You guys might get a chuckle of the next sentence.
I have been using a Motek
SG2100 motor and a hotdish 76 cm dish for nearly 3.5 years, but here's the point, have had a Winegard DS-3100 1m dish in my garage sitting there for 2.25 years (purchase just before Hurricane Wilma visited our house in South Florida).
This past weekend, my wife and kids were out of town, and I found the dish in the garage. Pretty much forgot it was there. I cemented a new mast into a landscaping fiberglass, half-barrel that I had found at the local Home Depot. I filled the half-barrel with 120 lbs. of Sacrete concrete for posts. My mast was then level. It was finally plumb. Great!!!!.
I then disconnected the dish from the motor, and then disconnected the motor from the old mast. Moved the half-barrel into the same location on my 2nd story concrete deck.
Took the motor inside and drilled a hole in its post (shaft?) to fill it with hydraulic cement as suggested on another website. Worked well.
Connected motor to the new mast, and set the motor angle to my latitude (26.113639 N - as best I could just past 26 degrees on the motor's face panel). Then, I connected the dish to the motor, and set the dish's elevation angle to what I had believed was approx. 25. Then, i adjusted the whole setup to point to 185.7 (approximately obviously), my TS with 5.7 Magnetic Declination Angle taken into account.
I can scan in several birds along the arc using DiSEqC 1.2, but cannot get it to track dead-on with USALS or GoToX. When I try those, it goes to locations which find no signals.
On my motor, there is a pointer that I can align to the latitude (Latitude is 26.113639 N, and my Longitude is 80.271019 W), so I am pretty certain that is not the problem. The Winegard DS-3100 does not have a similar pointer in order to lock the dish in at 25.632 (30 - Declination Angle, as suggested on
Sadoun's website -
installation instructions), but the dish does have elevation number markings on its facing.
Here's what I am trying to figure. How do I find the appropriate place on for setting the dish elevation angle? Do I somehow figure out what part of the top nut (of the 3) for locking the dish against the elevation number markings? Do I use the metal plate behind the elevation number markings (which are to the right of the nuts if you are looking straight at the elevation number markings)?
Guidance would most definitely be appreciated, as I have been at this for 3.5 years, and never, ever figured this part out. Getting this right so that I can use USALS or GoToX would help so that I can try to further my knowledge with linux dvb-s programs. Have been using both a Fortec STB and an HTPC with several MS Win based programs. I would love to try the linux options with my HTPC. But with MythTV (and I suspect with VDR), the only way to get the motor to tune is to use USALS in setting up LNBs and Rotor.
Thanks in advance,
greyskies in sunny South Florida
Linear Mode
