Really don't know what's wrong

[shankle]

Since the dish is aluminum wouldn't aluminum guy wires tend to expand
and contract at the same rate as the dish?
We're not talking about any great force on the guy wires. Maybe 10 lbs
or so.
A pencil lead size aluminum wire might do it.

 

[FaT Air]

Since the steel went loose and expands less than aluminum, the aluminum, I would think, will grow more and become looser. But than again, you could experiment with different materials and methods.
I think all would be well if you just take the slack out of the guys, in the heat of the day. Then check the tension on them when it's cooler, (pluck like guitar string) I don't think the tension will be excessive. Warp-age shouldn't be an issue as the guys are evenly spaced around the dish. Try it, once anyway, to test.

 

[shankle]

Hi FaT Air,
Will do as you suggested.

While that's being worked on, here is another thought that might work.
I would like your opinion of it.

The dish is 5' from the edge to the center. How about fastening the
turnbuckle say 2.5' in from the edge? The force would be more
downward than perpendicular but we are not talking a great deal
of force needed to align the feedhorn. Less steal wire and less expansion
of the dish. Harder to adjust and harder to maintain.

 

[FaT Air]

Yeah, it's worth a try.

 

[shankle]

This is a progress report - sort of.....

Got the polar mount modified as FaT Air recommended.
Smoothed off the top of the pole in the ground and it revolves better.
Installed the S-8231d splitter and rewired according to FaT Airs nice
diagram.
Went to my Zenith at 33.94ds and checked the elevation.
Set it to true North.
Since this is a 10' dish I have to take it back down to G12(133d)
to adjust the Chaparral Corotor ll PLus.
Could NOT pull in anything, even Analog tp5 "Classic Arts Showcase".

I set the Chaparral at 37 my focal lenght in the scalar ring. Then I
mounted it to the plastic part on the center pole. Then I tried to
move the plastic part to see if I could get a signal. This made a small
crack in the plastic. So I stopped doing that and clamped it.
If the plastic cracks any more I guess I will have to junk the dish.
Have no idea where to get another one.
No in or out with the Chaparrel would get any signal. No E/W would
get any signal.
I noticed that the connector to the C-band came loose. I shoved it back
on hoping it would be oK. My crimpers are the cheap kind and I have
a hard time crimping connectors.
Things are not shaping up....

 

[FaT Air]

Is this the same feed that got signal earlier?
Is it at the same distance to the face of the dish?
Wire H is on the Power Pass Side?
I hope you "shoved it back on" with all power off. Disqc switches are sensitive, may have damaged it.
Try this - Remove wire I from 2800, Remove wire H from DISQC, and attach wire H to 2800.
That will give you C band only on the 2800 (and Analog), bypassing the DISQC.

 

[shankle]

Hi FaT Air.
Yes, this is the same feed I got earlier.

I doubt it is the same distance to the face of the dish as I moved the
plastic cone in and out trying to get a signal until it cracked.

All power was off when I was connecting the wires.

I will change the wires as you directed and test it tomorrow morning.
It's about 100ds right now.

I have taken the Chaparrel Corotor ll Plus off and installed a 30 year old
Chaparral C-band feedhorn with the Norsat 8515 C-band lnb. It worked
in the past. The new one is difficult to adjust.
Thank you for responding.

 

[shankle]

Hi FaT Air,
I think I found what might have caused a lot of my problems.
I was getting no signal this morning and the Pico Picker didn't
budge. And I have changed the wiring to your latest suggestion
bypassing the Pansat Diseq Switch and using the 30 year old
chaparral feedhhorn.
So to my unknowledgable way of thinking, I thought why not
plug the KU feed into the Pico Picker. Whala - I got signal.
This meant to me that the C-band connection out by the dish
was bad.
I will replace it tonight and see what happens either tonight
or tomorrow morning. Reason, still fighting 100d temperatures.

If you have a better idea just let me know.
I am now getting exited but I was wrong before. Hopes are up again.
Thanks FaT Air

 

[FaT Air]

shankle, check for, as I sent a PM

 

[shankle]

Thank you FaT Air,
I read the PM and will follow instructions.

Getting up nerve to go outside. Probably will wait another hour.
Dish will be in shade but the temp is 105Ds.

 

[FaT Air]

Thank you FaT Air,
I read the PM and will follow instructions.

Getting up nerve to go outside. Probably will wait another hour.
Dish will be in shade but the temp is 105Ds.

I'd wait till it cools to something bearable. I'm no good in that kind of heat.

 

[shankle]

HI FaT Air,
I've got to be doing something stupid. I'm usually pretty good at following instructions.
With the temp wiring to test only C-Band and using the Old Chaparral feedhorn,
the KU going the pansat diseq switch is isolated. I get nothing on C-Band digital.
If I plug the KU input into the C-Band Norsat lnb at the dish I can get the "Classic Arts
Showcase" on analog tp 5, religion on tp 11 and tp 17.

Inside the house, if I disconnect the C-band input and plug in the KU input
to the S-8231d Splitter, I get the same results on analog on G12. No C-band
digital inside the house.

Makes one think I've had the KU and C-band input reversed for years.

What about the wires coming from the blue box on the chaparral. I've got them
connected with this temp wiring. Is that OK???

I just knew the wiring would get me in trouble.

 

[FaT Air]

What about the wires coming from the blue box on the chaparral. I've got them
connected with this temp wiring. Is that OK???

Yes- those are required to select V or H polarity.
And I also thought that you may have had the C and Ku reversed, because of

So to my unknowledgable way of thinking, I thought why not
plug the KU feed into the Pico Picker. Whala - I got signal.

Maybe, lets find out which wire is C band
So you directly wire the C coax to the analog receiver input and see Classic Arts - ok.
Then disconnect from the analog, and plug it into the 2800, should get the C band digital.
Then add the splitter, coax to the analogand a coax on the Power pass side to the 2800.
No Disqc switch yet- lets get one side and splitter working first. sorta step by step

 

[shankle]

Hi FaT Air,
Tried your suggestions and yes the KU and C-band are reversed.
Don't ask me how but I will forget the past and go forward if that's
OK with you.
Here is what happened.
Unpluged the KU and C-band coax. Plugged the old ku coax into the Uniden.
Got the Classic Arts Showcase. Then plugged the old kU into the Pansat.
Got a strong signal but zero programs shown. This might be because
I haven't got the dish tweeked enough yet.
Did the same with the old C-band coax and got nothing either way.

Conclusion: Old KU is C-band. Old C-band is probably KU.

As a Side, why does a big black square appear on the analog Classic
Arts Showcase? I've gone through the Uniden manual and I can't find
any settings to fix it. Don't go to any trouble about it as I will never
be watching Analog once I get the dish straightened out

Will await your further instructions.
Thank you.

 

[FaT Air]

<< big black square appear on the analog Classic Arts Showcase?>>
It's probably not the Pansat, it is probably the TV. The closed Caption is set to not Closed caption, but another that some providers used to put up schedules, news items, etc.
Yeah, skip ahead as long as you make progress. Glad you got the C and Ku coax in order.
Ku will probably not work at all because, well, didn't you take the C-Ku feed off and replace it with a C only feed?
PM again

 

[shankle]

HI Fat Air,
It was the TV settings that gave the Big Black Square on the Classic Arts Showcase analog. It is now gone. Thanks.

Today I could get the "CAS" on tp 5 Analog reasonably clear using the 30+
year old Chaparral C-band. I also managed to pull in the "CAS" on digital
with a signal strength of about 75 and a Q of 20 to 25. Couldn't get it the way I
would like but figured it must be the old feedhorn.

Reinstalled the Chaparral Corotor ll Plus. Put another clamp on the plastic at the
end of the pipe to the feedhorn and quit for the morning as it was getting hot.
Will try tweeking it later today when there is shade on the dish. Still using the temporary
wiring. Haven't connected the Pansat diseq switch yet.
Nice article you posted on the C-Band site. Wish I had it 6 months ago.
Sent you a reply PM.
Thanks again.....

 

[FaT Air]

I/m happy that you're getting a Q reading, That's everything we strive for. It's too bad there isn't analog all over the sky as aligning is a lot quicker. With nothing but digital signals, we adjust, then wait for the receiver to stabilize its Q reading, repeat, repeat again, and repeat. Analog was instantaneous, just watch the tv screen for sparkles.
I am guessing that the BUD isn't perfectly aligned on the sat. But the system is working, so I would attempt alignment of the arc, starting with the C band sat near zenith. I think that it's a few degrees west of your location, so to begin, drive the dish with the actuator a smidge west of center.
If it is east, a smidge east. Then we can see what kind of Q we get when it is aligned properly, and go from there.

 

[shankle]

Hi FaT Air,
With the Chaparral Corotor ll Plus installed I got Analog G12 "CAS" reasonably
clear. I also got C-band digital reasonably clear. Signal was about 74 and the
Q floating between 20 and 30. No amount of tweeking seemed to help.

Then I went up to AMC 3 (87d) which is the closest sat to my zenith AMC 9.
Signal was in the mid 70s but the Q was zero. It started to rain so I had to quit.
I guess I have to play with the azmuth tomorrow and see if I can get the
Q up.

 

[FaT Air]

Yeah, the polar axis angle is probably off also, set it correctly, then find AMC3, and then go after the arc with azimuth. Being you have analog, watching for G12 should make the job easier. Find it with analog, and tune azimuth, but also, then use the Q of the 2800 to fine tune.
Then go after something closer to the end of the arc and repeat azimuth adjustment.
Then recheck AMC3 Q readings, if they dropped a bit, fine tune the polar axis angle.
Started Raining? Boy what do ya gotta do do to get dish tuning weather down there??

 

[shankle]

Hi FaT Air,
This has not been a good day. One small step forward and 10 backward.
Yesterday with the temp. wiring I was able to get a reasonable analog "CAS"
and C-band "CAS" on G12. The signal was in the low 70s and the Q in the teens.
Today I went up to my Zenuth (amc 9) and checked the Polar Axis(33.94). It was OK.
Then I went to Amc 3 (the closest one with C-band digital). Nothing I did brought in any picture. Signal in the 70s and Q of zero.

I then went to G16 and was able to pull in on analog the Shepards Chapel.
Could not get any C-band digital there either.

As a last resort I then went back to G12. The best signal I could get was in the low 70s and a Q in the teens. Sometimes as I adjusted the skew on the feedhorn it would flash into the (90s, 80s or 60s). Remember this is the only way I can adjust the feedhorn on this 10' dish as it is to high to reach.

Please look at the attached sketch and tell me if my adjustments make any sense. In particular should the 37+" be to the end of the plastic funnel or somewhere else? Can't see the end of the feedhorn through the plastic funnel as it is cloudy. I have the feedhorn set to 37" in the scalar ring.

Maybe I need to go out when it's really hot and recheck the guy wires
again.....