Refurbing a BirdView

[darkhart]

I have the scaler ring honed out and put in a reed switch and magnet out of a crippled hts system Installing a chapperal c band camera at the .42 setting on it. I have my latitude at 36.44 longitude at -91.51 and apparently I am going to be in between to Sats, 93w and 91w. The elevation for 93 is 47.73 and declination is -5.80. 91w is 47.76 and declination is -5.80. So how excatly do I set the elevation on this 2028. Do I split the difference between the two?
will I need to add to the declination at this point. Read to use washers between dish and mount. Please feel free to double check all that I have down here cause I am just not sure on all of this. I live in south central Mo, West Plains to be precise. Any and all help with this is greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

 

[Lone Cloud]

Well, It would be pretty hard to split elevations between 47.73 and 47.76 if that's what you mean. 3 hundredths of a degree .

There is, I believe, a 5 degree declination built into Birdview solid dishes. You are correct that, if you need to get that declination more exact, you use washers. For your reference, my declination indicates from the charts at 4.76 degrees, but I didn't shim my Birdview and I get everything really. If you are certain your declination is 5.8 degrees (sounds high for Missouri) and want to change it, you measure from your topmost mount hole to your bottommost mount hole (in the dish and that is your radius. Double that and that is your diameter. Multiiply that by pi and divide that by 360 That will be the thickness a shim has to be to equal 1 degree . Yours, if it's right will require an additional .8 degrees to be put in between the dish and steel on the top line of mounting holes.

But I would really leave it alone. It's close enough.

I'd place a carpenter's square against the side of the rectangular steel with the other end going level and horizontal across the back of the dish. I'd click my mover until I got it square.

Then I'd probably give it about 5 clicks east and then line it up with 91 west.

I like the wireless headphone method, but if you bring your receiver and little tv to the dish, you basically set it on 91 and a trannsponder you know is hot. With the mounting bolts loosened, you turn the dish on its pole, and also move it up and down until you get the strongest signal. tighten. Good luck.

 

[darkhart]

Well I have looked it up on two different web sites and they show the same lat-long, so I am thinking it may be right. I also used the satlex digital that I found in one of Linuxmans replies, is where i got the elevation and declination angles. So i hope I get this right with it. My BirdView has no washers between the dish and mount so it may not need them. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions would be great. Thanks Lone Cloud for your help!

 

[stogie5150]

Well I have looked it up on two different web sites and they show the same lat-long, so I am thinking it may be right. I also used the satlex digital that I found in one of Linuxmans replies, is where i got the elevation and declination angles. So i hope I get this right with it. My BirdView has no washers between the dish and mount so it may not need them. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions would be great. Thanks Lone Cloud for your help!

If you plan on Ku, you WILL need washers. If you stick with just C-band, you might be okay.

Here's what I did on mine....not tooting my own horn, but i have a lot of sweat in that thread, and got a lot of help from Linuxman, too, you might wanna read my whole thread, it just might help ya some.


http://www.satelliteguys.us/1614929-post46.html

 

[Anole]

Dark -
Do post some pictures. We all love to see what we're talking about!
I think Stogie raised a good point on the washers and Ku band.
If you're using a limited number of magnets in your wheel, C-band birds may be all you can land on.

 

[Lone Cloud]

I may be an exception, but I get both C and Ku off of my BV. I don't think nailing the declination is as important as the number of magnet clicks. Just my opinion.

 

[linuxman]

I have the scaler ring honed out and put in a reed switch and magnet out of a crippled hts system Installing a chapperal c band camera at the .42 setting on it. I have my latitude at 36.44 longitude at -91.51 and apparently I am going to be in between to Sats, 93w and 91w. The elevation for 93 is 47.73 and declination is -5.80. 91w is 47.76 and declination is -5.80. So how excatly do I set the elevation on this 2028. Do I split the difference between the two?
will I need to add to the declination at this point. Read to use washers between dish and mount. Please feel free to double check all that I have down here cause I am just not sure on all of this. I live in south central Mo, West Plains to be precise. Any and all help with this is greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

I would use 91W as the True South Satellite.

I checked your numbers and they are correct. On my Birdviews, I pop the center plastic piece out of the middle of the dish and use a digital level across the hole to get the total elevation angle. Which for you is 47.76 degrees.

Take the 47.76 and subtract 5.80 degrees declination from that which gives 41.96 degrees. That should be set with the elevation bar on the dish. The elevation bar is the big black rectangular tube that runs from the top part of the mount to the bottom part.

You may or may not need to add washers to get the proper declination. It really doesn't matter what your current elevation bar setting is right now, but make sure you have 5.80 degrees difference between what it says and what you have on the back of your dish at the center hole.

Once you have that set, don't move the declination again. Make all your adjustments from that point with your elevation bar only.

You'll get it with a little time and patience.

 

[darkhart]

Thanks For the replies on this. I just wish that I would have found this site earlier, would have made things easier. I have read til me eyes are about to fall out so i think I will step back and clear my mind and do one thing at a time. First thing is to get it to track the arc on cband. The magnet wheel in it has ten magnets. I just took some aluminumn and made a bracket for the reed and went from there, now on to this digital level, is this a level or a inclometer? Or one and the same? I have thepatience to do this I just hope that you have the patience with me on this, I just don't want it to work, but I want to know how and why it works..lol Thanks so much! More questios to come I am sure.

 

[linuxman]

Thanks For the replies on this. I just wish that I would have found this site earlier, would have made things easier. I have read til me eyes are about to fall out so i think I will step back and clear my mind and do one thing at a time.

When your eyes start to bleed, you can sit back and take a moment.

First thing is to get it to track the arc on cband. The magnet wheel in it has ten magnets. I just took some aluminumn and made a bracket for the reed and went from there,

Ten magnets are a good beginning. My magnet wheels have 24 magnets on them. Anole is about to come up with a plan to produce some magnet wheels.

now on to this digital level, is this a level or a inclometer? Or one and the same?

A digital level is just a torpedo level that reads out digitally. It is not an incinometer. I tried 3 different inclinometers, resorted to a plumb bob on a protractor and ended up buying the digital level. But some would say I am a little picky that way.

I have thepatience to do this I just hope that you have the patience with me on this, I just don't want it to work, but I want to know how and why it works..lol Thanks so much! More questios to come I am sure.

Patience is a good thing, and if you will continue to read my posts on the Birdviews and posts by the masters here who taught me, your dish will be tracking in no time.

First things first.

Move the dish to the center of the arc as possible, set the declination, and then motor to 91W to get a signal with the elevation adjustment.

When you have that, get back to us.

 

[Lone Cloud]

My magnet wheel has 24 magnets and it is approximately 15 clicks per degree.

if you have 10 magnets it should be 6 1/4 or so clicks per degree,, so after you get zenith, 3 clicks east should be right on where 91 w should be.

You want to know how things work. I do have one suggestion. Visualize the Clarke belt where the satellites are in orbit, where the orbits match the rotation of the Earth. Remember that the only way this can work is if the orbit is directly over the Equator. This means we in the Northern hemisphere are looking down a little on the belt - the farther north we go, the more we look down.

If your house were at the equator, there would be no declination. The Clarke belt would be straight up

This visualization has helped me.

I really think the inclinometer thing is only good for setting the declination. In the end, you are trying to get tv signals . The only way to do that is to go with a little tv, satellite meter or radio headphones at the dish itself. At best, using the elevation angles will be approximations that have to be adjusted for optimal reception using the signal itself

 

[stogie5150]

From recent experience, you will be surprised what the difference is when the declination is set correctly. I went from barely getting Ku to a nice,fat,stable signal.

I concur with Linuxman. Set the Declination FIRST, if need be, THEN start your aiming. If you intend on Ku, use Ku to aim the dish. It will be harder, oh man will it be harder, but when you get Ku dialed in as good as you can, C-band will fall right in.

Sounds like you MAY be able to get away without washers if you are close to the factory declinaton. But you really need a digital level/inclinometer to get it dead on. Linuxman uses a 80.00 level, I use a 30.00 harbor freight level. They both work.

- Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

 

[darkhart]

All i got right now is a really cheap protractor with some fishing line attached with a weight..lol Reading on the elevation arm is roughly 54 and the back of the dish is 48. So some where around 6 is where it is. I will know more when i get a level for it. None in this little town. But to my surprise, I was recieving a fuzzy picture, and it was 91 west after I got it moved a little to the east. It said G17 tp 14. Got a decent picture. Then the dsr 920 decided not to count pulses any longer so I hooked up an analog reciever reset the limits and could not find it again..lol The analog does not show any pulse counts at all in the menus.

 

[darkhart]

I think I may be going in the right direction. I took out the center cap and went to place the digital level on the back side of the idsh to measure the total elevation. The darn thing would not go between the dish and the elevation bar. So I had to measure on the outside of the hole for starters. Got a 42.5 on the dish then measured the elevation bar and got a reading of 35.8. So subtracting the 35.8 from the 42.5 I got 6.7 for the declination.
Seems from what I have read that most is around 5 to 5.5. So after making a trip to town, new washers and bolts added three washers to the bottom of the dish and mount and now I can get my level between the dish and evelvation bar. If this sounds correct, then tomorrow I will continue from there and bring it down further.

 

[darkhart]

I finally got the declination set,but has been raining so much I can't do anything else. So when the rain stops I get back on it..

 

[darkhart]

Trying to get an attachment to work. Hopefully this worked..

 

[Lone Cloud]

I think I may be going in the right direction. I took out the center cap and went to place the digital level on the back side of the idsh to measure the total elevation. The darn thing would not go between the dish and the elevation bar. So I had to measure on the outside of the hole for starters. Got a 42.5 on the dish then measured the elevation bar and got a reading of 35.8. So subtracting the 35.8 from the 42.5 I got 6.7 for the declination.
Seems from what I have read that most is around 5 to 5.5. So after making a trip to town, new washers and bolts added three washers to the bottom of the dish and mount and now I can get my level between the dish and evelvation bar. If this sounds correct, then tomorrow I will continue from there and bring it down further.

Well, I don't disagree with using the washers as a tool to get clearance and measure, but after you get the declination, I would take out as many as I could so as to have a good mating surface with the steel plate on the mount and the dish.

 

[osu1991]

Nice dishes

 

[stogie5150]

I think I may be going in the right direction. I took out the center cap and went to place the digital level on the back side of the idsh to measure the total elevation. The darn thing would not go between the dish and the elevation bar. So I had to measure on the outside of the hole for starters. Got a 42.5 on the dish then measured the elevation bar and got a reading of 35.8. So subtracting the 35.8 from the 42.5 I got 6.7 for the declination.
Seems from what I have read that most is around 5 to 5.5. So after making a trip to town, new washers and bolts added three washers to the bottom of the dish and mount and now I can get my level between the dish and evelvation bar. If this sounds correct, then tomorrow I will continue from there and bring it down further.

Well, I don't disagree with using the washers as a tool to get clearance and measure, but after you get the declination, I would take out as many as I could so as to have a good mating surface with the steel plate on the mount and the dish.

You CAN'T take them out and maintain the proper declination. There really isnt a whole lot of pressure or weight on those bolts, in fact I'd feel comfortable with half of them missing. I have bolts and washers on every bolt on the bottom of mine and I didn't tighten the bolts beyond 1/8 turn after snug. Really, where is it going? Not down, not side to side, you would likely destroy the dish itself before the bolts break. It isn't a stressed part.

Just MO.

 

[darkhart]

Thanks for the compliment osu, I am just getting started on them. I got the perfect ten first, set the pole and found the BirdView dish and have put most of my effort into that one..lol I have a couple of Primstar dishes to put up as well. But I really want to get the BirdView going first. Thanks Stogie, I was not real sure about the washers, but after reading your post I went back out and really pulled and pushed on the dish and no movement at the point of washers. And yes they have to be there or declination to be right. Thanks Lone Cloud for your imput as well, I need all the wisdom available for these projects! People like you on this forum are the real deal. Thanks!!

 

[Anole]

Dark - if you want the wisdom of the ages, go back and read every thread-start by Linuxman concerning Birdview dishes.
He's also got one where he put in a GeoSatPro CK-1 LNBF, and that's mandatory reading, too.

Many of the follow-on BV owners have done imaginative adaptions, too.
I forget who, reamed out his scalar with a drill, and a circular-hole-saw covered with sandpaper.

Stogie replaced a scalar support arm with a threaded rod.
Someone else broke his near the end and screwed on a threaded spacer-adapter to restore the length.

The forum is a real cook-book for putting those BV's back into service! - :up