Setting Declination Angle on WSI 6' Dish

[ftanut]

Having difficulty on trying to get a WSI 6' dish up, so I may view some C band channels. Not too certain on how to go about getting the proper declination angle needed. My Latitude angle is set at 31 degrees, looking at a Declination Angle Chart from the internet it shows the required Declination Angle degrees should be set at 5.10 degrees. Where does this 5.10 degrees come from and is this degrees added or subtracted from the Latitude angle.

Thanking you in advance for your help.

[el bandido]

Can you post a picture of the polar mount for the dish?

[ftanut]

Attached you will find two Pictures, of the polar mount of the WSI $69.99 special dish. This dish has been removed and replaced a few times due to incomming Hurricanes and other things, so I am sure that it is not tracking as it should.

Where or at what point do I take the angle readings for the required declination setting, and does it get added or subtracted from the dish Latitude angle setting.

Than You.

[el bandido]

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

Look in the above link for more information on the declination angle and why it is needed.

The declination angle is about 5.5 degrees for my area. I use a protractor and measure the angle at the top of the ring that supports the dish, and compare that reading to the bottom of the dish ring. I use these two measurements to get in the ballpark of 5 degrees of declination.
Next, I adjust the dish until I can get a couple of satellites either side of my true South. Then I make small adjustments until the dish will track at least 50 degrees either side of center which is due South.

Attached is a picture of my polar mount that shows the two bolts on my polar mount for adjusting the declination angle. This picture was taken from the top down. The adjustment for my Fortec dish is at the top, while your declination adjustment is at the bottom.
There is a lot of trial and error in this adjustment for me. I paint the threads on both sides of the nuts so I can see how much I am moving the adjuster. I also make small adjustments by only turning the nut(s) a thread or two, then I check for effect. Adjusting the declination angle is something that I am not very good at, but once the dish is tracking in both directions at least 50 degrees, I can lock the declination adjusters down and not need to worry about them for a long time. The dish declination angle should not need any additional adjusting once it is set correctly. EB

[ftanut]

Thank You;

That is a very informative link. That explains alot, and hopefully will correct the dish tracking problems. This dish is three years old, it has served me well in the past, but being so flimsy it became a bit out of shapes when it was manhandled during the removal and reinstallation of a few times.

[ftanut]

el bandido;

Which table or chart at this link do I use when doing the setup, such as the table from the Declination Angle Chart (Latitude 31 degrees, Declination Angle degrees 5.10 ) or the Modified Polar Mount Tracking Angle chart (Elevation Angle 31.59 degrees, declination offset 4.53 degrees) I did the math and both come to almost the same overall angle readings. When is the Modified Polar Mount Tracking Angle chart use. In either way, am I looking for a reading of 31 degrees for the Elevation of the dish, and 36.10 degrees for the Declination Angle Degrees.

Just took a look at the back of the dish and noticed that the dish alignment in refferenc to the pole is slightly out of kilter. Does the pole and the dish come to a natural alighnment when facing the true South satellite and at the top of the arc. It has been a while since I worked with this dish and have forgotten some of the setup procedure.

As the dish is right now, took a reading from the ring at the back of the dish, when applied the inclinometer to the top part of the ring the inclinometer reading is 10 degrees lower than the bootom part of the ring section.

Any comments are welcomed. Thank You.

[el bandido]

Just Guessing, I would say 4.53 degrees would be more like it for your area if you are South of Atlanta, Ga. I think you will have some trial and error of about a degree anyway.
You mention about 10 degrees of difference, and your declination adjuster on the front of the dish looks like it is pulled all the way down. I see the two nuts in the picture do not have any threads exposed except at the bottom, so it looks like it is all the way down to me. If this is the case, try raising it up a couple of threads and see what effect it has. If the declination is way off, then you can bump the positioner a couple of clicks in either direction and lose the signal on your center our due south satellite. The center satellite will appear to be wider and it will take more clicks on the positioner to move away and lose signal on it as the correct declination angle is reached.

As far as dish alignment with the pole, that may or may not be something to be concerned with. There is a piece on the back of my mount that I expected to be straight when the dish was at due south, but this turned out not to be the case. Put things where you think they are supposed to be and see what kind of effect it has. Only make a small adjustment to one thing at a time and then immediately check and see what kind of effect it has on the tracking overall. Usually, I try to get one satellite or two satellites tracking correctly on each side of dish center. Then I start making small adjustments to gradually spread out and get the rest of the satellites in the arc. My 1.8 meter polar mount is tracking the ku satellites from 15 West to 125 West but it took me several hours of adjusting to get it there. I do not set up satellite dishes for a living and I am slow about getting them to track correctly. EB

[ftanut]

Just Guessing, I would say 4.53 degrees would be more like it for your area if you are South of Atlanta, Ga. I think you will have some trial and error of about a degree anyway.
You mention about 10 degrees of difference, and your declination adjuster on the front of the dish looks like it is pulled all the way down. I see the two nuts in the picture do not have any threads exposed except at the bottom, so it looks like it is all the way down to me. If this is the case, try raising it up a couple of threads and see what effect it has. If the declination is way off, then you can bump the positioner a couple of clicks in either direction and lose the signal on your center our due south satellite. The center satellite will appear to be wider and it will take more clicks on the positioner to move away and lose signal on it as the correct declination angle is reached. EB

The missing threads that you noticed are covered by a piece of aluminun tape wrapped around the bolt, this was done to maintain the previous height measurement, it did not worked as it should have since the dish was moved a few times the dish angle as well as the declination angle got all out of wack.

Will go by the 4.53 degrees as you mentioned and see what happens. Right now we are having some terrible winds and rain, cannot do much work on the dish today.

Trying to revive this dish so far has been a challange, but if I persist I will get this thing going and working.

Thanks again.