Project Big Changes - Linuxman to Newbie (GenBap)

[GenBap]

Took my son in law to St. Louis yesterday to see Linuxman. Linux was a very hospitable and informative host and a really big help as well. I left with pretty much everything I need to get started in c-band - 10' unimesh, lnb, g box, cables, NPRM (a Linuxman design), connectors, cement blocks, you name it. Enole, I left without the Linxuman 6' creation but my wife scolded me so I may be back after it.

We crawled onto Linuxman's converted grocery store, discussed at length which of Linuxman's many dishes was right for me. Began to dismantle it and get it down off the roof, load it, etc. Linuxman was with us step for step giving very valuable information and guidance. I do wish I had asked him to help me set the declination for my location, but left with enough information that I think I can do it myself. Linuxman is a wealth of information.

In addition to the 10' unimesh I also left with an 84e and 75e (I think I got those right) and lnb's for two of my grown kids - one of which wants 101W and the other 125W plus NPRM.

I will post pics as this project continues. Needless to say Linuxman has a wide variety of dishes in a range of prices. Just the technical information he shared was worth the price of the equipment which was beyond reasonable.

We arrived home late (about 11:30 PM) so could not start last night. Unloaded this morning before rain set in, and will try to work throughout the day as rain allows.

Thanks to linuxman for his great hospitality and wealth of knowledge. Enole I did not even think about the post office until my son in law said something about it on our way home. So no photo but I am pretty sure I will be back to see linuxman soon.

If you are new or old to the hobby you really need to get to St. Louis! LNB's, orthomodes, dishes galore, genius NPRM's, etc.

Almost forgot to mention the AJAX H-H motor - as Linuxman said "why leave with a ford when you can get a Cadillac!"

 

[Anole]

Wow, you did well, grasshopper! - :up

That's enough great hardware to start a fine dish-farm of your own.
The guys here will be interested in your progress, and give encouragement when you hit a snag.

I wonder... what did you or your wife want with the little 6'er?
Though you were the guy who didn't have room for a real BUD, and wanted to go with some 5 foot wonder.
Now you want both!
I'm laughin' so hard I'm about to fall off my twig! -
Sounds like you've succumbed to the addiction... already!

 

[GenBap]

Wow, you did well, grasshopper! - :up

That's enough great hardware to start a fine dish-farm of your own.
The guys here will be interested in your progress, and give encouragement when you hit a snag.

I wonder... what did you or your wife want with the little 6'er?
Though you were the guy who didn't have room for a real BUD, and wanted to go with some 5 foot wonder.
Now you want both!
I'm laughin' so hard I'm about to fall off my twig! -
Sounds like you've succumbed to the addiction... already!

The little 6'er included our favorite word 'free'! We would have figured out something. Actually I was surprised by the wife's response, still quizzing over it actually.

Spent the day working on the fantastic NPRM to get the pole plumb and level. Linuxman had it on a flat roof, I am putting mine on the ground since I am not the owner of the home. Took most of the day but I think it is finally plumb and level. I really need to post some pics and will try to do so soon.

 

[GenBap]

I am wanting to set the declination of the motor before putting it on the pole. If I understand the chart at geo-obrit correctly, Linuxman's declination (38N) is 5.40 and mine (36N) is 5.16 - less than 3/10's difference. The chart for the Ajax H-H found in manual posted by Iceman show declination in 4 degree increments i.e. 32 is 4 1/2 declination, 36 is 5 and 40 is 5 1/2. The manual also says to set elevation at latitude plus 1/2 degree. So for example (from manual) Denver is 40 North + 1/2 plus declination 5 1/2 so total combined angle is 46 degrees. Using that calculation mine would be 36 + 1/2 + 5=41 1/2 combined elevation angle. I will wait for some confirmation before I proceed. Thanks. I am using a carpenters square with inclinometer to set declination.

 

[Anole]

Angles reference.
Declination table. (bottom of page)

What's this Denver B/S?
Give us your city or zip, and we'll verify your angles.
Having several agree to one set of numbers will give ya that warm fuzzy. :up

Not sure I could set the declination without putting the motor on a plumb pole, but if you have a way, go for it!

I have been looking at placing a NPRM out in the back yard, myself.
Just a little worried about having it set on the bare ground, and get wet.
Several good coats of rust-inhibiting paint, or hot-dipped-galvanized metal might work, but...
I was planning on raising the whole thing on some sort of paving stones.
Just hadn't worked out the details.
Perhaps we can get others to offer some advice on the subject...? - :up

 

[GenBap]

Denver was from the example from the Ajax H-H manual as indicated. My zip is 63874.

 

[linuxman]

Total elevation measured on the back of the dish is 47.64°

-5.81 declination angle.

Which means the elevation bar should be at 41.83 degrees.

To be set at 91W which is your True South Satellite.

The LNBF skew angle should be twisted from facing the dish to the left at 1.59° which isn't much, with the center line on the C2 at the 9:00 position, so the LNBF should be turned 1.59 degrees counter-clockwise from the 9:00 position.

Easy as pie.

I got the above information from here

 

[GenBap]

Thanks linuxman. Great help! I think I put the lnbf at 3:00 instead of 9:00 so I will have to check that. Had not considered the skew, I guess I read right over that in my research. Dish is all together and set up. Work on wiring and elevation tomorrow. Made it all home with everything except 1 bolt set. Not bad all things considered.

 

[Anole]

3 o'clock and 9 o'clock are 180° out from each other, so they are equal.
Choose which ever position is more convenient to hold, read, or for the cable path.

I used an independent method for solving your angles.
They differed slightly from what Fred posted above, so I had a chat with him.
We pretty much agree on where you are.
I got:
- zip: 63874
- latitude: 36° 33.023'
- longitude: 89° 49.125'
- Elevation 47.6°
Latitude being the important number.
He used Google Maps.

But we didn't see eye to eye on the declination.
I got:
- dec: 5.23°
That's ½° difference.

So, dial in what he gave you, and tune the thing up.
Then, check to see if your birds on the horizon are okay.
Lean on the dish left/right and up/down to see if you can improve their signals.
If not, Fred wins.
If there is a difference, try that half-degree.
Lots of room to accumulate errors.
While I trust Fred and myself, you never know about the programs and tables we relied on!

 

[GenBap]

Thanks gents. We will see how it goes tomorrow.

 

[GenBap]

OK. We are locked into 91W with the following results (on Nfusion Solaris)

3720,H,26700 S72, Q93
3800,H,30000 S68, Q79
3920,H,26000, S67, Q82
4014,H,6620, S82, Q90

You will note several missing - mostly DII, but also Montana, Classic Arts, Jewelry, etc. So perhaps I still have more work to do.

 

[GenBap]

OK. All I got to say is - C-band ROCKS!

 

[linuxman]

OK. All I got to say is - C-band ROCKS!

I told you it was worth your while.

 

[GenBap]

Linuxman, I am sure I have more tuning to do but I must say that to this point this has not been bad at all. Wiring the motor to the gbox in the living room was perhaps the most difficult thing I have done on this project. The gbox is amazing and works flawlessly. For now I am using it together with the Coolsat 6000. Programming the motor via the Coolsat was pretty easy - much easier that I expected. I am tuning satellites from 87W to 135 W which was pretty easy since they pretty well maintain the 2 degree spacing. Anyway, this is awesome!

 

[Anole]

What, no pictures?

Oh, and I think a lot of your pleasure is due to that big H-H motor!

 

[GenBap]

Still hacking away at this project. Gave up for the time on the ku band motorized dish I got from Linuxman. Just too inconsistent and taking way too much of my time to tune. So I bought a DMX741 standard LNB and now watch all my c and ku band off the 10 foot unimesh. I simply put it on at the recommended F/D ratio, set it to 0 skew at due south and started programming in ku band on the openbox. Much easier than I though it would be. I will have to fine tune when the weather cools down (and bugs are not so bad) but for now I get all the ku I wanted except ABC News Now and the LPB and OETA channels on 125W. I think I will have to adjust the physical limit on the HH motor since I cannot seem to get all the way over to 30W and will have to read up on how to do that. But thus far this has been very worthwhile and mostly fun.