So you are confirming that there is no adjustment to aim for the two satellites independently, and the dish should just be aimed for Anik F2?
That's correct. The procedure for doing a new install is to point the dish "boresite" toward F2 and use the signal meter on channel 299 which comes from F1R. Seems incongruous, huh? But because of the properties of the dish, pointing correctly at F2 will automatically get a signal from F1R. Then comes the fine-tuning.....see below.
But note that I'm assuming you are using either a 75e or a 60e Shaw (Star Choice) elliptical offset dish. You didn't state that, so maybe it's a bad assumption. If you're using an older dish, what you are doing by adding the new LNB to the older dish may not work, but I would have thought your installer would have known that. Note also that a 60e dish requires a 60e LNB and a 75e requires a 75eLNB. The type of LNB is printed on its case. The 75e dish measures about 75cm in the horizontal dimension. The dish and the LNB types
must match, or you will have trouble.
My Ecb/No values are about 6 for F2 and 4 for F1 respectively
These number sound low, but this information, as you have provided it, doesn't help, really. On which
channels are you getting these numbers? Understand that
each satellite broadcasts signals for
both SDef channels
and HDef. That being said, it is true that
most HDef is on Anik F2, but not all. See the links that I provided to determine which channel comes from where.
Therefore, I would start by tuning to channel 299 (Shaw Channel) and make note of the Ecb/No. This SDef channel comes from F1R. Do the same for 345 (APTN), which comes from F2 and is also SDef. Both should be in your programming package. If your dish is aligned properly, you should do +9.0 or better on each of those channels. If not, then there is something wrong: dish misaligned, LNB that doesn't match the dish type, obstruction to line of sight, bad cables/connections, etc. Then using the lists in the links, choose a HDef channel in your programming package that comes from F2 and note it's Ecb/No. Do the same for an F1R HDef channel in your package. The SDef numbers you noted should be roughly 2.0
higher than the HDef.
If you have determined, per the above paragraph, that your numbers are too low, then you will have to get on the roof and tweak the dish (or call for service). If you decide to do it yourself, set your receiver to channel 299. Go to the dish and verify visually that the skew and elevation are set correctly and that the mast of the dish is plumb. Without loosening any clamps, twist the dish
gently in all directions, one at a time: elevation, azimuth, and skew, noting if this action improves the signal. If it does, loosen the clamp for that direction and tweak in
very small increments to get the maximum Ecb/No on 299. (Note that each movement may take a few seconds to show up on the screen. You'll need a friend to help you watch the screen while you make the tweaks.) Once maximized on 299, then check the Ecb/No on 345. It should be nearly equal to what you get on 299.
If you're
really into HDef, you can substitute your favorite HDef channels for the ones I've cited above to do your fine-tuning. Just be sure that you know which satellite they're coming from and try to use channels that come from each of the 2 satellites.
Is it common for a slight mis-alignment to affect one satellite more than the other?
I can't answer this one....I think it would depend on your location. In my "Southern Province", F2 is much stronger than F1R, so yes, a misalignment would probably kill F1R before F2. In Canada, I wouldn't think this would be true, but maybe someone else will respond....
Is there any particular type of mis-alignment that is more likely to cause that
. IMHO, they're all equally important