Motor on Channel Master Elliptical Dish

[hicks107]

Sorry if this has been covered before. I have searched and found a few entries but I wanted to see if there was anything "new."

I have a Globecast Dish and LNB, aka [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Channel Master 36"x27" elliptical. [/FONT] I have been using it for 6 months for FTA, mostly feeds and such. When I need to move to another satellite I go out and move the dish to some markings I have drawn on the pole with a magic marker and bump up or down for elevation. This is getting trivial and its about to start snowing here in the northeast so I want to get a motor that will follow the arc for me. I have read a few older posts and some people say it cant be done, some say it can but wont track the arc, and some say it can be done with modification. I dont have a lot of tools and stuff to mod so I am hoping there is a simple "yes, buy this motor" answer. The SG2100 and SG9120 go for around $60 on ebay so I am hoping that is my solution. I am using an openbox S9 receiver.

Thanks so much.
Mike

 

[truckracer]

it definitely can be done but here's a couple things to consider:
1. how heavy is the dish? is it too heavy for a diseqc motor?

2. mount diameter? if i remember the sg2100's and like motors use a 1.6 tube diameter.
Not sure about that dish but a lot of those 36" wide elipticals use 2.0 tube diameter.

if its a matter of just tube diamter then an adaptor can easily be made by having someone at a muffler shop make one with a pipe expander or you may be able to get one of those directv slimline pole adaptors to work.

 

[hicks107]

Thanks for the quick reply. Another poster says his channel master is 31lbs. I would imagine mine is the same. It is definitely a 2" opening though. Is 31lbs too much for a diseqc motor? Forgive me for still being a sat newb, but I dont really know the difference between a diseqc motor and the two I mentioned earlier. I guess there is usals too?? I dont know the difference but I know my openbox s9 supports both kinds.

 

[mjac]

Here is what I did. Much credit goes to several members whose ideas I stole from.
Dish and motor are spelled out in my sig.

 

[catamount]

I just weighed a spare starchoice 75E channelmaster. It's about 17 lbs without LNB. On the other hand, a 1 metre steel starchoice weighs about 30 lbs.

Cheers, Catamount

 

[chapelrun]

Here is what I did.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/205656-upgraded-my-motorized-setup.html

I have a PrimeStar dish which is also a Channel Master - - - Part Number: 3040975 (it measures 36 1/2 X 26 1/2) which I think is the same size that you have.

I'm using a DG-380 Motor and it works very well with this size dish.

 

[hicks107]

Thanks! That is exactly what I wanted to know. So you wrapped the motor shaft in a piece of slit PVC?? What a great idea. Im not good at thinking outside the box! By any chance do you know if your setup would work with an SG2100 or Sg9120? They are about $40 cheaper which is why I ask. I dont really know the difference between all these motors.

Thanks again, the people in this forum are so helpful.

 

[Larobpra]

Here is how mine was set up on an SG2100, very similar to mjac's. Dish weight was about 22 pounds without the original heavy mount.

 

[hicks107]

Thanks everyone. I think I will try the upside down mount first, then try to fab something like the other two did. It will be an upgrade from this:

I shove a few sticks under the front or back of the bucket to adjust for elevation and turn left or right. Its pretty ghetto but it works!

Mike

 

[hicks107]

OK, I need just a little more help if you dont mind.

I bought an SG6000 and I am doing the upside dish mount with PVC "bushing" that chapelrun did.The motor fits great but now I have a problem/question about the motor elevation. When I turned the mount upside down on the dish, I basically lost the ability to tilt the dish back and up. So I have a problem with elevation. My pole is level and when I set the motor to my latitude, the dish is practically pointing at the ground. I am sure this is because I have the dish mount upside down. Either way, How can I adjust the motor's elevation properly?

I am at 43N Latitude, 74W longitude. Also, to "zero" the motor, I assume I need to point to my true south sat, 74W? Thats what I have read before.

Thanks and Merry Christmas!

 

[chapelrun]

In the end that is why I turned the mount itself upside down but mounted the dish right side up. The elevation marks do not show the correct elevation on the dish itself but once you find your true south satellite you are pretty much good to go. Might want to use Satellite Finder / Dish Pointing Calculator with Google Maps | DishPointer.com to find the correct pointing direction and then play with the up and down angle. Remember once the motor is set to the correct Latitude please just leave that alone and only adjust the up and down angle on the dish itself.

Since your Longitude is 74W you should use 12060 V 27695 which is a data transponder but will help you find your true south satellite. This is a very strong TP and should be fairly easy to find.

Then from there use USALS and move west and east from 74W.

Best of Success!

 

[hicks107]

Here is what I did and I am having mixed results:

The manual in the sg6000 says to set the declination angle of my antenna to 40-6 = 34 for my latitude. When I turned my mount upside down, it aims level with the ground, as in, not in the air at all. My mount is different than yours, take a look this: http://www.sadoun.com/Sat/Products/GlobeCast/GlobeCast-Dish (5).JPG

So, when I rotated the mount upside down, the dish would no longer tilt up. I could not adjust the dish to point up anymore so what I did was take that declination angle of 34 degrees and add it to what dishpointer suggests as elevation for 74W from my location which was 40, and thus gave me 74. I set my motor's elevation to 74 (instead of 42 which it recommens for my latitude) and it hit H2 at 74W spot on. I was pretty excited and set my Openbox for USALS. Then I scanned east and hit all the NBC MUX channels on 72w. I decided to go west and scan 91W. I could not lock on to 91W. I could barely get a few signals on 87W (but they were scanning in on 89W so the motor was a little off). I could get great reception on 83W. I went and messed with the dish and now I can only get 72W, 74W, and 79W.

What do you think my problem is? Is it that I need to be more precise when pointing the dish at 74W? My pole is pretty level, its not perfect, but its pretty darn close.

Also, let me go over the process again and see if I am doing this right? The motor comes out of the box on 0 degrees. From there, I aim to my true south sat which is 74W? Then it should scan the arc?? Or would it be a good idea tor move the motor to 91W's position and go fine tune that manually??

Much appreciated,
Mike

 

[Anole]

Not sure what you got going, there.
Maybe post some pictures?

But first, I'd strongly recommend some light reading:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/23072-primestar-dish-sg2100.html
The guys solved all these sort of problems about five years ago, and I doubt you have come up with anything they didn't cover.

Lastly, since your dish is 36" wide, I'd expect very good performance, as long as the feedhorn is the original (or one designed for an elliptical dish).

 

[hicks107]

Here is what I did and it worked:
The mount on the 75E has a bolt going through the top of the mounting bracket. I removed that bolt and was able to slide it onto the motor shaft. Now I can adjust the antenna for elevation correctly. By trying to compensate elevation and lift the motor, I was screwing with my ability to scan the belt properly. Now that the motor is at the correct elevation, and the dish is at the correct elevation, its scanning beautifully. I just need to secure the dish to the mount a little better. With that top bolt missing, the dish wants to move when the wind gusts strong enough. Thanks again for everyone's help. This hobby takes a lot of patience but the payoff is well worth it.

 

[Larobpra]

A self tapping screw on each side or maybe just one side will take care of your problem.