Acquiring And Fine Tuning The Signal - Panasonic TA-DA2420 Installation Manual

ACQUIRING AND FINE TUNING THE SIGNAL

Now that you have installed the satellite antenna and routed all of the cables, it's time to acquire and fine tune the
signal. Before you begin, you may want to go outside and double-check the azimuth, elevation, and tilt settings on the
dish to make sure they correspond to the on-screen coordinates given by the satellite receiver.
• Make sure that the elevation indicator is aligned with the edge of metal, not the washer or bolt, per Figure 6A.
• Make certain the antenna mast is plumb, per Figure 2B.
• Use a compass to verify that the azimuth setting on the dish is correct and no obstacles are
between the dish and satellites.
S T E P - B Y-STEP INSTRUCTIONS F O R A C Q U I R I N G A N D F I N E
TUNING THE SIGNAL
1. Read the instruction manual that came with your satellite receiver or set-top
converter to determine how to access the on-screen signal meter.
The signal meter shows you when you have locked onto a satellite's broadcast sig-
nal, and gives you the signal strength. It is easiest to use the signal meter with the
help of another person to relay signal strength values to you, or by moving the TV
displaying the signal meter so that it is easily viewed at the point of installation.
NOTE: Satellite A (101˚) has 32 authorized transponders from 1 to 32; all are
active. Therefore, the on-screen signal meter may be tuned to any of the 32
transponders for the initial dish antenna adjustment.
Satellite B (119˚) has 11 authorized transponders from 22 to 32; but a few of these
may be reserved for upcoming programming expansion. Tune your on-screen
signal meter to transponders 23, 25, 29 or 31 for the initial dish antenna
adjustment.
2. Make sure that you select the correct type of dish (oval, 2 LNBs) on your re c e i v e r
menu. The signal meter will give you the pointing coordinates for your antenna,
and values will depend on the type of antenna you have selected. Failure to select
the correct dish will result in wrong pointing angles as well as the inability to re c e i v e
certain programming. Consult your receiver manual for additional detail.
3. Access the signal meter. Set signal meter to the 101° satellite (this might also be
represented on-screen as "Satellite A"). At this point you will probably not have
a signal.
Point center of the antenna
to the exact azimuth direction
according to your compass
a. Using a compass, point the antenna to one side (left or right by a few degrees) of
the azimuth value for your location.
b. Sweep the antenna towards and through the azimuth point by moving the dish in
a p p roximately 3 degree increments. Pause for a couple of seconds and wait for an
updated value from the signal meter. When the signal is found and the signal meter
is locked onto a signal, go to step 4.
c. If, after sweeping the antenna com-
pletely left to right or right to left and
the satellite signal is not found, adjust
the elevation +2 degrees and sweep
the azimuth again. (Do not change tilt
alignment setting.)
-16-
Maximum Signal
Strength
While the maximum signal
strength is 100, the signal strength
you achieve will most probably
be less. Although there is no
d i fference in picture quality above
signal strengths of 60, the higher
the signal, the less likely you are
to experience signal outages
during adverse weather. For this
reason, it is important to obtain
the strongest signal possible.
Ti p
If your receiver is not equipped
with the audible tone feature, you
may have a friend watch the
signal meter and relay the
strength reading to you.
Ti p
If your receiver is equipped with
the audible beep tone feature,
make sure you have the stro n g e s t
possible signal(s) by moving the
dish until you get the highest
pitched beep tone. Consult your
receiver manual for detail.