I'm thinking about attaching an old 29 5/8" x 39 5/8" Primestar dish to my SG2100 motor. It seems it would be rather simple to do, just reverse the mounting bracket and use some split PVC to shim up the shaft. But I wonder about the weight and wind resistance. Anyone doing this?
Primestar Dish on SG2100 ?
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Its been done and seems to work well, but I am sure the motor will not last as long. I don't think the wind will be the problem.
I would try to remove as much weight from the mount as you can, I have seen a few pictures where someone has fabricated their own light weight mount to clamp the dish to the motor, all you really need are some U-bolts as long as you can get the dish set to the correct elevation/declination. I have 2 DirecPC dish here around the same size and I would be very interest in your results if you proceed as I have aften thought about doing it myself but chickened out.
I would try to remove as much weight from the mount as you can, I have seen a few pictures where someone has fabricated their own light weight mount to clamp the dish to the motor, all you really need are some U-bolts as long as you can get the dish set to the correct elevation/declination. I have 2 DirecPC dish here around the same size and I would be very interest in your results if you proceed as I have aften thought about doing it myself but chickened out.
I figured the lighter the dish the better the motor would like it. Right now I'm using a 30" Fortec dish, I'd give up a little motor life if the signal got a good boost. After the weather clears up here (maybe in a few days) I think I'll
give it a test run.
give it a test run.
As a test unit, I have been running a SG2100 with a 1m Primestar dish for 1 1/2 years. The weight of the dish required the Latitude adjustment bolts to be set extremely tight, but the post has remained very tight with very little play.
Wouldn't recommend placing this combo in any high wind location, but the nylon gear is holding up!
Wouldn't recommend placing this combo in any high wind location, but the nylon gear is holding up!
You might like these better/also. I never finished all the drawings I'd wanted to do, I had intended on doing 2-4 more drawings of the assembly of the pipe clamps and how it all mates together.
But here are the first three, drawing one is a parts list, it might be missing a couple of washers, depends on your build preferences, buy a few extra.
Drawing 2 is an attempt to explain how to make the two different parts of the mount from 4 pieces of angle bracket. The spacing of the bolts on the primestar dish and the pipe clamps requires some rework of the angle bracket to make it work neatly be sure to double/triple check, or buy extra angle bracket in case you make a mistake.
Drawing three is an attempt to show how to assemble the angle bracket into useable mounts that get mated to the back of the primestar dish.
Two pipeclamps are then used on the sg2100 side to mate it to the dish with the other hardware in the list.
But here are the first three, drawing one is a parts list, it might be missing a couple of washers, depends on your build preferences, buy a few extra.
Drawing 2 is an attempt to explain how to make the two different parts of the mount from 4 pieces of angle bracket. The spacing of the bolts on the primestar dish and the pipe clamps requires some rework of the angle bracket to make it work neatly be sure to double/triple check, or buy extra angle bracket in case you make a mistake.
Drawing three is an attempt to show how to assemble the angle bracket into useable mounts that get mated to the back of the primestar dish.
Two pipeclamps are then used on the sg2100 side to mate it to the dish with the other hardware in the list.
Fantastic work, this will be a great resource for the forum, I especially appreciate your attention to detail. A man after my own heart, being a mechanical engineer in another life I recognize the engineering drawing and realise the time it must have taken you. I am going to do this with one of my DirecPC dish as soon as it warms up here (still -20 deg. C) Thanks for posting.
This must be the best post for a LONG time, wish we had more posts like this
This must be the best post for a LONG time, wish we had more posts like this
So if I mount my dish the way that it is shown in Ziploc's picture, what does it do for aiming it? Does that throw off the elevation, etc.? When pointing a dish with a motor, do you have to manually find each satellite, and then mark the spot, so that the motor can find them again? Thanks for any help!
So in fabulous North Dakota, zipcode 58416, what would be my true south satellite. Are you saying I do manually find this satellite, and then mark that spot? After doing this it'll be able to find all other satellites by itself?
Code:
Binford, ND 58416
Latitude 47° 34.434'N Longitude 98° 21.276'W
Sat Name Sat Lng Az(t) Az(m) El Skew
----------------------------------------------------------------
Telstar 12 15.0W 94.9 88.8 -4.2 -42.2
Intelsat 901 18.0W 97.2 91.0 -2.2 -42.0
Intelsat 603 20.0W 98.7 92.5 -0.9 -41.8
NSS 7 22.0W 100.2 94.0 0.5 -41.6
Intelsat 905 24.5W 102.1 95.9 2.1 -41.3
Intelsat 907 27.5W 104.4 98.2 4.1 -40.8
Hispasat 1C/1D 30.0W 106.3 100.2 5.8 -40.3
Intelsat 801 31.5W 107.5 101.4 6.7 -40.0
Intelsat 903 34.5W 109.9 103.8 8.7 -39.4
AMC 12 & Telstar 11 37.5W 112.4 106.2 10.6 -38.6
NSS 806 40.5W 114.9 108.7 12.5 -37.7
PAS 6B/3R 43.0W 117.0 110.9 14.1 -36.9
PAS 1R 45.0W 118.8 112.6 15.4 -36.3
Intelsat 705 50.0W 123.3 117.1 18.4 -34.3
Intelsat 707 53.0W 126.1 120.0 20.1 -33.0
Intelsat 805 55.5W 128.5 122.4 21.6 -31.9
PAS 9 58.0W 131.0 124.8 22.9 -30.6
Amazonas 61.0W 134.0 127.9 24.5 -29.0
EchoStar 3 & Rainbow 1 61.5W 134.6 128.4 24.8 -28.7
Estrela do Sul 1 63.0W 136.1 130.0 25.5 -27.9
Brasilsat B2 65.0W 138.3 132.1 26.5 -26.7
Brasilsat B1 70.0W 143.8 137.7 28.8 -23.5
Nahuel 1 & AMC 6 72.0W 146.1 140.0 29.6 -22.1
AMC 6 72.0W 146.1 140.0 29.6 -22.1
DirecTV 5 72.5W 146.7 140.6 29.8 -21.7
SBS 6 74.0W 148.5 142.3 30.4 -20.7
AMC 5 79.0W 154.6 148.4 32.2 -16.9
Nimiq 2 82.0W 158.3 152.2 33.1 -14.4
AMC 9 83.0W 159.6 153.5 33.3 -13.6
Brasilsat B3 84.0W 160.9 154.7 33.6 -12.8
AMC 16 85.0W 162.2 156.0 33.8 -11.9
AMC 3 87.0W 164.8 158.6 34.2 -10.2
Intelsat Americas 8 89.0W 167.4 161.3 34.6 -8.5
Galaxy 11/Nimiq1 91.0W 170.1 163.9 34.9 -6.7
Brasilsat B4 92.0W 171.4 165.3 35.0 -5.8
Telstar 6 93.0W 172.8 166.6 35.1 -4.9
Galaxy 3C 95.0W 175.5 169.3 35.2 -3.1
Intelsat Americas 5 97.0W 178.2 172.0 35.3 -1.2
Galaxy 4R 99.0W 180.9 174.7 35.3 0.6
AMC 4 101.0W 183.6 177.4 35.3 2.4
AMC 1 103.0W 186.3 180.1 35.1 4.2
AMC 15 105.0W 189.0 182.8 35.0 6.0
Anik F1 107.3W 192.0 185.9 34.6 8.1
DirecTV 6 & EchoStar 6/8 110.0W 195.6 189.5 34.2 10.5
Anik F2 111.1W 197.0 190.9 33.9 11.4
Solidaridad 2 113.0W 199.5 193.4 33.5 13.0
SatMex 5 116.8W 204.3 198.2 32.5 16.1
EchoStar 7 & DirecTV 7S 119.0W 207.0 200.9 31.8 17.9
EchoStar 9/Intelsat Americas 13 121.0W 209.5 203.3 31.1 19.4
Galaxy 10R 123.0W 211.9 205.7 30.3 20.9
Galaxy 12 125.0W 214.2 208.1 29.5 22.3
Galaxy 13/Horizons 1 127.0W 216.5 210.4 28.7 23.7
Intelsat Americas 7 & EchoStar 5 129.0W 218.8 212.6 27.8 25.0
AMC 11 131.0W 221.0 214.8 26.9 26.2
Galaxy 1R 133.0W 223.1 217.0 25.9 27.5
AMC 10 135.0W 225.2 219.1 24.9 28.6
AMC 7 137.0W 227.3 221.2 23.8 29.7
AMC 8 139.0W 229.3 223.2 22.8 30.8
EchoStar 1/2 148.0W 237.9 231.8 17.6 34.9
Satellite Finder is (c) Copyright 2004, P. LutusIntelsat Americas 5 @ 97.0W is very close to your true south satellite!
My primestar dish has 2 hook-ups on the LNB, one for vertical, one for horizontal. I use a DiSEqC Switch 2X1, right at the end of the feedhorn. Is this going to be a problem with controlling the motor?
No problem the switch will go after the motor, the cable will run....receiver to motor then from motor to switch, then on to the ports on the LNBF.
You set the elevation on the motor (Thats what follows the arc) then adjust the elevation on the dish to peak the signal on your true south satellite and all the other satellites will be lined up perfectly.
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you but the above post was typed with one finger (as usual trying to do a few things at the same time here)
You set the elevation on the motor (Thats what follows the arc) then adjust the elevation on the dish to peak the signal on your true south satellite and all the other satellites will be lined up perfectly.
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you but the above post was typed with one finger (as usual trying to do a few things at the same time here)
When I use my DiSEqC Switch, I sometimes have trouble, poorer signal, etc. I get confused as to what it should be set on in the "Antenna Setup" screen, Tone A, Tone B. Any help there? Thanks for everything, PSB. Just so you know, I'm the guy who calls you every once in a while for help finding Fighting Sioux hockey! Thanks again!
On the Fortec Lifetime Ultra the DiSEqC switch positions are listed as
#1
#2
#3
#4
I thought I recognized the name : ) We have a Buttload of Hockey fans here!
It may be an idea to get a new LNB for that dish, it will do away with the switch and the new low noise LNB's really help with weak signals. Maybe Santa will bring one for ya : )
#1
#2
#3
#4
I thought I recognized the name : ) We have a Buttload of Hockey fans here!
It may be an idea to get a new LNB for that dish, it will do away with the switch and the new low noise LNB's really help with weak signals. Maybe Santa will bring one for ya : )
Sorry for all the questions, but I just thought of another one. Does the motor go up/down and east/west, or just east/west?
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