boo boo'd - Installed wrong size post for 10' dish

[dcapper]

I didn't have the dish yet but had the post. Apparently the wrong one. I cemented in a 4" post. Either I get a collar made for the post or I take a 3" post and drop it down the center of the 4" post and drill bolts through both posts all the way up. What do you all recommend?

[The Hobo]

I'd just shove a 2' pipe (coupling-college) inside your post only at the top.

[Costactc]

I didn't have the dish yet but had the post. Apparently the wrong one. I cemented in a 4" post. Either I get a collar made for the post or I take a 3" post and drop it down the center of the 4" post and drill bolts through both posts all the way up. What do you all recommend?

I had the exact same issue with one of my poles as well. I found a 3" pipe and drilled bolts into it to accomodate the polar mount and it's solid. You could also have a smaller pipe welded onto the pole but that might be a bit more costly.

[dcapper]

Thanks for the ideas. The top of the pipe is threaded. So maybe I can find a 4" to 3" coupler and thread a small piece on top. The dish will be stationary once it's up for SES1. My neighbor is a plumber and has a welder. I could see if he could weld us something up. If you have any other ideas, I'm all ears. I'll post my results when I'm done.

[dcapper]

OK, here's what I did. I found a 3" post at work. Dropped it down the center of the 4" post. Poured gravel down the center of the post and put a dozen lag bolts through both posts. It's tight as could be. Now the actuator is set to the lowest point. I have no angle locator to adjust but it should be fine since it was a working dish that was just taken down last year. The Viewsat I'm using is set to standard lnb (choice of standard and universal). lnb frequency is set to 10600. I programmed the missing transponders into the Viewsat for MeTV. Does my setup sound correct to search for the satellite. It's been years since I setup a bud.

[Terryl]

I would top it off with some mortar or grout, about 2 to 3 inches deep, this will keep the water out.

As long as the 3" can't twist inside the 4" your OK.

And what are you trying to view, "Ku" band satellites ??? Or "C" band satellites??

If a "C" band LNB is being used (to view "C" band satellites) then your LO frequency for a "C" band LNB needs to be set to 5150.

[dcapper]

I want to use it for SES1 c-band (MeTV, Heroes & Icons, Decades, and Movies!). It will be stationary. But the actuator is seized so I can't be moved. I'll have to adjust it by moving the bolts up and down the actuator arm. I am going to have to wing it to point it. But when I tried earlier, I had the Viewsat set to standard lnb 10600. So do I need to set it to universal hi to 10600 and the low to 5150?

[Terryl]

What type/brand LNB are you using???


And you can use some 1/2" threaded rod as a make shift actuator, you use 1 nylock nut on one end and a lock washer with one nut, this fixes one end in place, the other end can be two nuts and two lock washers, this is the adjustment end.

Loosen one nut and back it out, or turn it in to adjust the dish to where you want it, once you find the sweat spot you lock it down..

[dcapper]

The lnb I am using is:

hxxp://www.titaniumsatellite.com/c1pll

I hope I bought the right one this time. I do have a threaded rod I can use. I think I have it around 32 degrees now. The post is perfectly straight. But it poured rain here so I can't really adjust it right now. It would have helped if I centered the dish with the polar mount facing straight south. I'm going to see if I can get the motor to move then I can really adjust properly. My dad thinks he still has a working actuator laying around. If he does, I'll bring it out to the cabin next weekend. I forgot to ask. I was wondering where I should have the lnb mounted on scaler ring? It's at 40 right now. I turned it 4.3 degrees too. Here is what I am supposed set at:

Satellite Data
Name: 101W DIRECTV 4S | DIRECTV 9S | SES 1
Distance: 38423km

Dish Setup Data
Elevation: 32.2°
Azimuth (true): 186.7°
Azimuth (magn.): 185.1°
LNB Skew [?]: 4.3°

[Terryl]

What would be you closest Due South "C" band satellite? (Lyngsat can help with this)(also dishpointer) you should find it first then adjust everything for this bird, once you have it dialed in then you can move the dish with the threaded rod acting as a motor to the 101W satellite.

Your due South satellite may be a few degrees East or West of due South but it will work out better once you get a good motor in-place.

Mine is 121W, ("C" band satellite is Galaxy 23) it is 1.1 degrees off of due South at my location.

[dcapper]

I appreciate all the help. Here is the most due south satellite for me:

Satellite Data

Name: 96.2W ECHOSTAR 6
Distance: 38405km

Dish Setup Data

Elevation: 32.4°
Azimuth (true): 180.4°
Azimuth (magn.): 178.8°
LNB Skew [?]: 0.3

So it's pretty close to 101w. It would have helped yesterday if I had set the lnb to standard and 5150 in the Viewsat setup. I had it set to 10600. I'm looking for c band not ku. I'll play with it today and post my results. I just hope I don't have the lnb upside down and then skew adjusted.

[dcapper]

Not getting a lick of signal from anything. I'm sure my setup is correct. I'm using transponder 3, freq 3773, FEC 4442 3/4, Vertical to search with. The transponder with Daystar tv on it. I'm giving up and bringing an angle meter next week. Then there will be no arc. I'll just set it to 32.2 and move the dish on the mount east to west.

[jvvh5897]

You might want to throw a circular pol LNB on the dish real quick just to see if you can find DTV sat on Ku band--that is the way I tend to point to 101 to setup a dish but I do have a DTV box to work with.
I'm trying to recall what signals I get well on 101 C band....nothing comes to mind and a look at lyngsat doesn't help. I did get MeTV for a while but not lately. Think one of the religious chs but not sure which. Some signals are new from the last time I tried.

You might want to try 103 degrees--they just positioned a new bird there and some signals are worth looking for--PBS Home feed, ION.

[dcapper]

I could try that. I have a few dtv lnb's. Just don't know how I would mount it in the scalar ring. I have some old dtv receivers too. I'll be back at the lake next weekend. I'll take up a receiver, lnb, and the angle meter too. At least I don't have to have someone in the cottage yelling to me the signal strength. I have a small RCA tv, so I can do it right beside the dish.

[jvvh5897]

You don't have to mount in the ring. Remove the C band LNB and just wave the Dave LNB around the focal point. Circular pol is forgiving about the smear that you get off-axis, so you could find the max signal somewhere and then tweak the dish around till you get it close to the LNB mount--remember that the way to move the dish is opposite of where the signal is reflected to--so if you find the max signal low, you have to move the dish up, find it to the left, move dish to the right.

[dcapper]

Stopped by the cabin on my way to a job and I put an angle meter on the elevation arm. The angle said 50 degrees. According to satfinder my elevation should be 32.4. But the jpg attached said the elevation arm should be set to my latitude which is 50.2762 degrees. And according to the chart I need the declination to be set at 4.66 degrees. Does this sound right from my previous post?

[jvvh5897]

Well they don't add up to 90 when you add EL to the angle, but then again the satfinder EL is not the same "elevation" as the photos are using. I would set the dish up as suggested in the photos (looks like it is a polar mount to me not AZ-EL mount).

BTW I pointed my dish at 101 the other day and found the GLC (God Learning Channel) was a strong one, 3710 freq.

[Terryl]

If you haven't moved the dish more then 20 miles North or South from where it was then all you have to do is set it for due South at the new location and find your due South satellite.

A very minor tweaking of the elevation settings is all that would be needed.

I would not touch anything on the polar mount if you in the same city where it was located in the past, just realign it back to due South.

[dcapper]

Well they don't add up to 90 when you add EL to the angle, but then again the satfinder EL is not the same "elevation" as the photos are using. I would set the dish up as suggested in the photos (looks like it is a polar mount to me not AZ-EL mount).

BTW I pointed my dish at 101 the other day and found the GLC (God Learning Channel) was a strong one, 3710 freq.

Thank you, I was looking for a good transponder. I will try that this weekend. The pictures I posted were from a webpage on how to install a cband dish. The last time I installed one was about 20 years ago.

[dcapper]

If you haven't moved the dish more then 20 miles North or South from where it was then all you have to do is set it for due South at the new location and find your due South satellite.

A very minor tweaking of the elevation settings is all that would be needed.

I would not touch anything on the polar mount if you in the same city where it was located in the past, just realign it back to due South.

The dish was my brother's. Here is where it was installed:

Your Location
Latitude: 50.1368°
Longitude: -97.3218°

Satellite Data
Name: 101W DIRECTV 4S | DIRECTV 9S | SES 1
Distance: 38401km

Dish Setup Data
Elevation: 32.4°
Azimuth (true): 184.8°
Azimuth (magn.): 181.9°
LNB Skew [?]: 3.1


Here is where it is now:

Your Location
Latitude: 50.2761°
Longitude: -95.8645°

Satellite Data
Name: 101W DIRECTV 4S | DIRECTV 9S | SES 1
Distance: 38423km

Dish Setup Data
Elevation: 32.2°
Azimuth (true): 186.7°
Azimuth (magn.): 185.1°
LNB Skew [?]: 4.3

How many degrees should I adjust the dish down?

[Terryl]

If needed (but I don't think it will) you adjust it down .2 degrees.

But the received beamwidth of the dish should capture the transponders just fine.

All you need to do is re-align it back to the due South position.

[dcapper]

If needed (but I don't think it will) you adjust it down .2 degrees.

But the received beamwidth of the dish should capture the transponders just fine.

All you need to do is re-align it back to the due South position.

I appreciate all the time helping me. I'm sure the motor is seized. If I can't work with the arc is there a way to find the elevation for 101? Like setting the dish and move it east to west by spinning it on the pole mount? Kind of like pointing an 18' dish? I know that I would need to get the dish on due south which the closet satellite is G19 97W. It's at 181.5 degrees (true) and 179.9 degrees (mag), if I get the motor working. Unfortunately I don't know what transponder I should be looking for. Does anyone have a transponder on G19 I should look for?

[dcapper]

Someone brought something to my attention. Decades, Movies, and Heroes & Icons are mpeg4. I don't think the Viewsat Ultra does mpeg4 only mpeg2. Looks like none of my FTA receivers will do mpeg4. NFusion Solaris, VS Ultra, VS Extreme, and VS Pro. Looks like my new Jynxbox won't do mpeg4 either. Will I have to buy a true fta receiver?

EDIT: My VS Max will do mpeg4 but it's in rough shape. Tuner is weak after running 5 sats.

[Terryl]

I appreciate all the time helping me. I'm sure the motor is seized. If I can't work with the arc is there a way to find the elevation for 101? Like setting the dish and move it east to west by spinning it on the pole mount? Kind of like pointing an 18' dish? I know that I would need to get the dish on due south which the closet satellite is G19 97W. It's at 181.5 degrees (true) and 179.9 degrees (mag), if I get the motor working. Unfortunately I don't know what transponder I should be looking for. Does anyone have a transponder on G19 I should look for?

Try 3922V, look at this info from lyngsat.


http://www.lyngsat.com/Galaxy-19.html

[Terryl]

Someone brought something to my attention. Decades, Movies, and Heroes & Icons are mpeg4. I don't think the Viewsat Ultra does mpeg4 only mpeg2. Looks like none of my FTA receivers will do mpeg4. VS Max, NFusion Solaris, VS Ultra, VS Extreme, and VS Pro. Looks like my new Jynxbox won't do mpeg4 either. Will I have to buy a true fta receiver?


No don't pan it once you get it aligned with due South, this will mess things up big time.

You can use a 1/2" piece of threaded rod and some nuts to replace the motor till you get a new one.

I used a setup with 2 steel angles at the points where the motor attached, you will have to brace the antenna up till this is in place.

On the antenna side of where the motor attaches I use a Nylock nut on one side of the rod, then the angle piece was fixed to where the motor mounted, a second Nylock nut was run down the thredded rod till it touched the angle, a second nut at the to ther end was used to push and retract the antenna, I will due up a drawing for you if needed.

This way you can manually move the antenna around till you find what your looking for.

[dcapper]

Weather is crappy here right now so I'm not going to go out to the lake to point it but here is a pic of it where it stands right now. It's set to the proper elevation and it's facing straight south. Now the arm is all the way in. If I was to use it as a moving dish, how would I get to, let's say AMC 8 at 139 degrees? I can't move the actuator anymore to the west. Do you have pics of how to use a threaded rod? I can't figure out how to mount one.

[Terryl]

OK, here are some photos, one end is fixed the other end you can adjust, I used aluminum "L" angle, you can use steel.

This is the fixed end it goes to the dish side of where the jack was, the bolt goes into the part where the movable part of the jack went.

24574


This end is where you do all the adjusting, it goes to the fixed end of the jack, you turn the nuts in and out till you find the bird your looking for.

24575


Use two washers one on each side.

The length of the threaded rod is the same as the jack size you have now, it will be a 36" or a 24", it all is determined by the size of motor you have on it now.
24576

This one replaces a 36" jack.

[dcapper]

That mount is a great idea! Haven't built one yet but I'm back at the lake to try and figure out if I can find my satellite. I'll post after I get pissed off enough and give up. I wish I knew what I could set the elevation at and then I would use the dish and move it east to west.

[dcapper]

Well at least I know the lnb is working. I kept finding Echostar 9/Galaxy 23 at 121W. So I'm a little low on elevation. But the skew says 19.4 ->. On SES 1 is says my skew should be 4.3 ->. Maybe that's my problem?

[dcapper]

WooHoo! I found it. I had the focal set to 40 and it wasn't doing much. So I put it to 38 and I found a sat that was only 24%, I changed transponders and realized I was on SES1. I tweaked it a little then adjusted the focal to about 36 and I'm getting 80% on SES1 now. I forgot to bring my coax crimper so I can't connect it in the cabin yet. Next weekend it will be done properly. Next I am getting an 8 foot for my parents house and get to do all of this over again. Thanks to everyone for all the help. It's much appreciated.