Hi All I am new and need FTA Help

[KE4EST]

Not noted that before. It should have been 10750 out of the box, I program all of mine that way before they ship.

 

[sapote]

Previously I calculated that I needed to elevate the dish 34* on the dish scale to point to the true south satellite, but this was wrong. The correct elevation is crank angle - declination = 45 - 5.5 = 39.5*.
So last night after changing from 34 to 39.5 dish elevation, then instead of commanding the receiver to Galaxy 19, 97w, I asked it to Galaxy 25, 93.1W and then did a scan. I got over 230 channels from Galaxy 19 and enjoyed them for the first time in my life!!!!! I will correct the 4* error true south I originally eye-ball it.

How do I select a few channels and save them to my favorite list on this Amiko mini?

Thanks for all your help!!!

Brian

 

[FTA4PA]

Glad you're making progress. After correcting the 4° you'll be able to scan the whole arc of satellites. To make a favorites list: Press Menu > Service > Organizing Favorites. In that screen select the channels you want to add to favorite list by pressing OK on each. When done press right arrow (add should be displayed in center top). Press OK and exit menu to save changes. To change to your favorites list press black FAV button in lower left corner of remote, press left or right arrow key to changes from all satellites to your favorite list (default is FAVORITES 1), then press OK.

 

[sapote]

Is Univision still beaming signal 3934 H on sat at 119W? Since I'm on long=118W, this is a good sat to confirm my true south because 3934H is the only one linear frequency on this sat, the rest are circular frequencies.

Brian

 

[sapote]

Thank for the Favorite instruction.
I was thinking about that 4* error all day, and I don't think my eyes were that bad; something else must be looked at. I have a feeling I was tracking below the Clarke Belt, which explains why I was 4* degree too short to reach 97W sat, and I also needed to rise the dish further to get strong signals. If this is true then my motor latitude was set too small from true. I will increase the lat angle and see the result.

 

[sapote]

Michael,
The unit I have had all satellites programmed with 5150 when I received it. 5150 is such a small number for local oscillator frequency; what is it for?

 

[rsmithwi]

C-band LNB / LNBF

 

[FTA4PA]

Is Univision still beaming signal 3934 H on sat at 119W? Since I'm on long=118W, this is a good sat to confirm my true south because 3934H is the only one linear frequency on this sat, the rest are circular frequencies.
Brian

No, your equipment is for KU band. Univision is on c band.

 

[sapote]

Thank you again, FTA4PA. No wonder why I no Ku signals at all when pointing to that direction. I should had paid more attention to 3934 H number -- it's too low for Ku band. If it just has only one Ku signal on H as I thought, then this is a goot target for checking with the Channel Master: switch on 18v and have H signal and switch on 13v and have nothing.

 

[FTA4PA]

Yes, the frequencies with 4 digits are c band - you need the ones with 5 digits (ku). 97W is strong, so select that and keep trying as mentioned above (post 38). Rotate the mount on the pole a small amount and adjust dish a small amount. Blind scan until you reach the point where the channels you scanned in using 93W will scan in on 97W and you're there.

 

[KE4EST]

Michael,
The unit I have had all satellites programmed with 5150 when I received it. 5150 is such a small number for local oscillator frequency; what is it for?

I have all the C-Band sats set to 5150 and the Ku set to 10750.

 

[sapote]

I think you're right. I could had been working on the 97W sat with C band without knowing the fact. Newbie mistake
Since I have not edited any other sats yet, I will check those Ku sats tonight if they were defaulted to 5150 and let you know.

 

[sapote]

I need your suggestions.

So after I realigned the dish to true south and then motored it to 97W. I then selected one frequency -- might be 12022H -- and tuned in the dish -- elevation and horizontal adjust -- for the best signal on the tv. With that I commanded the motor to 124.9W sat and did blind scan: I got nothing instead of 12106V Montana PBS and other frequencies for other pbs feeds. No singals on others sats also: 72W AMC6, 87W, 103W, 91W. So I got only signals from galaxy 19 and some Pentagon channels, and nothing else. I presume if I had tuned in at 97W then when move to reference true south it should be very close, except a small error in the motor shaft latitude setting could lead to small error at true south. what do you suggest the next step? My plan is to mark the reference of the motor mount to the mast, then command it to 124.9W and select 11789V channel, turn off the motor and manual adjust the dish (move motor around the mast and motor latitude) for the best signal. recheck the signal at 97W and repeat the process if needed.

Thanks,
Brian

 

[FTA4PA]

I need your suggestions.

So after I realigned the dish to true south and then motored it to 97W. I then selected one frequency -- might be 12022H -- and tuned in the dish -- elevation and horizontal adjust -- for the best signal on the tv. With that I commanded the motor to 124.9W sat and did blind scan: I got nothing instead of 12106V Montana PBS and other frequencies for other pbs feeds. No singals on others sats also: 72W AMC6, 87W, 103W, 91W. So I got only signals from galaxy 19 and some Pentagon channels, and nothing else. I presume if I had tuned in at 97W then when move to reference true south it should be very close, except a small error in the motor shaft latitude setting could lead to small error at true south. what do you suggest the next step? My plan is to mark the reference of the motor mount to the mast, then command it to 124.9W and select 11789V channel, turn off the motor and manual adjust the dish (move motor around the mast and motor latitude) for the best signal. recheck the signal at 97W and repeat the process if needed.

Thanks,
Brian

Here is a link to a pdf file for motorized ku installation that one of the members wrote a few years back. I think chapters 13 and 14 will be very helpful with aligning your dish. http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/attachments/installation-of-a-motorized-dish-pdf.43002/

 

[KE4EST]

Yep, sounds like you are still not aligned properly. It can be a challenge, but once you get it, you get it. So just keep at you will get it.

 

[Titanium]

Many transponder frequencies are duplicated on several satellites and can give you a false positive. Not sure if 12022 is one of them.Did you blind scan 97W and confirm that the channels that were logged are on 97w?

On 97w, I use 12152 because that TP is not duplicated on another nearby satellite.

Are you using USALS for motor control or DiSEqC 1.2? I would recommend that every newbie install their first KU motorized dish using USALS motor control as it greatly simplifies the install process. If you are using DiSEqC 1.2 to control the motor, STOP and reset the satellites to USALS before attempting to install.

 

[sapote]

Ti,
I positively locked to 97W: many vietnamese,middle-east, and church channels. I'm using USALS only. I adjusted the elevation at 97W for max quality, and then moved it to 125W and observed that the elevation also at its best, meaning it tracked the arc well (I was hoping the motor shaft latitude was off leading to the issue), so the only thing is its rotational position is off some how, i.e instead of at 125W, it was at 124 or 126. I could not figure out what might led to this issue.

 

[Titanium]

Is the pole perfectly plumb and level on all sides?

Your install location latitude is set correctly on the motor Latitude scale?

The declination angle of the dish elevation scale match the setting provided in the motor install manual based on your latitude?

If the motor latitude setting is wrong, it can be compensated by setting the dish elevation wrong and then one or two satellites will track.

 

[sapote]

1)using mason lever, the pole is plumb on all side. But I will look again
2)yes, lat is set on motor scale
3) I got the declination angle from dishpointer based on my lat, then I set the dish elevation = motor crank - declination.

 

[Titanium]

So to further clarify my question... Are the scale settings on the motor latitude scale and the dish elevation scale appear to be set close to the settings for your location?

How do you fine-tune the azimuth (East/West) setting for maximum Signal Quality? Rotate the motor on the post? or Bump the motor position East/West with the manual drive button?

How did you confirm that the dish is in perfect alignment (side to side/squared) with the motor in the "0" position? This can be a problem when a clamp type mount is used on a motor tube.