Help with NYC installation

[mistervoo]

I recently purchased an M-2 Motorized FTA package from Sadoun which consist of :

-Fortec Star Mercury II Digital Satellite Receiver
-Fortec 36" Dish
-HH90 motor
-Fortec Star Universal QUAD Ku 0.7 dB LNBF FSKU-4v

I have been having tons of trouble setting this system up.
My Latitude is 40.7
My Longitude is 73.9

I set my motor to 0 and I set the angle on on HH90 to my latitude which is 40.7.

I set my dish elevation angle to 38.7. (is this correct?)

I point the whole unit to true south which to my understanding is 180 directly south plus another 14 degrees. So it should be 194.


After doing this and even playing with my settings. I find the fortec reciever moves the unit just fine but I can NEVER get a signal strength out of the single digits. ANY help would be appreciated. Am I doing something wrong??

[wejones]

Originally Posted by mistervoo

I have been having tons of trouble setting this system up.
My Latitude is 40.7
My Longitude is 73.9

I set my motor to 0 and I set the angle on on HH90 to my latitude which is 40.7.

I set my dish elevation angle to 38.7. (is this correct?)

Correct, however I would recommend using 41.4 for your latitude, and 5.7 for your declination, so that 45-5.7=39.3 . The reason for this has been discussed in other threads. The numbers you used will work OK as long as you don't turn the motor too far east or west, but using these alternate numbers should give good tracking across the arc.

Originally Posted by mistervoo

I point the whole unit to true south which to my understanding is 180 directly south plus another 14 degrees. So it should be 194.


After doing this and even playing with my settings. I find the fortec reciever moves the unit just fine but I can NEVER get a signal strength out of the single digits. ANY help would be appreciated. Am I doing something wrong??

Right, re the 180+14. Re not geting signal strength, do you have a hand held signal meter, or have you rigged up your receiver/TV out near the dish so you can see your signal strength while moving the dish? Ie it doesn't take being off very much before you don't get anything. You really need to have some way of seeing instantly what your adjustments are doing.
You need to leave the motor inclination alone, and change the dish elevation up and down until you see a signal. Part of the problem is that the scale on the motor is accurate, however the scale on some of the dish mount brackets is off by a few degrees, so you have to fine tune the dish elevation adjustment. Plus compass headings are never very accurate. I've seen 5 deg changes in moving just a few feet where I live, and this is out in the woods, away from any metal.

[mistervoo]

Originally Posted by wejones

Correct, however I would recommend using 41.4 for your latitude, and 5.7 for your declination, so that 45-5.7=39.3 . The reason for this has been discussed in other threads. The numbers you used will work OK as long as you don't turn the motor too far east or west, but using these alternate numbers should give good tracking across the arc.

Tried looking up those threads mentioning this, can you possible lead me in the right direction? As for the declination, I am a little confused . I set it to 38.7, meaning when i look at the numbers on the angle of the dish (not the motor) it angle actually reads 38.7 in addition to the 41.7 i set on the motor angle. Should it be just 5.7 degrees that's read on the angle? I get confused about this.

Originally Posted by wejones

Right, re the 180+14. Re not geting signal strength, do you have a hand held signal meter, or have you rigged up your receiver/TV out near the dish so you can see your signal strength while moving the dish? Ie it doesn't take being off very much before you don't get anything. You really need to have some way of seeing instantly what your adjustments are doing.
You need to leave the motor inclination alone, and change the dish elevation up and down until you see a signal. Part of the problem is that the scale on the motor is accurate, however the scale on some of the dish mount brackets is off by a few degrees, so you have to fine tune the dish elevation adjustment. Plus compass headings are never very accurate. I've seen 5 deg changes in moving just a few feet where I live, and this is out in the woods, away from any metal.

Yes i have a tv set up right next to the dish so i can see the signal strength immediately as i move it.

Thanks for your help wejones. If anyone else has any input or advice. I'm all ears!

[rainman]

the most important part is to make slow small movements and allow a few seconds for the receiver to see the changes. I marked my pole and motor so I could tell how far I moved it. worked for me.

[wejones]

Originally Posted by mistervoo

Tried looking up those threads mentioning this, can you possible lead me in the right direction?

You might search for geo-orbit because I usually refer to that web page. However simplified, the declination to a southern sat is typically near .6 degrees more than that to a eastern or western sat, and if you use your latitude for the motor angle, it means you will be off by that much when viewing eastern or western sats. However if you use .6 degrees more for the latitude setting ( .6 degrees less elevation), and use .6 less for the declination, you will track accurately across the arc.

Originally Posted by mistervoo

As for the declination, I am a little confused . I set it to 38.7, meaning when i look at the numbers on the angle of the dish (not the motor) it angle actually reads 38.7 in addition to the 41.7 i set on the motor angle. Should it be just 5.7 degrees that's read on the angle? I get confused about this.

The motor shaft rotates around an axis that is nearly parallel to the earth's axis, and sweeps a plane roughly parallel to the equatorial plane except that it is thousands of miles above it, due to your latitude. To see a sat, you have to look below the plane perpindicular to the motor axis. That angle is the declination, and in the US it's somewhere in the 4.5 to 7 degree range. The problem is, that the mounting brackets for these little dishes don't allow you to tilt DOWN, they only allow you to elevate the dish. So the motors have a bent shaft that tilts down. Your motor is bent at 45 degrees, so to get your declination, you subtract your declination from 45 to see how much to raise your dish to be looking below the plane by your declination. {I know that's confusing.}

Originally Posted by mistervoo

Yes i have a tv set up right next to the dish so i can see the signal strength immediately as i move it.

Good.

[mistervoo]

Wejones thanks so much for your help. I've just about given up. I've spent endless hours trying to set this up this weekend and can't get a signal.

Can anyone recommend any professional installers or are there any professional installers on that this forum that reside in the NYC area (brooklyn specifically). This is for a sadoun motorized system. I would prefer someone that has done a motorized installation previously.