0-6 Percent Signal - No Channels

[jdgroff2000]

1- Your location: Fountain Valley, CA
33.7 degrees N, 117.9 degrees W

2- Receiver make and model:
Fortec Star Lifetime Classic

3- Dish size:
90U/36" dish

4- LNBF type:

Single Digital Universal Ku 0.4 dB LNBF
FORTEC Star FSKU-v

5- Motor if any:

Satcontrol SMD312
6- Now to your question:

OK, I set this up per my understanding of the instructions. I'm a newbie but I'm a computer guy, so I'm somewhat technical. Here's what I set up.

I calculated my True South as follows.

180 - 13(magnetic deviation for Fountain Valley, CA) = 167
Pretty straight forward I think. Also, I live on a N/S street so I was able to point it pretty much straight south to the neighbors house. I measured with a compass nonetheless to confirm.


I set the elevation of the motor to 34 (my latitude).


I set the dish elevation to 41 per the SM3D12 instructions.

The motor is mounted on a plumb vertical pole (checked with a level on all sides to verify) attached to my fireplace so that it is high enough that there are no obstructions.

For the dish elevation, I set it to pretty much the middle of the bracket as there was an indented line in the metal that I assume is the indicator. see URL http://sadoun.com/Sat/Products/Forte...es/FC080C5.jpg




Have I miscalcuated anything. Is there more I need to do with the receiver. I set the LNB to universal on the receiver and am using USALS with my correct latitude and longitude.

I'd really appreciate some help here guys. I'm getting quite frustrated. As you can imagine, the little lady is real happy that I spent $350 for a satellite system that I can't get to work. Thanks in advance.

[kevision]

sounds like you have things pointed correctly except you have not indicated what satellite you are trying to recieve. "true south" indicates the sat located most directly south of you, not necissarily due south. Theoretically, you should be able to line everything up south and find the first sat closest to you. but in reality there are too many variables. I find it easier to find the true south satellite first, then orient from there.

Another thing to consider is that the signal strength offered by most recievers is not all that useful in pointing. whenever possible, use the 'quality' meter. it will only light up when a sat is in sight.

im afraid i don't have much to offer about the "little lady". I can find any sat on the clarke belt within 20 seconds, yet it still fails to impress my wife :mozilla_oops:

[kevision]

oh, and based on your location, the satellite you should be aiming for is G10R.

[benny666]

kevision,
I am in the same boat situation as jdgroff2000 ...
As I calculated the 90 degrees angle of the pole and made 0 degree of the motor shaft , I positioned the dish to 167 degrees as my true south then I used USALS to move to the G10R 123 degrees W ... but I couldn't get the sat's signal as I moved the dish up and down to hope it will fall into the clarkbelt so the green bar of QUALITY will increase up ... Guess what !!! ... nothing happened !!!

Originally Posted by kevision

oh, and based on your location, the satellite you should be aiming for is G10R.

You mean that I don't need to calculate the 167 degrees true South ? just move to the 123 degrees W and starting from there ? ie making G10R as 0 degree from the motor shaft as the base ? and moving to IA5 sat ...

I am frustrated too after making the sat move to IA5 and I see my Sat dish positioned into the large bush tree 30-40 feet up from the ground of my neighbour 's back yard ... I don't know why the G10R 123 degrees W didn't work as it was clearly out of the tree.

Any more ideas for me and jdgroff2000 ?
=D> Thanks in advance for advising Guys, :mozilla_wink:

Benny,,,

[jdgroff2000]

Originally Posted by kevision

oh, and based on your location, the satellite you should be aiming for is G10R.

I guess I'm confused (not hard for a guy like me). If I set everything up correctly, and when my dish is pointing at True South, it should be pointing to the zenith of the arc correct? Are you saying I should have my zenith be the G10R bird?

[pmb1010]

When you are pointing at "true south" your motor should be at zero.

Yes at that time, your dish will be at the top of the arc in the sky.

Now, using USALS and pick G10R have the motor drive to that satellite.
This is your highest satellite on the arc, so the motor should not move much.

Set your receiver to an ACTIVE tranponder number for G10R (<< == this is important!!!) and now begin to adjust the dish's elevation (not the motor bracket - that says at your fixed 34 deg) and s-l-o-w-l-y move the dish up & down, and the whole motor on the pole side to side, attemting to get some quality signal indication on the receiver.

An 1/8" adjustment in elevation will lose the signal. You'll know what I mean when you finally get some signal. It is VERY touchy.

good luck

[starman]

"I'd really appreciate some help here guys. I'm getting quite frustrated. As you can imagine, the little lady is real happy that I spent $350 for a satellite system that I can't get to work. Thanks in advance"........hehehe, we've all been there.

You are correct, when you are pointed true south you will be at the zenith of the arc. With your longitude of 117.9, you will need to move your dish(with the motor) to 123 to run into G10. That means the motor will move the dish about 5 degrees to the west. If you put your Fortecstar on USALS, and select G10, it should move it automatically to G10. You need to select a transponder on G10 that is active, not all of them are, 11805H SR 4580 is very strong here. You may have to enter that into your Fortecstar manually if its not there already. All that you have done up to this point will just get you in the ballpark, you WILL have to search for the signal, bump the dish east or west, pull up or push down gently on the dish while watching the quality meter on the Fortecstar.
Also, make sure your pole is plumb with the dish mounted on it. I have seen several installs on leaning poles that were plumb before the dish/motor was mounted, it is a lot of weight. If you can't find anything, take the motor off and just mount the dish to the pole and try to find a few satellites just to get the hang of it, then add the motor later.
The birds are up there and you will find them, it just takes time and patience. Tell you wife you are in training and not to make fun<grin>.