I am new to FTA too, I got my dish last weekend. After installing it on temporary pole, it took me good 2-3 hours to get a signal and see some videos. All along, I was thinking I had a bad receiver. So do not be disappointed, keep trying. Also, read your receiver manual, half the battle is driving the receiver. Try to have a setup on the ground where you can sit and work for few hours. Once, you get a hang of it and find your sats, then move your dish to a fixed pole, and it will not take you long to adjust it there.
One question I want to ask the experienced folks here is that, once I set the motor elevation per Sadoun web site (
HH90 motor, motor elevation= latitude ), I never visited this adjustment again, and in all the posts I have read there is no mention of fine tuning this adjustment. With the strongest transponder on
IA5, my max signal was about 73. So, I am thinking, maybe I should fine tune this adjustment. Unless when we fine tune dish elevation, then it does not matter much if motor elevation was less than a degree off. Thanks.