Technomate Setup

[Julezy]

Location: Worcester
Mororised Dish: Technomate 97cm
LNB: 0.2dB
Receiver: Technomate 5402HD

I’m looking to eventually get rid of my Sky contract as I’ve had enough of paying them £60 a month for PPV channels that I hardly watch so I’ve gone down the route of a motorised setup. I’ve done a fair bit or research and finally went for the Technomate. Spent a good deal of time on the net looking at how to install / set up and the best part of 2 days up and down the ladder ! I think I’ve got it as good as it’ll be but have a couple of queries and would welcome anyone’s comments.

My dish is installed south facing on the garage wall so it has a clear ‘window’ on the sky ranging from about 30E to about 15W (houses either side of this blocking the signal – I didn’t want to get too high up the ladder for safety reasons !)

I get a really good signal on 28E Astra 2A for most channels (Channel 4 HD – 98%) – when I move to 1W Thor I still get a good signal (BBC World 80%) so I presume I’m tracking the Satellite arc pretty accurately. I realise the satellites have different signal strength transponders but with a 97cm dish I get hardly any signal on 10E. So based on my location and dish size should I be able to pick up 10E ? Also on 26E I hardly get any signal when I know my dish must be aligned correctly as it’s so close to 28E which gives an excellent signal ? Is it just that a 97cm dish is not big enough ?

Is there anywhere I can find a list of the best FTA channels to check signal strength on the different satellites e.g. 10E best channel to check is.........26E best channel to check is.......

Cheers for any guidance

Jules

 

[Zorch]

Hi Julezy,

All credit goes to my friend william-1

Strongest & Weakest Transponder List (3 Feb 2013)

This guide is to assist in setting up a satellite dish (motorised or fixed)
53 east to 45 west in DVB-S unless stated
80cm wide x 88 cm high Mesh Dish + ***** DarkGold 0.1 Lnb

Strongest Transponders
Express AM22 at 53.0°E Arezu TV 11660 H 2170
Intelsat 12 at 45.0°E Prima TV 11523 V 5787
Türksat 2A at 42.0°E CNN Türk 11804 V 244444
Hellas Sat 2 at 39.0°E The Voice 12524 H 30000
Eutelsat 36B at 36.0°E Lider TV 12520 H 4340
Eutelsat 33A at 33.2°E TV 8 Mont Blanc 11105 H 2441
Eutelsat 28A at 28.5°E Euronews 11344 V 27500
Astra 2F at 28.2°E Channel 5 10964 H 22000
Badr 4 at 26.0°E Al Manar 11958 H 27500
Astra 3B at 23.5°E TV Noord 11914H 27500
Eutelsat 21B at 21.5°E Yemen Today TV 11601 V 2170
Astra 2C at 19.2°E Das Erste 11836 H 27500
Eutelsat 16A at 16.0°E TVR News 11471 V 29950
Eutelsat Hot Bird 13A at 13.0°E Bloomberg 11137 H 27500
Eutelsat 10A at 10.0°E Aljazeera Package 11400 H 7815
Eutelsat 9A at 9.0°E CCTV 9 Docu 11938 H 27500
Eutelsat 7A at 7.0°E TRT Anadolu 11455 V 20050
Astra 4A at 4.8°E RADA 11766 H 27500
Eutelsat 3C at 3.1°E TV5 Europe 12740 H 12622
Thor 5 at 0.8°W BBC World News 11861 H 28000
Amos 2 at 4.0°W Unian TV 10721 H 27500
Eutelsat 5 West A at 5.0°W France Ô 11591 V 20000
Eutelsat 7 West A at 7.3°W Qatar TV 10719 V 22000
Eutelsat 8 West A at 8.0°W NRT 11074 H 3000
Express AM44 at 11.0°W TG Norba 24 11551 1600
Eutelsat 12 West A at 12.5°W Record News 12655 H 4285
Telstar 12 at 15.0°W Zagros TV 10996 V 5090
Intelsat 901 at 18.0°W Data AOL 11605 H 8500
SES 4 at 22.0°W Reuters Live 10985 H 7200
Intelsat 905 at 24.5°W NTA Int 11674 V 27500
Intelsat 907 at 27.5°W Freeview (Encrypted) 11495 V 44100 DVB-S2
Hispasat 1E at 30.0°W Record Europa 10890 V 27500
Intelsat 903 at 34.5°W Data Stream 11027 v 5000 DVB-S2
Telstar 11N at 37.5°W DoveVision 11064 V 1445
Intelsat 14 at 45.0°W RASD TV 11608 H 1852

Weakest Transponders
(Satellites with only strong transponders excluded from this list)
Express AM22 at 53.0°E TRK Nadym 10995 H 3255
Türksat 3A at 42.0°E TRT Müzik 12569 H 2800
Eutelsat 36B at 36.0°E Al Jazeera Channel 12621 V 2893
Badr 4 at 26.0°E MBC tv 11919 H 27500
Eutelsat 21B at 21.5°E Al Falstiniah TV 10978 V 2170
Eutelsat 16A at 16.0°E Albanian Screen 11108 V 2821
Eutelsat 10A at 10.0°E IFilm 12619 V 9000
Eutelsat 7A at 7.0°E TRT Turk 10761 V 30000
Astra 4A at 4.8°E 1st Baltic Music 11843 H 27500
Eutelsat 3C at 3.1°E Speda TV 12671 V 2200
Intelsat 10-02 at 1.0°W Realitatea 12687 H 27500
Amos 2 at 4.0°W Novy Ch 10757 H 30000
Eutelsat 5 West A at 5.0°W Canal Algeria 11059 H 23700
Eutelsat 7 West A at 7.3°W Al-Nahar Sport 12437 V 27500
Express AM44 at 11.0°W Retecapri 11566 H 8000
Telstar 12 at 15.0°W MAC TV 12608 H 19279

This list was compiled by William-1

Best Wishes,
Zorch

 

[theblueirish]

www.kingofsat.net anything that is marked as clear is free to air.

 

[osbald16]

If you look on lyngsat.com, this lists all transponders / sat, and usually at the right of each TP there is a link to a graphic for its footprint, so you can see if its reachable from your location, and with which size of dish

good hunting

 

[Zorch]

Hi all,

This is what I always use...

You don't have permission to view the code content. Log in or register now.

Select a satellite from the array... choose the beam... click on the map to identify your location... a box appears giving you EIRP Level and Recommended dish size...

Best Wishes,
Zorch

 

[Julezy]

Cheers guys, thanks for all the advice - i'll have a look and see how far out my setup is on some of the sats that i can see

 

[owen]

Hi Julezy
I am 16 miles north of your location,
these are my readings of a few sats
33e 11603v 15710 MAP TV ( TEST CARD ) STRENGTH 97 QUALITY 86
26E 11919H 27500 MBC CHANNELS 97 66
10E 12610H 9258 MGM CHANNEL 97 83 requires patched receiver / soft cam to clear channel
10E 12417V 27500 PENTAGON CHANNEL 97 71
7W 10872V 27500 TOP MOVIES 97 57
11295H 27500 FOX MOVIES 97 53
12.5W 11408V 27500 BETHEL 97 82

My setup is as follows TM5402 H/D , 100cm dish, with tm motor on a south wall 45e to 30w

Hope this helps you in getting set up correct.

Den

 

[Julezy]

Hi all,

Ok, so i did some checking of the signal strenghts and quality and this is what i got.....

33E MAP TV STRENGTH 97 QUALITY 71
26E AL MANAR 97 50
23.5 TV NOORD 97 80
21.5 YEMEN TODAY 97 57
16E TVR NEWS 97 61
13E BLOOMBERG 97 81
10E MGM CHANNEL 97 80
10E PENTAGON 97 67
9E CCTV DOCUMENTARY 97 77
7E TRT ANADOLU 97 89
7E TRT TURK 97 68
4.8E RADA 97 88
4.8 1st BALTIC MUSIC 97 52
3.1E TV EUROPE 97 76
5W FRANCE O 97 55
7.3W QATAR TV 97 47
8W NRT 97 85
11W RETECAPRI 97 71
12.5 BETHEL 97 74

So overall not as high as yours Den but its not bad for my first motor install on my own. Mind you its not been very windy recently and i reckon my numbers will drop off quite a lot.
I dont think im going to try and tweak it as it took me ages to get it as is and i think i deserve some time enjoying my new hobby !

Still a bit puzzled with USALS however........
When i first installed, i set up my USUALS for my location, 2.3 LONG and 52.1 LAT correctly (motor angle correct too) but couldnt get things lined up at all. Eventually I got it correct by changing my LONG to 1.3. Then I loaded in someone elses channel list and had to 'tweak' things so i ended up with my LONG set to 0.5. This is what i currently have it set at with the signal details as above. Seems to be a bit of a 'black art' this to the novice person like me - but you've got to start somewhere !
Cheers

 

[headwest]

Your dish is not aligned correctly m8, sorry to say. Usals makes calcs based on your exact long/lat, if your dish is slightly out, its possible to fudge some results by playing with your coordinates. set motor angle as exact as possible using the scale on the motor with your latitude. dish angle calc as per motor instruction manual. this is approx and during alignment is the only lateral adjustment you will make. now connect your stb to motor. input your lat /long. drive the motor to Thor 0.8e. now connect your meter to lnb or lnb to motor if no meter. adjust motor on support shaft and dish elevation to peak Thor. rest of sats should just fall in place, if not start from beginning making small tweaks.

 

[Julezy]

Yes i hear what your saying - I did follow those instructions in the beginnning and the advice of only making adjustments on Thor. I got a decent signal on one of the Thor channels (BBC World I think) using a sat meter but even with the correct LONG, LAT, motor angle, vertical mounting pole, couldnt get the rest to line up. I guess i've kind of 'fudged' things so it kind of works (typical me ). Based on Den's readings above I cant be far out even with 'fudged' settings - i might have another go at re-tweaking when ive got a few days off work but im wary of the saying "dont fix what aint broke !!" and will it make much of a difference anyway ?

 

[Julezy]

p.s. one thing that does trouble me is although the 'L' shaped mounting bracket is 100% solidly bolted to the wall and is going nowhere - when its windy the dish does wobble about. The dish isnt installed more than about 20 feet up - would getting some T and K brackets make any difference as it seems thats its the projection and weight of the dish that causes the wobble ? Cheers again

 

[wiz569]

p.s. one thing that does trouble me is although the 'L' shaped mounting bracket is 100% solidly bolted to the wall and is going nowhere - when its windy the dish does wobble about. The dish isnt installed more than about 20 feet up - would getting some T and K brackets make any difference as it seems thats its the projection and weight of the dish that causes the wobble ? Cheers again

A motorised dish will always be prone to wobbling,its a design flaw I suppose,
But under normal circumstances it shouldn't affect your setup

sent using my telepathic powers

 

[Zorch]

Hi again Julezy,

p.s. one thing that does trouble me is although the 'L' shaped mounting bracket is 100% solidly bolted to the wall and is going nowhere - when its windy the dish does wobble about. The dish isnt installed more than about 20 feet up - would getting some T and K brackets make any difference as it seems thats its the projection and weight of the dish that causes the wobble ? Cheers again

It also depends on the rigidity of the pole you use... my dish is mounted on a cast iron drainpipe and there is very little/no dish movement at all... whatever the weather...

Best Wishes,
Zorch

 

[headwest]

The L bracket will be ok provided that its plumb. with t & k's you are able to adjust in both planes to get perfectly plumb. with an L bracket you will only be able to adjust in 1 plane unless you start faffing about packing the backplate (not recommended). Make sure your motor mounting pole is plumb before you begin, this is crucial! It took me forever to set up my 1st motorized dish, but nowit takes just an hour or 2 from scratch. a bit like learning to ride a bike!

 

[Julezy]

Hi Headwest,
So with an incorrect LONGITUDE setting in USUALS (based on my location) my setup ‘kind of’ works in that I get a pretty good signal across the arc that I can see – is that because
a) i only have a relatively small clear window of the sky (approx 30E – 15W) or is it
b) that you can effectively ‘tweak’ your LONGITUDE setting to fool the receiver into lining up the satellites on the arc thinking that you are further East or West of your actual location because you have fine tuned the signal by nudging it east or west when displaying a channel, not saving it and then tweaking your LONGITUDE in USUALS ?

 

[owen]

Hi Julezy
i do not use USUALS, I find that i have better control on DISEQC, and by the way on BBC WORLD on 1w readings is 97 / 95.

Den

 

[wiz569]

Hi Headwest,
So with an incorrect LONGITUDE setting in USUALS (based on my location) my setup ‘kind of’ works in that I get a pretty good signal across the arc that I can see – is that because
a) i only have a relatively small clear window of the sky (approx 30E – 15W) or is it
b) that you can effectively ‘tweak’ your LONGITUDE setting to fool the receiver into lining up the satellites on the arc thinking that you are further East or West of your actual location because you have fine tuned the signal by nudging it east or west when displaying a channel, not saving it and then tweaking your LONGITUDE in USUALS ?

b)

But its only really worth it if your off by a small bit

 

[Julezy]

Hi Den,

Just checked and my BBC World is 97 / 84 so definitely a bit out by the looks of it. I never went down the DISEQC route as all the research i did advised on using USUALS. Think i'll have to investigate........
I do remember THOR was quite sensitive to adjust the dish when I eventually found it - even tightening the clamp up affected the signal.

Another thing i've not fully got yet is, the channel list i loaded in had THOR at 0.8W yet some people have this a 1W. I guess that might be why mine is a bit out as i think i originally set it up as 1W ?

Anyhow until it gets warmer I'm not going up the ladder again !

Cheers
Julesy

 

[Zorch]

Hi again Julezy,

Another thing i've not fully got yet is, the channel list i loaded in had THOR at 0.8W yet some people have this a 1W. I guess that might be why mine is a bit out as i think i originally set it up as 1W ?

There are 3 satellites at that position mate...

Intelsat 10-02 at 1.0°W

Thor 5 at 0.8°W

Thor 6 at 0.8°W

I hope this helps...

Best Wishes,
Zorch

 

[Julezy]

Thanks Zorch,
OMG the more I get into this the more confusing it becomes !
At satbeams.com it has those 3 sats listed as 1W. Im sure i see a lot of other people referring to THOR as being at 1W but i've also seen other sites listing 0.8W. When tuning my dish in using a meter surely theres no way it would be able to pick up a sat at 0.8 and another at 1.0 is there ? Surely it would see them as the same ?
Cheers