6 foot dish install
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thanks Brent for the help. that does make a lot more sense to me. i will read those stickies also.
Thanks. I've been using this mount for a couple of years with a GeoSat Pro 1.2M offset, added a couple more cinder blocks and it's ready for the new Bud. Now all I need to do is get it all to work. Just bought a digital meter and compass today and this weekend I'll take some of Brent's advice and give it another shot. I still need to find info on how to center the LNB mount if that's a problem. Thanks Brent and to all who contributed to this thread!
As to centering the mount, probably you won't have a problem. All I did was "bore sight" thru the hole in the center of the dish, and the mount and lnbf look fine from there.
Another attempt at using a SG2100 on the 6' Special
So I've been thinking about some of the problems of doing this and ways to overcome them. So with the special price and small size I decided to give it a try. I'm not an engineer but I love to tinker. I decided to modify the original mount and power it with the SG2100. Well modify the design. I have built a new mount from scratch. First I considered the tremendous electrical load the motor would put on the reciever with that dish on it. I modified the SG2100 to use an external power supply for the motor.Next I considered the pivot bolt and the drag and accuracy of that simplified unit. I wanted to put bearings in there,but how? I came upon the idea of using the "head set" from a bicycle. Got a used up frame from the bike pile and cut it apart to make my mount. I mounted the SG2100 directly to the fork tube like a handle bar. I'm building the test stand in a couple of days and will assemble the dish and begin working on the last problem of counterbalancing the weight of the dish as it moves side to side.I have a pic if I can figure this out.
So I've been thinking about some of the problems of doing this and ways to overcome them. So with the special price and small size I decided to give it a try. I'm not an engineer but I love to tinker. I decided to modify the original mount and power it with the SG2100. Well modify the design. I have built a new mount from scratch. First I considered the tremendous electrical load the motor would put on the reciever with that dish on it. I modified the SG2100 to use an external power supply for the motor.Next I considered the pivot bolt and the drag and accuracy of that simplified unit. I wanted to put bearings in there,but how? I came upon the idea of using the "head set" from a bicycle. Got a used up frame from the bike pile and cut it apart to make my mount. I mounted the SG2100 directly to the fork tube like a handle bar. I'm building the test stand in a couple of days and will assemble the dish and begin working on the last problem of counterbalancing the weight of the dish as it moves side to side.I have a pic if I can figure this out.
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Magic Static I like your idea, wondering how you are going to keep the motor itself from moving ... what does it fasten to?
I have fashioned a bracket to hold the motor. I will update pics later today I hope.
I'm sure the motor won't handle the dish weight without some assistance. That will be one of the bigger obstacles to this endevour.
But it could be as simple a s a well placed spring.
no luck on my end very frustrated
no signal i tried to blind scan 87-95w and nothing. pole is plumb. the actuator isnt wired yet so i had to adjust the skew and change elevation to reflect a fixed mount. i moved it manually to each sat location and nothing. i changed the declination up and down stoping at many spots between 34and 44 degrees......nothing.... here are the pics..the lnb looks off center because of the angle i took the pic. it is centered and is 27 inch focal point. one of the arms wasnt turned like the other two to fit into the dish so i had to rig it. the satfinder was going off the charts so i thought i might have got something.....any ideas?
no signal
i tried to blind scan 87-95w and nothing. pole is plumb. the actuator isnt wired yet so i had to adjust the skew and change elevation to reflect a fixed mount. i moved it manually to each sat location and nothing. i changed the declination up and down stoping at many spots between 34and 44 degrees......nothing.... here are the pics..the lnb looks off center because of the angle i took the pic. it is centered and is 27 inch focal point. one of the arms wasnt turned like the other two to fit into the dish so i had to rig it. the satfinder was going off the charts so i thought i might have got something.....any ideas?Attachments
My lnbf only extends about 5/8" past the edge of the scalar ring. Try moving your lnbf out to about that same distance, and concentrate on your true south bird only, to get some Quality. Until you know your lnbf is at a useable location, you'll have too many variables to cope with. If your true south isn't good enough, try for 91W, the 3720 tp, since it's pretty strong, just to qualify the lnbf position. [edit] Looks like my lnbf, make sure the polarity marker on the back of the lnbf is at 3:00 or 9:00 when aimed at south. The arrow marking on these is counter-intuitive in my opinion. [/edit]
thanks Brent for the help. ill give er a try tomorrow. i am going to buy the wire for the gbox tomorrow also. i put the spacers the way you and Doug have em. has it been better than adding all the washers?
Adding washers seemed to cause more leverage and torque at the point on the dish. Didn't want that, so we're looking for the most direct way of getting a straight push on the actuator. Since you are in Maine, you might want to consider anchoring your actuator at the dish on the east side of the dish, common wisdom being to push out the dish toward the direction of the most sats, and let gravity help it come back. Lots of variations to play with, I'm looking into inserting some nylon washers at the azimuth pivot point, once the big winds stop a little.
I have looked thru this thread hoping to find an answered. My six footer seams to be setup right however, I still can't get a signal. I'm using Amc 2/5 transponder 11904 H 2170 my almost true south and I get no signal. I guess I need to ask if KTEL still active. I took my Ku dish down and I have no clue if this tp is back on. I'm using a Powermax VBox and 24" actuator arm. I have no issues running the dish I just can not find a signal on AMC 2/5.
I have another question, How do I set up the Polar Axis elevation? My latitude for my offset dish is 26.61.
I have another question, How do I set up the Polar Axis elevation? My latitude for my offset dish is 26.61.
jibaro29. probably three to four days ago i couldnt get this signal. i had a quality of 90 percent but no video or audio. maybe someone else here might know if it is back on.
guys what guage canactually be used with the gbox for this dish? i went to lowes and 18guage shielded was only sold in one package (156.00!!!). couldnt by it by the foot. they didnt even have 14 guage by the foot that would have been another 35.00!! more than my whole dish package.....brent i wanted to say thanks i am fixed until i get the wire so i locked 87w..was nice to get a picture. some tps are as high as 90 percent. now i just need my replacement lnb arm and wiring and i will be set
18 guage will be fine for your wiring. My local hardware store sells the underground sprinkler wire for $0.29 a foot . How much length do you need ? The answer to that may contribute to which wire to buy ( difficulty of replacement, voltage drop, etc ) .
35 foot. the 14 guage is okay in price. but if i can use sprinkler for the pulses that will dramatically reduce the cost. thanks brent for the help.
Like Brent said, the 18 ga sprinkler wire will be great, 14 ga is way overkill, you just don't need wire that big for that application.
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