Any receivers available with polorotor control?

[Oshkosh]

We have a 10-year-old C-band dish that we've been using to take FTA feeds with a Pansat 3500S receiver. The receiver died on us, and I'm having a hard time finding a quality replacement for it that still has polorotor control built in. I would purchase a Pansat 9500HDX, but they're impossible to find. Given that the other Pansat failed, I'm not thrilled to go with that brand again anyway. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to purchase? Otherwise, is there any device that I can use to change polarity? I'm somewhat new to this, so maybe I'm missing something obvious. Any help would be appreciated!!

 

[KE4EST]

Coming Soon: ASC1 - Actuator Skew Controller
http://titaniumsatellite.com/news.html

 

[primestar31]

Is the old receiver completely dead, or can it power up just to do polarity control until the Titanium sat unit comes out?

 

[tekjunkie02]

Or, just get on flee-bay and buy a $20 LNBF.

 

[. Raine]

Could change to a dual-ortho feed maybe and get rid of the polorator all together?

 

[tekjunkie02]

Could change to a dual-ortho feed maybe and get rid of the polorator all together?

Talking big bucks now! I think we need to know more about what the OP is looking to get, and what they have now.
If the 10 year old dish still has a 10 year old lnb and feed, or has that been upgraded at all?
Do they need Ku band too? or just C?
How much do they want to spend?

If they just want C-band, then the 20-30 dollar LNBF will be all they need. For C and Ku, they can get a dual LNBF that has both for what, maybe 40-50 dollars?
If they have an original 10 year old system, probably either of those choices above will give them better performance, and eliminate the need for polorotor control.
If they have newer, or higher quality lnb's and feed, then they would probably want to get another polorotor controller, so that means a receiver, or finding a controller.
AND, if they want to spend some big bucks they can go with the dual ortho setup which will get them C and Ku without a polorotor controller required, for what, maybe 180-200 dollars??

Please fill in whatever I missed or overlooked, but I think that pretty much covers it. Just need to know what they want to do.

 

[primestar31]

If you are able to, or have a friend that can do so, you can build your own servo controller from this simple schematic:

http://www.aaroncake.net/circuits/servocon.asp

Parts

Part..Qty.....Description
R1.. 1.... 820 Ohm 1/4W Resistor
R2.. 1.... 68K 1/4W Resistor
R3.. 1.... 10K 1/4W Resistor
R4.. 1.... 1K 1/4W Resistor
R5.. 1.... 1K Linear Taper Potentiometer
C1.. 1.... 1uF 16V Electrolytic Capacitor
Q1.. 1.... 2N3904 NPN Transistor (or use a) : 2N2222, Most Small Signal Transistors
U1.. 1.... 555 Timer IC
MISC.1.... Perf board, Wire, Knob For R1, 8 Pin Socket For U1


Notes

1: R1 adjusts the skew position of the servo.

2: Connect the servo to the circuit as shown in the schematic. For common Futaba servos, the red wire is power, the black wire is ground, and the white wire is control.

That circuit is as simple as it gets.

 

[tekjunkie02]

If you are able to, or have a friend that can do so, you can build your own servo controller from this simple schematic:

http://www.aaroncake.net/circuits/servocon.asp

View attachment 91828



That circuit is as simple as it gets.

Not to nit-pick, but just to clarify... note says R1 sets position, but R5 is the only thing adjustable in the circuit, so would have to assume R5 is adjusted to change skew setting. But, anyone building it would know that .

 

[Oshkosh]

Thanks for all the suggestions, it's all very helpful. I think we will upgrade this system by replacing the dead receiver (it's completely dead), and also replacing the LNBF that could stand to be upgraded. We don't want to put a lot of money into it, just get it operational for the Pentagon Channel, NASA, and a few others.

 

[tekjunkie02]

Thanks for all the suggestions, it's all very helpful. I think we will upgrade this system by replacing the dead receiver (it's completely dead), and also replacing the LNBF that could stand to be upgraded. We don't want to put a lot of money into it, just get it operational for the Pentagon Channel, NASA, and a few others.

There are a few Pansat 3500 receivers on ebay right now.
Good luck!!

 

[gms49ers]

Thanks for all the suggestions, it's all very helpful. I think we will upgrade this system by replacing the dead receiver (it's completely dead), and also replacing the LNBF that could stand to be upgraded. We don't want to put a lot of money into it, just get it operational for the Pentagon Channel, NASA, and a few others.

I have a Pansat 3500 that's unused. If you'd like, I'll send it to you if you pay the shipping.