Dish flop

[dl76]

Hey guys got a question. When the 24 inch venture gets extended to about 18 to 20 inches the dish flops over. Is there a problem with the actuator? Or is the dish to heavy for it.?

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[RimaNTSS]

No pictures at all?

 

[FaT Air]

The actuator arm is moving too close to the polar axis (dish pivot)
as it's extended. Move the stationary mount point for the actuator away from the pole. Pictures would help.
Don't do this too often, you may end up with a bent actuator.

 

[dl76]

Ok i will try to get pictures of it tomorrow.

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[RimaNTSS]

Even without pictures, I can say, that main cause of flopping is - not properly chosen actuator's connection point. To prevent flopping you need to do some hardware adjustments.

 

[armadillo_115]

dl76, Look at my last post on the 'Got a bigger dish' thread.I made a plate out of scrap.Only 3 or 4 inches really moved the actuator out enough to make a huge difference when the actuator extends.That might be all you need.
Here's a pic of the RETAIL plate attached on a mount.It's the triangle shaped thingie that the actuator is bolted to:

 

[Titanium]

To minimize the tendency to flop, make sure that the motor is mounted on the side of the mount that has the lowest satellite elevation in the arc. If the satellites are lowest to the horizon on the east side of the arc, mount the actuator arm on the east side of the mount. If the west side of the arc has the lowest elevation satellite, mount the actuator arm on the west side of the mount. If the lowest satellite elevation is the same on either end of the arc, place the actuator arm on the side that has the prevailing wind load.

To increase count resolution between satellites and allow the dish to cover more of the arc without flop, bolt or weld a "L" bracket similar to the this example blue "L" bracket onverlayed on armadillo_115's photo.

 

[armadillo_115]

To increase count resolution between satellites and allow the dish to cover more of the arc without flop, bolt or weld a "L" bracket

L bracket huh? That's interesting.I was going to extend mine with just a straight piece of angle iron... but was afraid that would require a much longer actuator to swing it thru the arc.If a straight extension doesn't work,now I know what to try next.Thanks Titanium!
I will try a straight one first because the attachment points are sooo close on my dish.I have to clamp near the end of the actuator.Will that still help on the flop problem?

 

[waylew]

How a 10' Winegard Pinnacle does it;


24" actuator but an 18" would have been plenty.Of course for me it's kind of pointless as everything to the east side is pretty much blocked by trees and buildings.

 

[Titanium]

A straight extension will add counts, but doesn't significantly change the angle in relation to the pivot point. The "L" leg shifts the angle away from the pivot to provide increasd push/pull range before the flop.