[P18] First light!

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I'm sure there must be a proper expression for first 'radio' reception but we'll pretend that it is a telescope and call it "first light."

Having fitted the dish to the tetrahedral stand and aligned the Inverto LNB and IRTE feedhorn I moved the dish onto 28E at about 18.45pm CET. This would be long after any chance of reception on the 1.8m Salora dish.

I was quickly able to get solid signals from the Pan-European beam. No surprises there. Sadly I could not lock onto a single Spot Beam channel. The Satfinder meter wailed at all settings of the control knob but was still handy to home in  optimum azimuth and altitude on 28E. Flexing the dish proved that there was nothing to gain from any further adjustment. The wail died.

Things to do tomorrow:

Move the LNB closer to the dish to check for improvement either side of theoretical focal distance. The feedhorn is presently 75.5cm from the dish when F/D should be 75cm. Easily managed by adjusting a few nuts on the feed arms holding the feed boss.

Move the dish back to give it a better chance of seeing over the eastern hedge. The angle of elevation remains the same. So a line to the satellite from the bottom of the dish clears higher obstacles as the distance from the obstruction increases.

Test for Spot Beam pointing accuracy when these channels are strongest around lunch time. This should be slightly east of the Pan Euro beam. Naturally I shall be testing long before maximum to see what is possible. The whole point of the bigger dish is to extend the useful hours of reception.

Put some weights on the frame to avoid tipping in unexpected wind gusts from odd directions.

I don't have enough coax cable to reach the receiver indoors from its present site north of the house. So I am using a receiver out by the dish with a small CRT monitor. If I take down the Salora 1.8 the temporary stand is much too low to allow the 2.2 to see over the front hedge. Raising the 2.2 higher on the stand would make it more unstable by raising the centre of gravity. I need a solid stand for the 2.2 to go where the Salora presently sits. Or slightly further back to allow the front hedge to be taller. So it hides the dish better in the winter without immediate obscuration by new growth in the spring.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

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