Quick question about alignment.

[GTAE86]

I need to move my 129 wing dish - long story, but it is currently mounted on a tree. Leaves are starting to cause it to drop out. I have located a good spot to do a new pole mount, but need some advice on alignment.

I know all the numbers (az, el, etc.), and am mounting on the center of a Dish 1000. I am using a Sadoun Satellite Signal Strength Meter Kit. Here are the steps I took:

1. Hooked meter into line with current Dish 1000 setup and verified tone, set meter to 5 with gain knob. Marked dish and mounting bracket so I can put it all back. Receiver meter reads 18 to 20 (really 36 to 40).

2. Removed stump from tree that was in the way (of course the best new location would be on top of a tree.).

3. Put dish on new pole and put pole in new spot - varied azimuth with pole vertical (seems to be critical) until I got tone.

4. Temporarily mounted pole and mounted dish. Re-acquired tone.

5. Performed a few fine-tune steps.

6. Checked meter on receiver - 0. Aaaagh! 2 hours late for work!

7. Panicked (Lost is back tonight and my wife will kill me if she misses any of it.) - put dish back on tree and got tone.

8. No signal on receiver. Called work. Calmly began fine tuning, and ended up with 26 to 36 on receiver (really 52 to 72).

I know the new spot is good because I got a tone there almost immediately. I went on and put cement around the vertical pole so I can complete the move later.

My question is:

Did I take enough time to fine-tune on the pole or will I need to mess with the elevation since the pole is lower than the tree mount? I left it where the technician set it because I felt it ought to be the same from either spot.

I do know that it took a few tries to get a good signal when I put the dish back on the tree. I was happy to end up with a better signal than the technician left me with.

 

[garys]

Pointing dish is tough to do by one's self. Really need two people to do it fairly quick.

 

[concord]

The signal meter will get you in the ballpark, however I would recommend taking the receiver (& small tv) out to the pole and fine tune it there. My dishes are close enough that I can open a window and listen to the tone of the receiver also, but more optimal with the equipment at the dish....

 

[Fredinva]

RULE NO !: Make sure post is PLUMB

elevation will be the same no matter where dish is mounted.

fred

 

[DSpud]

Tree mount Thats a new one.

 

[GTAE86]

You are exactly right...

RULE NO !: Make sure post is PLUMB

elevation will be the same no matter where dish is mounted.

fred

When I was free-holding the pole with dish on it, I had a level strapped to the side. I noticed that only when the pole was plumb did I get any tone at all.

I had read in this forum before that a plumb pole was critical - that little experiment just reinforced it.

 

[GTAE86]

Oh yes - ingenious

Tree mount Thats a new one.

When the leaves are in and the wind blows, it is a double whammy - the tree we are trying to shoot around moves in and out, and the tree the dish is mounted on moves as well! From what I learned yesterday, very small adjustments in azimuth can mean a lot in terms of signal strength - having the dish on a moving platform is dropout waiting to happen.

 

[highdefjeff]

Dishes on trees? Drive around MO to see some!

Here's the potential problem with your logic. Yes, your pole is plumb but, the mount on the tree likely needed some tweaking of the dish (due to bark or however it is mounted) to get the signal. If you were moving from a plumb pole to a plumb pole, leave the settings the same. Moving from a tree, I would suggest getting your el, az, and sk and start over.

DishPointer.com - Satellite Dish Pointer / Alignment Calculator with Google Maps

 

[GTAE86]

Ahaaaa! The answer to my original question!

Here's the potential problem with your logic. Yes, your pole is plumb but, the mount on the tree likely needed some tweaking of the dish (due to bark or however it is mounted) to get the signal. If you were moving from a plumb pole to a plumb pole, leave the settings the same. Moving from a tree, I would suggest getting your el, az, and sk and start over.

DishPointer.com - Satellite Dish Pointer / Alignment Calculator with Google Maps

highdefjeff - That makes sense, and is pretty much what I was asking, but I guess I did not give enough detail in my post I do remember the installer put a level on the mounting bracket after screwing it into the tree, so theoretically it would simulate a plumb pole. Also, I noticed that even slight pressure on the arm would affect the signal.

I was fine-tuning the azimuth, and had gone through a few rounds (set meter to 5, move dish until meter pegs at 10 and screams, repeat). Of course, I totally lost it at one point

So, when I get it on in azimuth, I should check signal on the receiver. If I get something around 35 or better, I may just lock it down. Otherwise, I will start playing with elevation.

Thanks for the help!

 

[highdefjeff]

My pleasure!