# big ugly dish setup?



## garyl24

i have all that i need now besides the ribbon cable but i was wondering if anyone has any tips on how to set these up? i have setup probably about25 or so direct tv and dish networks dish500 dish's but this will be my first attemp at a 10 foot mesh BUD. my dad had given me one but hasnt been used in years so i am now going to be using the 10foot mesh one my buddy gave me that hasnt been used in about 4 years. i know i have to set the pole in the ground about4 foot and pour cement but what do you aim the dish at? like directtv and dish network you point at 110 and 119 but i am cluelless as to these big dishes. i have been doing searches on google but come up with nothing. i have a cheap analog sat finder which i am sure i will need. the dish has cband and KU band and my reciever is a uniden ust4800. thanks for any and all help.


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## PSB

Here is a great site to read all about setting up a BUD, I wish I could give you a hand it is going to be a lot of fun, you also have KU band so you will be able to get a lot of FTA channels too, I would set the dish up as c-band then you will be much closer to the ark for setting up the ku band side...good luck.

http://www.geo-orbit.org/sizepgs/grndpole.html#anchor28895


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## dfergie

It has been a long time since I did mine but... be sure the pole is level everyway that you can check it. The dish should have a turnbuckle or like adjustment for the elevation. If you live close to where your dad does and no one has messed with it when dismantling it it should be close. Set it on the pole facing south, find the center of the arc. (the dish will be looking straight) you can figure that out by going from limit east to limit west. face the dish toward south when you figure it is in the center. Mark the pole and the mount with a pencil. Hook up your sat finder or have the receiver and a portable tv handy (by the dish) bump the dish one way or another, hunt for signal, keep doing until you find one(preferably close to the center of the arc) then move dish slightly on its mount either east or west until the signal gets better or worse, find best signal. Then tweak up and down with the elevation adjustment till same. You will probably have to do both until you find the best signal. mark the pole and mount and tighten. Try to log on to skyvision they have links I believe to the sat locations. I'm sure some folks here can explain better than I can but its been about 10 years since I set up my second dish.


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## Samual

I have a 10' mesh dish and it has a ( jack - or actuator ) motor driving it or turning it. Now I'm using a free to air Pansat receiver which will power a smaller dish motor, but not one this size. Now this actuator requires 24 volts DC to operate it and I'm sure the Pansat only puts out about 5 volts AC I think? At the present time to do all my testing/scanning etc. of the various satellites on the arc I'm using a 12 volt DC car battery to supply power to the actuator to turn the dish. It does work quite well to move the dish and power the actuator, but at only half the speed, but it does do the job ok for now to do my testing etc. There again I really don't want a car battery in my living-room when all is said and dne I'm all though with my testing etc., if you know what I mean. So, that's why I'm in the market for something that hopefully will work hand in hand with my Pansat receiver to move/power the actuator and move the dish.

So , if any of you long time testers know of anything that will work for me I'd be very interested in hearing what you have to say. 

Thanks again for your time
&
God Bless!

"I'd rather be known as humbly and honourably correct, then to be known as politically correct"


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## VoomVoom

Samual said:


> So , if any of you long time testers know of anything that will work for me I'd be very interested in hearing what you have to say.


Samual, to me your best option would be getting an analog reveiver to power the actuator and use the receiver for analog wild feeds. There is a device called "VBOX II" that could be used with the Pansat to change the diseqc motor signals, so the actuator understands them, and will move the dish. If you use this option, remember it's still being, more or less tested here, it's not well known, can't verify if it's any good yet. But, preliminary reports indicate it's going to work fine. Don't confuse the VBOX II with the VBOX, the original VBOX was a complete headache.

Al


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## tdti1

Take a look at the first link on this page:
http://boresight.ripco.com/

Info on the 4dtv:
http://www.motorola.com/content.jsp?globalObjectId=5050-8100

Your best bet would be to get a 4dtv and slave a dvb receiver to it like so:
http://www.dmsiusa.com/add_a_receiver.htm

Another install link here:
http://www.satellitehelp.com/installation_index.asp

Programming providers:
http://www.callnps.com/
http://www.programming-center.net/


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## Chris Blount

I had my 10' BUD sitting in a 3 foot deep hole without any problems for many years. 

dfergie pretty much summed it up. If you live close to your Dad, simply transplanting the Dish should work as long as the pole is plumb. Any adjustments should be minimal.


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## Richard King

Chris Blount said:


> I had my 10' BUD sitting in a 3 foot deep hole without any problems for many years.
> 
> dfergie pretty much summed it up. If you live close to your Dad, simply transplanting the Dish should work as long as the pole is plumb. Any adjustments should be minimal.


Both poles have to be plumb, the one the dish is removed from and the one it is being installed on.

Hint.... Before disconnecting at the old site rotate the dish (with the motor) to the top of it's arc. The dish will now be pointed straight south and to the highest satellite in the arc. Take the dish off the pole and move to the new site. Drop it on the new pole and manually rotate it on the pole until you see the same satellite that you saw when you removed it from the other pole. Secure the dish and track the arc with the motor. You should have minimal adjustments to make (although I am sure you will have some).

As for the final adjustments, actuate the dish to a satellite to the west of the center (not necessary to go all the way, maybe half way). If there are sparkles on the picture lift the edge of the dish up. If this gets rid of the sparkles manually (not with the actuator) rotate the dish barely to the west of it's current position. Tighten it on the pole and move it back using the actuator until you get the picture again. The sparkles should be diminished or gone. If lifting the dish resulted in a worse picture and pushing down give a better picture do the opposite of above. Repeat the process on a satellite further to the west (at the end of the arc). Once the furthest west satellite is optomized nail the dish down (or screw it down  ). What you are doing is trying to match the arc of the dish with an arc in the sky that is 22,300 miles away. It is very precise work. The above works with any analog channels. With digital channels you won't see a picture improvement (other than more stable), but you should see an improvement in signal strength reading.

Ah, memories. It's been ages since I have done a BUD.


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## Chris Blount

Richard King said:


> Ah, memories. It's been ages since I have done a BUD.


I know what you mean. It seems like a lifetime ago. I really enjoyed having my bud. It was a great hobby and learning tool.


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## Richard King

There was a period in about 1993-4 where I was installing 3-4 BUDS a week in Minnesnowta. It was quite a challenge for a one man operation, but I somehow always got it done, even when I had to melt through 20+ inches of frozen ground. Talk about a challenge. I also miss my BUD, but the last time I drove by my old house (this past February) it was still there, braced against the house just where I installed it. It appears that it is still being used. I had a Winegard Perf 10' on a pole that was about 30' long (4' in the ground) braced twice to the house and peering above the roof to shoot over the neighbor's poplar trees.


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## markmc

Who in the world would have even allow anyone to install, or for that matter finsh their installation after seeing this, yet while typing this all the ways to get by with somthing comes to mind. I work for SKYLINK,LTD in W.V DTV.


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## Richard King

markmc said:


> Who in the world would have even allow anyone to install, or for that matter finsh their installation after seeing this, yet while typing this all the ways to get by with somthing comes to mind. I work for SKYLINK,LTD in W.V DTV.


There's my old one, still in place. I think it looks kind of nice. My neighbor across the street thought so also. No one else could see it from their house (other than the person across the pond in the back yard) so they didn't matter. The view from across the green pond is next.


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## FTA Michael

Wow, that's a very nice-looking installation! Thanks for the photos.


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## Chris Blount

Richard King said:


> There's my old one, still in place. I think it looks kind of nice. My neighbor across the street thought so also. No one else could see it from their house (other than the person across the pond in the back yard) so they didn't matter. The view from across the green pond is next.


It's amazing how you got anything! Didn't those trees block most of the arc?


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