Newbie, need some guidance plz!

[dishboyv2]

Hey guys I just got my fta satellite dish system. I bought a Winegard DS-2076 dish, SG-2100 motor, Invacom QPH-031 quad polar LNB, and a Viewsat Ultra VS2000 receiver.

I was wondering if I should mount the dish in the same location where my Direct tv dish use to be?

What direction am I suppose to point the dish? I live in the northwest.

Can't I just use a satellite finder sf-95 to find good signal without having to know exact elevation/azimuth...? I don't understand how to find exact location using a compass and calculating and such......that's why.

I have a LNB with 4 outputs (labeled L,C,L,C) which one do I connect to the motor? Also do I need to use a DiseqC switch that came w/ receiver?

I will use one receiver for now and later maybe hookup a second one. Please help asap. Thanks guys

 

[turbosat]

You can mount it where you get a view of the southern skies, without trees. Once you set the hardware, you can begin to aim the dish. Google for your lat/longitude, sev sites will look it up for you. there's one at the US Geological Survey website but I havent checked it in awhile. If you have a motor you will want as big a space as possible to see the satellites from, more sats=more programming avail to you!
charles

 

[dishboyv2]

okay I may ask dumb questions, but im a super noobie, so please bare with me

hey yeah I think I'm just going to mount the dish on the highest part of the house so i can have full view of the sky incase I might point in wrong direction. How long does the screw have to be to mount it down into the roof, scared might have water leaking through. thx

 

[Tron]

I would avoid direct roof mounting at all costs, only as a last resort. Are you sure you need to be that high to clear obstacles? A ground-mounted dish (on a pole in concrete) is easier to work on. Do you have a flat roof? If so, look into a non-penetrating roof mount.

 

[mastermesh]

Sadoun's got some roof mounts that are suppossed to be plumb. I found that mine wasn't totally 100% plumb, and shifted due to wind and gravity a bit... but after putting a couple extra screws in the roof above the mount, and running some copper wire from those in to the hole at the top of Soudoun's mount to give a little more tension, it works wonderfully...

Roof mounts are ok, but just be sure to use tar to patch up the screw holes as well as possible... Lots of people say never do roof mounts, but my way of thinking is that they are ok, especially if you live in a neighborhood near a school where kids could bump dishes on the ground and knock them out of place... or if not mounted proper, your lawnmower could hit the thing holding the dish up and knock it out of place... on the roof all you have to worry about is wind and snow. Wind isn't too bad. It's knocked my dish a degree or two off at times, but that's easy to fix with just adding or subtracting a degree in usals or 1.2.

If your roof slopes south, and no trees are in the way to south, going low on the southern slope of roof may be ok... higher up the slope you go more wind there is that isn't being blocked by the rest of the roof... higher isn't always better.

 

[dishboyv2]

Hey thanks for the reply guys. The front of my house is facing south and I don't want to put it in the front yard some kid might come mess with it. So I'm gonna mount the dish on the southern slanted roof of the house, the dish shouldn't be mounted on the edge right? I will go buy 2 legs support at my local home depot to help stabilize the dish, is that good enough?

 

[Mr Tony]

Is it on the downside of the house? If so, then I wouldn't put it right on the edge but close enough will be fine.

Mine is on the backside (north side) of my house so the dish looks up the roof. I used a couple braces that came with the dish and that worked fine for winds. Home Depot should have those and that will help the dish/motor from moving

 

[SatelliteAV]

If installing on the roof make sure that ALL lag mounting bolts are either anchored into the rafters (usually 3 1/2" length is sufficient) or install blocking behind the roof sheeting if the support legs do not line up with rafters so the bolts have a secure base. If lag bolts are only anchored into plywood sheeting, they will work loose and cause the mast to wobble and water can leak through the holes.

Many installers use large toggle bolts for the support legs with oversized washers to help spread out the load if they do not use backing plates behind the sheeting. Use pitch pads or roof patch around each roof penetration.

If at all possible, mount the dish on the overhang rather than over the living space. This will help prevent leakage into the home if some type of failure occurs.

 

[dishboyv2]

I have installed the mount using six of 5/16 x 2" lag screws (is 2" too short?) as suggested in some website, 3 on each side of mount also I'm gonna add 2 legs to stabilize it. I didn't install the anchor. Do I really need it? I think I might have screwed half of the mount into the plywood sheet only and not into the rafter, is that why its loose?

 

[turbosat]

If its loose now, guess what, its going to get more loose. Thats why the man said 'use some blocking between the rafters if you don't hit rafters with the lag bolts.' Cut a piece of 2x6 or something and nail between the rafters , to fasten your mount to, so its solid. And a caulking gun tube of silicone sealant won't cost you much, to seal around those bolts. Be generous with it.
charles