125w tuned down or not?

[tmp_pi]

(cross-posted on this forum too, for obvious reasons)




a few weeks ago, we had a *ginormous* wind storm in the ottawa-gatineau region, with quite a few trees knocked down in my neighbourhood, house siding ripped off, sat dishes almost blown off a few roofs, power lines damaged (~20 hours power outage in my area), etc.


the dish i have pointed at 125w survived (along with the 91xg on my roof), to my great relief.


but ever since, it seems that i've been having issues getting pbs fta on that sat. either my dish's aim was either thrown off, or pbs has "tuned down" most of the transponders. except, oddly enough, the one used by montana pbs.


so, question: has anyone else been having difficulties getting the various pbs channels on 125w recently? should i peak that dish again or would it be wasted time trying to try to fix something that is not on my end?


cheers.


p.s.: i've just set up a 2nd dish pointed to 87w and pbs is coming in fine on that bird.

[Jorgek]

I would suspect as you do that the wind may have shifted the dish assembly.  However, 125W is always up and down like a yo-yo at this end.  More over if I peak the dish for Montana then the other TPs are down and vice versa!

[tmp_pi]

well then, i guess i'll try to peak my 85cm dish (the one aimed at 125w) anew, to see if i can get it back to where it used to be.  and to think i was sure that dish was low enough to avoid things like this (big wind knocking it off alignment).  at least i don't have to climb on my roof.


i'm happy i set up a dish for 87w, then.  lpbs is coming in better than what is on 125w, despite the fact that i'm now thinking i've skewed the lnb backwards.  if i indeed set my lnb incorrectly and lpbs is still coming in relatively nicely, that bird must be broadcasting very loud!


p.s.: what's the deal with all those extra line-feeds?

[tmp_pi]

after working on my 125w dish, i still have no better reception than i've been having recently. oklahoma is still "missing" and the rest is not as strong+stable as it used to be. azimuth + lnb skew is as good as i can make it, only elevation was not touched, as i ran out of time.


i am now wondering if i was right to assume its aim was thrown off by that fierce wind storm. i mean, it didn't really move if i am to believe markers i left on the bracket and the pole holding the dish. now i don't think its azimuth was really affected.


as for elevation, comparing pictures of now vs. before, i cannot easily see any difference.


whatever changed (was it really during/just after big storm?) i am now unsure of what it is. one detail i have just noticed is that reception on 125w seems to vary a fair by time of day & temperature. i am unsure of what to make of it.


silly question: would a feed-horn help or hurt reception in my case? or am i better just to swap the dish next spring (85cm fortec ---> 90cm dms hotdish90)?

[Satfan3000]

I can't pick up 125W because of a tree in the way so I can't vouch for it. But, what type / make is the dish? Maybe the wind warped the dish.


I find that LPBS a bit funny for me because sometimes the signal goes way down for no apparent reach. There is not signal break up but sometimes it would go to 48%. Today I've checked it and it is back to 72%.