AMIKO Trouble finding Satellites

Captain Midnight

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Sep 16, 2019
625
422
Greers Ferry, Arkansas
Hello, long time reader here with my first post. I'm finally getting into FTA after years of curiosity. I have an Amiko Mini HD 265 connected to a Digipower SG-2100 H-H Motor moving a Primestar 75 dish.
The dish was recovered from my childhood home place where my dad had it installed in 1997. Original LNB worked well on Horizontal but the Vertical pole was dead. I swapped it for an Eagle Aspen 270 LNB to properly illuminate the dish.

Long story short, I found 87W, 95W, 97W, 99.2W, and 103W pretty quickly, but I cannot find anything else. I have a clear view of the arc and am in North Central Arkansas. Any advice? I'll gladly take it!​
 
Follow that guide using USALS to get it on the ARC good. Then you can use DiSEqC 1.2. :)
That would be the easiest way!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Captain Midnight
Yep, declination is off. From what the OP describes it appears too much declination. The quickest way would be to do like I said with USALS. Then once it is on the arc using DiSEqC 1.2 would work great.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Captain Midnight
Thanks for the advice. I went out and made sure my pole is plumb. It was slightly off, tilting to the south just a bit. Weight of the dish and motor was too much for the J-POLE, so I added a couple of support arms and a couple of wires to hold it firmly in place on my roof. I'm going to follow the USALS guide my next day off and check my declination too. I wrongly assumed that I was aligned well since I had strong signals on most of that satellites from 87W to 103W... Thanks again. And I'm open to anything else anyone else wants to add.
 
If you are using a motor it is highly recommend that you put it on a pole concreted in the ground. If that is not an option you need to put stabilizing arms on your J-Pole.
But yes if it is to properly track the arc, it is a MUST that the pole be perfectly plumb. J-Poles are not suited for the task of having a motor and a dish. The weight of the motor/dish combo will pull it off plumb.
 
Okay, I went up on the roof this evening. The supports on the pole are working well. Everything is level. I realized the declination angle was set about 3-4 degrees too high. So now I am tracking the arc better.

BUT, now my motor is randomly shutting down. It also likes to take off when I am tweaking it too. I am still within the 30 day return window. Does it sound like I should return it for a genuine STAB motor? I am definitely leaning toward that at this point.
 
Okay, I went up on the roof this evening. The supports on the pole are working well. Everything is level. I realized the declination angle was set about 3-4 degrees too high. So now I am tracking the arc better.

BUT, now my motor is randomly shutting down. It also likes to take off when I am tweaking it too. I am still within the 30 day return window. Does it sound like I should return it for a genuine STAB motor? I am definitely leaning toward that at this point.
Double check all your connections first, maybe something is loose. If that's ok, then I would swap out for a STAB. IMO they are the best out there. :yes
 
Quality costs more. It's a much better motor.

Besides, it'll pay for itself quickly versus a monthly sub to something. Think of it that way.
Good point. I found the genuine Italian HH120 from Rick's Satellite for $165 total ($15 shipping). So that's worth it. And I am in northern Arkansas. It won't take long to get here from Missouri.