to have problems then i will get a c band only LNB and see if that solves my problems.Heres a pic of my new QUAL hooked up to the 6ft dish.