Dark Motor for my 95 cm dish
- Thread starter carmine
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carmine
Member
Just an update to all on this great forum really appreciate everyone's help and patience with me
UPDATE ON MY SET UP ----
as has already been written back in September last year All was working well but since the bad winter and mixed weather conditions since then I noticed I have lost signal strength on channels I use to get before where as before use to get 100% and 65% I now get 100% and 50 -52% on all satellites from 42 east to 30 west.
Today I had to make fresh connection on lnb to motor connection that when I installed new motor I had taped up satellite cables from motor to lnb and sat box a bit too tightly so when satellites with motor from one position to another that's what made cooper inside sat cable to motor from lnb and then I had cooper stuck in connection on motor anyway after repair that getting signal again but still at 50-52% ...
Is there anything else I can try ie slight adjustment on motor angle for my lat and longitude and easiest way to adjust left to right just to see if I can get back up to 60-65%
I can attach photos of back of my satellite dish and motor if that would help in any way ???
hedges2016
TK Veteran
You can set a satellite to use Positioner.
Go to a satellite and then go into Tuner Configuration and change the satellite your on to use Positioner instead of USALS Store it with whatever number you want..
Save it. Then go back to Positioner setup and you can step it go down to Fine Movement and use the green/yellow button to step it west & east until you get a stronger signal. When you think you have a better signal go down to Memory index and it's the green button to save it .
pieeater2015
TK Veteran
Try changing the Longitude in USALS eg 2.5000 West change to 2.4000, 2.3000, 2.2000 etc etc, Then try the other way
carmine
Member
Thank you will try this and get back to you thanks for quick reponse
carmine
Member
would I have to do this for each satellite i am using or just say on 0.8 west ?
carmine
Member
Ok thanks will try this too, but pretty sure I have long and lat spot on for where I am but worth a try
What tweaking the longitude does is tell you if your dish alignment is out . If tweaking the longitude either way from the setting you should have improves your signal your alignment is out if it weakens your signal then that aspect is good.
carmine
Member
Thanks Ferret Much appreciated.
I need a dummies guide adjusting my set up and getting it right once and for all lol
There is a guide here by William 1 although i dont agree with point 4. With a usuals motor and the correct coordinates in the receiver just send the motor to 0.8 west not zero. He as to adjust his longitude later in the guide because he used Zero so hes not tracking the arc correctly doing that.
Set up guide for maximum signals on a motorised dish >>
Part-1
1/ Pole must be dead vertical in 360 degrees ( use a spirit level ),
2/ Dish mounted dead central on the motor spigot,
3/ Motor set at the correct Elevation for your location for maximum signal at your reference satellite,
4/ Motor at zero on the scale when aimed at your reference satellite,
5/ Dish Declination set for maximum signal at your reference satellite,
6/ Lnb set in the correct position for max signal(Move Lnb fully forward & Back while viewing a meter for max signals)
7/ Site dish so that you have an unobstructed view of the Satellite Arc,
8/ Tighten all bolts when you have achieved maximum signal on all Satellites in your Satellite Arc.
Part-2
A normal motorised dish installation is very straight forward for receiving the major satellites 42 east,39 east,28.2 east,19.2 east,13 east 5 east 1 west 5 west & 30 west,
But the feed hunter is looking for feeds that are sometimes very weak signals so the dish/motor set up is more critical than a normal installation,
I have found this method to be the most successful after you have established that the pole is dead vertical,
The dish is mounted dead central on the motor spigot,
Your motor elevation is set for your location (use as a guide only) & maximum signal was achieved on your reference satellite by altering the the dish declination & USALS settings of Longitude & Latitude then check out the Lnb position in the Lnb holder is giving you the best possible signal by moving the Lnb fully forward & back to achieve this whilst viewing a signal meter we then move on to stage two,
As the scales for the motor elevation & dish declination are just a guide & not an accurate measuring scale so with the Longitude & Latitude can be altered slightly to improve your dishes ability to track the arc more accurately as with all guides you may find a slight variation on my finding will enable you to track the arc more accurately,
To improve your motor's capability to track the Clarke Belt / Geostationary Satellite's on the Arc make sure that the Motor has been clamped in the correct position to make tracking the arc accurately possible,
Try this to find out if your dish is set up correctly:-
Go to 30 west or the furthest West your dish will travel now while viewing a signal meter lightly flex the dish back at the top if the signal goes up or down make a note of this now do the same with the bottom of the dish & make a note of what happens,
Now go to 36 east or the furthest East your dish can travel & flex the dish as above,
If your findings are that the signal gets better on the East satellites when the dish was flexed back & the signal gets better on the West satellites when the dish was flexed forward then the motor is fixed to the wrong place on the mast to correct this change your USALS @ your reference satellite from say 0.07 Longitude to 0.4 Longitude now slacken off the motor fixing bolts & move the motor a few mm either way to achieve maximum signal,
Now check you East & West satellites again for maximum signal if it is better then tighten up your Motor at the new position if not then change your USALS to 0.0 Longitude now slacken off the motor fixing bolts & move the motor a few mm either way to achieve maximum signal,
Then check your East & West Satellites again for maximum signal.
Once you have established that you are tracking the Arc more accurately you can fine tune your dish / motor set up by changing USALS by 0.3 to 0.6 from your current best setting then slacken off the motor fixing bolts & move the motor a few mm either way to achieve maximum signal,
Settings for my location should be Longitude 0.07 East & Latitude 51.7 North but I track the arc more accurately with Longitude 0.4 East & Latitude 51.7 North as I said scales are just a guide line & you must use your own common sense & judgement when setting up a motorised satellite system to track the arc as accurately as possible,
After completing these fine tuning adjustments your 90 to 100cm dish will now pull in the weaker signals on 10 east,16 east ect & probably work better than a 120cm dish that has not been set as precisely as this,
Happy Feed Hunting
hedges2016
TK Veteran
You can do it with them all if you wanted too.
If you're getting signal on all sats on USALS you're not to far off. Using Positioner is just a way to tweek the signal a bit .
carmine
Member
Yes I will add these tomorrow
carmine
Member
Yes I remember using this I think quite a few years ago when I first set up my motorised system then with my old Vu Duo+ box No sorry it was my Spidebox.
I was on the ladder today looking at back of dish and noticed how ever tight I screw nuts and bolts that hold dish to bracket that then connects to motor there is a little play I got misses to move dish from box remote indoors and checked readings of satellites and noticed when i used my hand to put little pressure on dish left or right frequency strength changed not much but by about 5%. then when I got misses to move dish backwards again from 28 east to 13 east and back again signal dropped back to 50%..
I get 50% on all satellites and can not be that far off but noticed HD channels I use to get I cant but when i put little pressure on dish with hand I then get HD channels but then once i let go only get SD channels.
I think problem is that play I have in bracket, may need a new dish with its own bracket but there not cheap are they.
Dish I have used for over 20 years is Traix 95cm
carmine
Member
Attachments
I'll have a good look tomorrow, the dish looks a bit off. OK I have had a good look at the rig and its a MOTEK Motor and looks new so thats good. The dish looks fine and motor looks good on stump. Now you may gather why installers have a good meter
because you are only fractions out. I dont know the lnb make but there are good ones very good ones and woeful ones. Say make. Your best option is to concentrate on 0.8WEST and with 95CM you should get a good signal. I use 2 channels one is H and the other is V and that is important. It may be great on H and poor on V you want good on both. I have triax 110cm and dark motor so I know the triax mount is difficult but great dish. You have no scratches on pole or stub so that tells me you have not moved rig much or dish. I notice you had dish for 20 years!! What receiver did you have before?
The rig has to be 100% plumb that includes the tk brackets the pole, the dish fitting the motor fittings, motor fittings exactly parallel same with dish. I used to count the threads on bolts.
So you need to look at that dish fitting it looks out A TAD see pic, then the motor to the pole looks out ie gap at top and the clamp looks bent or curved.
The 2 channels to use are Al Jazeera on DVB - S 12418V 28000 QPSK fec 7/8 and GALAXY 4 on DVD-S2 12130 H 28000 7/8. Aim for over 90 on both. I get 97/96 and using openvix 6.3. I dont know how you read the signal but I used a gt media meter, it gave a tv picture as well. This one.
If you want to try usals first then take a degree off ie if 008. ,,, make it 007.000 and see and rig may be ok on the east at 007 and then it has to be 008 for the west.
Is that the motor that got a piece of sat cable stuck?? I use black ultra lnb, very good sat cable and a duo2. And a meter
I forgot to add, make sure pole at top is round!! If not turn it upside down!!
Overall the whole setup looks fine, can you get on that roof and look along motor and dish and see if it is dead straight?
Any tall buildings or trees in the way?? or wires
because you are only fractions out. I dont know the lnb make but there are good ones very good ones and woeful ones. Say make. Your best option is to concentrate on 0.8WEST and with 95CM you should get a good signal. I use 2 channels one is H and the other is V and that is important. It may be great on H and poor on V you want good on both. I have triax 110cm and dark motor so I know the triax mount is difficult but great dish. You have no scratches on pole or stub so that tells me you have not moved rig much or dish. I notice you had dish for 20 years!! What receiver did you have before?The rig has to be 100% plumb that includes the tk brackets the pole, the dish fitting the motor fittings, motor fittings exactly parallel same with dish. I used to count the threads on bolts.
So you need to look at that dish fitting it looks out A TAD see pic, then the motor to the pole looks out ie gap at top and the clamp looks bent or curved.
The 2 channels to use are Al Jazeera on DVB - S 12418V 28000 QPSK fec 7/8 and GALAXY 4 on DVD-S2 12130 H 28000 7/8. Aim for over 90 on both. I get 97/96 and using openvix 6.3. I dont know how you read the signal but I used a gt media meter, it gave a tv picture as well. This one.
GT MEDIA V8 Satellite Finder Meter Digital Satellite Signal Receiver Detector DVB-S/S2/S2X, HD 1080P 3.5" LCD Display Built-in 3000mAh Battery with Sound Output for Satellite Dish Adjustment
Concentrate on getting 0.8west correct.If you want to try usals first then take a degree off ie if 008. ,,, make it 007.000 and see and rig may be ok on the east at 007 and then it has to be 008 for the west.
Is that the motor that got a piece of sat cable stuck?? I use black ultra lnb, very good sat cable and a duo2. And a meter
I forgot to add, make sure pole at top is round!! If not turn it upside down!!
Overall the whole setup looks fine, can you get on that roof and look along motor and dish and see if it is dead straight?
Any tall buildings or trees in the way?? or wires
Attachments
Last edited:
manic01
TK Veteran
If flexing the dish helps signal. Sounds like elevation issue.
hedges2016
TK Veteran
Looks to me like the bracket on the pole is not square. But that could just be the way you took the picture 😆
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