No sat signal

[jlfrazier81]

I just installed my orby and have tried everything and can't get not even a 1% signal. Am I missing something? Is there anything special that I need to do that I might be missing? I live in a very rural area of Virginia.

 

[harshness]

Did you have the dish installed or did you install it yourself?

The Orby satellite is about the size of a bus, is located over 22,000 miles away and the dish must be pointing directly at it (+/- a fraction of a degree both horizontally and vertically).

 

[jlfrazier81]

Self installed. Could the LNB be bad? We have moved it and used a dish pointer tool and can't get anything. We also mounted it on our power pole so could the overhead power lines be blocking any signal that we could get?

 

[harshness]

If you moved an Orby dish, you're just not aiming it accurately. The target is very small. Moving a dish a short geographical distance is a matter of making sure the mast is absolutely plumb and very slowly turning the dish across the identified azimuth with the bolts just loose enough to allow movement. Don't adjust the azimuth or elevation. If the end of the mast that is in the dish's mounting sleeve isn't absolutely plumb (vertical) to the Earth (eyeballing isn't sufficient here), you will regret it. There are more than a few YouTube videos on how to aim a small satellite dish.

If you're installing an Orby dish as your first satellite dish installation, you may have bitten off more than you can chew. If you're installing an FTA dish, the same is probably true but there is a lot more ways to go wrong.

Power lines may reduce the signal but they shouldn't kill it.

 

[FTA4PA]

I just installed my orby and have tried everything and can't get not even a 1% signal. Am I missing something? Is there anything special that I need to do that I might be missing? I live in a very rural area of Virginia.

Self installed. Could the LNB be bad? We have moved it and used a dish pointer tool and can't get anything. We also mounted it on our power pole so could the overhead power lines be blocking any signal that we could get?

Welcome to Satellite Guys jlfrazier81! I don't have Orby but have installed several ku free-to-air dishes and the principal is similar. As was mentioned in a previous post you are aiming at a small target a great distance away. It can be quite a challenge but you will get it if you keep at it. First off, are you sure you have a clear line of site (no tall trees, buildings, etc) to the Orby satellite (117 west)? How did you determine this? You said you used a dish pointer tool. Do you mean a phone/tablet app? I have tried some apps and found them to be ok to get in the ballpark but not accurate enough for installs. Have you tried www.dishpointer.com? It allows you to enter your exact coordinates and select the satellite you wish to aim at. After doing this it will give you all the info you need (azimuth, elevation, etc) to setup up a dish. You can zoom in and drop a pin on the spot your dish is installed and a green line will display the exact direction to the satellite. If you find a reference point along that line (pole, tree, etc) and aim your dish in that direction you should have the azimuth very close. There are several members here who have done self installs of Orby. Hopefully one will check in to provide some assistance.

 

[harshness]

Don't adjust the azimuth or elevation.

I meant don't adjust the elevation or skew.