WSI 9036 and Powermax SG-9120 review

Tron · #1 (**permalink**) 11-11-2009, 04:23 AM

Having been the winner of the recent WSI contest for a prize package including their WSI9036 dish and Powermax SG-9120 motor, I am proud to write a review of these new products from our sponsor WS International.

Getting these products was a pleasant surprise, as I don't recall ever having won a contest in my life. I was waist-deep in the assembly and installation of my new C-Band dish, and by the time it was off the patio and on its stand, I was receiving this wonderful package. When I called to confirm my address, I chatted with Robby about possibly attempting some C-Band on the WS9036. I know this is a long shot, but I figured I'd try anyway. Since the WS9036 is the largest 90CM dish out there, measuring 90CM wide by 99CM high, it might just get some C-Band. When I opened the boxes, I was in for another pleasant surprise, which I will go into later in the review.

Since the roof farm, as it will be called from now on, is very low on real estate, I decided to hunt down another wooden pallet and mount the new dish and motor on a poor man's NPRM. I ran two dual coax cables (total of four individual cables for future expansion) out to the C-Band dish early this week, so there was already coax in place in that location. For the purposes of this review, I will skip the pallet and mount construction procedure, since it has been covered before in other reviews.

Tron · #2 (**permalink**) 11-11-2009, 04:46 AM

The prize package arrived on Thursday, November 5th, in two boxes. The larger one was, of course, the WS9036 dish (pic #1). In order to get the larger parts out of the way, I assembled the dish first. Upon opening the box, one is greeted by the large reflector (pic #2). The reflector is packaged in a well-formed styrofoam mold, which prevents warping and damage to the reflector during shipment (pic #3). The LNBF supports, J-pole mount, and other hardware are found in the reverse side of the styrofoam mold (pic #4). The reflector has a light grey finish, and is stamped on the back with the dish model number (pic #5).

I took all hardware out of the packaging, and arranged it atop the protective cardboard box the dish came in. This would be my work area (pic #6). The nuts and bolts are made of quality metal, and the plastic LNBF holder is particularly rigid and well constructed (pic #7). I began with the J-pole and LNBF struts, bolting each part together and lightly tightening the nuts (pics #8, #9, and #10).

Tron · #3 (**permalink**) 11-11-2009, 05:21 AM

The AZ-EL mount is rather large, and bolts together from two pieces. This allows the elevation to be adjusted (pic #1). The interface with the pole or motor tube is a U-bolt-type design, but using clamps similar to a motor bracket instead (pic #2). After verifying proper fit, I removed the AZ-EL mount and put it aside to be installed on the motor tube. I continued dish assembly by bolting the LNBF support struts to the dish (pics #3 and #4). I kept the bolts loose on the LNBF holder so that I could install an LNBF and verify Ku-Band operation once the dish and motor assembly were finished (pic #5). Pic #6 shows the completed dish assembly.

Tron · #4 (**permalink**) 11-11-2009, 05:58 AM

With the dish done, it was time to open the smaller box. They say good things come in smaller boxes (pic #1)... What do you see? Yeah! Robby included a WS-KU2C C-Band offset scalar kit and a DMX241 C-Band LNBF! I guess we'll see if there's any C-Band to be had on a 90CM! With these bonus parts, I'm going to call this new dish MicroBUD

... But first, lets start with the new Powermax SG-9120 motor.

The Powermax SG-9120 features metal gears instead of plastic, and a 55mm outer diameter dish mounting tube. It comes in a box about the same size as other motors on the market (pic #2). Inside the box, the motor is well protected and wrapped in plastic (pic #3). Pic #4 shows the contents of the box, including the motor, bracket, mounting hardware, and instruction booklet. The motor has LED status indicators and a reset button similar to the older (and better) version of the SG-2100 (pic #5). The square U-Bolts which attach the bracket to the mounting pole are made of quality metal (pic #6). I doubt that stripping will be a problem like it was on the original SG-2100 U-Bolts. The U-Bolts fit into the bracket nicely after an initial squeeze (pic #7). The bracket has two latitude setting ranges--0 through 40 and 35 through 75 (pic #8). Pic #9 shows the completed motor assembly.

Tron · #5 (**permalink**) 11-11-2009, 06:29 AM

Finally, it was time to put together the C-Band clamp, DMX241 LNBF, and WS-KU2C conical offset scalar (pic #1 and #2). The DMX241 is a single output, voltage-switched C-Band LNBF with a L.O. of 5150 and a noise factor of 13k (pic #3). The WS-KU2C conical offset scalar kit includes the scalar ("Devo hat" design for offset dishes) and the required 65mm LNBF clamp that will fit the WS9036 feed support (pics #4 and #5). Skew indicators are present on both the DMX241 LNBF and the 65mm clamp. Since this assembly will go on a motorized dish, I set skew to '0' (pic #6). The conical scalar fits onto the front of the LNBF, and attaches with three bolts (pic #7). The relative position of the LNBF, scalar ring, and clamp will have to be adjusted once testing starts. I removed the Ku-Band LNBF clamp and installed the completed C-Band clamp, LNBF, and conical scalar ring (pic #8). Pic #9 shows the WS9036 dish with the WS-KU2C conical scalar kit and DMX241 C-Band LNBF installed. Testing will begin later this week, once all of the parts have been assembled on the pallet.

pedrogarcia · #6 (**permalink**) 11-11-2009, 06:39 AM

Great review and good pixs. Look forward to the testing. I will have a spare 1m dish soon so your C band results are of great interest.

Quality packaging on the dish WSI.