Star Trak 800 and 8' Unimesh

[PANHANDLER]

I need a little input on this system , my neighbor was very generious and gave me his system . Before i harvest it , i would appreciate any input on the reciever ( Star Trak 800 ), is it worth keeping ? I know the the Unimesh 8 foot is a keeper and looks like it is in great condition. I can't wait to get into C-Band.

Panhandler

 

[melgarga]

Nice!
Yes you will need it to position the dish and control the polarotor servo (legacy polarity control system). See if you can get the wiring/coax harness up without a lot of trouble too. It's nice to have but can be worked around if not available.

There's a bit here and there on C band analog, but DVB/DVB-S2 or 4DTV is the main stuff these days. Dont forget to get the remote and any docs that come with the setup.

If you can get the whole pole up that would be the best, but at least get what is above ground if possible. A small (4") grinder w/cutting discs works well. If you can get the concrete chipped away below grade you can cut it well below "lawnmower height"
How far away and what direction are the origin/destination locations?

Welcome to C band! When you get ready to re-install, post all your Qs before you change anything. Someone will gladly help you thru it. Take a look here for a very good primer on C band theory and install details.
http://www.geo-orbit.org/sizepgs/tuningp4.html

 

[osu1991]

I have the same dish and a star trak 600, i think. It is in the closet right now as the dish has been dismantled since the last ice storm. It is going back up in a couple of weeks at my new house. I was using the star trak to move the dish and to watch a couple of analog sports feeds a year or so ago. Moving the dish is about all it is good for now.

 

[PANHANDLER]

Thank you melgarga and osu1991 for your replies . The dish is only 50' from my setup that i have now Before disassembly i am going to mark everything very well. I guess my suspitions were correct on the reciever, that i can only use it for moving the dish. Dang that thing wieghs some 20lb's.

Panhandler

 

[PANHANDLER]

Follow up

I wanted to follow up on this new adventure . I spent the weekend harvesting the unimesh , First i dug a hole 4' deep 12" around and set the new 3" sch. 40 pipe in it with 320 lb's of cement. Next disconnected all the wiring , and yes i saved all the wire , all 120' of it ;}, if you look at the pick below you can see what i found , lol. Now that i have it all firmly planted it's time for the questions . The most imortant is can i use the lnb (CHAPARRAL ) with any of the equitment i have listed below also the accuator is a Vonweise . Before i go any further any input would be greatly appreciated , btw i am planning on driveing the accuator with the Star tark .

 

[turbosat]

Panhandler I saved your wasp-infested pic, I have never seen one lnb cover house so many red wasp nest! Hope none of them were alive, but I really don't see how any had room to build a nest in there recently lol. Nice freebie dish there, looked like it had very good shape to it.

 

[PANHANDLER]

Actualy turbosat there were a few vacancies there but some still kickin ;{

 

[PANHANDLER]

Can't seem to find any info on this LNB , My Fortec has an lnb power from 13v to 18 v , anyone want to chime in , i'm starting all over with this lnb . I don't want to fry anything , if need be i'll buy what ever is needed to get into c-band , i realize i need to upgrade my reciever but i would like to know if can use what i have to setup as far as getting a signal.

 

[Anole]

suggested improvements:

I'd suggest a C2 LNBF from SatelliteAV.
It's voltage controlled for V/H polarity, and will run with any of your Icon/Fortec/Pansat receivers.
And with two outputs, it can be hooked directly to two receivers, or with a multiswitch, hooked to more receivers. - :up
If you need info on wiring up switches to interconnect this LNBF with your QPH-031, see the Switches Simplified thread in the FAQ Department... and if you need custom help, we will. -

Then, to move the dish, I'd suggest the Gbox 3000 from Sadoun.
It takes commands from your existing DVB receivers, and moves you to the proper satellite.
The way it works, it seems to give about double resolution positioning accuracy.

I believe both are discussed in our Review Department

Then, retire the old analog receiver out by the curb. -

 

[PANHANDLER]

Thank you Anole , now i feel like i'm on the right track . I realy didn't want to use the dinosour just to move the dish i can see my electric bill going up already lol .

 

[Anole]

There are 100 ways to skin the cat.
Yea, some folks use their old Analog receivers, and its motor and servo controllers.
That's fine.
It may even be the way you want to initially get your feet wet.

I just wanted to provide an alternative you'd eventually discover somewhere down the road.
So, now you know two ways.... go skin the cat however you like! -

There are no wrong answers... but there are different opinions.

 

[PANHANDLER]

I finally got the time to finish setting up this unimesh . I took your advice Anole and purchased the V3000 and a Geosatcku ck1 lnbf ( i don't believe in reinventing the wheel lol ) What i have now is my pan 3500 connected to the v3000 , all is fine . I still have the original lnb on the dish . I would like to get this thing aimed correctly before installing the new lnbf. I did not change any settings on the dish itself , just plucked it and planted it .I'm so new to Cband i don't know what sat to aim at or what settings to start off with. Once i get a signal i'm sure i'll be off and running . Thanx in advance ;}

 

[PANHANDLER]

Just to follow up i was just able to hit AMC1 3840/26.681 . What was confusing me was the lnb skew , i had to set the skew to -35 and finaly got a signal and 10 channels after a blind scan , Now that i confirmed the dish itself is set at the correct angles now i can install the Geosatcku .

 

[melgarga]

Did you do a true south alignment? I dont know what your true south bird would be, but that is where you need to start.
I'm presuming you are still in alignment mode and want to get everything tracking correctly before your install the new LNBF. That is a good idea, it will signifacantly reduce the number of things that could be out of whack when trying to get the setup completed.
Move the dish at it's highest point in the arc, or close to it depending on what bird ends up being your true south bird.
If you have not disturbed (or have put them back to the original orientation) any of the LNB/scaler/dish relationships, the LNB should be at zero skew (no polar offset) when at the highest point in the arc. For horizontal the straight section of the small wire or "hook looking thing" up inside the throat of the LNB should be parallel to the southern horizon when at the top of the arc. For vertical, it should rotate to be "straight up and down"
If not, you will need to physically set the LNB (rotate it in the scaler) for no skew, mimicking the original orientation, or reassemble the parts back to the original orientation (It is customary to be at appx 45º off from the servo limits to allow for some tweaking room without hitting the servo physical limits.)
Cycle thru odd/even channels and verify the servo is traveling a full 90º and is at zero skew at the top of the arc.
Consulting your favorite FTA list, find a vertical and or horizonal TP for your true south bird and program in the data. If polarity and all other adjustments are correct you should get Quality. If not the true south alignment is most likely the problem, and the entire assy needs to be rotated on the pole one way or the other until you get lock.
You may have to compensate for being to one side or the other of a true south bird with DVB signal available, and tweak the two adjustments, (the position either side of highest point and the rotational position on the pole) accordingly.
Patience IS a virture, especially when doing this stuff.....lol
After you get this primary adjustment locked down, and the pole is plumb, the rest of the alignment is essentially verification of tracking, and retiring the Corotor unit for the LNBF should be a lot less trouble.
If I were you I wouldnt toss it, (or anything you got with the setup for that matter) you just might wish you hadnt someday......

 

[PANHANDLER]

Thank you melgarga . You hit the nail on the head , i'm trying to zero in on my true south sat ( 97) but i'm not having much luck capturing a signal on that bird , the skew is realy tricky on this lnb . So i tried 95 G3C and i was able to lock on . So i'll just use this sat to setup my oriantation . Once i get everything zeroed in i will install the new lnbf . This install is a bit different than my DG-380 but i think i have it now , thanx to all the help from the folks on Satellite guys. And no i would never throw away a working piece of equitment ,,, ya never know .I was very lucky to come across this system , i only needed to move it over my property line ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, C-band at last ;}

 

[melgarga]

Thank you melgarga . You hit the nail on the head , i'm trying to zero in on my true south sat ( 97) but i'm not having much luck capturing a signal on that bird , the skew is realy tricky on this lnb . So i tried 95 G3C and i was able to lock on . So i'll just use this sat to setup my oriantation . Once i get everything zeroed in i will install the new lnbf . This install is a bit different than my DG-380 but i think i have it now , thanx to all the help from the folks on Satellite guys. And no i would never throw away a working piece of equitment ,,, ya never know .I was very lucky to come across this system , i only needed to move it over my property line ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, C-band at last ;}

Hmmmmmm.....
I'm guessing you meant 77ºW is your true south not 97, unless NY has done some pretty aggressive annexing since I last looked at a map. (97 runs thru South Dakota at your lattitude.)
C band that reaches the CONUS is pretty sparce over that way. I think I'd move the dish slightly off high center to the east a few degrees and use the NASA mux on 72W (AMC6 4040/V SR26665) to emulate a true south signal instead. It is so strong Stevie Wonder could find it. Once you nail it down there at slightly east of center everything else should fall into place with some possible minor tweaking. Be sure that your servo will drive the element to vertical as there are no consistant horizontal signals on that bird.

 

[PANHANDLER]

I'm famous for typoes , yes i did meen 79 . Thanx for pointing that out , as of now i'm blind scanning 72 w , and about to go outside and reposition the mount , thank you

 

[melgarga]

LOL, me too. Even after double proofing, I still usually end up in edit mode correcting spelling or syntax.
Goes along with cutting it off twice and it's STILL to short......lol