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Need help aligning AU9S dish!

1801 Views 9 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  davros74
Okay, I think I know what I did wrong, but wanted to ask here first before I waste another 30 minutes up on my roof.

Installed AU9S dish on roof truss, dead plumb, with two monopoles. Used an Accutrak III and the "procedure" on solidsignal - thought I did everything correctly. Hook up my HR20, and I get all 0s on 101 tp except for three on last row (in 70s/80s), 96+ on the 110, and all 0s on the 119 (and all 0s on the 103c).

For my area, az/elevation/tilt on the 5lnb is supposed to be 193/41/80. I peaked the 119 at 69 tilt and 39 elevation. When I go back into my HR20 and enter 3LNB dish, the settings are 206/38/70.

Based on the elevation/tilt I peaked on, my guess is that I aligned my AU9S on the 110 sat and not the 101. If my guess is correct, I need to turn my dish 13deg east, and move the el/tilt back to 41/80 and try again (and verify this time on the receiver I am getting something on the 101 after coarse alignment).

Does this sound like what I did wrong?
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"I get all 0s on 101 tp except for three on last row " this does look like you're pointed to the three tps on 110.
Agree, move your azimuth 8 to 10 degrees east, find a signal, and peak it. You should be good.

Carl
davros74 said:
Okay, I think I know what I did wrong, but wanted to ask here first before I waste another 30 minutes up on my roof.

Installed AU9S dish on roof truss, dead plumb, with two monopoles. Used an Accutrak III and the "procedure" on solidsignal - thought I did everything correctly. Hook up my HR20, and I get all 0s on 101 tp except for three on last row (in 70s/80s), 96+ on the 110, and all 0s on the 119 (and all 0s on the 103c).

For my area, az/elevation/tilt on the 5lnb is supposed to be 193/41/80. I peaked the 119 at 69 tilt and 39 elevation. When I go back into my HR20 and enter 3LNB dish, the settings are 206/38/70.

Based on the elevation/tilt I peaked on, my guess is that I aligned my AU9S on the 110 sat and not the 101. If my guess is correct, I need to turn my dish 13deg east, and move the el/tilt back to 41/80 and try again (and verify this time on the receiver I am getting something on the 101 after coarse alignment).

Does this sound like what I did wrong?
welcome to DBS talk and the man above me is the man to listen too

btw nice name, I'm guessing a Doctor Who fan? :D
davros74 said:
Okay, I think I know what I did wrong, but wanted to ask here first before I waste another 30 minutes up on my roof.

Installed AU9S dish on roof truss, dead plumb, with two monopoles. Used an Accutrak III and the "procedure" on solidsignal - thought I did everything correctly. Hook up my HR20, and I get all 0s on 101 tp except for three on last row (in 70s/80s), 96+ on the 110, and all 0s on the 119 (and all 0s on the 103c).

For my area, az/elevation/tilt on the 5lnb is supposed to be 193/41/80. I peaked the 119 at 69 tilt and 39 elevation. When I go back into my HR20 and enter 3LNB dish, the settings are 206/38/70.

Based on the elevation/tilt I peaked on, my guess is that I aligned my AU9S on the 110 sat and not the 101. If my guess is correct, I need to turn my dish 13deg east, and move the el/tilt back to 41/80 and try again (and verify this time on the receiver I am getting something on the 101 after coarse alignment).

Does this sound like what I did wrong?
Your on the right track. You are indeed pointed at the 110. Raise your elevation a bit, adjust the tilt and set your meter to look for the 101. Move it east and it should pop right in.
davros74 said:
Okay, I think I know what I did wrong, but wanted to ask here first before I waste another 30 minutes up on my roof.

Installed AU9S dish on roof truss, dead plumb, with two monopoles. Used an Accutrak III and the "procedure" on solidsignal - thought I did everything correctly. Hook up my HR20, and I get all 0s on 101 tp except for three on last row (in 70s/80s), 96+ on the 110, and all 0s on the 119 (and all 0s on the 103c).

For my area, az/elevation/tilt on the 5lnb is supposed to be 193/41/80. I peaked the 119 at 69 tilt and 39 elevation. When I go back into my HR20 and enter 3LNB dish, the settings are 206/38/70.

Based on the elevation/tilt I peaked on, my guess is that I aligned my AU9S on the 110 sat and not the 101. If my guess is correct, I need to turn my dish 13deg east, and move the el/tilt back to 41/80 and try again (and verify this time on the receiver I am getting something on the 101 after coarse alignment).

Does this sound like what I did wrong?
I may not be reading the post correctly, but seems to me he sould input 5LNB
not 3 LNB
Bill C said:
I may not be reading the post correctly, but seems to me he sould input 5LNB
not 3 LNB
Correct. The 3-LNB dish is aimed at 110 while the 5-LNB is aimed at 101. That would certainly account for his being aimed at the wrong satellite. There might also be differences in the elevation and/or tilt between the two dishes.

Good catch.

Carl
Thanks for the advice, I will give it a shot as soon as the weather clears up. We have T-storms today, so I might not be able to get up there until tomorrow unfortunately.

5LNB vs 3LNB. I have my receiver set to 5LNB. I only set it back to 3LNB to see what the alignment settings were knowing that the 3LNB dish was centered on 110. Sure enough, the el/tilt I peaked on is closer to the 3LNB dish settings than the 5LNB settings, so I thought that was pretty good confirmation I peaked the wrong bird. Just wanted to confirm that and that I wasn't missing something else entirely (first time DIY with satellite).

These forums are great. I would not have attempted this AU9S install DIY without reading stuff here first. (I have a SWM8 to install later also but trying to just get HR20 up and running with B-band converters first, and then tackle the SWM8/OTA once I know the alignment is clean).

Yes, big Doctor Who fan. :D
If you are dead plumb, once you find the 101 bird, the rest is like 10 minutes and you're done. Lock 'em down tight.

The instructions and video were done before the Ka sats were active. They work if your meter cannot read Ka signal, but since you have an Accutrac III, skip the dithering process and use the meter to fine tune the 103 sat.
Quick update - I had a friend come over and watch the 101 signal meters for me on my received and I found the 101 in about 5 minutes. Rest of alignment went smoothly, now getting 95-99 on all sats, and 97-98 on the 103(c) (I peaked the [email protected] as the last fine tune rather than the dither method).

New (to me) HD channels look great! Thanks for the help! (Now on to the SWM8.....)
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