Manually Aiming Winegard Satellite Dish

[jhanan]

I'm sure it is faster if my elevation sensor worked. With no elevation sensor working, it is next to impossible. I tried again looking at the neighbors to get a general idea of the angle and I could never get a lock. I tried slight azumth adjustments +/- <3 deg and again had to guess the 55 deg elevation - could never get lock. Parts will have to be ordered.

[jhanan]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by BobFL:
how about the battery---9volt
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

So, yes there is a spot for 9 volt on the board, but on the Itasca it is hard wired to the house 12v. Anyway, I stuck a 9v battery in anyway, I got 2 dashes for a bit, and then nothing. Now is completely dead - no dispay at all, with or without battery. Sensor is dead. Missed alot of football this Thanksgiving! Anyone know the cranks to deg elevation ratio?

[Tom N]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by jhanan:
Anyone know the cranks to deg elevation ratio? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Here you go. I suggest printing this chart and keeping with your sat info.

This is from my 1994 Vectra with manual crankup satellite dish. I could easily find DirecTVs sat in less than a minute. Much faster than my auto dish.

-Tom

[jhanan]

Dish back in business. I ordered the replacement elevation sensor from Winegard for $35 plus tax before Xmas but they said I would not get it till the 2nd week in Jan. So I purchased the analog Winegard signal strength meter from Radio Shack that folks use for tri-pod dish's. The analog meter helps quite a bit - on last trip at Amistad I was able to find the sat pretty fast using the analog meter. What is interesting is that the analog meter will respond when you get close to the sat but the DirectTV cable box will still show 0 strenght - but now I know I'm close so with little fine adjustments I get the DirectTV box to finaly connect and can usually get it read up to about 90-92% signal strength.

I did receive the new elevation display and sensor and installed it this weekend - works like a champ and is right on. I did wire it back to the house power directly. Note you cannot use both house and 9v power - it is one or the other. I choose house power since one less battery to think about and it was prewired for it. There is a warning on the install guide that the power must be "filtered". Not sure what Winegard means by that, but I assumed it means the power is on a somewhat safe protected circuit from overly high or low voltage, but they do not provide a range. I did not modify the prewire.

[jhanan]

Well, now with fixed elev sensor from Windgard, plus the Winegard signal strength meter from Radio Shack, I can connect in about 2 min every time. One thing with Direct TV is that the delay from the digital box on connecting to the sat is significant, so without the analog meter it would be very frustrating.

[Clay L]

Regarding the filtered voltage supply.

My dish was installed by the dealer and they took the easy way out and did not connect it to 12 volts but stuck a battery in it.
The display has a pretty high keep-alive current drain and the battery would only last a couple of months or so.

I got tired of replacing the battery so I used a LM7809 voltage regulator IC along with a couple of capacitors and built a small nine volt regulated supply. The PC board is mounted on the inside of the display housing with Velcro.

I connected it to 12 volts on the back of the Winegard wallplate/amplifier. Been working great for a couple of years now.