[Crow 492]

Items required for KU Band:
1. 33" Dish or bigger (Motorized Dish is Best)
2. LO 10750 LNB

Getting Started with FTA: Overview
What you absolutely need:
A clear view of the southern sky
A dish, 30 inches or wider
A Ku-band LNBF
A Free-to-air DVB receiver
To hit multiple satellites from one dish, add:
A dish-moving motor
Really helpful stuff for installation:
A compass with degree marks
A level
True RG6 coax cable
A 7/16-inch wrench
A portable TV
The four simple steps:

[Crow 492]

Using USALS to find "True South"

The purpose of this post is to put in one place information that can make installing your dish/motor relatively easy. Many of the posts here discuss finding "true south", which is not always easy, even if you understand about magnetic variation and how to use a compass. You can come close, but lots of this relates back to the steps we needed to go thru to put up our C-Band BUD's or installing KU dishes without USALS.

The first thing is to be sure that you have a solid pole that is perfectly vertical. If your pole is not vertical you will not be able to track the entire arc acurately. This may be a bit less critical if you are using a very small (18") dish, but you should probably try to get a 30=36" dish if you can. Note that the larger a dish is, the greater the gain, but the sharper the focus - meaning that larger dishes are harder to aim than smaller ones. Try setting up Ku on a BUD for a challenge

Check with the manual that came with your dish to determine the elevation and offset angles for your location. You need these numbers to be as accurate as possible in order to get as many satellites as possible. The 2 numbers work together to aim the dish vertically and to alter the arc that the dish follows.

Mount the dish assemby on the motor and mount the positioner/dish combination on your pole. Be sure the positioner is at "0" (your IRD can drive it there). Point the whole assembly to an approximate "South". Tighten the bolts enough to hold everything, but not so tight that you can't move the assembly east/west as necessary.

Now, go to Lyngsat to find your southernmost satellite. If you are using only a circular polarity LNB the southern bird for you may be several degrees off of "true" south, but that is NOT a problem. You will have more choices if your primary LNB is linear.

The southernmost satellite is the one that corresponds most closely to your Longitude. For example, my longitude in Albany, NY is 73.8 degrees so my southernmost (ie. highest) satellite is SBS6 at 74 degrees. If I were only using a circular LNB my highest bird would be Nimiq 2 at 82 degrees.

Using your IRD (receiver) enter your longitude and other information for your southern satellite and drive the dish - using USALS - to the location of that satellite. Check with Lyngsat to find a active transponder and set your program on that TP.

Go back to the dish and SLOWLY move the dish/positioner ASSEMBLY east or west on the pole until you get a signal. Maximize that signal with very small movements and then tighten the bolts holding the motor to the pole. Once you have done this you may want to try to max out the vertical setting by gently presssing on the top or bottom of the dish to slightly change look angle.

Verify that the dish you are looking at is the correct one by scanning a single transponder and comparing what you get with the Lyngsat or SATCO DX lists. If you have the wrong bird you will need to move the dish/positioner assembly a few degrees ON THE POLE until you find the one you are looking for.

Almost done!!!

Now that you have your highest satellite all set use the USALS program to drive the dish to a satellite at the end of the arc. I use G10R on one end, Echostar 3 on the other. Once the dish has moved there again use your program to scan a transponder that you know is active. You MAY need to make a few minor adjustments, but you should now be able to find all the satellites you can see from your position - USALS will go directly to them.

If you are using 2 LNBs on your dish you should be sure to put the linear LNB at the primary focus point and strap the circular LNB to the side of it (Either side is OK). You can compensate for this offset by changing your Longitude FOR THE CIRCULAR POLARITY satellites (BEV, D***). Other messages here suggest trying an offset of about 5 degrees - either east or west of your true location - depending on whether you mounted the second LNB on the "east" or "west" side of the linear LNB.

You are now done

Oh yes - how to find "True South". Using your installation program drive the dish to the "reference" (0) position. Go outside and look where the dish is pointing -- that is "True South". Notice that we did all this without knowing where "True South" was or even using a compass

Hope this helps!!

[Crow 492]

Idiot Proof Guide to Puting Your SG2100 On the Correct Arc using USALS..

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This guide is for use with the Pansat, Fortec and a SG2100 Motor.
Reading some of these threads can be quite tedious. the posters should
write like they are talking to a baby. So here it is.

Required Information
Your Longitude (This will determine your heightest Satellite which would be the one closest to your longitude)
Your Latitude
Your Motor Angle (This is determined by your latitude. Check manual for the angle that corresponds to your latitude)


Installation Process
Turn on your Pansat 2500.

Press Menu (Select Installation-->Antena Setup)

Select the satellite that is closest to your longitude (For me it was 74 SBS6)

Press Ok (Select Positioner Settings, change it to USALS then press ok)

Input you latitude in the field called (My Latidude)

Input you longitude in the field called (My longitude)

For now input you longitude in the field called (Sat Position)

Goto ***** and press Ok. (If your motor is near by you can test it by changing Sat Position to any number then press select Move and press ok. USALS will automatically calculate the the distance between the satellites. Notice if you leave Sat Position at your longitude and press move it will not. this is because your longitude is your starting point.) ok, had fun, now back to work..

Set the angle on your motor that is specific to your location. (My location is New York, so my motor angle would be 50 degrees because the manual says to set it to 50 because of my latitude. You can determine your latitude by using the sat calculator provided in this thread or somewhere in this forum.)

Mount your dish perfectly aligned to the center of the motor pole. (to do this remove the dish from the anchor. Place the anchor on the motor pole and line up the center of the anchor with the line in the center of the motor pole then tighten the bolts. Re-attach the dish to the anchor but not too tight.)

Mount the satellite dish pole absolutly vertical (You can do this by using a level from any hardware *****.)

Mount the motor on the pole (do not tighten too tight because you will have to move the entire contraption from left to right.)
Go back to your pansat and set Sat position to the location of the next closest satellite that your lnb can view (For me it was 82 Nimiq2 which is Ku band, to find out what satellite your lnb can view use the sat list provided in this thread.)

Go back to you motor and elivatate you dish to the angle the sat calculator specified.(This would be the elivation angle, Give or take 10 degees. you should also see another angle called Azimuth. if you have a compass it will give you a general idea of where to point your dish. either left or right)

At this point you should have some type of dialogue with someone watching the level and quality located at the bottom of the screen. (If you have a SatHawk3000 then you're in good shape.)

Find a starting point to begin the sat search process.

Now slightly move the motor to the right, elivate then decline the dish in that 10 degree buffer. (repeat until you find you get a good level and quality)

Check to see if you are pointing at the right satellite by scanning that satellite. (To do this ,assuming you are still at the screen you enter you latitude and longitude, go to ***** and press Ok. when it is finished saving press exit one time. under Posistioner Settings you should see a field called Satellite or something. The word All should be selected. Press Ok and the sat scan will begin. press exit when you have determined you are or aren't looking at the right satellite. if you don't see a channel that is listed for that satellite then you are pointing at the wrong one. Repeat Step 17 until you find the correct one.)

Now that you found the correct satellite tighten the motor and the dish bolts. (if you tighten the motor bolts too tight the it will squeze the pole and bend it out of shape and that will result in a screwed-up arc.)

Assuming you are still at the screen that has your satellite selected, press exit one time. it should ask you to save. (Press Ok)
Now go to another satellite. Enter the apropriate Sat Position if it is not already there and select move and press ok. (At this point if that satellite uses your lnb's band you will have some type of quality. You can fine tune the quality by adding or subtracting a number from the decimal place in Sat Position. If you can't fine tune by that then go to the motor and slightly move it to the left or right.) Please loosen the bolts first
Now if the scan messed up your channel list just reload the the unit with the channel list.
Feel the joy of FTA.

[Crow 492]

Galaxy 10R made easy...

Galaxy 10R having a large number of both spanish and english free programming has been a popular but frustrating satellite to pickup... I have installed many a dish, including motorized dishes. This post is for those who are installing a fixed dish for G10R... You should get to know your receiver ahead of time. The best signal finder is your receiver. Coolsats are probably the best for finding satellites...

Okay, this is the easy way to get G10R... works for most dishes 30"-39"...

This will get you Echo 7 too...

First get a 11250 Circular LNB and a Linear LNB (best to use a universal... 10750s will also work, make sure you set the setting for the LN in question).

If you want to get Echo 7 permanently, then glue the two LNBs together. If you don't want echo 7, then use a clamp.

Now make sure the Linear LNB is in the center. The circular LNB should be to the right of the linear when looking at the pick up surface of the feedhorns. (ie. looking at the LNB from the dish). Make sure the LNB is about the same height as the linear... glue & zip tie or clamp...

Now, set your skew for G10R according to Satfinder 4.3 for your location. Set your elevation and azumuth for also according to Satfinder 4.3 for your location. You can download a copy of satfinder 4.3 here:

http://www.arachnoid.com/satfinder/index.html

Now with your receiver, tune to your circular LNB on echo 7. Adjust elevation and azumuth until you get a lock on echo 7... If it's a permanent connection set for your diseqc switch position etc... If it's a temporary, then by pass any switches you have. Now tune to G10R and TP 12.112GHz V SR 4.444. If you are lucky you will already have a lock... if not tweak the dish with minute movements until you do... if you don't get anything and think you've moved it too much, repoint for echo 7 and repeat. Once you have that TP locked, switch to TP 11800V and fine tune... Once you have that TP locked switch to 11720V... This is the weakest TP... if you get a lock on this one you have the satellite.

I hope this helps...

[Crow 492]

DiSEqC 1.2 motors - Mini group test READ.
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Part 1
Here is a COPY/PASTE from another website to help explain .................
The reason for buying a motorized setup is quite simple – there are hundreds of satellites in the sky, with Europe alone keeping over 70 of world's active satellites in geostationary orbit with a main purpose of bouncing TV signals to our households. Satellite enthusiasts might as well want to take a peek at them too, right?

Any dish driving device, has two main tasks to fulfil:
First is the ability to move from point to point on the Clarke belt, where the Geostationary satellites are located, in a fairly consistent and reproducible way. This task, in a manner of speaking, is easy and obvious.

Its second duty would be stop at any target destination with high precision. Our dish has to be able to pinpoint objects in the firmament, roughly 22,000 miles away with an error margin of less than 1 degree, and the bigger your dish the more accurately you need to be able to position it.
All the above has to be done despite weather conditions and natural forces like wind and exposure of metal parts to extreme temperatures. The smaller the inaccuracies, the better. Obviously the motor unit has to be cheap enough to be even considered as an option by the buyer while still remaining profitable for the manufacturer. Take that into consideration and you will quickly understand why most makers avoid at all costs manufacturing rotors for dishes bigger than 1.20cm or 12kg in weight. As for the customer's needs, it didn't take long before the industry realised the two main dos and don'ts of the whole H-H affair, with the most important being the cost and the noise. The sound issue won't bother owners of detached houses too much, but if you happen to share your walls with your neighbours you will always find someone upset enough by the aesthetics of your satellite setup to not be willing to put up with additional noise of your dish browsing around in search of new channels. Luckily years of experience have done the required magic and the manufacturers have come up with most of the possible solutions, including slowing down the rotation by using different gearing, or using nylon/nylon-coated parts instead of metal to hush the grinding noises a little. All that helped solve the problem, and spare our sensitive neighbour's ears a lot, it has to be said. I brought this test to extremes providing you with samples of what every tested motor sounds like just to give you an idea of eventual impact of your hobby on your relationships inside local community (smile).

What is DiSEqC and how does it work?
After the satellite boom in 80s and 90s many Asian and European manufacturers came up with custom mounts pushed and pulled by mechanical actuators. Besides being quite sturdy and strong-armed this solution to every day TV viewer has proven to have just as many disadvantages as favours. Exposed moving parts were prone to wearing out, the construction itself was often hard to adjust and tune for non-professionals and most of all, the setup required multiple cabling from a stand alone or integrated positioner laced outside buildings and windows.

By 1997 the German satellite giant Eutelsat decided to design a simple protocol whereby rotor devices could be operated via set of commands forwarded by the receiver through the same cable used for feeding signal from the LNB. Eutelsat already had a Digital Satellite Equipment Control protocol version 1.0 in place, allowing receivers to switch between up to four dishes or signal feeders, and revision 1.1 for scaling DiSEqC 1.0 by four times. Version 1.2 of the protocol introduced a few new commands required specifically for the purpose of moving the dish across the horizon.

The idea of using a single cable to power both rotor and LNB wasn't new – Nokia had already similar protocol known as Vsec implemented in their products and few other manufacturers worked on own proprietary systems, often, like in case of Irte Omnisat, much more advanced and scalable. However, thanks to impact of the name and good PR Eutelsat's system was a sure winner, and completely free to implement by manufacturers at that.

Part 2
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But how is it done?
Well, let's get back to last decade and look at the first digital receivers – what features did we have available? There was a 14 and 18V supply to LNB, to receive vertical and horizontal transponders, and a 22kHz tone to switch between bands.

A DiSEqC 1.2 positioner can operate a motor by inserting nanosecond gaps for few milliseconds into the existing 22 kHz tone. It is all very clever. Each message is followed by 6 millisecond silence so both the sender and receiver (master and slave) understand where one command ends and another starts. But there is absolutely no reason for me to get into details and graphs here, if you want to know more about the timings and insertion of the gaps simply refer to protocol manuals available for free from Eutelsat website.

The structure of the commands sent between the positioner and the motor is quite simple. They all consist of three parts:

A [Framing byte] an [Address byte] and a [Command byte]

The command byte may be accompanied by additional data bytes.
If we step outside the boring manuals and uninspiring, strict boundaries for a second, perhaps I can explain it better. Imagine that the [Framing byte] is equivalent to an explicit introduction so to speak - similar to “Listen mate“ in common speech - and so variations of this prologue can be thought of as:

“Listen carefully mate and keep quiet for a sec“ (E0 in hex)
“Listen mate“ (implying “ and feel free to tell me what you think“) (E1) and
“Listen to me mate and I really need your answer“(E2).

The [Address byte] is to define the "mate" we are talking to – e.g. a motor driving from East to West would be codenamed 31, an elevation motor driving up and down, or controlling tilt has handle 32, anything/everything on the line is referred to as 30. There are other possibilities too – “Yo, skew controller“ is 21, “polarizer, my dude“ is 20. These however are rarely used.

Finally the [Command byte] is the orders we give:
60 Halt - Stop moving
63 Limits Off Disable Limits
66 Limit E Set East Limit (& Enable recommended)
67 Limit W Set West Limit (& Enable recommended)
68 Drive East Drive Motor East (with optional timeout/steps)
69 Drive West Drive Motor West (with optional timeout/steps)
6A ***** nn ***** Satellite Position & Enable Limits
6B Goto nn Drive Motor to Satellite Position nn

Plus few extra commands, not mandatory, but defined:
64 PosStat Read Positioner Status Register
6E Goto x.x Drive Motor to Angular Position (degrees)
6F Set Positions (Re-) Calculate Satellite Positions

To get our unit to move our dish to position 2 *****d in the motor's memory we would say “Listen motor, mate, move to 2, would you?” or E1 31 6B 02 in hex. Simple.

If manufacturers wanted to implement all DiSEqC 1.2 commands the menus could be long...

But let's imagine we don't have anything *****d in motor's memory at all and want to watch something on Sirius. We can say “Listen mate, move that motor east“ (E1 31 68 (value)). But how do we tell the motor to stop or how far to go? The move command has the extra data byte for us to describe the movement. 00 would be “drive that dish till I tell you to stop“. Hex values between 01 and 7F, or 1 and 127 tell the motor to drive x amount of seconds “drive that dish for 5 seconds“. Negative hex values between 255-1 and 255-126 (80h' to ‘FFh') tell motor how many steps to move “nudge that dish 5 steps“. So to find our Sirius, we look at signal strength meter and say at least “Listen mate, move that motor till I tell you to stop“ (e1 31 6b 00) and when the signal scale rise we shout “Listen carefully everyone and keep quiet for a sec…stop now!“ (e0 30 60). We can then tell motor to remember where we are and ***** it as numbered position “Listen everyone, and keep quiet for a sec – remember the current point as position two“ (e0 30 6A 02).

Technically, because of backward compatibility, the specification demands DiSEqC 1.2 equipment should also support the mandatory DiSEqC 1.0 and 1.1 commands. That would extend the list by

58 Write Freq Write channel frequency
38 Write N0 Write to Port group 0 (Committed switches)
39 Write N1 Write to Port group 1 (Uncommitted switches)
00 Reset Reset DiSEqC microcontroller

but good luck with finding any receiver that has those working while motorized options are enable
Proper implementation however could give us options required for ergonomic but more advanced usage – move my dish to HotBird and switch monoblock to LNB B pointing offset on Astra 19.2E. While I'm watching Eurosport on Astra move my second dish with second inbuilt tuner output to PAS @ 43W and record a program from Fox Sports onto a hard drive. It's all theoretically possible, the options are present in the standards, but in practice they are still science fiction.

In the newest versions of the DiSEqC protocol with assigned version number 2.0 and above we can even optionally enquire of our "dish driver" about the state of a command. “Listen mate and I need you to answer, tell what's motor doing now? (E2 31 64)“. The motor may then reply with response formed as [framing byte] and data bytes. Framing responses could be translated to

“Motor here, understood“ (E4),
“Motor here, don't know who are you talking to“ (E5),
“Motor here, can't hear you please repeat“ (E6)
and “Motor here, don't know what you're talking about, please explain“ (E7).
Possible answers (data bytes) paired with E4 are:
.7 Done moving
.6 Enabled software limits
.5 Was last seen moving west
.4 I'm still moving
.3 Reached software limit point
.2 Don't have any power
.1 Reached hardware limit
.0 Don't know where I am, don't know who I am

The responses listed above, although obligatory with the newest revision of DiSEqC standard v. 2.2 are recommended but not required to be understood by DiSEqC 1.2 equipment, so you won't see the two way communication between devices too often. It is, however, sometime in the near future of the motorized satellite market, as inevitable as everything else in modern technology.

If any of you, somehow, got through all these explanations above without falling asleep you may wonder about one more issue. If not all receivers understand and request responses from motors and not all motors send responses then how do we know if our dish on the roof stopped moving before we start fine tuning it? A very valid question. Approximately 80% of today's receivers won't have a slightest clue. Others, designed by more experienced code writers and hardware designers will try their own methods – be it measurements of the current drawn by rotor, detection of signal from LNB, pulse count or message queuing.

You would imagine that at the dawning of the 21st century, turning a mere 12kg around its axis shouldn't be much of a problem, but bear in mind that the compatibility with existing wiring also enforced the limitations. The power available for the rotor is less than 500mA to share with LNB. "By the book" DiSEqC 1.2 specifications allow 350mA for the motor, but at the same time stressing that the peak/maximum power intake should not be more than 400mA. For a better illustration, the petit motor spinning your hard drive caching this page is consuming about 350mA @ 12V. With so little to work with and so much to achieve the downsides are quite obvious – equipped with tiny, low voltage engines DiSEqC 1.2 rotors can't possibly move large or heavy dishes.

Having bad experiences with DiSEqC 1.2 motors before, one of the tests I specifically insisted on was durability. Docklands in London is a perfect spot for such an exercise, there's at least 100 miles of riverbed for the wind to gain some speed and nothing but Isle Of Dogs to stop it. You don't have to do much for this test – you just mount the whole lot on the pole outside the building and leave it on for a few days.

Some receivers, like Force Dmaster series, can estimateknow fairly well approximate time when DiSEqC rotor is going to reach required position and indicate its progress.

In the following review I stress tested the three rotors most commonly encountered in shops. :

Part 3
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Stab HH120.
Around 1997, when Eutelsat published specifications of their extended Digital Satellite Equipment Control protocol version 1.2 (this time including a few extra commands to move a dish using definable reference positions) a fairly unknown Italian workshop, slightly macabrely self-titled Stab Italia, designed the first horizon to horizon rotor, using the new DiSEqC 1.2 protocol.

Today Stab products are used as a reference, and as the protocol itself has been slightly revised and additions made, many manufacturers actually consult Stab regarding DiSEqC 1.2 implementation. The most commonly used Stab additions include so called GotoX commands, where the presumed position of the satellite is calculated using the latitude and longitude input by the user. The GotoX implementation was later remodelled into the USALS software available free (?) to STB manufacturers.

Stab is very open to co-branding. Therefore their products are often disguised as various more and less known OEM variety and shop labels – Cryptic, HDT, Chess, Manhattan to name but few. Many may disagree but in my experience Stab clones can and do vary slightly in overall build quality and materials used. For example, when we were reviewing the Force Dmaster 1122S, due to an error in the design, the receiver had problems driving some motors. Strangely enough this bug wasn't as evident with the Stab manufactured Force Skywalker as it was with the, at first sight identical, HH100 clone we were testing the receiver with.

OEM Stab motors can often be purchased at amazingly low prices as part of generic bundles. In 2001 the French Castorama chain *****s were reported to sell an FTA receiver, dish and Stab labelled rotor for 1000 French Francs, at the time being an equivalent to approx 150 Euros. Throughout the same period all British satellite *****s sold HH 100 motors alone for the same, or higher, price.

The Stab HH120 is almost identical to its little brother – HH100 with the exception of a longer pole extension and slower gear stepping. Accommodating dishes of a radius up to 120 cm or 17 kilograms, the HH120, weighed by me, totalled at very close to 3.5 kg including mount. At the bottom of the main body I found two F connectors with their barrels protected from moisture by threaded collars and two matching plastic protectors for the cable and plugs. There are two small holes near the F connectors, and given their placement, I presume their main job is to drain moisture. Despite the lack of any seal, the HH120 passed my water test without any problems, no sign of corrosion, moisture or any other ingress was found inside the motor.
Upon opening the cast chassis of the HH120 I was surprised by the small amount of lubricant the manufacturer had decided to cover the gearing with. Ever since I took a peek inside one of the HH100 motors over a year ago It doesn't cease to amaze me how these tiny clockworks operate at all, considering most of the already minimal dose of brownish, thin liquid can be found splashed all over the cover around the gearbox by the fast spinning tiny 16W Taiwanese made motor.
The working mode of HH120 I examined was accompanied by a loud sandy noise of fairly high, whining pitch, which I presumed to be quite appropriate considering the level of lubrication. Timed with a stopwatch, the HH120 travelled across the horizon at a speed just slightly over 1 degree per second. In practice it means six long seconds between Astra 1 and HotBird, 14 more seconds to reach Thor and almost 1.5 minutes to travel from Pas1 at 43 degrees West to Turksat at 42degrees East. But having low gearing on the engine doesn't necessarily mean only bad things. The rule is – the bigger the dish, the harder it is to align and the smaller the error margin. Keep in mind that thanks to he fact that the motor moves in smaller steps this factor could actually help fine tune the positions. On the obstacle course the generic HH120 would not shut down when the dish movement path was obstructed by a wall, therefore we should assume there is no circuit preventing the rotor from putting the maximum pressure on its gears when the dish is driven onto a wall or against strong wind.

The HH120 comes with 49 memory slots, of which 26 are already taken by positions preprogrammed by the manufacturer. The Stab, similar to all rotors tested in this article, responded to GotoX commands and was fully compatible with USALS. No surprises there.

Overall the rotor, mounting, and add-ons provided felt sturdy - but a little on the rough and spartan side. Throughout the test the motor performed well, if a little noisily, but after two months of use with steel Triax TD 88 dish I found the transmission mechanism had slight but evident signs of wear, especially on the smallest gear.

Quality of build ------7
Performance --------8 (beware of windy conditions)
Features -----------7
Support ------------5 (no replies to questions)
Value for money ----5

Part 4
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Aston TracSat DH12
The initial impression is that Aston is not as much trying to compete for the laurel of motorised setup leader but to simply secure compatible motors for their own range of receivers. Despite evident similarities in the internal design the Stab HH120 model I tested was to the TracSat like the Volkswagen Beetle to the Porsche 356 - both have an engine designed by the same guy and yet the style, comfort and the finish of the whole is miles apart.

Thanks to a properly cut and finished pole driving gear the DH12 is much quieter and smoother, and more pleasant sounding to the ear than the HH120

The clean moulding of angle finder, rotation scale on the top closure and even the Aston logo on the mounting pole make this product look classy. And there is no doubts whatsoever where the 130 Euros go. The motor, together with mounting brackets and set of screws, is shipped in a top-notch photo colour box with glossy manual of a quality that one would like to see more often in book*****s than in the greasy, dirty hands of a dish installer. The parisian blue manual is, very much in the Aston style, kept traditionally in French only, leaving no doubts what part of European market is the product addressed to.

Apart from the finish, the most distinctive of the Tracsat unique features is without a doubt the output for the polarizer. Highly unexpected in a DiSEqC 1.2 motor, this very custom feature was added to accommodate the extra functions of Aston Xena 2000, which among other things is also ready to steer magnetic polarizers in search of inclined analogue and digital birds up on the sky. The Xena series have an auto focus option, relying on software to fine tune the dish to the strongest possible signal between the transponders, especially helpful when watching programs on group of satellites set slightly apart from each other on the same position – Sirius on 4.8 and 5.0 degrees East springs to mind. To achieve high precision repetitively the gears inside DH-12 will move the pole with speed of roughly 1 degree a second. Dynamics as well as the outcome of the obstacle course were almost identical to that of Stab H-H120 .

Upon installation, the rotor with 88cm steel dish attached to it survived 5 windy days until one afternoon few hours of 50 kph gusts left the dish installation pointing at the neighbours' Fiesta on the parking lot rather than Clarke's belt.

The weak link appears to be the mounting collar and brackets. The collar is made of 4mm steel, approx 2 mm less than any other manufacturer would go for in competing motors. The galvanised sheet used for mounting the DH12 is not only thinner but also softer. With the wind pushing the dish towards the front, the bottom part of the collar, originally moulded into V shape to better fit on the rod, simply bent and started warping around the pole. The threaded lower mounting bracket also got bent under the pressure.

To continue the tests I had a 5mm steel collar made at local metalworks and the Tracsat equipped with a custom collar and brand new brackets kept driving 6 kg of steel dish for several stormy weeks of October and November 2002. During the infamous 100 km/h November gales plundering London the DT12 successfully brought the dish to safety all the way from the 30 degree west horizon to maximum east position and, unlike the dish itself, survived great deal of abuse to finally let go after being torn and molested by storm of the decade for 7 hours.

I've examined all external and internal components of the motor itself very carefully and it seemed fine, no sign of gears worn out or broken by the sudden hits of wind, all in perfect shape and condition but the pole used for mounting the dish developed some 10 degree slack. Given the conditions I think the rotor did marvellous job and survived through more abuse than expected proving it is a great piece of engineering and design. Yet, it has to be said, sadly the final product was let down by a silly mount.

Quality of build -----8 (that mount...)
Performance --------8 (beware of extreme conditions)
Features -----------8
Support ------------8
Value for money ----9

Part 5
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Moteck Digipower SG 2100

Instead of working with ready reference designs Taiwan based manufacturer Moteck decided to create their own rotor from scratch. The originality of the SG2100 is clearly visible at first sight as the pole rotating the dish is pointing downwards, rather than upwards. As much as this first look might not provide any confidence (it's hard not to imagine your 6 kg dish sliding down and rumbling down from the roof) this design has more pros than cons. A bulge at the end of the pole easily secures the dish, so even if the dish mounting brackets go loose, they won't pass this point. The obvious advantage of such design is that the rotor works with help of gravity rather than against it, so there is less chance of the entire construction developing slack after months of holding your dish upwards against winds in different angles.

The advantages of SG2100's design don't just stop there. The Digipower is about the only DiSEqC 1.2 rotor to have adjustable hardware limits. The manufacturer also included manual east and west button to make setup easier as well as a memory reset switch, hidden inside the chassis and accessible with a pin in case of trouble.
Aligned with the East/West button is a multicolour LED indicator – it flashes green when motor is in operation, red when an overload occurs, and blinks briefly when motor is being reset. Easy, effective and so helpful.

Upon beginning the tests I was really surprised and pleased by the quality and detail of this rotor considering its price (SG2100 is approx 15-20% cheaper than the competition).
All the scales and reference points on the chassis were clearly marked and moulded spot on. The caps and covers fitted perfectly, and even the collars around the F connectors, protecting receiver and LNB input points underneath the main body from rain and snow, were made of flexible rubber rather than the difficult to mount stiff plastic crowns used by the other manufacturers in this review. The rumour has it there are black versions of the same mount available under the symbol SV2200.

After opening the motor I noticed the cog used directly to rotate the main rod was made of plastic rather than metal like the rest of the mechanism. At first I was disappointed. But observing the opened motor in action made me realise that this design made more than perfect sense. Rather than reinforcing the main gears, Moteck has invested in a proper overload circuit, preventing the mechanism from getting damaged should the dish hit an obstacle or be stopped by a strong wind. So using nylon for the main gear made it quieter, smoother, and perhaps less prone to structural changes in extreme temperatures.

With reduced points of mechanical failure and simplified setup, in use the Moteck SG2100 was the fastest out of all three scoring at nearly 2 degrees per second. Speed in both directions was even marginally faster than that of Stab's smaller rotor – the HH100. As I already mentioned, the DG2100 is also much, much quieter than the rest of the rotors in test.

The endurance test worked in favour of the Digipower too – after approx. 2500 rotations the motor looked as good as new inside out without any slack on the joints or in the internal motor mechanism. There was also no sign of rust or corrosion after the water test. To add impact to the final score I also discovered the SG2100 seems to draw less current than the competition while in operation even though the specs sheets reckon otherwise. The SG2100 worked suprisingly well connected to my usually troublesome Nokia 9200 via 20 meters of cable and additional DiSEqC 1.0 switch. It also performed much better than the compatition when powered by Hauppauge DVB card. This is good news for owners of the receivers that suffer from generally low output, either because of design deficiencies (original Force Dmaster 1122S, 2002 series of Dreambox DM7000) or simply lack of support for rotors in original design (Dbox1, Dbox2).

Quality of build -------10
Performance ---------10
Features ------------10
Support --------------8
Value for money -----10

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Find a place for the dish.

There are several considerations in finding the right place for your dish. The first and most important is making sure that the dish will be able to see the satellite(s) you want it to see.
Use the channel charts to determine which satellites you want. Then go to a satellite angle calculator, pick the satellite, enter your location, and see what comes up. Here's how to read the results:
Elevation is the angle that the dish needs to point into the sky. For example, 45 degrees is halfway between pointing straight across the ground and straight up from the ground.
Azimuth is the compass direction the dish needs to point. For example, due south is 180, southeast is 135.
Skew is the direction to tilt the LNBF on its arm. Used for stationary dishes.
Magnetic deviation is the amount to add or subtract from your compass reading to reflect the fact that true north is not the same as magnetic north.
Determine the apparent compass direction by adjusting the azimuth by the magnetic deviation factor as needed. Then go look to see whether there are any obstacles in that direction. If you plan to use a motorized dish, repeat this step for each direction you need.
Example: From Denver, I want to see Galaxy 10R. When I plug that info into the satellite angle calculator, I get Azimuth 206.1. From the magnetic deviation chart, I know that I should subtract about 10 degrees from the azimuth to get my compass reading, which should be about 196 (16 degrees west of due south). Viewers west of the Mississippi River must subtract from the azimuth; east of the Mississippi, viewers must add to the azimuth to get the compass reading.
If there are any obstacles in the distance along this line of sight, the signal may be able to clear them. For example, at an elevation of 35 degrees, you can clear a 14-foot-high obstruction if the dish is just 20 feet from the base of it. Higher elevations require less horizontal distance to clear an obstacle; lower elevations require more distance.
If you want to install a motor to point a single dish at multiple satellites, verify that your chosen spot is not blocked in any of the directions you need.
Homeowners/Neighborhood Associations may not restrict you from erecting a dish less than one meter wide (about 39 inches). Even if a contract or covenant forbids them, the Federal Communication Commission's rules make those portions of the contract unenforceable. With rare exceptions for historic districts, all that an association can legally do is require you to place the antenna in the least obtrusive place that still allows for reception.
Condo/Apartment Residents may erect the same small (less than 39 inches) dish regardless of contracts to the contrary, but only in "exclusive use" areas such as private balconies. Residents may be restricted from attaching the dish to permanent structures. In such cases, tripods or weighted bases can be used to keep the dish steady.
Weather is one last consideration. It's much easier to wipe snow off a dish if you can reach it without a ladder.

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Get Your Equipment

FTA reception requires three main components: the receiver, the LNBF, and the dish.
The receiver is the brains of the system. Its job is to convert the DVB (direct video broadcasting) signals to something your TV can understand. It can be a standalone box or a card for a computer.

To search wild feeds and other ephemeral signals, the receiver needs blind search.
To support multiple dishes, make sure the receiver supports DiSEqC (digital satellite equipment control).
To support a motor to move a dish, the receiver needs USALS support or DiSEqC version 1.2.
These features can come in handy later even if you don't think you need them now.
The LNBF (low-noise block converter feedhorn) is the piece that points at the dish. The LNBF translates and amplifies the weak signal from space into a stronger signal that can travel to the receiver via RG6 coax cable.
The LNBF's signal sensitivity is measured in decibels. A rating of 0.5 dB is good, and 0.3 db is excellent. The lower the rating, the better you can receive weak signals.
Some LNBFs are the standard linear polarity type; others are universal, with a wider frequency range. In North America, almost all FTA Ku-band channels can be received using either LNBF type.
The dish is the simplest part, although it's the hardest to ship. The minimum diameter is about 75 centimeters (about 29.5 inches), but a larger dish will help you pick up more, fainter signals. As noted in Part 1, you can install a dish up to one meter wide (about 39.3 inches) almost anywhere in the US.
Check with local satellite dealers for their dish prices, then check the prices of online dealers. Because dishes are so bulky to ship, you may want to buy a larger dish locally. If you're just getting started, your best deal may be a package price for the whole system shipped at once.
Optional: A motor. If you buy a motor for the dish, you'll be able to remotely move the dish to point at any satellite. If you only care about the channels on one satellite, or if you just want to start with a simpler system, it's easy to add a motor later.

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Install

Installing a new FTA system can look difficult, but it's really not bad if you take it one step at a time. If you really don't think you can manage it, you can pay a local satellite installer and skip these steps.
1. Install the pole. Whether it's a short pole on the roof, a longer pole on the ground, or any other configuration, this is a crucial first step. Use the spot and the angles you found in Step 1.
As you install the pole, the most important point is the pole must be perfectly plumb. If it's not straight up and down, the rest of your work will be much more difficult. Use a level to check it in all directions, then make sure that the pole will not move.
2. Install the dish and LNBF. If you don't have a motor for your dish, mount the dish to the pole according to instructions. Connect it snug but not tight; you'll need to move it around when you aim it. Mount the LNBF to the dish arm. Point the dish in the general direction of the satellite. When you raise the dish to the proper inclination, don't judge by the angle of the dish arm. Most dishes are offset, so they really "point" higher than they appear to.
(If you are installing a motor with your dish, the process is a little more complicated. Use the instructions that came with the motor to install the dish with the right offset. The first satellite you want to find with a motorized dish will be your "true south" satellite, which is the satellite closest to your longitude.)
3. Connect the receiver. Whenever you connect or disconnect anything to the coax, make sure the FTA receiver is off and unplugged. Connect the coax from the LNBF to the receiver, and connect the receiver to a television. This is where a portable TV can be very convenient. Plug in the receiver and turn it on.
4. Aim the dish. Use your receiver to check signal strength, and more importantly, signal quality. Use frequency and signal rate settings that match a channel that you know is there. Move your dish left and right until you determine the direction with the strongest signal quality. Then move it up and down until you find the perfect angle. Once it's just right, tighten the dish in place.
The hard work is done. Run the coax connections inside, set up your receiver by your television, and get ready to find some channels to watch.

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You've installed your equipment and made sure that it works. Now comes the fun part, adding channels to your receiver.
If you have a stationary dish, you can start with the chart of channels for the satellite it faces. If you have a motorized dish, you can go to the master channel chart, or you can choose just the channels that are in a particular language.
If your receiver can blind scan, the easiest way to add channels is point the dish where you want it, then let the receiver scan in all the channels. You can use the channels lists here to match the frequency and PIDs so you'll recognize what you have, and to make sure your receiver didn't skip any channels that we know about.
Another benefit from blind scanning is that you'll pick up "feeds", which are temporary channels used to send a sports event or news coverage back to a central studio. These come and go, they can be great fun to watch, and scanning is almost the only way to find them.