Here is a simple home made satellite pointer I came up with about three years ago. This makes locating a satellite simple and you will hit it the first time. You will have to have a clear shot and not aimed at trees. I have used this method and have never had any problems finding the satellite.
This system works with any dish. I use the Directv Slimeline 5 LNB dish now. I have used this method with single LNB standard dishes also. I now use the Slimline as a backup for the Winegard SK-3005 roof mounted dish.
First off I would recommend purchasing an adjustable contractor tripod. This makes plumbing the mast much simpler. The mast can be purchased or made by you. You can even use the adjustable mast that comes with the dish and mount that to the tripod. I use a couple of 2oLb weights to anchor the tripod. These are weights I no longer workout with.
The procedure I use to setup the Slimline is to first look up the coordinates for pointing the satellite using the DataStorm Angle Calculator http://www.datastormusers.com/lookangle.cfm
1. Set the Elevation and skew on the Slimline base.
2. Setup the tripod and plumb with the bubble level.
3. Set the azimuth of the satellite on the compass rotating dial. Place the pointer on the tripod mast and align the compass N. arrow to North on the compass dial. The compass is nowing pointing at the satellite and you will be pretty much dead on with little adjustment in azimuth needed.
4. Rotate the rotating ring and align the vertical line of the Pointer and the rotating ring. Lock the ring down with the thumb screws.
5. Remove the satellite pointer and place dish on the mast and rotate dish until the center line is matched to the rotating ring. At this point I use a meter to peak the azimuth. Usually very little adjustment is needed. If you are in a large zip code you may be at the outer edge and you may have to adjust about 2 degrees to peak the signal.
6. Lock the dish down and you are ready to watch tv after hooking up the coax to your rig.
1. Make a PVC bubble level.
2. Make a PVC ring with 1/4" tapped threads for 1/4" thumb screws.
I used a band saw to vertically cut a line in the PVC ring and Pointer.
3. Make a mast PVC Bushing Satellite Pointer.
Pointer and Rotating Ring. Rotate Pointer to the Azimuth Coordinate of the satellite. Rotate the Rotating Ring to the vertical line of the pointer and lock the ring down. You are now pointing at the satellite. Simply mount the dish and center it on the rotating ring.
Dish Pointing at satellite.
The PVC parts above were purchased from Home Depot. You can also use a piece of 2" PVC Drain Waste Vent for the pointer shaft. You would cut to a length that would be suitable to reach the bottom of where your dish base sits on the mast and tall enough to be a few inches above the metal mast so the compass does not have a magnetic problem with the metal mast shaft. Usually about 5" above the metal mast is sufficient.
The Pointer above is 9" tall and about 4" of the bushings sit on the mast and meets the rotating ring.
A contractors tripod can be found at Home Depot for about $50. The compass came from WalMart. Note you do need a compass with a rotating azimuth dial. The parts for the mast can be purchased from a nuts and bolts place like Fastenal.
You can also buy a complete tripod and mast package from http://tiny.cc/Here952 or you can make your own.
I also use a couple of hinges on the LNB arm so I can fold up the arm for storage. They are simple hinges from the any hardware store. Cutting the LNB arm and installing hinges does not affect the signal quality at all and allows for quicker setup.
