USALS or DisEqC 1.2

[LoTech]

I recently bought a motor, and just got around to setting up and getting my motorized setup working. (SG2100 motor, Coolsat 5000 receiver and Winegard 2076 dish) After the initial setup, I used USALS for rotating the dish, but I noticed that many times the dish had to be adjusted several degrees left/right to get reception. (i.e. 123W was coming in on 119W etc...) After adjusting the motorized settings for the particular satellites the would come in come in good.

Also, I noticed that sometimes after going from one satellite position to an extreme satellite position and back(i.e. AMC9 to Galaxy27 and back), the first position would be off, and had to be readjusted.

My question is whether this is normal, and whether using USALS or DisEqC 1.2 makes a difference?

 

[concord]

If your mount isn't perfectly level (check level of your pole/mount), you may have this problem. USALS goes back to the original position, so you will lose your readjustment.

One way to get it to work, as is, is to use USALS to go to the sat, switch to DisEqC, readjust and save the position. However, it is better if you level your mount so you track the sats properly.

 

[DJ Rob]

Could be that your motor has the USALS issues I experienced in this thread
http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/154324-sg-2100-issues.html

 

[B.J.]

I recently bought a motor, and just got around to setting up and getting my motorized setup working. (SG2100 motor, Coolsat 5000 receiver and Winegard 2076 dish) After the initial setup, I used USALS for rotating the dish, but I noticed that many times the dish had to be adjusted several degrees left/right to get reception. (i.e. 123W was coming in on 119W etc...) After adjusting the motorized settings for the particular satellites the would come in come in good.

Also, I noticed that sometimes after going from one satellite position to an extreme satellite position and back(i.e. AMC9 to Galaxy27 and back), the first position would be off, and had to be readjusted.

My question is whether this is normal, and whether using USALS or DisEqC 1.2 makes a difference?

In my opinion, I doubt that it has anything to do with the pole being level, although it COULD be that the pole is MOVING, ie not rigid. And in theory there should be no difference between USALS and DiseqC, provided that you are aligned properly and the motor is zero'ed properly. Although the way you "re-adjust" could result in a difference. The difference between USALS and DiseqC-1.2 is that in DiseqC-1.2, you save the sat positions in the motor, while with USALS, nothing is saved, it just goes a calculated number of degrees.

What you describe sounds to me like it could be free play in the gears of the motor. Another possibility is that for some reason, the motor is forgetting what it's zero is. Sometimes when my motor isn't going to a sat properly, I can send it back to it's zero reference position, and then back to the sat, and everything is OK.

Probably not related, but some motors won't work right on USALS properly if their zero position isn't really at zero. Ie my SG2100 goes to a couple degrees east of zero when sent to zero, so to use USALS I have to lie to it about what my longitude is. This shouldn't affect DiseqC-1.2. I think you can re-set the SG2100 to the proper zero with a hard reset after manually moving it to zero, but I've never bothered to do this on mine.

Anyway, I'm curious about what you're doing to "adjust" the positions when using USALS? Ie there are temporary manual (DiseqC-1.2 movements) that aren't saved, and there are DiseqC-1.2 re-sync commands, and you can change the longitude of the sat, or of your location. Ie about 4 different ways to adjust.
Also, you might try going past the sat, and coming into it from the other direction. IF this works, it suggests gear slop.

 

[Blindowl1234]

Just my limited opinion but I use Disecq not Usals. My SG2100 motor is probably one of the ones with issues...just my luck. Everyone I asked said they found Usals easier...for me it was the opposite. I'm finding though that everytime we get a 30-40 wind I'm having to manually fine tine the signal on a few sats. I also can look out my window and visually see where the dish is pointing as well. Thanks! Blind

 

[LoTech]

I actually do the initial dish positioning with USALS and blind scan. If no channels show up, I use a known frequency and adjust with DisEqC.

Sometimes, though if I move to SATS that are a good distance away and come back, I have to re-tweak the East/West alignment.

 

[gabshere]

my first setup was just like yours except my dish was a primestar
dish would work on usals great on the SATs close to my TS sat but the further out i went, the worse it got and had to use 1.2 to gain signal.... it worked and i was happy.

but at the time i didn't realize that it was only getting usals on about 10 or 15 degrees after that it was 1.2 only ( this was a arc from 129 to 72).

on my second & third time to setup this same motor & dish i did it slightly different.
now the pole was level and i also made sure my motor was level on the first time I mounted the dish. on the 2nd & 3rd time i set it up at my TS Sat which was set to zero on the motor and it had signal but my TS sat didn't have a bunch of transponders ( it was 93W). So i setup USALS on my coolsat 5000 and tried several sats which were again slightly off on the outside edges. So I moved the dish back to a more populated satellite (97W) and loosened the whole motor mount and adjusted ( i actually twisted it slightly) and was spot on for all sats. (when i was at 97W i pushed up and down slightly to find out which way to twist the motor) there is a chart here somewhere that explains the twist i will link it when i find it...
now i can hit 148 - 72 with usals with ease
Good luck

 

[Sadoun]

Check your pole or J-Mount. Make sure it is plumb and solid (does not lean to sides).

Check your True South, motor elevation, and dish elevation.

I suspect you have an alignment and pole issues.

USALS will work best when you have a perfectly aligned system.

 

[Anole]

there is a chart here somewhere that explains the twist
i will link it when i find it...

This might be the chart.
I have trouble finding it, too.

Check your pole or J-Mount. Make sure it is plumb and solid ...
USALS will work best when you have a perfectly aligned system.

Yea, that's not just a recommendation.
That's a necessity!

 

[voomvoom]

I vote for both
USALs = for the most part
1.2 = on or near the horizon