USALS motor coordinate adjustments

[Kwabena]

I have used USALS for driving my motors for many years now since I discovered that it is much easier to set up than using DisEqc because once you got the coordinates right, all the satelittes are ligned up. My professional installer would not uses it since he said it was too complicated. The essential he said, was to get it working.
Interestingly I got to it by chance since after putting in the coordinates it did not work. I put the wrong longitude by chance and behold it worked. This was off by almost 4°! I noticed that the coordinates shifted from time to time +or - and I have to adjust it every now and then 6 months on the average. This happens no matter which receiver I use (Azbox me, Azbox HD, Vu+duo, Strong etc)
I would like to know from members if anybody has had that experience and also those who have difficulties with getting signals because with this system I have maximum signals from 36 satellites receivable here.

I would also want to know the possible reasons for this anomaly, misalignment may be the first suggestion

[digicon]

Re: USALS motor coordinate adjustments

Misalignment is the problem in the first place and the reason why you have to keep changing the co-ordinates now and again is due to the fact your whole setup is moving slightly probably due to weather conditions, The way to resolve this is to get the install done correctly in the first place and make sure everything is tight and secure to avoid further movement.

[digicon]

Re: USALS motor coordinate adjustments

Easiest way to find your coordinates is to use any kind of GPS. The good site is

If you read the OP's post correctly it has nothing to do with the co-ordinates as he already has these, he altered them to correct the dish Misalignment that is causing the problem in the first place

[vedia]

Re: USALS motor coordinate adjustments

If you read the OP's post correctly it has nothing to do with the co-ordinates as he already has these, he altered them to correct the dish Misalignment that is causing the problem in the first place

On Dishpointer he can see all parameters to align the dish and motor, if select proper place and type of motor

[microchick]

Re: USALS motor coordinate adjustments

Here is my experience:
I have a USALS motor for few weeks now and its working perfectly. Put it up myself as DIY and my first ever motor setup. I have put the longitude and lattitude once and never needed to adjust them so far. Had to reset the motor once but that another story, it wasn't due to the co-ordinates. I totally agree with digicon the make sure all the screws are tight and secure and the alignment is 100% vertical.

[scooterman]

Re: USALS motor coordinate adjustments

Are you getting all sats east and west?...Quote My professional installer would not uses it since he said it was too complicated. The essential he said, was to get it working.......
Think you need an installer thats more up to date with current equipment.

How can it be 4 degree's out ,if its working now i would think that your original coordinates where wrong and if its tracking then the installer has got it on the arc fine for you.
You can try changing your latitude a little at a time in usals and see if you can peak the sats a little more then use the new numbers,if your getting sats 45E to 30 west then the installer has done a good job.

[microchick]

Re: USALS motor coordinate adjustments

Are you getting all sats east and west?...Quote My professional installer would not uses it since he said it was too complicated. The essential he said, was to get it working.......

Hi scooterman. Was that question from me? I am getting from 30W to 28E because there is a big obstacle in front of the dish and the signal gets weaker as it moves towards the obstacle(East). I already knew that it wouldnt get any signal towards east but gave it a go and its getting signal but not good in the rain. Everything works fine on USALS and DiseqC.

[scooterman]

Re: USALS motor coordinate adjustments

Hi scooterman. Was that question from me? I am getting from 30W to 28E because there is a big obstacle in front of the dish and the signal gets weaker as it moves towards the obstacle(East). I already knew that it wouldnt get any signal towards east but gave it a go and its getting signal but not good in the rain. Everything works fine on USALS and DiseqC.

I would'nt worry about anything past 28E not so much there for us ,23.5E is a good one to get that works pretty good on the free server,i watch 7E a lot and 1w.
Try and peak it a little using usals ,if your sats seem weak compared to your last set up or considering your dish size have a word with the installer .

[odysseas1991]

Re: USALS motor coordinate adjustments

I don't understand about the 4degrees out. If it is out, then the arc will be wrong no matter what coordinates you put in.

And yes, Digicon is correct in saying that you need to adjust because the dish is moving slightly. You definately need to realign the dish, put in the correct coordinates and drive the motor to your reference satellite which varies by area, and fine tune the dish position manually. Then everything will come together perfectly.

[microchick]

Re: USALS motor coordinate adjustments

I would'nt worry about anything past 28E not so much there for us ,23.5E is a good one to get that works pretty good on the free server,i watch 7E a lot and 1w.
Try and peak it a little using usals ,if your sats seem weak compared to your last set up or considering your dish size have a word with the installer .

The dish size is ok for the North of England. Gives me good signal. i get 78% on 30w which is very good. Yes I get all the mentioned satellites. Its the best signal I can get out of that dish as i have tweaked it. The best thing is that i didn;t involve any professional. My first ever try

[digicon]

Re: USALS motor coordinate adjustments

The reason the OP has adjusted his latitude setting by around 4° is to compensate for his dish alignment being out, This little trick can be done on any system using USALS for controlling a motor if in strong winds your alignment goes slightly out and your signal drops then the trick is to adjust the Lat setting by about 0.5° at a time until you peak the signal again. This also saves you having to go out and manually re-align the dish. You can of course only go so far with this until a manual adjustment is required.

On the subject of 30° west in the north of England this bird can be picked up on a Zone1 43cm sky dish with exceptional signal, Most transponders on there with a dish size of 80cm and above should be giving a reading not accurate i know from a receiver around the 99% SNR mark just to give you an idea

[scooterman]

Re: USALS motor coordinate adjustments

The dish size is ok for the North of England. Gives me good signal. i get 78% on 30w which is very good. Yes I get all the mentioned satellites. Its the best signal I can get out of that dish as i have tweaked it. The best thing is that i didn;t involve any professional. My first ever try

Sounds like a good job there bro ,for your first time setting up you have done very well,i think its good that we try to do these things ourselves that way if the dish goes out of alignment we can fix it without calling in an installer.

The strong winds here whip my dish about,i did try a 90cm mesh dish for the sake of the wind ,but the drop in signal was too much to live with so i quickly put the 110 trax back up and into the 90s on most sats,what i do is throw a line over it when the wind gets bad,and try to remember its tied up and not move sat.

[cannydo]

Re: USALS motor coordinate adjustments

I had the same problem with wind scooterman I decided that I was happy with sats upto 45e and 30w. I was able to cut a foot of the horizontal part of the pole and get a welder to weld in back on the plate perfectly. Really makes the pole sturdy, my dish originally was to long and in the really strong winds it bent the dish totally in half.

[joseram2000]

Re: USALS motor coordinate adjustments

The main thing is always to put a good fit, after putting the coordinates of our location, it is important to align an actual sur ur adjusting the satellite closest to our south
from there everyone else if no signal strength problems locating all should leave without any kind of problems

[sideralgr]

Re: USALS motor coordinate adjustments

Here is my experience:
I have a USALS motor for few weeks now and its working perfectly. Put it up myself as DIY and my first ever motor setup. I have put the longitude and lattitude once and never needed to adjust them so far. Had to reset the motor once but that another story, it wasn't due to the co-ordinates. I totally agree with digicon the make sure all the screws are tight and secure and the alignment is 100% vertical.

what satellite should be on the 0 grades of the motor?