can anyone help before i pay for an engineer.

[richbrooks]

hey
iv entered my post code on dishpointer.com and results dont seem to corispond to the guages on the dish.
the evelation says -10 degs but the gauge only has 0 - 60 degs.
The lnb skew says -38 degs but the lnb guage has 20 - 20 degs(im assuming onw of these is minus but it doesnt say this)
i get 60 or 70 % strenght on all sats on my pre programed box but 0% on quality.

[Matth]

Wrong location, or wrong sat, as if it says negative elevation, it means the satellite is below horizon!

If you enter the location, then the sat, you have to ok it again to get the bearing for the sat you select, it doesn't auto update.

[Jasperodus]

Hi Rich.

Just a couple of thoughts - and please accept my apologies if I mention anything which seems unhelpful, but:

1. I guess you located the upper bolts for the elevation bracket in the correct holes (A) for UK?

2 For the Dishpointer settings - It sounds as if you may have entered your post-code, but did you change the shown satelite from the list to the one you actually want? Only ask, because this could be the reason for the incorrect setting of -10 degrees.

3. The LNB does have a small alignment mark, you will find it on the circular rim. As you pointed out, the graduations are simply marked to 20 degrees each way. For a negative LNB skew you would look at the LNB from behind the dish. So, if the LNB were set at 0 degrees (ie: cable would be hanging straight down from the LNB at this position), then you would need to rotate the LNB so the cable connector on the bottom of the LNB would move to the right of vertical.

Hope you make some progress.


Regards.

[richbrooks]

hi jasp

all thorghts are welcome.

Bolts in A.

Have selected the Astra sat that is mentioned in the instructions. the readings from dishpointer are almost exact to the instructions( slightly different because im a few miles away from location in instructions)

Theres definatly no mark on my lnb so iv put my own on with a pen, top dead centre.
Readings drom dishpointer and instructions for lnb are -12 degs.

Im finding north with compass and rotating the dish to the required angle, but it doesnt seem possible to be exacly accurate.
Same with the elevation. the guage is only marked in 5's but readings are very presise.26.2 degs.

may be you can advise more....
R

[Jasperodus]

Hi Rich.

Well, I am by no means an expert in this field - all I've done prior to this is maybe stuck the odd tv aerial in a loft. Anyway, seeing as I have good results from my Ross kit without too much fuss......

The precise LNB skew is not critical for initial setup anyway - in case you are thinking that you need three things (Azimuth elevation & LNB) absoloutely accurately set before any results.

As for the problem of matching the relevant elevation using the rather crude scale marked on the bracket: In my case I needed 25.3 degrees. I could see that the scale (not to mention the bracket design itself) would make it very difficult to achieve a close to perfect initial setting so I just went fractionally over the 25 deg. Again, not being able to achieve the exact, spot-on spec at this point does not mean you are stuffed.

For the azimuth: I know you have a compass but do any sky dishes point in the same rough direction, and have you zoomed in on your location map at the dishpointer site to verify that your dish is pointing somewhere handy? The dishpointer map overlays a target line to your sat. I used this target line for my initial setting.

Anyway, provided the elevation is as closely set as you can reasonably manage, then it's a case of moving the dish left or right gradually until you hit something - which you should do, even if it is not what you are looking for. But you should get something. If what you get is not what you actually want, at least you know you are getting there, and what you have picked up may give you a clue as to where you are pointed and which way to go.


If you are confident that you have your initial settings somewhere handy but still having problems, then are you happy with:

The dish having no obstacles between it and the target?

The mounting arm being ok for vertical?

The connections and condition of the cable - are both connectors securely attached to the cable ends, and is the cable copper-core showing protuding from the connectors ok? The cable itself may have been packaged like a piece of washing-line, if so is there any visible splitting? Are the cable connections screwed nicely to the back of the reciever and to the LNB?

If you are happy with all the above, then perhaps the LNB could be a duffo? When I took my receiver back to the store the chap was looking through some opened boxes, one of which was marked for return due to faulty LNB.

Basically, achieving the precise settings initially should not mean total lack of results. As long as you confident that you have done your best to be somewhere handy to begin with and know that your figures are correct, then you should not have to spend much time at all before you hit 'something'. From there it's a matter of fine-tuning. I guess your figures are ok now (and not -10 deg elevation as before), because you have verified that the dishpointer figures correspond closely with the Ross alingnment figures.


I know some of this may sound a little insulting. Sorry for that, but always have to check the basics.
Other people here might be able to suggest other things - as I say, I have no real technical knowledge in this area. But when there are problems, you have to go back and check the basics.


Good luck