Getting nowhere, really need help

[reverse-polarity]

Equipment:

31" FC80P Fortec Star 80cm Offset Satellite Dish
Digipower SG-2100 DiSEqC Motor
Invacom QPH-031

Location:

36.14 N, 80.30 W

I have been at this for a few days now with no real success. I have had no luck hitting any linear satellites, I can not get any signal level over 50% and 0 quality. I can however hit a circular satellite with 50% signal and 98% quality.

I first tried aiming at AMC5 as my true south, I could net get a lock. East-west, dish up-down nothing. Tried SBS6 still no luck.

So I tried aiming the dish at nimiq2 instead as my true south. After I was able to get a lock and did a scan it turns out I was hiting Nimiq1.

I've verified that my usals was moving the dish correctly with the gotox calculator.

I've tried moving the motor scale one degree in either direction and re-aiming. No luck. After reading these forums, I no thats a no-no but I had to try something.

I have attached some pics to see if anyone can give me any clues. Now Im wondering If my lnb arm is bent or perhaps simply the wrong one.

[wejones]

Originally Posted by reverse-polarity

Equipment:

31" FC80P Fortec Star 80cm Offset Satellite Dish
Digipower SG-2100 DiSEqC Motor
Invacom QPH-031

Location:

36.14 N, 80.30 W

I have been at this for a few days now with no real success. I have had no luck hitting any linear satellites, I can not get any signal level over 50% and 0 quality. I can however hit a circular satellite with 50% signal and 98% quality.

I first tried aiming at AMC5 as my true south, I could net get a lock. East-west, dish up-down nothing. Tried SBS6 still no luck.

So I tried aiming the dish at nimiq2 instead as my true south. After I was able to get a lock and did a scan it turns out I was hiting Nimiq1.

I've verified that my usals was moving the dish correctly with the gotox calculator.

I've tried moving the motor scale one degree in either direction and re-aiming. No luck. After reading these forums, I no thats a no-no but I had to try something.

I have attached some pics to see if anyone can give me any clues. Now Im wondering If my lnb arm is bent or perhaps simply the wrong one.

I notice that your latitude on the motor is now set at about 35 deg, perhaps your +/- adjustment. I'd recommend setting that to about 36.8. I'd then send USALS back to AMC5, and try that again. I'd do any up/down experimentation with the dish elevation, not the motor elevation, and once you find some signal, try moving the whole assembly east/west on the pole just a bit to peak the signal. Many have found that the dish elevation can be off, either because of bracket being wrong, or because the lnbf arm is bent.
If you still can't find quality, perhaps you are looking at an inactive transponder, or have your LO freq set wrong. I think that the LNBF you have should be set up as a Standard, 10750 LO freq. However, make sure that you are using the proper linear port off the LNBF. Since you say you got circular signals, I wasn't sure if you were switching coaxes manually, or if you have a switch, which might not be set up right.
If using a switch, I'd recommend taking that out until you get the thing aligned.
Re active transponder, what transponders were you looking for on AMC5???

[reverse-polarity]

I have a switch but I am not using it yet. I have just been moving the cable from L to C durring testing. I will reset the motor but it was in the right position durring my other testing I know that for sure.

As far as transponders, I was trying 4 and 8 on amc5 as they have channels I could get according to lyngsat. I made sure the freqs of the TPs were correct too.

[reverse-polarity]

So even if my lnb arm is incorrect or bent, I should still be able to find amc5 by moving the dish? I will keep at it

[wejones]

Originally Posted by reverse-polarity

As far as transponders, I was trying 4 and 8 on amc5 as they have channels I could get according to lyngsat. I made sure the freqs of the TPs were correct too.

I would recommend using tp 16U, NYN 12182/23000 , or tp 1u 11742/11110
tp 4, is not fta, it is a DCII feed that you can't pick up without a DCII receive (nice channel though). tp 8 I'm not sure of, but even if it's active, it's pretty narrow, and you may or may not lock it if your lnbf is a bit off freq.

Originally Posted by reverse-polarity

So even if my lnb arm is incorrect or bent, I should still be able to find amc5 by moving the dish? I will keep at it

Yes, you should be able to find it, unless it is WAY off. I would sight square to the surface of the dish, and the lnbf should be a couple inches up from the bottom edge of the dish. One fellow had his arm bent so much that the lnbf was nearly in the middle of the dish. Mine is a bit cocked to the left, and low, but still works OK.

[William Eng]

Are you using all RG6 cable? Try skewing the LNB a little and see what happens. Is the LNB pushed all the way back? Are all the nuts and bolts tightened?

[reverse-polarity]

Progfinder had the last liner sat I was using. It was amc5 and tp16u(12182/2300)

I will try again, slowly and methodically.

Yes all cable is RG-6, i tried lnb skew before with no success. Will try again.

[wejones]

Originally Posted by reverse-polarity

Progfinder had the last liner sat I was using. It was amc5 and tp16u(12182/2300)
..

That should be 12182/23000 , not 2300 .

Go slow. Your lnbf may be off freq. This time of year, when it gets cold, lnbfs sometimes drift a bit. I just noticed that MY lnb is off by more than 2 MHz today, which is making it hard to lock some narrow signals. It eventually locks, but takes a while.

[reverse-polarity]

It was 23000, just a typo.

[wejones]

Originally Posted by reverse-polarity

It was 23000, just a typo.

OK .

BTW, you never clarified whether you were set on 10750 LO freq?

[rainman]

some of these dishes has been off by as much as 5 degrees on the elevation scale just something to keep in mind. also mark your starting point on the pole so you can see how far you move east and west on the pole and can return to the starting point.also alow 10 to15 seconds for the receiver to see the change.

[reverse-polarity]

Originally Posted by wejones

BTW, you never clarified whether you were set on 10750 LO freq?

Yes Im using 10750.

[reverse-polarity]

Progress!! I have hit amc5, however I can not get above 45% signal and 37% quality no matter where i go. Rotating lnb doesnt seem to help either.

[reverse-polarity]

I am able to use usals to hit other sats now. However the signal is weak on all of them. I must still be off slightly but im unsure what direction to change.

[brentb636]

Do not expect a high number on signal quality on linear birds. The number varies model by model ( of receiver ) but if a 20% quality signal is viewable, then that is what you get. I'm seeing tp 12182 on AMC5 jumping between 37 and 44 quality on my Buzz Plus, with 31" fortec dish and Invacom lnb.

[pmb1010]

If you have your TV out by the dish, get your signal connected on AMC5 as best as you can.

Now, remove the lnb from the plastic holder. Then try to S-L-O-W-L-Y move it above and below it's spot to see if you get any higher quality indication.
This will tell you if your LNB arm is bent.

If you can, take a side view picture of your dish & LNB arm.
(like the top view you did, but from the side).

I know these pictures can be deceiving due to angles & stuff, but it sure looks like your LNB is not pointing to the center of the dish in one of those pics...

[rainman]

I agree pmb1010 it does look off but maybe just the angle of the picture.