TELSAT® COMMUNICATIONS LTD

If the adjustments are done in the correct order, you can have a dish that tracks perfectly. You should have an unwarped satellite dish, (confirm by checking using the "string" technique) and a perfectly vertical mounting pole, it will make things easier. It is suggested to take a TV and the satellite receiver to the dish rather that run back and forth to the house to see what is happening.

1)Begin with assembly of feedhorn and LNB and checking mounting of the feedhorn. In a center focus (prime focus) system, all legs supporting the feedhorn should be the same length, measure them to be sure, and do any adjustment you can if they are not the same length. Next, check the distance from three different points on the edge of the dish, to the center of the feedhorn, to be sure feed is set to be in the center of the dish. Remember, even if the feed legs have the same length, that does not mean the feed is centered! You might have to 'bend' the feed into center of dish, or adjust the feed support legs for the feed to be centered in the dish. In assembly of the feedhorn/LNB, do not place sealant on feed gaskets - they are meant to be installed dry; and the gasket thickness should be such that there is metal-to-metal contact of the flange contacts after bolt tightening. Do not overtighten bolts, flanges will crack. Leave off the elbows, if you want, and let the LNB(s) stick out to the side - you will gain three dB if you do. If you are using an adjustable interference ring (commonly called scalar rings) to set F/D ratio, do not overtighten that screw/bolt as those pieces will also crack.

2)Set the off-set angle on the polar mount (declination). This is an adjustment that tilts the dish 'forwards' at an angle depending on what latitude you live. This adjustment is usually done on one of the mounts connected directly to the dish, it depends on your type mount.

3)Move the dish to the highest point on the polar mount. Do this by using the actuator. You can do this by visually looking at the dish and the polar mount. You are basically centering the dish on the highest point on the polar mount. Align the polar axis to the true north-south line for your site (don't forget to adjust for and check that the mount cap is vertical on all sides after you tighten it. Now, set the elevation angle of the dish. Use charts to get total elevation for your location then subtract the declination value for your location and the remainder is the elevation angle to set in this step. This is not very critical at this point because you will adjust this angle for best reception later. (If you measure the angle on the mount, you will have to add the declination angle to get the true dish pointing angle - the true dish pointing angle is the angle given by all az/el calculation programs).

4)Locate a satellite that is located as close as possible to due south of your location, this is the highest point of the arc. (A few degrees off will not make much difference because the dish moves almost flat in the center of arc.) It is usually best to look for a C-band satellite when you begin (if you are working with a C/Ku system), it will be easier to find than a Ku satellite; however, try a Ku satellite because the accuracy is much higher although it is more difficult to find initially - if you have a Ku system only, of course, look for the nearest Ku satellite due south of your installation. Having the dish located at the highest point of the arc (due south), you have to turn the entire polar mount on the ground pole to you 'hit' the satellite. If the elevation is way off, you might not even get a signal. Adjust the elevation and turn the mount again until you find the satellite located due south. (For installations in the Southern Hemisphere, you will be looking due north and all satellites will be in the northern sky.)

5)Fine tune the elevation angle. Turn the mount sideways until maximum signal is achieved and then adjust the elevation angle until it is further maximized. At this point, you have set the off-set declination angle and the elevation angle for the satellite at the highest point in the arc. I use the common carpenter's inclinometer, with magnetic base, to set angles. I like it better than the much more expensive digital inclinometer - especially since I seem to drop it all the time, or forget and leave it on the mount and it gets knocked off to the ground when I am checking the sides, or forget and leave it on the mount and it gets rained on!!

6 )Now you have to get the dish to track on the sides of the arc. This is where most people fail. DO NOT adjust any elevation angles on the mount at this point! Move the dish using the actuator to a satellite on one side of your arc - choose the side where the satellites are lowest on the horizon to begin. You should hopefully see the signal from the satellite, if not, choose a satellite closer to the center of the arc. Peak the dish on the satellite, the lowest on the arc you can locate, using the actuator. Next, push or pull upwards and downwards on the dish. You don't have to use much force, just a bit to see if the signal gets better or worse when you push/pull on the dish. What you are actually doing is changing the elevation angle a bit. For instance, if the dish is pointing at a satellite to the east of center and you have to push up on the dish to get a better signal, then the elevation angle must be adjusted higher. You adjust this by turning the entire mount to the east (to the west if you are in the southern hemisphere)! BE SURE TO MARK, using a piece of chalk, the pole and mount to know where your original position is - rotate the mount only SLIGHTLY (no more than 1/16inch ). After moving the mount, use the actuator and move the dish west to peak the signal. Repeat this procedure until the dish has the correct elevation, as you do this you should be able to locate the satellite lowest on the arc if you could not find it at first. Next, you have to check a satellite on the other side of the arc. If you peaked the dish for center, and then for one side, the other side should be very close. This will depend on your ground pole being vertical, offset angle/elevation angle settings and quality of feed/dish.

7)If the dish is not hitting center on the other side of the arc, try the same adjustment as above. If the dish needs to be pushed up to get a better signal, then rotate the entire mount away from the top of the arc. If the dish needs to be pulled down for a better signal, then turn the mount the opposite direction (towards the higher point on arc).

8)Go back and check the other side. Hopefully, you're not far off. You might have to go from side to side before the dish tracks perfectly.

9)If, and ONLY if, you can not get both sides to peak, and both sides would be too low or too high; you can then do a small adjustment of the declination (elevation) angle to get the two sides into peak. BUT, only do this if you can confirm that both sides are low or high. If the dish is too high on the sides (arc ends), but fine in the center, the declination angle is to low. Increase the declination and decrease the elevation angle the same amount. They will cancel each other in the center of the arc, but track lower on the sides.