Latitude Scale Reading On The GEOSATpro GS120 DiSEqC Motoriezed Satellite Dish Moveer.

[ftanut]

Yesterday I installed a GEOSATpro GS120 on my 1.0 M Ku dish, The Pole/Post is plumbed, have set the motor mount latitude scale to my location. How true are the readings of the numbers stamped on the Latitude bracket. If an inclinometer is placed on the face/edge of where the LNBF and receiver coax connections and where the rotating tube are located, will this inclinometer Latitude angle reading be equal to the Latitude scale reading. When the inclinometer was placed at the above mentioned place, there is about four and a half degrees difference from the bracket reading anf the face/edge of the motor.

Having difficulty on finding satellites with this setup. I am beginninh to doubt the scale rading for the dish elevation bracket readings as well.

[el bandido]

What kind of dish do you have? We need to know the amount of offset the dish has.

You also need to determine how the system is tracking in the arc. How many satellites can you get now and what are the orbit locations for them? What is your due South or center satellite?

[ftanut]

What kind of dish do you have? We need to know the amount of offset the dish has.

You also need to determine how the system is tracking in the arc. How many satellites can you get now and what are the orbit locations for them? What is your due South or center satellite?

I have a 1 M dish from SatelliteAV. The motor and the dish were bought at the same time. My due South or center satellite is 91W. Live close to New Orleans. The motor latitude is set at 30 degrees just like my location, and the dish elevation was set per Dishpointer instructions.

According to Dishpointer.com: Elevation 54.7 degrees
Azimuth 182.4 True (183.0 Mag)
Skew 2.1 clockwise ( it is motorized so it set a Zero degrees)

After my first posting, I went outside and played and adjusted the Dish Elevation which as suspected, the printed scale on the dish was defenitely off for almost 3.5 degrees. Used a mechanical inclinomete as well as a digital one. Was able to find two ABC news Channel (91W ) while trying to locate 95W.

The mosquitos were hungry, so I called it a day for now. Will give it another try tomorrow.

[dr.zin]

reminds me of a microyal h2h motor I bought years ago.The washers for the latitude bolts had pointers and a tab marked "down"
You guessed it, the "down" tabs had to actually face upwards instead of down.The engrish manual was wrong but the picture of the motor on the box showed the correct placement of the washer/pointers.If I remember correctly the incorrect washer install put the latitude/elevation off by 5 degrees.

[eastof111]

I went out to look at my old Motek SG2100 and it was off my 1 degree as shown on the stamped degree bracket. I expected more deviance, so was surprised by the small number.

[el bandido]

The dish information we need would look something like this:


Antenna Size 1.2 Meter (48 Inches)
Offset Angle 27.3 deg.
Aperture Efficiency 80%
Horizontal Axis 120 cm (47.24 in)
Vertical Axis 135 cm (53.15 in)
Assembled Weight 12.25 kg (27 lbs)
[Only registered and activated users can see links]
Focal Length 60 cm (23.62 in)
F/D Ratio .5
Mount Type U-Bolt Az / El with Fine Tuning Adjustment
Azimuth Ajustment

360 deg.
Elevation Adjustment 15 - 90 deg.
Mast Diameter Minimum: 55mm (2.16"), Maximum 76 mm (3")
Operating Temperature -40 C - +60 C
Operational Wind Speed 90 km/H (56 mph)
Survival Wind Speed 180 km/H (112 mph)
Finish Texture Polyester Powder Coating
Material

Gavanized Steel
LNB Mount Type Universal 40 mm / 23 mm clamp
Color Grey

I will explain how I have my 1.2 meter dish setup and how I align it. my center satellite is AMC 16, 85 West.
First, the dish motor is connected to the fta receiver and set at my latitude of 34. The fta receiver is used to call AMC 16 using USALS. I do not particularly care if the number on the motor is right or wrong at this point, I simply set it and lock the adjusting bolts down tight. I am ready for the next step once the receiver calls the satellite.

Next, the dish antenna is mounted to the motor, and the correct elevation for the dish is set.
An inclinometer is attached to the back of the dish, close to and in line with the motor stem. This area of the dish gives me an accurate angle reading.
The angle reading on my inclinometer is 67, so my dish is tilted up 23 degrees (90-67=23). The degrees of dish offset need to be added for total tilt, so the dish is tilted up 50.3 degrees (23+27.3 = 50.3) My target elevation for AMC 16 is 50.5 degrees.

Finding AMC 16 is usually not much of a problem. The dish motor mounting nuts are loosened and the motor is moved East or West until AMC 16 is found. I peak the signal on AMC 16 as best as possible, then tighten the motor nuts snug. I only go tight enough to keep the motor from moving or shifting because more adjustments will probably be needed.

Other nearby satellites are found and scanned. I plot them on a graph to see how the motor is tracking. On the dish, I also slightly push/pull up,down and East,West at each found satellite to see if the transponder signal improves. This information is added to the plots on the satellite graph.

All you need is to scan three or four satellites on each side of center to have enough information to start making adjustments.

[ftanut]

el bandido,
Did some research on the 1 M dish, according to SatelliteAV the dish is a Winegard 1 M. Went to the Winegard website and there was a very good descrition and few picture, it is "Winegard 1 meter & Universal Mount" , model number DS-3101, it looks just like my dish.

Later on today I will work more with my system setup.

[el bandido]

OK.
[Only registered and activated users can see links]

The offset for that dish should be 24.0 degrees.
You need the dish to be tilted up 54.7 degrees for the center satellite (91W).
Your inclinometer should read 59.3 when attached to the back of the dish ( 90 - 59.3 + 24 = 54.7).

[el bandido]

Here are a couple of pictures of the inclinometer attached to the 1.2 meter dish.
6344 6345

[ftanut]

Finally got the setup working but with some crazy results....Will start a new thread and report about it.

[dr.zin]

i actually have my motor set up just the opposite of what the manuals say.
As long as all the angles add up,the dish works fine.
I have my dish set to the elevation angle and motor set to declination.

[el bandido]

There are several different ways you can set up a dish motor and get it to work, but those that set them up correctly usually have the best results.

Ku dish motors were designed to have a dish mounted on them at the same angle as the dish would be mounted if it were stationary and not mounted to a motor. All ku motor instructions that I have seen are expected to be set up like this.

[dr.zin]

I have seen engrish manuals that were wrong like previously mentioned.
Mine says to set up the declination angle to 30 degrees,which is way off for a "correct" install.