I would like to add a motor to my dish. I would like suggestions on which motor to get and what I will need to hook it up to a Pansat 2500. How many $'s am I looking at and how difficult of a job is it. I have been locating the sats by hand just fine from sbs6 to g10r. Thanks for any input.
Adding a motor to dish
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About all you need is an extra bit of coax between the motor and LNB, quite a few people here have set them up, sounds to me you will find it VERY easy, set the angles point to your true south satellite and you are done, everything else is done inside, just in time before winter : )
I have an SG2100, but you can use any USALS/DiSEqC 1.2 motor with the PANSAT.
The most important thing about mounting the motor is getting the mast or pole as plumb as possible. This will make life a lot easier when it comes to pointing later on.
You don't need any extra wires (except about a 5' cable to go from the LNB to the motor) or anything since the motor is controlled through the same RG-6 that the SAT signal from the LNB goes through. It took me about 30-45 minutes from start to finish and that was because I took extra time getting my Tru-South SAT dialed in almost perfectly.
Check with some of the dealers in this forum on motor prices. PSB gave me a great deal.
The most important thing about mounting the motor is getting the mast or pole as plumb as possible. This will make life a lot easier when it comes to pointing later on.
You don't need any extra wires (except about a 5' cable to go from the LNB to the motor) or anything since the motor is controlled through the same RG-6 that the SAT signal from the LNB goes through. It took me about 30-45 minutes from start to finish and that was because I took extra time getting my Tru-South SAT dialed in almost perfectly.
Check with some of the dealers in this forum on motor prices. PSB gave me a great deal.
Mark_AR said:
I have a 75cm Horizon Dish. It does not have a u-bolt mount. It has the type that slides over a pole and is tightened down with three bolts. Will this work or will I have to get another dish? Also you mentioned that all I have to do is find my true south sat which I believe for me is SBS6. Is all that I have to do is lock onto that sat and the motor finds the rest. Am I understanding this right? Or, do I have to sight in every sat? Thanks.
As long as the dish for a 42mm or 1 5/8" type mount/pole it will fit, after all the angles are set RIGHT you point at your true south satellite and when you motor east and west the satellites will be there all lined up : ) There are also holes in the motor down tube so that any long bolts go right through the pole!
PSB said:
Out of curiousity, do you point your dish (once on motor) at the true south satellite (AMC - 79) with motor turning, or before you adjust motor east and west. As you may recall, my settings are 80W and 26N. Your answer might very well help me adjust my dish and motor so that I can improve my reception on various satellites.
Thanks for your time and knowledge PSB.
greyskies in Sunny S.E. Florida.
Check here for an easy read document : )
http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=25663&page=1&pp=15
http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=25663&page=1&pp=15
The motor install manual(SG2100) says you can use any satellite once your receiver is connected and just tell the motor to go to that sat position then get a signal from there, but the easiest way I found is to leave the motor set to 0' and then aim it at the true S satellite.
Once you get it dialed in. Set it to USALS and put in your Long/Lat info and select your true S sat. It may move the dish E/W a degree or two, then I just re-adjust the dish itself for best signal quality.
Then I use USALS for all of my other sats and it hits dead on 99% of the time. There may be one or two exceptions where I adjust it with DiSEqC for a better signal on a sat.
That is the quick and dirty method that worked for me.
Once you get it dialed in. Set it to USALS and put in your Long/Lat info and select your true S sat. It may move the dish E/W a degree or two, then I just re-adjust the dish itself for best signal quality.
Then I use USALS for all of my other sats and it hits dead on 99% of the time. There may be one or two exceptions where I adjust it with DiSEqC for a better signal on a sat.
That is the quick and dirty method that worked for me.
Dish Attachment to Motor Arm?
I just got my SG-2100 motor today. My dish has the slide in mount that goes over the mast not one that has u-bolts. The slide that does over the mast is to big for the motor arm on the SG-2100. I need suggestions on how to get this to work short of buying a new dish with u-bolt mounts. I need HELP or SUGGESTIONS ASAP!!! Thanks.
sksatellite said:
I just got my SG-2100 motor today. My dish has the slide in mount that goes over the mast not one that has u-bolts. The slide that does over the mast is to big for the motor arm on the SG-2100. I need suggestions on how to get this to work short of buying a new dish with u-bolt mounts. I need HELP or SUGGESTIONS ASAP!!! Thanks.
What size of dish is it (30" ?) And what size of pole/mast is it designed to fit on? There may be no quick fix other than making up a spacer the correct diameter to make up the difference, I have seen this done on a few pictures, its worth taking your time and fabricating the spacer first before dismantling everything, it will take a bit longer but it will be worth the wait, as long as you get it done before winter.
Heres the sizes...
The diameter of the slide mount on the dish is 2 inches. The pole in the motor is 1 5/8. Now what? Any ideas on how to make up spacers. I want to try and get this motor hooked up tomorrow.....
PSB said:
The diameter of the slide mount on the dish is 2 inches. The pole in the motor is 1 5/8. Now what? Any ideas on how to make up spacers. I want to try and get this motor hooked up tomorrow.....
Thanks for the pictures that is some dish! You don't want to go back the way, you want to keep that dish, its big and does not look too heavy.
If you knew someone with a lathe machine tool they could knock out a spacer, but I think the strip of metal wrapped round the pipe will work, you will need to drill holes in it to correspond with the holes in the motor down pipe, they also may need opened up a bit in size if needed, that big through bolt is going to have to go through, let us know how you are getting on!
If you knew someone with a lathe machine tool they could knock out a spacer, but I think the strip of metal wrapped round the pipe will work, you will need to drill holes in it to correspond with the holes in the motor down pipe, they also may need opened up a bit in size if needed, that big through bolt is going to have to go through, let us know how you are getting on!
Post some pics here so the guys can see, its a common problem with a bigger dish, there are 90cm dish available that would slip right on, the motor works with dish up to 1.2m, as long as they are not too heavy. But as I said you WANT to keep that dish :0)
And the down pipe is easy to get off if you need to work on it, its a good idea to get all the work done before you ever plug the motor in and motor it as its preset in the "0" position.
And the down pipe is easy to get off if you need to work on it, its a good idea to get all the work done before you ever plug the motor in and motor it as its preset in the "0" position.
Gonna attempt motor install in the AM
PSB, really appreciate the help. Instructions for the motor say to be careful removing the arm because the "slider" could drop into the motor. I would like to work on it off the motor though. OK, I know this has probably been asked a million times already but here it goes one more time. I know the mast has to be plumb. Once that is done, I need clarification on mounting the motor to the mast. My most south sat that I can receive is SBS6. I think I am suppose to mount the dish with the motor pole so that they are in direct line. Then turn the motor and dish as one. But I am not sure if I line the motor and dish up to true south or my my most south sat. If I line up to true south and not SBS6, what do I do after that? Then after the first alignment, do I have to align with all the sats in the arc or does the receiver take care of that. Thank in advance....
PSB, really appreciate the help. Instructions for the motor say to be careful removing the arm because the "slider" could drop into the motor. I would like to work on it off the motor though. OK, I know this has probably been asked a million times already but here it goes one more time. I know the mast has to be plumb. Once that is done, I need clarification on mounting the motor to the mast. My most south sat that I can receive is SBS6. I think I am suppose to mount the dish with the motor pole so that they are in direct line. Then turn the motor and dish as one. But I am not sure if I line the motor and dish up to true south or my my most south sat. If I line up to true south and not SBS6, what do I do after that? Then after the first alignment, do I have to align with all the sats in the arc or does the receiver take care of that. Thank in advance....
You point it at your true south satellite and peak it in, it may not be "True South" but its all we have, then you can compensate later on when you motorize from side to side you will see a slight in balance then just split the difference, get everything in a straight line and the dish/motor turns on the mast until you hit SBS6, good luck.
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