AMIKO Trouble finding Satellites

[Captain Midnight]

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!​

 

[KE4EST]

Welcome to SatelliteGuys!!!!

Have you read through and followed this:
How To Install a USALS Motor - Condensed Version

 

[Captain Midnight]

Welcome to SatelliteGuys!!!!

Have you read through and followed this:
How To Install a USALS Motor - Condensed Version

I have not had a chance to read that guide. I have the motor set up using the DisEqC 1.2 protocol instead of USALS.

 

[KE4EST]

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!

 

[Captain Midnight]

Anyone know if there are any obvious install errors that would limit the number of satellites that I can manually find by just slowly bumping the dish along with the receiver's motor control?

 

[Comptech]

The first two that come to my mind is a pole not perfectly plumb in all directions, and second mount not pointed exactly true south.

 

[Brct203]

The first two that come to my mind is a pole not perfectly plumb in all directions, and second mount not pointed exactly true south.

I agree

I guess wrong elevation/declination would also make it possible that it works for part of the arc and not other parts

 

[KE4EST]

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.

 

[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.

 

[KE4EST]

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.

 

[a33]

I went out and made sure my pole is plumb. It was slightly off, tilting to the south just a bit.

That's not bad.
Tilting exactly North/south can be counteracted by motor-axis elevation.
Tilting east/west-wise is a great problem, though.

greetz,
A33

 

[Captain Midnight]

That's not bad.
Tilting exactly North/south can be counteracted by motor-axis elevation.
Tilting east/west-wise is a great problem, though.

greetz,
A33

I'm hoping it will hold firm with the supports. If not, I do have a pole I can plant if it comes to that.

 

[Captain Midnight]

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.

 

[FTA4PA]

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.

 

[Captain Midnight]

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.

I am definitely shopping for a STAB. I had just an 8ft jumper line connected to my motor from the receiver on the roof. I don't see why it would fail...

 

[primestar31]

Take your pick: STAB HH90 Motor

Or the largest one, if you want to be more future-proof, or put a larger dish on: STABHH120

 

[Captain Midnight]

Take your pick: STAB HH90 Motor

Or the largest one, if you want to be more future-proof, or put a larger dish on: STABHH120

I'd like to be future proof... That price though. Twice what I paid for the other motor.

 

[primestar31]

I'd like to be future proof... That price though. Twice what I paid for the other motor.

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.

 

[Captain Midnight]

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.

 

[a33]

Or the largest one, if you want to be more future-proof, or put a larger dish on: STABHH120

But remember: it is a lot SLOWER than the HH90 and HH100, because of the possibility of moving the larger dishes.

So I personnally would only buy one, if I really had plans for a dish >100 cm.

Greetz,
A33