Help with motorised setup

[Glock72]

Hi,

I need help with my motorised satellite setup I live in Daventry Northamptonshire. I have installed it but I’m only getting certain satellites on east but none on west?? I can get Thor 0.8w 13E 9E. 19.2E 28.2E and a very few channels 42E

many thanks in advance

 

[ozumo]

Is the pole absolutely plumb?

 

[jeallen01]

There'll be quite a lot to learn - so I think you need to read some of the earlier threads in the section of the forum where you posted your question as you should be able to find most of what you will need.

 

[Glock72]

Hi,

thank you for the quick reply, I was informed that a guy on here called @satelliteman does help with this kind of problem and is around the Northamptonshire area?
Regards

jay

 

[Manikm909]

ALSO - the motor needs to be plumb, this may sound obvious - BUT its very possible to mount a motor "half cocked" onto a level \ straight pole - this can be done with un-even and over or under-tightening of the motors clamp nuts, - very possible you can end up with a skewed motor.

 

[Gladstones]

Lot of things can go wrong for perfect alignment i.e mount/pole , motor , dish and lnb skew.

 

[Glock72]

Yeah I know I’ve put a couple up quite a few years ago, so just getting back into it again, one thing I did notice was when I sent the dark motor to 0 it was a little off, I’m just wondering if that could be the the problem as I aligned the motor straight with the dish??
does @satelliteman still dibble in motorised stuff do we know?

 

[a33]

one thing I did notice was when I sent the dark motor to 0 it was a little off, I’m just wondering if that could be the the problem

Could be.

Does your receiver have the command 'reset motor'?
In that case go (with 'move'-commands, or manual motor buttons) to the exact zero-position of your motor tube, and then do the reset. That should redefine that position as the zero-position again. (NB All the stored diseqc 1.2 / GotoNn positions are then reset, too!)

NB Some motors with buttons on them also have a way to perform the reset on the motor itself, I believe. I do not recall how, ATM, however.

Greetz,
A33

 

[Mickha]

You need to follow certain rules:
1. Ensure your pole is plumb, and strong enough to hold the weight of the dish, and motor.
2. Ensure that your Longitude, and Latitude, are correct, if using USALS, remember that negative Longitude readings are West, positive East.
3. 0, on your motor, should be pointing to your true South, your Longitude reading, if using USALS, set your dish/motor to 0, and also your LNB should be at 0. Enter your Latitude, and Longitude, into your receiver, then use your receiver to move the dish to a suitable satellite, like 1W. You then need to physically align your dish/motor, to 1W, until you reach the maximum signal strength.. You then adjust the brackets, on dish/motor, to get the strongest signal level.
4. Now you need to test it, and fine tune the settings. You do this by sending the dish, using your receiver, to the furthest West, and furthest East, satellites, you wish to receive, Often 30W and 42E. You note the signal strength levels, and if it's not tracking the satellite arc correctly, you move the dish back to 1W, then adjust the dish motor elevation, slightly, then compensate by adjusting your dish bracket, to get the strongest signal, and send iot once again to 42E, and 30W, to check if you've improved the levels. If not keep sending it to 1W, make minor adjustments, and keep checking.

 

[Glock72]

Thanks buddy I will try that when I have a free day and get a ladder again never had this problem on my last installs, but they were many years ago

 

[jeallen01]

Yeah I know I’ve put a couple up quite a few years ago, so just getting back into it again, one thing I did notice was when I sent the dark motor to 0 it was a little off, I’m just wondering if that could be the the problem as I aligned the motor straight with the dish??
does @satelliteman still dibble in motorised stuff do we know?

@Channel Hopper found that one of my Dark Motors will "zero" almost perfectly, whereas the other one has some sort of internal manufacturing fault that means it finishes up around 5 degs off "actual zero" when sent to what should be "zero"