motorized help

[kissdadog]

Hi all, I am in need of some help; with a motorized installation that I am in the process of performing. my setup is as followedowertech DG380,Fortec 1.2m dish. lat 43, long 79
My questions are:
A. My true south is AMC5 at 179(AZ)t or is it 189(AZ)m ?
B.Would the motor be set at 43 or the elevation angle from the manual of 47 ?
C. Would the dish angle be declination + dish bracket angle; again from the DG380 manual?
D. when I insert a amplifier in the line, the motor stops moving; what would be the best way to boost the signal without effecting the motor?

 

[brentb636]

A) About true south
B) Motor latitude setting should be 43 deg., your latitude.
C) 35 deg minus (-) declination angle (6.6), or 28.4 degrees . This is a starting point, you'll adjust it in later for maximum Q. I am at latitude 42.6 and my dish scale is about 30 deg. at the moment.
D) You shouldn't need an amplifier in the line. I'd try to get along without it.

1) Once you have your motor and dish elevation set, dial up your antenna settings , enable USALS for AMC5, and watch the motor move slightly.

2) Setup your receiver for tp 11900 H 2170 . At this point, your motor "thinks" it's pointed at the right spot in the sky. Your job is to make THAT a fact!
3) Turn your entire dish assembly on the pole slowly, until you get a whiff of Signal QUALITY . At the optimum position, snug it up on the mast.
4) Now, push forward on the top of the dish ( or pull back gently) , to see if this action gives you a better Q number, in which case you need to optimize your dish elevation scale setting.
About this time, you'll be interested in fabricating a "dish adjuster" screw mechanism of some sort, or getting another pair of hands, because adjusting the elevation on a 1.2M dish is very touchy ( it being so heavy and ponderous, and you having to loosen the nuts and watch the dish go sliding to the end of the scale before you can stop it) .

Good luck.

 

[Lak7]

A. 189 Magnetic, since you are using a compass
B. Set the Motor Latitude Scale to your Lat: 43 - try to be exact
C. The Dish Elevation is set to Motor Tub Bend minus Declination, usually 30 minus Declination, set to what the manual says.
D. Don't use an Amp

There is only 1 Active Transponder on AMC 5, so that may make it kinda hard to align.
Make sure you have that TP selected in the Setup Menu.....
SatelliteGuys.US - 79.0°W AMC 5 Ku
If it's not there, manually enter it.

 

[Jim S.]

Also keep in mind that first, the full-time transponder on 79 has recently been reported as having lowered its power, and second, some receivers will take a long time to lock on such a low symbol rate.

 

[brentb636]

Also keep in mind that first, the full-time transponder on 79 has recently been reported as having lowered its power, and second, some receivers will take a long time to lock on such a low symbol rate.

Strangely, my CS5000 blindscans KTEL as 11901 H 2170 and my CS8000 locks on it at that frequency but NOT at 11900 H 2170 . Talk about "touchy" !!

 

[kissdadog]

Thanks all but I am still having problems with this setup. I lost my compass so true south is tough to get I have seen amc9/3 test pattern doesn't want to lock 11901 H 2170. Any updated TP for the OTB races ?
I am running the invacom dual quad and have seen 82 and 91 with the circ, but the linear doesn't seem to lock on 79.
My new question is if the dish and motor are aligned straight, shouldn't I aim directly at 79?
so if the setting on the IRD are set as 79 the motor should not move right?

 

[brentb636]

If your longitude is 79 deg, and you want the sat at 79 deg, then USALS will not move the motor off of zero. That is correct. I think the major problem is that 79W has no really good hot transponder that you can count on. An alternative is to use a nearby satellite, lilke AMC9 . Use AMC9 in your receiver setup screen, and pick a hot tp. Then order the dish to "go to position" , your motor should move 4 degrees off zero, and then move your dish assembly on the pole until the signal is optimized, and lock it down.
Generally, the true south bird is the BEST bird, but sometimes it's just not hot enough. The closer to south, the better. When I started out, with my Invacom quad lnbf, I used to "rough in" the adjustment on Nimiq 2 ( 82W), the nearest circular sat which of course is EASY to hit, and then I'd to the final touchup on my true south linear bird.

 

[Mr Tony]

Strangely, my CS5000 blindscans KTEL as 11901 H 2170 and my CS8000 locks on it at that frequency but NOT at 11900 H 2170 . Talk about "touchy" !!

Brent
There are 2 feeds there...one at 11900 & 2nd at 11904. Found this out last night

SatelliteGuys.US - View Single Post - Telemundo @79w low signal

11900 is weak whereas 11903 is strong

 

[brentb636]

Thanks Tony, explains a lot !

 

[turbosat]

Kissdog I found the angles in the manual that came with the dg380 to be very close for my location, though I was 'mis-reading' the terms at first. Don't do like I did and confuse "dish angle" with motor angle-its two different things lol! One of those angle-finders is very handy to have when setting up. As for the race channels that used to be there, they moved quite a while back, over to 105W, then disappeared. Recently I found that one channel from NewYork network is now part of the scrambled racing package on 95"W ku.

 

[semco72057]

79 degree's have to be correct to get good signal from your receiver. If this is your first time setting up a motorized system the setting for the motor will confuse the beginner. I worked for what seemed like forever because no one mentioned which mark on the side of the motor to use in adjusting the elevation. Once it is setup correctly you can receive FTA channels from all the satellites including the one transponder from AMC5. Good luck with the setup and I hope you enjoy the channels you receive.