Why can it be so hard to aim?!

[Terminal_Kase]

Ok, I am no pro @ installs... I have 4 under my belt. All residential. Had my first commercial install today... What
a bummer. Second story roof of a church. Very hot. Very scary. Anyway, my question is, why is it so very precise of a position to aim, when the the beam spreads over such a wide area. I had on heck of a time up there trying to aim it w/ out a signal meter. That brings up another question... where can I find one & how much? The residentials have been easy... real near the tv. I had to use walkie talkies w/ someone else @ the tv to hear the signal. It was awful. Hardest $100 I have earned in a while.

tk

[Terminal_Kase]

Thanks. I knew that there had to be such an animal... I will check here locally and see what I can find.

tk

[RJ]

Another trick is to use a Baby Monitor. Found at alot of garage sales. Place next to the Tv and use the signal metor /tone to align the dish. Have the people call out the signal strenght number's.

[Terminal_Kase]

Luckily the company had a set of the little motorola walkie talkies... wouldn't have been able to do it w/o. It would have been next to impossible by myself... from the roof of the second floor, down the ladder, into the elevator & up to the second floor room where the ird was located... Only 75 feet of cable, but it seemed like miles after a while.

[Fro]

First, the signal beam is about the size of a quarter, it reflects from about where the D** symbol is. You can buy a compass/inclinometer from a company called Suunto, it not only gives you the compass reading but it also allows you to check your elevation to see if your line-of-sight is clear of trees, buildings, etc..

To sight a dish in I recommend using a battery powered t.v. to take on the roof with you. Nothing can be dialed as fine as a signal meter from the IRD itself. When in a situation like the church, you may look for a "screamer". Basically it is just like it sounds, the better the signal the louder it screams. The nice part is that it attaches to the LNB.



[Edited by Fro on May 19th, 2000 at 10:10 PM]

[r505]

here are two meters i use one is the digisat plus which dose dtv and dishnet systems you can get it at perfect 10 they are on the net it comes with a battery pack and chager and leather case with clip it is very easy to use its a 100 dollars then there is the more exspensive one the chanel master you can find that one at chanelmaster.com i have both and they work very well what ever you do dont get a inline meter you will regret it

[Terminal_Kase]

Thanks for all the help. I think I have my path laid out for me before I tackle my next install.