Satellite c-band dish problem

mrel

Active SatelliteGuys Member
Original poster
Mar 22, 2004
15
3
Hello
Have old Winegard C/KU band satellite dish with motor to move the dish,due the week strong wind saw wind move dish up and than back down.
Loss signal on all satellite ,manage to restore some of the satellites signal on west side 135,133,131,127,125,123 west.
But satellites 107,105,103,101,99,97,95,91,89 west not getting any signal.
All satellites mention use to get signals but not after strong wind,
What adjust need to be done to get all satellites back.
El
 
Did your dish turn on it's pole, or the pole bent a bit? Check your pole is perfectly vertical, then check the mount is vertical etc. Have to start at the beginning and work your way through the alignment procedure so you don't miss anything. Good luck!
 
The strong winds probably shifted your dish on it's mount. Also, if you 'saw wind move dish up and than back down' there may be some slop (looseness) in your mount/bearings. Check everything for correct tightness then this chart should help you figure out what adjustments are needed to get your dish back on the arc. :)

Tuning the arc.jpg
 
Me too. The image helps to figure out whats going on in tracking the arc.
So you can get the Western arc sats pretty good and they track pretty good.
At the point where you go more eastern. In your case 123W.
If you look at your signal and raise or lower the dish rim by hand. What makes the signal get better?
Like the guys said though. Did the dish spin on the pole or did it actually physically move vertical?
 
  • Like
Reactions: FTA4PA
*First I would check the coax connections to make sure they didn't loosen vibrating in the wind. You might get lucky and that's all that happened.

If after verifying the dish has not moved on the pole... as others suggested:
Wind whipping dish up and down could throw the feed out of center, especially on a button-hook dish. Could even warp the dish. (less likely)

Wind blowing on a dish can cause static electricity to build up. My VBox positioners have lost the correct location for each sat after a wind event. Usually only a few clicks either way re-peaks signal. But I have rarely had the boxes completely lose memory for all positions. Either way, just had to reset all positions correctly. I expect you have already tried this.
 
*First I would check the coax connections to make sure they didn't loosen vibrating in the wind. You might get lucky and that's all that happened.

If after verifying the dish has not moved on the pole... as others suggested:
Wind whipping dish up and down could throw the feed out of center, especially on a button-hook dish. Could even warp the dish. (less likely)

Wind blowing on a dish can cause static electricity to build up. My VBox positioners have lost the correct location for each sat after a wind event. Usually only a few clicks either way re-peaks signal. But I have rarely had the boxes completely lose memory for all positions. Either way, just had to reset all positions correctly. I expect you have already tried this.

I had a dish tracking as best as I could, from 55.5 to 135 West, although I suspected that there was room for improvement on furthest east satellites such as 55.5 and 58 West. Winter arrived before I could make further adjustments, so I tolerated what I had. After some serious windstorms several weeks in a row, it started getting worse, and on the first day above freezing, I took a closer inspection at the dish. First fix was to re-tighten the mount as well as hardware on both ends of the linear actuator. Then call up east and west end of the arc, writing down Quality readings on several satellites. Compare position numbers on the motor control with previous settings and write them down. Next was to go to my due south satellite and adjust the elevation for peak quality reading on an active signal. Mine was almost 3/4 degree off. Then call up strategically separated satellites in extreme east and west to check signals again.
Check position numbers as well as Quality readings to see if there is a major change anywhere. In my case, it was dead on for the mount being centered at due south. My elevation might have been off a quarter of a degree with initial setup, as viewed from due south satellite. The after-adjustment results were greatly improved readings on both ends of the arc as well as at due south, which matched the drawings you have been given. If there was still room for improvement on either east or west end of the arc, then you should push the reflector up and down to see if it gets better on either end. If the eastern arc gets better when you push to a lower elevation, it means that the mount needs to go a little bit west. Always re-check due south quality reading after making mount east/west adjustments.

Repeating some cardinal rules for aligning a polar mount. Do the alignment in this order:
Get the declination set (angle difference between the mount and the back of the reflector elevation), using a digital angle finder (inclinometer), while at due south or center of the arc. Get it within 0.1 degrees, which can be done with inexpensive ($25 to $40 typical cost) devices from Harbor Freight. Once you have this set it place, do not adjust it again.
Set the elevation for best signal at due south. Do not adjust elevation again unless it is at due south during a recheck.
Check quality readings on furthest east and furthest west receivable satellite. Test by gently raising or lowering bottom of reflector at center, to determine whether mount needs to go east or west. Move the setting clockwise or CCW in baby steps of no more than a degree or two.
Always go back to due south to reconfirm its quality reading. Elevation adjustments should only be done at due south. Check east and west reception again until you are happy with the results.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Martyn and a33
Get the declination set (angle difference between the mount and the back of the reflector elevation), using a digital angle finder (inclinometer), while at due south or center of the arc. Get it within 0.1 degrees, which can be done with inexpensive ($25 to $40 typical cost) devices from Harbor Freight. Once you have this set it place, do not adjust it again.

So this would mean setting the modified dish declination offset angle, I would add.
Otherwise chances are that you'd have to adjust it later.

Tables of the modified motor angles are here, e.g.:
at the bottom of this page (but don't use this table if you live at latitude 65!): Footprints by Dish Size - Latitude Declination Chart - C/Ku-Band Satellite Listing
or here: TVROSat - Resources

Greetz,
A33
 
Me too. The image helps to figure out whats going on in tracking the arc.
So you can get the Western arc sats pretty good and they track pretty good.
At the point where you go more eastern. In your case 123W.
If you look at your signal and raise or lower the dish rim by hand. What makes the signal get better?
Like the guys said though. Did the dish spin on the pole or did it actually physically move vertical?
Dish did not spin on the pole,when there strong wind i notice at time the dish does lift up with strong wind,do have bad pivot beam assembly but to fix that have to take dish apart that lot work since the dish on mount on 10 foot pole.
 
Dish did not spin on the pole,when there strong wind i notice at time the dish does lift up with strong wind,do have bad pivot beam assembly but to fix that have to take dish apart that lot work since the dish on mount on 10 foot pole.
That sucks. I have pictures here where I put pillow block bearings on my dish mount. Sounds like you need to get up there and get things sorted out.
 
That sucks. I have pictures here where I put pillow block bearings on my dish mount. Sounds like you need to get up there and get things sorted out.
Did you post a picture of pillow block bearings,cannot find picture.
 
  • Like
Reactions: arlo
pillow block bearings,cannot find picture.

You can find a lot of great surplus equipment below, including pillow block bearings. I've bought from them in the past, great service. :)

 
Did you post a picture of pillow block bearings,cannot find picture.

Same deal at the top pivot. Once I spaced the dish mount and polar assy. to float and not rub. Pulled the set screws in the blocks and drilled locator dimples in the pivot bolts. Once the set screws were seated in the top and bottom. Not much friction at all. She's been brushed, phosphoric acid painted and etch primed and painted since.
A squirt of grease in each zerk once or twice a year. wa-la!
 

Attachments

  • Dish_Mount_A.jpg
    Dish_Mount_A.jpg
    210.8 KB · Views: 156
  • Pillow_Blocks.jpg
    Pillow_Blocks.jpg
    452.3 KB · Views: 139
  • Pillow_Block_a.jpg
    Pillow_Block_a.jpg
    88.5 KB · Views: 157
Top