Trouble at the ends of the arc- DG280

[cnagorka@gmail.com]

Hello:

Everything is going pretty well here, the USALS system on the DG-280 is working fine, but...I can't get the dish elevation correct so it'll work at both ends of the arc. If I set the dish so I can get SBS6@74W, I can't get Galaxy10@123W, and vice versa. I can usually get the ones in the middle (i.e. Gal25) fine set either way. I would seem like a problem with the mast being out of plumb, but I checked it and it's dead square. Any ideas? I'm getting tired of going out there with a wrench every time I want to see something on the ends!

(I don't think it's a problem with the motor, but I didn't know which forums was the best to post this.)

TIA
CN

[Jim-S]

One would believe from what you describe is that the mast is out of plumb, it has to be plumb all the way around. Have you use a magnetic angle locator, I would trust this more than a bubble level, I used both. Have you checked for bent brackets etc.
Check mast plumb with the dish at all positions of your arc.......Check for proper assembly....It has to be something with you arc.....Is this a new system that you put in. Sadoun has a "tech help" on their web site about assembling dish's......
Jim

[pmb1010]

you have to find out if the error at the ends is either higher or lower than expected.

WIth the dish at the extreme ends, pull up and/or push down gently on your dish to see if it begins to get a signal at the ends.
Figure out which way the dish needs to go.

Then, adjust your motor's LAT setting based on the attached pic.
You need either more or less "curve" to your dish's rotational arc.
You might need to adjust your most south sat again, with the dish elevation to peak it back.

That should do it.

[cnagorka@gmail.com]

Terrific! I'll check it out, I'm sure that's the problem with all of the messing around I've been doing.

CN

[Vitruvius]

Nice Diagrams PMB. Thanks for sharing with us.

[pmb1010]

right out of the HH100/HH120 manual...

[Jim-S]

Originally Posted by Vitruvius

Nice Diagrams PMB. Thanks for sharing with us.

Ditto.............I printed it thanks...........
Jim

[cnagorka@gmail.com]

Hello:

I printed out the diagrams too, and understand them perfectly, but...how do I get the motor/reciever to comply (Mercury II/DG-280)? I need to shift the arc to the east, since the dish needs to be lowered to get the sats on the far west end. But I don't see how to do it- the DG-280 manual lists all of these things about "Shift 0" commands, which I don't see in the Merc. menu. There are plenty of "Go to 0" commands, but that's not the same as shifting it to a different reference point.

On a related question, do the DiSEq1.2 and USALS systems "communicate" with each other? In other words, if I use the USALS to get to a sat but then I need to fine tune it using DiSEq, and store that, does the system know to go to that new point I just set? Or do I need to leave that sat set on DiSEq and ones that didn't need adjustment on USALS?

Thanks for the help so far, I'm getting there...

CN

PS- Is it me, or does the MercII sort of randomly show whatever time it feels like on the display? It certainly has no connection to reality, even an hour after you reset it.

[Vitruvius]

Not sure about your arc... You have to figure out how you are off based on PMB's chart.

I would set the motor per the manual for your lat and longitude. Set your dish per the motor instructions with the correct angle attached to the motor. If you follow all the numbers somewhat correctly you should have the correct arc... then it is just a matter of finding the first sat. I usually turn the receiver to the 97 sat using USALS since programs are easy to find there. This will move my motor to where 97 should be on the arc, but not necessarily have it in view. I then rotate the whole assembly, motor and dish, in little increments until I get a lock on a signal. Then I adjust just the dish, not the motor, up,down, and then whole assembly left right to get a stronger signal. But I suppose you have done all this. I usually get a good arc every time.

For your Mercury II, you can set different satellites to USALS or to Diseqc 1.2. I sometimes find a bird using USALS, and then once the dish is aimed and the signal is a little weak, I will switch to Diseqc 1.2 and fine tune the dish horizontally to increase signal strength and then just leave it on Diseqc while other birds may be set by USALS. This is a nice thing with the Mercury. Other receivers are probably capable of this as well.

[cnagorka@gmail.com]

Seeing that it needed to come down in the west and up in the east, I finally just ignored the bubble level and readjusted the mast. It works fine now and gets everything from AMC 6 to Galaxy10...I guess the bubble must be off. I'm not messing with it now!

CN

[pmb1010]

Well, the earth *is* slightly tilted on it's axis...
that must have been the reason the bubble level was off












(just kidding)
Actually your description was the top figure on the chart. Moving the motor on the pole to the right a little bit shold have corrected that...
But in any event, glad to hear you have it sorted out.

[cnagorka@gmail.com]

Actually using it more now I'm still having basically the same trouble, it worked the first time (when I posted that last message) but I still have to adjust down for 123W. I know that turning the dish on its mount would be the right thing to do, but as I said before, that would mean shifting the "0" to a new point, and I don't see how to do that with the MercII. I've found out the hard way that turning things just a TINY bit means the difference between getting the sat you want and the next one over! It really hits home how small one degree of rotation is.

CN