Dish alignment #s don't match set-up #s

[drpjr]

I am trying to help a friend whos dish was blown out of alignment in the recent No-Cal storms. Apparently the bolts were not tightened properly and the dish is at the end of limit for elevation and pointing north. The #s as per HR-22 set up screen are 134 AZ, 41 EL and 113 Tilt. He has reset the elevation to 41 and the tilt remains at 113. He has moved AZ from due east to due south in small increments with no luck. I told him to look at his neighbors dish about 25ft away and compare. He says that elevation is way different on neighbors. He climbed up on roof and confirmed 25 degrees EL on neighbors dish. I live about 5 miles away and checked my box set up #s and they are the same. I checked my dish and it has the EL set at 25degrees also. Why does the box say to use 41 degrees when the dish is set to 25 degrees?:confused::confused: Any help would be much appreciated. Service call is 8 days out. Also we don't have a meter so any short cuts or tips would help.

[CCarncross]

He might not be selecting the correct dish type during the initial setup process, but beyond that if his neighbor and you are both at 25, he should try 25 and see if that works, cant hurt.

[BattleZone]

All of those adjustments are based on the mast being plumb. If it isn't, then repointing the dish will be exponentially harder. Take the dish off the mast and use a torpedo level to check the pole in both directions.

[veryoldschool]

I am trying to help a friend whos dish was blown out of alignment in the recent No-Cal storms. Apparently the bolts were not tightened properly and the dish is at the end of limit for elevation and pointing north. The #s as per HR-22 set up screen are 134 AZ, 41 EL and 113 Tilt. He has reset the elevation to 41 and the tilt remains at 113. He has moved AZ from due east to due south in small increments with no luck. I told him to look at his neighbors dish about 25ft away and compare. He says that elevation is way different on neighbors. He climbed up on roof and confirmed 25 degrees EL on neighbors dish. I live about 5 miles away and checked my box set up #s and they are the same. I checked my dish and it has the EL set at 25degrees also. Why does the box say to use 41 degrees when the dish is set to 25 degrees?:confused::confused: Any help would be much appreciated. Service call is 8 days out. Also we don't have a meter so any short cuts or tips would help.
I'm not "that far" from you with:
Elevation: 40.1°
Azimuth (true): 149.9°
Azimuth (magn.): 135.4°
Dish Tilt: 112.8°

Go here to see yours:
http://www.dishpointer.com/

[jdspencer]

Make sure you are using the correct markings on the dish for elevation. Don't use the center of the bolt as the indication, it's actually the edge of the washer.

[cartrivision]

Make sure you are using the correct markings on the dish for elevation. Don't use the center of the bolt as the indication, it's actually the edge of the washer.

Actually, it's the edge of the metal piece that is just behind the plate with the elevation degree markings... line that edge up with the correct degree marking... but as others have noted, those degree markings are only correct if the mast is plumb.

[drpjr]

I'm not "that far" from you with:
Elevation: 40.1°
Azimuth (true): 149.9°
Azimuth (magn.): 135.4°
Dish Tilt: 112.8°

Go here to see yours:
http://www.dishpointer.com/

Dishpointer shows: Elevation 35.7* Az true 136.7* Az magn 122.3* and skew -32.5*. I cannot find the tilt and I don't know what skew means. I think I have solved part of the problem. I went back up on my roof to take a picture of the elevation markings and noticed I wasn't looking '' through'' the bolt slot to the marker. There is a score mark from a bolt being tightened centered almost directly over the 41* (actually 39*). I assumed it had been changed from 41 to 25 using the center of the bolt as a marker. Oh dopey me. Good call jdspencer. My question: 39* is still a long way from 35.7* Which one should we use?

[drpjr]

Actually, it's the edge of the metal piece that is just behind the plate with the elevation degree markings... line that edge up with the correct degree marking... but as others have noted, those degree markings are only correct if the mast is plumb.

Right on. You posted while I was typing.:D

[veryoldschool]

Dishpointer shows: Elevation 35.7* Az true 136.7* Az magn 122.3* and skew -32.5*. I cannot find the tilt and I don't know what skew means. I think I have solved part of the problem. I went back up on my roof to take a picture of the elevation markings and noticed I wasn't looking '' through'' the bolt slot to the marker. There is a score mark from a bolt being tightened centered almost directly over the 41* (actually 39*). I assumed it had been changed from 41 to 25 using the center of the bolt as a marker. Oh dopey me. Good call jdspencer. My question: 39* is still a long way from 35.7* Which one should we use?
Which dish did you select?
How far "from" Sacramento are you?
Here is what Sacramento gives for the 5 LNB dish:
Elevation: 40.5°
Azimuth (true): 149.1°
Azimuth (magn.): 134.6°
Dish Skew [?]: 113.7°
Skew = tilt

[raoul5788]

Dishpointer shows: Elevation 35.7* Az true 136.7* Az magn 122.3* and skew -32.5*. I cannot find the tilt and I don't know what skew means. I think I have solved part of the problem. I went back up on my roof to take a picture of the elevation markings and noticed I wasn't looking '' through'' the bolt slot to the marker. There is a score mark from a bolt being tightened centered almost directly over the 41* (actually 39*). I assumed it had been changed from 41 to 25 using the center of the bolt as a marker. Oh dopey me. Good call jdspencer. My question: 39* is still a long way from 35.7* Which one should we use?

Which satellite are these numbers for? You should be aiming at 101.

[jdspencer]

On the dishpointer.com website you can select the satellite group (corresponds to the dish type) you want in the drop down menu.

[drpjr]

I need to regroup. I didn't select any satellite. The numbers I got were for the default setting. Unfortunatly I'm out for the next several hours and will have to revisit late tonight or tomorrow. VOS those numbers look really close to what I get for sat 101. Thanks

[drpjr]

QUOTE=veryoldschool;2249408]Which dish did you select?
How far "from" Sacramento are you?
Here is what Sacramento gives for the 5 LNB dish:
Elevation: 40.5°
Azimuth (true): 149.1°
Azimuth (magn.): 134.6°
Dish Skew [?]: 113.7°
Skew = tilt[/QUOTE]

Which satellite are these numbers for? You should be aiming at 101.

On the dishpointer.com website you can select the satellite group (corresponds to the dish type) you want in the drop down menu.

Thank you for all of this information. I must confess before I was PWD. (posting while distracted) It was also my first time using the dishpointer web site or alighning a dish. I went back to the website and for 101 I got EL 40.6*, AZ true149.1*,Mag134.7* and Skew -23.7*. I did not see 113 for the tilt anywhere. Yesterday I went to friends house and he set the dish to those #s. Nothing. Thinking we have to be close I told him to ''Flex" the dish a little left then right then up and down. On the up the meters moved. Yahtzee!! He then adjusted the elevation to peak. For 101* lowest 92 most 95 to 97. The others are:
103c 1-8 80 77 77 70 77 74 76 72 9-16 77 74 77 71 79 76
103s 1-6 0 0 0 0 0 0 15+16 83 0
99s 1-6 0 0 0 0 0 0 15+16 100 0
17-24 98 98 0 0 0 0 80 91
99c 1-8 80 77 75 80 77 77 73 77 9-14 79 77 78 74 81 83
110 8=91 10=88 12= 92
119 all 76-80s Do we need to fine tune or are we good? He has a service call scheduled, but on his nickel-no PP. The settings now are EL 42.5* Tilt 113* AZ 134.7. I am assuming since the tilt has no micro adjustment it it the least critical. The Elevation is peaked. Also the EL is 2 degrees different from dishpointers. Is that unusual?

[jdspencer]

The signal strengths for 99c and 103c are low. To reduce rain fade, they need to be at least in the mid 80s. The Ka band frequencies are more susceptible to rain fade.

dishpointer usually gives pretty good numbers. Try tweaking he elevation to see what happens to the strengths.

[drpjr]

Elevation is at peak for 101. A half turn either way results in lower #s. Is it possible with slightly lower 101#s (low 90s) to get higher 99c and 103c #s?

[veryoldschool]

Elevation is at peak for 101. A half turn either way results in lower #s. Is it possible with slightly lower 101#s (low 90s) to get higher 99c and 103c #s?
Those kind of sounds like you're on the edge of the AZ, if half turns on the EL give you that much change on the 101.
Yesterday I had to move my dish [damn rain has a branch drooping up here].
Mid 90s on 101/110/119 and used the fine tuning for 99/103 and they're mid 80s to low 90s.

[drpjr]

My post #15 is a bit unclear I think. I did not mean that a half turn lowered the signal from mid-high 90s to low 90s but a half turn either way starts to lower the #s. My question should be: If I change the elevation up or down to get lower 90s then adjust AZ could it result in higher 99+103 #s or should I try AZ adjustment without changing the EL?

[drpjr]

.
Yesterday I had to move my dish [damn rain has a branch drooping up here].
.

Move as in relocate or adjust? Hopefully the latter. We got pounded here too. Some parts of Sac got over an inch in an hour.:eek2:

[veryoldschool]

My post #15 is a bit unclear I think. I did not mean that a half turn lowered the signal from mid-high 90s to low 90s but a half turn either way starts to lower the #s. My question should be: If I change the elevation up or down to get lower 90s then adjust AZ could it result in higher 99+103 #s or should I try AZ adjustment without changing the EL?
Now I'm a bit "unclear", so I'll just explain what I did:
Used the course adjustments for 101/110/119 to 90ish.
Changed over to 99/103 and fine tuned both AZ & EL, by dithering [move to the edge of the beam and watch it drop to "a level", then turn it the other way to the same "a level", then turn it halfway between the two]. I don't see any drop in 101/110/119 after doing this.
If you have a bent/damaged reflector, you may [will] have problems trying to get all the SATs peaked at the same settings.
If 101 & 119 are in the 90s, you've got the AZ, EL, & Tilt set fine.
Fine tuning should bring the 99/103 in without detuning 101/110/119.

[veryoldschool]

Move as in relocate or adjust? Hopefully the latter. We got pounded here too. Some parts of Sac got over an inch in an hour.:eek2:
I had to shorten a long pole mount so [for now] the dish shoots under the problem branch [about 40' up].

[drpjr]

Now I'm a bit "unclear", so I'll just explain what I did:
Used the course adjustments for 101/110/119 to 90ish.
Changed over to 99/103 and fine tuned both AZ & EL, by dithering [move to the edge of the beam and watch it drop to "a level", then turn it the other way to the same "a level", then turn it halfway between the two]. I don't see any drop in 101/110/119 after doing this.
If you have a bent/damaged reflector, you may [will] have problems trying to get all the SATs peaked at the same settings.
If 101 & 119 are in the 90s, you've got the AZ, EL, & Tilt set fine.
Fine tuning should bring the 99/103 in without detuning 101/110/119.

That is perfectly clear. My friend is a big time football fan so I know tomorrow is out but monday will follow your instructions. Your knowledge is invaluable. VOS I (we) thank you.:D