# Newbie help - equipment - cabling



## likuid (Jan 14, 2007)

Hi Everybody,

I am new to this avenue of fun. I just placed my order from Sadoun.com.
This is what I ordered:
Fortec MercuryII Reciever.
90P dish
SNH031 
SF95Kit 
HH100 Motor upgrade

My question is this. 
In the front of my yard I have a lot of trees and not what I would call a real good view of the southern sky. Neighbor has dish network so I think I could get that without a problem there but I would like to hit the other birds as I ordered a dish with a motor. 200-300 feet from the house I have a great view of the Southern sky can I run a cable this long and still get quality feeds on the reciever? 

If I am able to hit the Dishnetwork satellite should I theoretically be able to hit the others? The angle at which the satellites are to my location (N- Ill-wis border) is confusing to me, but I guess I can figure this out more when I have the equipment.

Any other recomendations on my setup? good or bad setup?


Thanks in advance for any replies,
Likuid


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## kenglish (Oct 2, 2004)

If you know your latitude and longitude, realize that the satellites will form an arc in the sky, with the satellite that is closest to due south of you being the highest in the sky. All others will trail off east and west, getting progressively lower in elevation.

You can look up the coordinates using one of these:

http://www.hollsco.com/Products/SatCalc/

http://www.bigdish.info/mainten/align.html

If you want to see how it all "looks", make a graph of the sats and their azimuths and elevations, and you'll see what I'm saying. All that stuff about tweaking-in the H-H motor will also make sense....the post has to be perfectly plumb (since it sets a reference to exactly north, i.e.: Polaris, the North Star), and the fine adjustments will make your dish track the arc at the center (south) and at both ends (east and west).


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## FTA Michael (Jul 21, 2002)

:welcome_s Last week, I had a blog entry about using Google Maps to help you spot potential obstructions once you've got your azimuth angles worked out. Or you can use a compass (factoring magnetic declination) in your yard.

In general, to amplify kenglish's correct advice:

* Figure out what satellites you want to see. Figure the angles for them. Find a spot where you can see everything that you want to see.

* Make the pole plumb. Make the pole plumb. Perfectly straight up and down, even bearing the weight of a dish and motor. Plumb, solid, plumb.

* Mount the motor using the offset indicated by its instructions and your latitude.

* Based on your longitude, point at your true south satellite. Once it's good, try to pick up a couple of satellites at the far ends of the arc. When all three are good, they should all be good.

Feel free to ask questions as they come up, or let us know how well you did once everything's set up.


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## likuid (Jan 14, 2007)

Hi Guys,
Thank you for the warm welcome, I have a question about the length of cable I can run. I plan on running rg6 quad shield. My yard is very long and skinny 96' by 660' in the middle of the yard about 300-400' from the house I have a great view of the southern sky. If I go on top of the garage 100' or so I won't have as great a view of the southern sky as I do in the back part. I have thought about trimming the trees close to the house and garage to get a better view. I also have a rohn tower next to the house approx 50 feet tall that I am putting an Winegard HD8200P on top of but I am not sure if my setup would be to much stress that high up on the tower. What would you guys recommend? Thanks Likuid.


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## bruin95 (Apr 23, 2006)

likuid said:


> This is what I ordered:
> 
> SNH031
> 
> Neighbor has dish network so I think I could get that without a problem there but I would like to hit the other birds as I ordered a dish with a motor.


Just to let you know, you will not be able to receive Dish sats with the LNBF you have purchased. That LNBF is linear and all DSS birds are circular. The LNBF will not even see the DSS birds. A better choice would have been to go with the QPH-031. That can receive both linear and circular birds.


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## likuid (Jan 14, 2007)

Hey Bruin,
I was going to get the dish network dish seperately and keep the FTA as a seperate setup all together. I'm completely New to FTA so I just wanted to play around with it.
Thanks
Likuid.


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## DougRuss (Oct 16, 2005)

Here's some info that might come in handy:

http://www.ftavideos.com/


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## FTA Michael (Jul 21, 2002)

For such a very long cable run, high-quality, well-shielded coax is essential. The coax has to transport a relatively weak signal from the Ku-band LNBF all that way. RG6 quad should may work, but I wouldn't guarantee it at 300 feet.


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## likuid (Jan 14, 2007)

Is there a better cable then quad shield rg6 that I can use that would be better for such long runs if I need to go this way?

Thanks!


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## likuid (Jan 14, 2007)

Hi Everyone, I finally had a chance to setup my equipment and I am having some trouble. I'm not sure I am doing everything correctly can the FTA Jedi's please tell me if I am on the right track .

First this is my equipment:
Mercury II reciever
Fortec Star 36" 90cm dish
Stab HH100 motor
LNBF SNH-031

My location is:Latitude = 42.4101, Longitude = -88.6169
Harvard, IL
I have sunk the pole in concrete, its as plumb as can be with 2 different levels. I put the assembly on the pole and everything is aligned.
The motor is set in between 42 and 43 (set to my latitude) as best I could. I then have the dish set as close to 23.5, the setting according to sadouns Stab installation page for HH100 . The LNBF is centered as best I can tell in the holder on the arm with 0 being at the top. Now according to the azimuth setting it should be 180 and then it looks like I should be adding 2 degrees to it for Magnetic Declination according to my location, so I am then pointing the entire assembly at 182 degrees with my compass.

Now the closest bird to me should be Galaxy 28 at 89 degrees.
I have gone into antenna setup in the reciever and chosen USALS, set the LNB to universal, and have added active transponders listed on ftalist there were only two for this bird listed but that's what is closes to me for south.
After all that I then set it to go to the satellite, the motor moves and all that. Now is the frustrating part for me. I have set the motor back to zero and repointed the entire assembly back to 182 degrees about ten times. I have read a lot of the boards and have tried to do what they say. I have moved this thing VERY small movements left, right, up, down and I still cannot get solid signals. I get a high blip every once in a while but nothing that stays steady at all.

Can anybody please give any advice on what I could be doing wrong, this is going on my fourth day? Are my settings off with the dish or motor? Am I pointing to the wrong azimuth I am going from what the sadoun site says I also sent info to usals.info too, but their settings are similiar to sadoun's hh100 install page.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks,
Tom(Likuid)


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## FTA Michael (Jul 21, 2002)

First, ABC News Now is loud and clear for me at 11953-V, SR 19546. So the good news is that your target hasn't gone away. 

Make sure that your Local Oscillator (LO) frequency matches your LNBF. For that Invacom SNH-031, it should be universal, 9750-10600. On the Mercury II, that's the "LNB Type" setting.

Typically, the problem is that you're not pointing where you think you're pointing. Sometimes the elevation markings aren't perfect. Your true azimuth is 180.6 degrees, and your magnetic declination is over 2.4 degrees. So if my math is right, your dish should be pointing about where your compass says 183 degrees.

Try fixing your dish at apparent-183, then move it slowly up until it is absurdly high. Then move it down slowly until it is absurdly low. Somewhere along the way, you should get a nibble of signal quality. When you do, move it more slowly up-down until you max the quality. Then slowly move left-right to max that too. Then you'll be on your way!


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## satdxing (May 24, 2007)

I have dishnet and intend to keep it for i like it Ok the HD is good too. but i really 
would like to buy a good reciever , as a hobby i am into swl'ing for year. looking
at vewsat ultra, fortec NA whic some say has not much stuff for it and look
at pansat , skyview and neusat. i am more confuse than before on 
fta recevers to what is best for blindsearch, and gui for fec,polarity, etc options
thanks to all



likuid said:


> Hi Everybody,
> 
> I am new to this avenue of fun. I just placed my order from Sadoun.com.
> This is what I ordered:
> ...


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## FTA Michael (Jul 21, 2002)

Almost any new, modern DVB receiver will take care of what you need. My standard FAQ reply:

Q. Which FTA receiver should I buy?

A. FTA receivers are like cars. There are lots of different models, most of which perform basic functions the same way. There are lots of opinions about which one is best, but very few people have significant experience with more than one or two models.

If you're just getting started, I'd suggest that you make sure your first receiver has blind scanning to help you find channels. Even if you don't have a motor, you might feel like adding one later, so it's generally a good idea to make sure your receiver can drive one. After that, it's a question of which cool features you want and how much you want to spend. Shop around!


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## satdxing (May 24, 2007)

FTA Michael said:


> Almost any new, modern DVB receiver will take care of what you need. My standard FAQ reply:
> 
> Q. Which FTA receiver should I buy?
> 
> ...


From what i have been told there are more than one kind of blind scans and

various differences in most FTAs. As with most hobbies it is best iff possibe to 
gain from some one else mistake or gain such as how something really works
as compared to hardware specs. I see some FTAs specs @$100 compare to well
to FTA costing $200 then i see mention of this or that will not pick up something
and it would be not good choice. So I dont mind paying for what is good I just dont know what is an average good to buy. I apologize if i sound clueless but
i really am and i am not able to setup the new dish so can i get just anyone to 
setup the dish or do i need to get a professional? Thanks


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## FTA Michael (Jul 21, 2002)

From personal experience, I've used a Pansat, a Traxis, and a Fortec. They all performed blind scans. They all drove a motorized dish. They all handled a multidish DiSEqC switch. They had different user interfaces, with benefits and drawbacks to each. Some people will tell you that Fords are awful and Chevys are great, or vice versa; I'm not one of those people. If there are other features that you care about (DVR, HD, SD card, CA card, whatever) then identify those features and go after receivers that have them.

The good news is that, in a FTA setup, the receiver is the easiest component to replace. When you decide that you want to upgrade to the 2009 NiftyThing receiver that drives four HDTVs at once, it'll be an easy swap. Therefore, my approach is to know what you need, then buy something relatively inexpensive to get started.

If you can lift 20 pounds and tighten a wrench, you can set up your dish. I go through the whole process starting here: http://www.ftalist.com/started.htm Professional installers have run into common problems and experienced their solutions, and they sometimes have better tools. A good pro will do it fast and right. You, with some patience, can do it eventually for free.


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## PBowie (Jan 4, 2006)

I am about to order from Sadoun the following
as I no where near have the marbles to install this- can anyone let me know around roughly how much tthis cost s to install?-Im in the Orlando area.

Im in a new home with E* and I have the 2 dishes etc on the side of the wall of the house 
but this is motorized so im not sure how its done
there are no trees to block to the southern sky 
and I dont think I'll fall foul of my home owners association rules coz its not a c-band.

IM ordering the following
Mercury II Receiver
$139.00

DG240 Motor
$79.00

FS80P 31" Dish
$45.00

ULN1 0.4dB LNBF
$29.00

Universal wall mount
Inc. with dish


with an upgrade to a 90U 36 inch dish

I only want it to go to one TV just for my amusement 

Thanks


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## FTA Michael (Jul 21, 2002)

The HOA has no legal standing on dishes less than one meter wide _except_ that it _may_ require you to install it in an unobtrusive spot _if_ you can do so and still pick up the satellite(s) that you want. It would be a good thing to know your HOA's rules before you plant a mounting post.

To get an installer, try asking your vendor (Sadoun in this case) if it knows of any good installers in the Orlando area. If not, check the yellow pages under Television-Satellite and see whether any of the dealers have installed a motorized dish. Good luck!


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