Need help seting SG2100 elevation

[glen4cindy]

I have been trying to get my 80cm Fortec dish installed and am having issues. I am using a large bucket full of concrete with a plumb pole in hopes to find the best location to use as a permenant mount.

I have the SG2100 motor that came with the kit from Sadoun. I have mounted the motor on the pole as indicated in the picture in the box, i.e. with the 30 degree stub pointing down.

I have my dish elevation set to 23.8 (as near as I can) degrees, which is 30 - my dec angle of 6.14 for a latitude of 38.72. My big question comes in here. There is a small ring that mounts in the motor and against the scales that has DOWN on it. What part of this ring is supposed to indicate the elevation of the motor?

At first try, when I powered on my box, I set my Lat. Long. and the dish moved to IA5, but, when it did, the dish looked as it was pointing and a near 90 degree angle. I may not be saying this right, but, I am used to DSS dishes that look like they are pointed somewhat to the sky. This dish looks as if it is just sitting on it's edge facing directly forward. On the motor itself, the 30 degree stub is pointed all the way at the 80.

I must have something wrong, because I cannot believe that IA5 is that far down on the horizon. Hopefully this picture will clarify things.

[elgemcdlf]

Ok to start I would forget about the elevation and simply set the latitude scale on the other side of the motor to match your latitude. Dish elevation is the 30-declination angle as you have it. Be careful with the motor as the other side is marked elevation and it is not the same scale.

Most have found the 80cm Fortec dishes to be off roughly 5 degrees. So add 5 degrees to your dish angle. These dishes do have a tendancy to appear as though they are looking way to low. You need to find signal on your true south location first before trying to locate any other sats on the arc. What is your longitude?

There is a small pointer on the washer and the align is roughly the base of the pointer on the left side of it as you are looking at it.

[rainman]

do a thread search on the 2100 in the forums wejones posted some great pictures on this motor should help you out also you want your motor set to your latitude.

[rainman]

the thread is titled FC-90/SG2100 observations. under installation support.

[glen4cindy]

Originally Posted by rainman

do a thread search on the 2100 in the forums wejones posted some great pictures on this motor should help you out also you want your motor set to your latitude.

That picture is one reason why I posted my question. The caption says it is set for 44 but, right behind the little pointer where the black line is looks like 46. I'm not sure if 2 degrees makes much difference, but, it would seem like 2 degrees down here could be a hudred miles once you reach the satellite!

This pic shows where my latitude is set. My first post said elevation, but, I meant to say latitude. (I knew I would screw up my question!) Okay, again, I hope you can see this, it is very bright outside and it is really hard to tell if I have a good shot or not, but, here it is. {Edit: The little pointer is just behind the 40, the pic is fuzzy.}

If I am correct about one thing, the offset nature of these dishes is such that the dish is actually pointing much higher than it looks, right?

Latitude is 38.72 here nad Long. is 90.11. So, if the box is trying to point the dish at IA5 would this put the motor pipe pointer at the 80 to one side? I suppose it would make sense to make sure the motor is turning to the right place in the first place.

Thanks again.

[wejones]

Originally Posted by glen4cindy

That picture is one reason why I posted my question. The caption says it is set for 44 but, right behind the little pointer where the black line is looks like 46. I'm not sure if 2 degrees makes much difference, but, it would seem like 2 degrees down here could be a hudred miles once you reach the satellite!

Actually, you mis-read the caption. The caption actually said:
"I set up the motor elevation to correspond to a latitude setting of 44 deg and elevation of 46 degrees "

Ie it is an elevation setting of 46, since the picture shows the elevation side. The latitude side showed 90-46=44 .

[glen4cindy]

Originally Posted by wejones

Actually, you mis-read the caption. The caption actually said:
"I set up the motor elevation to correspond to a latitude setting of 44 deg and elevation of 46 degrees "

Ie it is an elevation setting of 46, since the picture shows the elevation side. The latitude side showed 90-46=44 .

Thanks for correcting me. I see the error of my post now!

I see one problem in my setup so far, the motor latitude is not correct. I also think my temporary mount is a problem too. I used an empty bucket that used to have 50 lbs. of chlorine tabs in it, but, I have the dish set low on it, because there does not seem to be alot of stability otherwise. I had to use a hacksaw and cut the lip from the bottom because part of it was broken off and I did not notice, so that made my pole off plumb. I then used a palm sander on the bottom to sand down the center of the bottom. Now, the bottom is all smooth, but, I am still having problems finding a suitable location to put the bucket, not to mention it is very heavy!

I don't want the bucket to fall over with the dish mounted as this would really bring an end to my FTA experience before it even has a chance to begin.

There is a 4' x 4' pole that has the pool timer/power center on it on the front, and I have thought about mounting the dish foot to the rear of it. However, I am afraid that it won't hold without the cross supports that came with the whole setup.

I am tempted to start with IA5 without the motor to get a feel for things, and then, adding the motor in.

I am still wondering if the 2100 should be swinging the dish all the way to the far stop on one side when I go into the initial setup screen to put my home lat and long, and the sat screen is on the default of IA5. Anyone on that point?

Thanks again for all the help. This place and everyone has been a GREAT resource for me.

[glen4cindy]

Okay, I now have more information.

In following the instructions for installing the dish, I am here:

• In the USALS (or DiSEqC 1.3) menu, enter your Latitude (##.# N) and your Longitude (###.# W)
• Select one of the FTA satellites such as IA5 KU at 97W
• Select MOVE
• The Motor will now move the dish to where the satellite is.

I don't see anywhere on the *positioner menu* where there is a MOVE. I select the sat, input my lat/long and hit the green button for save and return. At this point, nothing happens. No motor movement. I do have a steady green at the motor. If I go into the menu and choose Goto REF, the motor moves all the way over and stays there until I go over to the dish and manually move it back.

What would cause this? I have checked my coax, and it is new RG-6 and new connectors.

I have tried doing this with each sat, but, the dish just sits there and does not move any at all unless I Goto REF.

Thanks

[elgemcdlf]

Kinda sounds like in your USALS settings you have an E where the W should be or a S where a N should be. I would start there. Source of the cable? You do have light so receiver to motor should be good. My guess is that your USALS entries are not quite correct.

[wejones]

Originally Posted by glen4cindy

Okay, I now have more information.

In following the instructions for installing the dish, I am here:

• In the USALS (or DiSEqC 1.3) menu, enter your Latitude (##.# N) and your Longitude (###.# W)
• Select one of the FTA satellites such as IA5 KU at 97W
• Select MOVE
• The Motor will now move the dish to where the satellite is.

I don't see anywhere on the *positioner menu* where there is a MOVE. I select the sat, input my lat/long and hit the green button for save and return. At this point, nothing happens. No motor movement. I do have a steady green at the motor. If I go into the menu and choose Goto REF, the motor moves all the way over and stays there until I go over to the dish and manually move it back.

What would cause this? I have checked my coax, and it is new RG-6 and new connectors.

I have tried doing this with each sat, but, the dish just sits there and does not move any at all unless I Goto REF.

Thanks

Do I understand correctly, that when you "Goto REF" that the dish swings all the way over to the west, like what seems to be shown in the picture near the top? If so, this shouldn't be the case. It should go to a due south position, where the 30 degre bend in the motor shaft is pointing down, and the mark on the shaft should be centered.

I may have misunderstood, but if the above is the case, then it sounds to me like your motor's zero position has been corrupted. This seemed to happen to me, although no nearly to the extreme that yours did, plus in my case, it didn't seem to be that the zero position was so much corrupted, but that my east/west limits got changed so that the dish couldn't get to the zero position. I was able to fix my motor by disabling the east/west limits, then manually setting the limits again at reasonable positions. I can't remember, but I think that after doing the disable limit thing, I went out, and used the buttons on the motor to manually move the dish east, and reset the east limit (inside), then went out and manually moved to the west, and reset the west limit inside. After that, the "Goto REF" command went to near the actual zero position again. I say near, because it has always been a couple degrees off. I should do a motor reset to see if that fixes it, but it's working fairly well, so I decided to wait until it gets mixed up again.
Anyway, I'd suggest trying the disable limits thing, and reset the limits, THEN try again to "Goto REF" to see where it goes. If it STILL goes way over to the west, then I think that I would move the thing to what the zero should be, ie line up with the mark on the shaft with bend aiming down, and then do a full motor reset. But I'd advise waiting until other people who have had this motor longer have a chance to respond. Someone else may have a better idea.

[glen4cindy]

Originally Posted by elgemcdlf

Kinda sounds like in your USALS settings you have an E where the W should be or a S where a N should be. I would start there. Source of the cable? You do have light so receiver to motor should be good. My guess is that your USALS entries are not quite correct.

I checked my settings. Zip 62040. USALS screen SAT Long. 097.0 W. My Long. 038.7 W My Lat. 090.1 N.

I found a website last night that calculated the degree position of the motor to see the sat. I then went to the dish and manually moved the motor to about +7 and IA5 immediately popped in at around 60% signal. I scanned the sat and found alot of TV and RADIO channels. Only a few had minor tiling, most I can view without much problem. This tells me that my positioning of the motor, dish and mount is pretty close.

I also went to the motor last night, and used a toothpick and pressed the RESET button while the motor was at ZERO. The light flashed from green to orange and then back to green. The motor still does not move to different birds when I choose them. I have to go to the positioner menu, select DiSEqC and then manually move the dish to bring in the sat. Otherwise, the dish does not move unless I use GOTO REF at which point it moves all the way to one side as shown in the first photo above.

Any ideas on what I am doing wrong or what I can try now?

Thanks!

[elgemcdlf]

You either have your location reversed in your receiver or reversed in this post. This will cause your problem. Your LAT is 38.7 not your LON. LON is 90.1

[wejones]

Originally Posted by glen4cindy

I also went to the motor last night, and used a toothpick and pressed the RESET button while the motor was at ZERO. The light flashed from green to orange and then back to green. The motor still does not move to different birds when I choose them. I have to go to the positioner menu, select DiSEqC and then manually move the dish to bring in the sat. Otherwise, the dish does not move unless I use GOTO REF at which point it moves all the way to one side as shown in the first photo above.

Any ideas on what I am doing wrong or what I can try now?

Thanks!

Like I said above, I'd still try to disable the east/west limits. On mine, this kept the motor from going to certain places, including the zero.

[glen4cindy]

Originally Posted by wejones

Like I said above, I'd still try to disable the east/west limits. On mine, this kept the motor from going to certain places, including the zero.

How do I do this? The only place I see a place for limits is in the positioner menu on the DiSEqC screen. Here is already says DISABLE. I have looked at the other menus and cannot find anywhere to adjust the limits.

I have a Fortec Star Classic. I did have my locations reversed. I changed those to the correct values. Now, the motor moves to like 50 something when I select IA5. When I manually select IA5 I have to move the dish to like +7 on the motor.

I have my motor mounted so the tube extends DOWN and the coax cables are on the bottom too. Do I have the motor upside down? The bend in the tube is up. This is how the picture shows it to be mounted in the motor manual. If I mount it up, then the hole in the tube will also be up.

Thanks!

[elgemcdlf]

Sounds like you have an E W entered incorrectly. 38.7N & 90.1W Verify the receiver saved your changes.