[Jasperodus]

Hi Rich.

Well, I am by no means an expert in this field - all I've done prior to this is maybe stuck the odd tv aerial in a loft. Anyway, seeing as I have good results from my Ross kit without too much fuss......

The precise LNB skew is not critical for initial setup anyway - in case you are thinking that you need three things (Azimuth elevation & LNB) absoloutely accurately set before any results.

As for the problem of matching the relevant elevation using the rather crude scale marked on the bracket: In my case I needed 25.3 degrees. I could see that the scale (not to mention the bracket design itself) would make it very difficult to achieve a close to perfect initial setting so I just went fractionally over the 25 deg. Again, not being able to achieve the exact, spot-on spec at this point does not mean you are stuffed.

For the azimuth: I know you have a compass but do any sky dishes point in the same rough direction, and have you zoomed in on your location map at the dishpointer site to verify that your dish is pointing somewhere handy? The dishpointer map overlays a target line to your sat. I used this target line for my initial setting.

Anyway, provided the elevation is as closely set as you can reasonably manage, then it's a case of moving the dish left or right gradually until you hit something - which you should do, even if it is not what you are looking for. But you should get something. If what you get is not what you actually want, at least you know you are getting there, and what you have picked up may give you a clue as to where you are pointed and which way to go.


If you are confident that you have your initial settings somewhere handy but still having problems, then are you happy with:

The dish having no obstacles between it and the target?

The mounting arm being ok for vertical?

The connections and condition of the cable - are both connectors securely attached to the cable ends, and is the cable copper-core showing protuding from the connectors ok? The cable itself may have been packaged like a piece of washing-line, if so is there any visible splitting? Are the cable connections screwed nicely to the back of the reciever and to the LNB?

If you are happy with all the above, then perhaps the LNB could be a duffo? When I took my receiver back to the store the chap was looking through some opened boxes, one of which was marked for return due to faulty LNB.

Basically, achieving the precise settings initially should not mean total lack of results. As long as you confident that you have done your best to be somewhere handy to begin with and know that your figures are correct, then you should not have to spend much time at all before you hit 'something'. From there it's a matter of fine-tuning. I guess your figures are ok now (and not -10 deg elevation as before), because you have verified that the dishpointer figures correspond closely with the Ross alingnment figures.


I know some of this may sound a little insulting. Sorry for that, but always have to check the basics.
Other people here might be able to suggest other things - as I say, I have no real technical knowledge in this area. But when there are problems, you have to go back and check the basics.


Good luck