true south satellite

[Lone Cloud]

Just a question, can you get say 58 west to 77 west?

As far as the range it might be an actuator throw issue. I don't know what kind of dish and motor you have, but I guess the first thing is to notice is that the dish itself seems to have maybe 120 degrees of travel.

Now I don't think 148 west is going to have much C-band true FTA, meaning that 139 might be the highest you need to go on the west side. Based on the past programming, maybe 135 west is ok as a far west sat.

I would look at the throw of your actuator.

It might be helpful for you to post some photos of the back of your dish

 

[Mapleleaf69]

well once again im still having problems with the arc. i borrowed my buddies angle finder so i could set the dish 40.5 degrees. found my 83w sat but when i scan the arc to the west i can only go as far as 91w at 33% signal.theres not really any sats i want past 87w to the east, im trying to pull from 87w to 139w is all.
at one time i could get from 87w to 127w but not now, sure wish i had of marked the pole before the wind screwed up the dish back in the spring.
is it possible for me to start at my most west sat and align the arc backwards towards the east?

 

[Lak7]

You Elevation and Declinations should not change from wind, check that the Feedhorn was not moved.
I'd drive to the Dish to it's highest point, loosen the mount and adjust to peak signal on South Sat.

 

[Mapleleaf69]

You Elevation and Declinations should not change from wind, check that the Feedhorn was not moved.
I'd drive to the Dish to it's highest point, loosen the mount and adjust to peak signal on South Sat.

now im not real familar with the c band terms, so what do you mean by the mount. is that the big bolt that raises the dish up and down and if so i could only get 65% signal for 83w.

 

[LocutusOfBorg]

ok guys, here we go again with repointing my c band dish. last time i didnt get the arc set proper and could only get a few sats to come in. what would be my true south sat to point at going by my lat and long.
lat -42.8
long- 80.3
im getting bummed out not being able to get my proper arc back. now my dish is perfectly centre just need proper sat. thanks guys

The nearest C band sat is at 83W - AMC9

 

[truckracer]

Ok your mount has a few adjustments.

The long bolt that goes from the square tube down to the flat bar sticking out the back is the declination adjustment. This should be properly set by placing the angle finder on that square tube.

The shorter bolt that goes between the bottom of the dish and the polar mount will be your Elevation. This one may have to be tweaked.

The next adjustment will be "polar axis" which is the large bolts on the outside of the part that slips down on the pipe.

Theoretically, after your declination angle is set to your area and the dish is driven to it's highest point on the mount. In my case the square tube lines up with the square steel pivots on each end. This is called "zenith" point.

While your dish is at zenith point, after the declination angle is set to your area, set the elevation by using an angle finder on the Center plate of the dish for your true south.

Now with your receiver connected out at the dish watching signal on a small tv rotate the polar mount on the pipe slowly "polar axis" until the true south comes in.

When you get a signal peak it first by polar axis, then tweak elevation (NOT declination).

After that's peaked you are probably done.
Go to a western satellite and gently pull up or
Push Down on the dish. Did the signal get better by pushing up or Down? Hopefully not but if it did your polar axis is off a hair.

If your dish has to be lifted up to get better signals on the west sats ryou need to slightly loosen the polar mount bolts and rotate the mount ever so slightly, just a hair clock wise.

If signal gets better by gently pushing down the. Rotate counter clockwise. Tighten bolts back and you will have to bump the east west buttons to get the signal back.

You should
Get to the point where your dish cannot be pulled up or down to get a better signal.

 

[LocutusOfBorg]

now im not real familar with the c band terms, so what do you mean by the mount. is that the big bolt that raises the dish up and down and if so i could only get 65% signal for 83w.

The mount is secured by bolts to the pole. If you loosen those bolts you can swing the antenna east to west or vice versa (azimuth adjustment) and it doesn't change the antenna's elevation (up/down). You only need to move it in very small increments during alignment and then bolt it down again. The other adjustment you're talking about is for elevation (up/down) of the antenna. Declination is another adjustment and it is adjusted just once during initial alignment.

 

[Mapleleaf69]

what should the skew of lnb be set to for 83w. i cant seem to peek it more then 65%.

 

[FaT Air]

Being your dish is on a polar mount, the skew will take care of itself. Set the LNB(F)* at 0 (zero) either straight up or down, aligned with the top or bottom center of the dish when at TRUE Zenith. Q of 65 may be normal for your setup. It varies according to the receiver/lnb(f)/switches/cable lengths used. Another thing that can be tried to increase Q is to move the feed slightly closer/further from the dish. (Focal length)
*note This is for a voltage controlled LNBF, and some may have the mark to align horizontally. A servo equipped feed normally requires the servo about 35-40 degrees to the left when viewed from the front of the dish.

 

[Mapleleaf69]

well i have great signal from 83W to 99W but after that i cant seem to get a blip of signal from there west. i also tried hitting some southern sats but no signal anywhere.hell i cant even get signal at 101w and that weirds me out cause with signal at high 80's on 99w i should see something, right?

 

[Lak7]

i cant even get signal at 101w and that weirds me out cause with signal at high 80's on 99w i should see something, right?

What TP are you using?

 

[truckracer]

you may have too much declination. this would cause the true south sats and their close neighbors come in good but quickly drop off the arc both directions. double check your declination. remember on dec adjustment-set it exact for your area snd forget it. any further Adjustments will be dish elevation and polar axis.

 

[FaT Air]

Don't know which side of the dish you actuator is on. If your actuator is on the west side, the first thing I would do is retract the actuator all the way, and adjust the mounting of the actuator back, so it positions the dish a bit past your furthest desired LOS west satellite.
If your actuator is on the east side you'll have to adjust its mounting out to reach further west. If your only able to get signal around your true south sat, I suspect declination angle is mis adjusted, and that will throw everything off.

A picture is worth a thousand words. The below will get the ballpark lights on every time. check out the modified declination chart here: Footprints by Dish Size - Latitude Declination Chart - C/Ku-Band Satellite Listing