taking lessons from the boys (chicken wire & duck tape)

[Dee_Ann]

Ok..

I've been digging around in the garage and I found a little aluminum tube that is the exact perfect size around to replace that missing leg thing on that BIG primestar dish I found out back. It's an old flagpole. LOL..

I'm going to ask my dad to bend it for me on one of his machines because I know I would ruin it if I tried. I've seen dad bend pipes all sorts of crazy ways. He can do it.

So I'll have that big thing almost to the point I can use it before too long.
Next I'll need to get a motor and a big pole to put it on I guess.

I guess I can photograph all the lnb parts around here and post it, I'm sure you guys would be able to tell me which one would be the best to use to make a good dish.

Oh, and my dad helped me buy a motor. I have it in the box but don't know what to do with it yet. I'll worry about that after I get that *big* primestar dish fixed. The one with the missing part. Then I'll get with you guys with pictures and seek your advice.

Speaking of dad. He wants to get a satellite tuner that can do the HDTV that PBS is in. He checked his tv set and he says it has two hmdi connectors on it.
So he would need a satellite tuner that hooks into hmdi. And that will run a motor dish. Any recommendations are more than welcomed! Oh and he doesn't know or care about the blind scan thing or cband.

I also found some other pieces of scrap metal and pipes and tubes and some chicken wire so I'm going to try to make a tv antenna this weekend.
It's been raining hard a lot and I have a housemate now so I don't have much free time to mess with silly things lately.

But I saw you guys were making antennas out of chicken wire and plastic water pipes so I figured what the heck? Can't hurt to try right?


OMG.. So much stuff to do. I think at the rate things are going maybe a few months before I can try to put that motor stuff in.

Does the motor eliminate all the other dishes or can they work together? Or is there any advantage to that? It would be nice to have only one but then again maybe if it will give me more options, well..

Thanks guys!

 

[Anole]

It would be no problem to add ... say... three more fixed dishes to your motorized Primestar Ku dish. (how large is this dish?)
With just the tiniest bit of effort, we could expand beyond that number.
Only thing to plan ahead for, is whether you'll want more than a single receiver in your house.

As for an HD receiver to get PBS, maybe look to the Coolsat 8000 or 8100?
That's not a recommendation, get other opinions, but it's a direction to consider.
... and they might be available pretty cheaply.

 

[Tron]

Dee_Ann, you really have been bitten by the FTA bug! Congratulations! As Anole said, no problems mixing motorized and fixed. You would just set up any fixed dish satellites as "NONE" under the positioner control menu in your receiver (no positioner) or "OFF". I have a 1 meter Channel Master dish pointed at 125w for PBS, probably the same type of dish you are trying to replace the LNB support on. If you need measurements for any of the 3 "legs", let me know, and I can provide those. You will have to fabricate an LNB holder for the end of the pole as well, if you are missing the center "leg".

 

[Dee_Ann]

Dee_Ann, you really have been bitten by the FTA bug! Congratulations! As Anole said, no problems mixing motorized and fixed. You would just set up any fixed dish satellites as "NONE" under the positioner control menu in your receiver (no positioner) or "OFF". I have a 1 meter Channel Master dish pointed at 125w for PBS, probably the same type of dish you are trying to replace the LNB support on. If you need measurements for any of the 3 "legs", let me know, and I can provide those. You will have to fabricate an LNB holder for the end of the pole as well, if you are missing the center "leg".

OMG... Wait until you see the mess I've cooked up in my head.
I haven't started putting it together yet, I haven't figured that part out yet.
I've been looking at pictures of the antennas you guys have made out of various household items. I'm thinking coat hangers and chicken wire..

For the motor dish, well I have two of the three arms (or legs) for it and the the center piece that holds the lnb and the lnb but I might want to get a better lnb that gets both kinds of the ku satellites on one thing.

The back part of the dish that holds the dish to the pole, I have that too but it's like 150 pounds or something and I may have to get you guys to help me find something lighter to replace it.

I'll post some pictures of what I have so far later this afternoon. I'm a long way from being able to put the thing up though. Plus I'll have to put a new pole in for it, I guess a much stronger and taller one than the little stubby poles that are out there now. It would be nice if I could put it high enough that I can mow around it, unlike now.

So for now, I'm just collecting the stuff and doing my homework. :

 

[Dee_Ann]

Ok, here's a picture of the primestar dish I want to put the motor on.
It's a 1.0 meter dish according to the printing on the back.

You can click the little pictures to see bigger ones of course.




And I've added some more pictures of the misc junk and parts.
Also I added a few pictures of the new motor too. (that I have no clue how to use)

I found a little aluminum flag pole that is the exact right size around to use to replace the missing arm on the dish above. I need to get my dad to bend the thing for me because I'll just ruin it if I try.

I took some of the lnb parts and put two of them together and made a Frankenstein thingie. I have no idea if it will work or not, I doubt it.
I still think I would want to put one that gets both the ku kinds of satellites, not just one kind. I was just wasting time when I was bored because the things looked like they could be swapped around. Just for fun.

What I'm afraid of is that the big primestar will be too heavy for this little motor.
It says for a 1.2 meter dish and mine is a 1.0 meter but it's heavy and that metal thing for the back is really heavy. And how would I hook the dish to the motor?

Also can my pc satellite tuner run that motor? That seems like a lot of stuff going on, moving that big thing around all by my little pc. I'm worried about it to be honest.

 

[turbosat]

Quite a collection dee, first 3 pics from left are the stock Primestar mount for a 1m-1.2m dish. You can see in the 3rd pic that somebody has pried it way apart-it would take some heft to get that bent back to where you could put the bolts back in it. Of course ifyou want to put the 1m dish on a motor, you won't need that mount. If you don't have the primestar pole, that fit that mount, you can get a chain-link fence corner post from the hardware store, for about 12bucks and stick that in the ground with some concrete around it. A 6' long pole is plenty, though I think they come in 7' long also. You could mow under that ok. For your lnb-support pipe that missing, I believe standard electrical conduit is the same thing, and it can be bent with a conduit bender (or a vise if you're careful). I got a 10' stick of that for 8.99 a couple of weeks back. The dish motors can handle that 1m dish ok, you'll need to fashion some brackets to hold it to the motor shaft, though some people have just turned that standard primestar mount upside down on the back of the dish, and "made it work". I wanted to save the weight on my motor by removing that heavy metal mount. There's a thread on here someplace where I posted a picture, let me know if you need to see and I'll dig it up in my computer again.
This is not a hard project, just step by step by step. First, make sure the pole is at least 2' in the ground, and use a level to make it perfectly plumb, might have to brace it with something until the concrete dries, 24hrs usually is good. If the pole isn't plumb, straight up and down all the way around, you'll have mucho problems tracking all the satellites with a motor.

 

[AcWxRadar]

Dee_Ann,

That's a pretty nice mix of cool parts you have there! The older PrimeStar and Channel Master dishes like the one you have are really great dishes. I have several like it and they are really nice. What is really great about these dishes is that elevation bracket, it has that nice fine adjusting elevation jacking bolt. This is a godsend for any dish, I wish they all had an adjustment device similar to it.

It prevents gravity from working against you when making minor adjustments. Otherwise, you may find out the hard way that, when you need to make a slight tweak, the enite dish falls all the way down and you don't really know where you started to put it back there! LOL With the "jacking elevation bolt", the dish can only move when you adjust the bolt.

The only drawback I can see is the same as you worried over, the weight of the entire assembly itself. If you are in doubt, don't spend too much time perfecting a glorious mounting system for it until you confirm that your motor will handle it.

See if you can find a spec for your motor regarding the maximum weight it can handle (as opposed to just dish size), then weigh the dish and brackets - everything and see how close you are getting to that spec. Or, set up the motor on a post and zip-tie or use some hose clamps and such to secure the dish and bracket to the motor tube and simply just test it first hand. You don't have to align anything at all, just hook it up in a fairly natural manner and see if the motor will drive east to west and back repeatedly without stalling or "growling" at you while moving very slowly.

If it moves fast all the way from one extreme of the motor's travel and back consistently, then you are A-OK!

Testing the motor's capabilities first hand like this is your best avenue, then you really know for certain.

RADAR

 

[Dee_Ann]

Pfffffft.... There's more stuff than that around here. That's just one box I hauled into the house. There's plenty more outside, on the side of the garage, by the air conditioner, in the tool shed (aka 1960's travel trailer), in the garage and of course, lots of enormous dishes and stuff at the lot. Still need to get dad to go over there with me, I'm afraid to go there alone. I'll take my camera and get some pictures there too.

For now though, everything around here is under water. It's been flooding for days. Everything is going to have to wait for quite a while until things dry up. And maybe cool off.

I'm sooooo : off, it's supposed to snow in Green Bay tomorrow (where my boyfriend lives) and here it's so hot you can't stand it. It NEVER cools off here, it's summer 365 days a year down here. I think Death Valley might be cooler than it is here in SE Texas..

If it would only cool off a little, say into the 40's so I could get out in the yard and get some work done. Anything above 60f is intolerable for me. Boy do I ever live in the wrong place!

 

[Tron]

I see from the pics that your 1 meter Channel Master is missing one of the side struts. That is going to be an easier fix, since the one that is missing is a clone of the one on the other side. The center strut is the different one of the bunch. Also good news that you have the original LNB holder. That will save you some calculating and fabricating.

As far as motorizing one of these beasts, I've never tried. Mine have always been for fixed dish use. But there are many members here who have successfully motorized 1 and even 1.2 meter Channel Master dishes. This process usually involves removing the original AZ-EL mount (VERY heavy) and replacing it with something lighter.

For now though, everything around here is under water. It's been flooding for days. Everything is going to have to wait for quite a while until things dry up. And maybe cool off.

I'm sooooo : off, it's supposed to snow in Green Bay tomorrow (where my boyfriend lives) and here it's so hot you can't stand it. It NEVER cools off here, it's summer 365 days a year down here. I think Death Valley might be cooler than it is here in SE Texas..

If it would only cool off a little, say into the 40's so I could get out in the yard and get some work done. Anything above 60f is intolerable for me. Boy do I ever live in the wrong place!

I can't agree more! I've never seen this kind of SUMMER weather, even in New Orleans, during this much of the month of October. It's ridiculous! Now they're saying no cool front this week until NEXT Saturday! Cool, dry air is essential to getting my new BUD site and mount prepared (thread on the subject to come soon). Things need to be painted and coated, and there's no way that's going to happen with temps in the high 80s/low 90s and humidity near 100 percent!

Iceberg, if you have time, please send some cold goodness down our way!

 

[Anole]

regarding heavy dish 'n motor, please see my reply in this other thread

 

[primestar31]

... You can see in the 3rd pic that somebody has pried it way apart-it would take some heft to get that bent back to where you could put the bolts back in it.

Easy as pie. Just get a couple big "C-Clamps", and use them for the leverage they give you to crank the mount sides back together, and then insert the bolts, and put lockwashers /washers/ & nuts on them loosely for now.

 

[ken2400]

Sound like you are talking about the 4 bowtie antenna.
The chicken wire makes it directional and adds some gain.
Start by making one without the wire/reflector then add it on if needed.

Good luck

 

[Dee_Ann]

Sound like you are talking about the 4 bowtie antenna.
The chicken wire makes it directional and adds some gain.
Start by making one without the wire/reflector then add it on if needed.

Good luck

Oh! I didn't know what the chicken wire was for..

Well, I think all the stations I want to get are north of me. So it may help.

But I will take your advice and try it without first. That will just make it easier on me..

Thank you!

 

[Dee_Ann]

Oh yes,

I was looking at some of the threads where you guys adapted parts from other old dishes to motors. Well I dug through the junk here and it's all too small.

Like that bracket you bolt to the side of the house, it's too small for that tube on the motor. That motor tube won't even come close to fitting in that thing.

I guess I'll have to get my dad to make something for it.

I sure wish there was a ready made adapter I could just order online. Sigh....

 

[AcWxRadar]

Oh yes,

I was looking at some of the threads where you guys adapted parts from other old dishes to motors. Well I dug through the junk here and it's all too small.

Like that bracket you bolt to the side of the house, it's too small for that tube on the motor. That motor tube won't even come close to fitting in that thing.

I guess I'll have to get my dad to make something for it.

I sure wish there was a ready made adapter I could just order online. Sigh....

Dee_Ann,

Hey Dee, (Gordy here).... Can you put a dish up in your yard? You are out in the country in TX somewhere, aren't you? No one is putting any restrictions on you for sat dishes, are they?

You will be much happier if you can put up an antenna (dish) in your yard rather than atop your roof. You are going to want and need to visit the dish often initially to get it aligned to your satisfaction.

Everrytime I do an install I try to make it a ground mounted pole. It is the best way to go if you can manage it. It is convenient and simple and you don't need a ladder.

May I say that I am very impressed with your attitude, knowledge and dedication to this hobby. There aren't many ladies who like this stuff, but you handle it so very well that you win my endearing respect! You are a great asset to this site and I know that you will do very well with this hobby, you simply have the greatest attitude for it all. As a matter of fact, you are doing better than most, regardless of gender. I salute you! (That's a guy thing, but you earned much respect here, so you get a salute from me).

What is next on your agenda? We all love to hear stories about everyone's setup and equipment and how it all works, so please keep us informed. (and if you need assistance, just post and ask). You can even send me a PM if you wish, but it is better to ask tech questions in the open forum so that others learn, too.

It is great to have you aboard! I know that you will stay for a long time and I am glad of that. Enjoy the hobby as best you can, we will be looking for your posts and any Questions that you may have.

Catch you soon, Dee_Ann!

Gordy (AcWxRADAR)

 

[Anole]

I was looking at some of the threads where you guys adapted parts from other old dishes to motors.
Well I dug through the junk here and it's all too small.
Like that bracket you bolt to the side of the house, it's too small for that tube on the motor.
That motor tube won't even come close to fitting in that thing.

You are on the right track.
What you have is probably a standard (small) DishNetwork or DirecTV post (tube) and foot (the bracket for the wall/roof).
Bigger dishes have bigger posts and wider foot/brackets.
Look for one off a Dish Network SuperDish (that should do it), or maybe one off a Primestar.
If the foot is wider than necessary, you can always shim it a bit with some washer.
This all comes to mind, because I read about it in one of the threads on the forum, circa 2006 or so! -

 

[Dee_Ann]

Dee_Ann,

Hey Dee, (Gordy here).... Can you put a dish up in your yard? You are out in the country in TX somewhere, aren't you? No one is putting any restrictions on you for sat dishes, are they?

You will be much happier if you can put up an antenna (dish) in your yard rather than atop your roof. You are going to want and need to visit the dish often initially to get it aligned to your satisfaction.

Everrytime I do an install I try to make it a ground mounted pole. It is the best way to go if you can manage it. It is convenient and simple and you don't need a ladder.

May I say that I am very impressed with your attitude, knowledge and dedication to this hobby. There aren't many ladies who like this stuff, but you handle it so very well that you win my endearing respect! You are a great asset to this site and I know that you will do very well with this hobby, you simply have the greatest attitude for it all. As a matter of fact, you are doing better than most, regardless of gender. I salute you! (That's a guy thing, but you earned much respect here, so you get a salute from me).

What is next on your agenda? We all love to hear stories about everyone's setup and equipment and how it all works, so please keep us informed. (and if you need assistance, just post and ask). You can even send me a PM if you wish, but it is better to ask tech questions in the open forum so that others learn, too.

It is great to have you aboard! I know that you will stay for a long time and I am glad of that. Enjoy the hobby as best you can, we will be looking for your posts and any Questions that you may have.

Catch you soon, Dee_Ann!

Gordy (AcWxRADAR)

Awwwwwwwww... Thank you! *blushes*

Ok, let's see if I can keep things in order here.

I do have my dishes in my yard. Unfortunately I have a nasty mess of them out there left behind by the ex. I had taken them all down and was moments away from throwing them away when the thought struck me that I should check first to see if I could reuse them for anything. Some googling brought me here.

I've attached a photo of the little beasties as they are currently looking and made notes as to where they are pointing.



As for putting a dish on my roof, I can't. I don't want to. Trees are in the way, that's why the ex put the dishes out in the middle of the yard way back when.

What I was attempting to do was see if some of the parts that are around here could be adapted to mount the nifty new motor thingie (that my dad was so gracious as to buy for me) onto that BIG 1 meter primestar dish I found on the side of the garage.

I was thinking I could do something similar to this,
http://www.satelliteguys.us/fta-shack/190432-hh-motor-primestar-oval.html#post1984996



Sadly, the tube thing on the motor is much larger than that wall mount part so that's not an option. I suppose my only option is to have my dad build a special adapter for me. He's quite handy with tools and machines and stuff.


Anyway, It took me MONTHS to figure out how to point the stupid things and find channels on them and that was thanks only to a LOT of very patient help from all you wonderful guys here on this forum.


As to my dedication to the "hobby", well, I'm bored. I'm unemployed and have issues with my back so I'm pretty limited in what I can do anymore. No one wants to hire someone who has a spine full of metal parts. Especially someone who is in eternal pain and can't stand for more than a few minutes at a time or walk more than 100 feet without having to stop and sit down. Not to mention the 11% unemployment rate in this area. I never learned any skills. I've been mostly a housewife / homebody except for a few years I spent in cash register sales.
I learned a little about them, enough to explain basic functions to people but that was all. And really, I hated it with all my heart. I do not want to go back into that ever again. I just don't like dealing with people. I'm not a people person.
Besides, I hated always having ink all over me from having to go back and help customers with their machines. It really was a nasty job. Yuko! :down

And let me take a moment to say Thank You to everyone for not dishing out the usual sexual harassment or flat out being ignored like on most other forums.
Most places on the internet that are populated primarily by males usually result in my posts being ignored or getting a flood of private messages asking for photos of my, um, (o)(o) assets. Ya know?

I've gotten nothing but respect here from each and every member of this forum and I deeply appreciate it . : Thank you all, very, very much.

Anyway. My dad is the one that deserves the credit. I got his brains (mostly) and my mom's looks. At least it seems I inherited his ability to fiddle with things. And having so much spare time on my hands, well... But like I said before, I'm just a hard headed red head, stubborn to the bone and just can not give up without a fight.

And I must confess, I do sort of get a tickled when I fight and fight and fight and finally get something to work by my own hand. It gives me a stronger sense of self confidence and independence. I've been cheated and taken to the cleaners plenty of times in the past and I've come to the point in my life where I'm sick of that and too poor to allow it to happen to me anymore. So I'm trying to learn how to "do for myself" as much as I can.

Once upon a time I remember a show called Tool Belt Diva, a woman was showing you how to do all sorts of home repairs yourself and it's amazing how easy a lot of them are to do if only someone shows you. Like my dad showed me how to change the disc brakes on my car. I was shocked at how simple it is to do. I can't do it myself as I am afraid of getting around the car when it's in the air like that and I'm just not strong enough to pry those things apart like he is. But I do know how to do it. I guess if I had no choice I could find a way to do it, like maybe getting a longer pry bar. Getting the tire on and off would be a problem though, I can't lift them. But I would find a way to do it if I had to.

A woman that used to live next door to me was a sargent in the army and she said she used to change tires on trucks, the tires were as tall as she is. And she only comes up to my shoulders. Wow.. She did that stuff every day in the army. So I guess if I had to I could do one little car tire.

I have a housemate now, my best friend who had to flee an abusive husband and evil, abusive son. I'm trying to teach her how to do internet stuff (which her husband forbid her from doing) so that she can be more independent too.

I like learning and I like helping people whenever I can. I hope I can help my friend to learn new things and gain more freedom.
Like they say, "Knowledge is Freedom" !!

Ok, that said, onward!


As for the future to what I'm hoping to do? Hmmmm...

For the immediate future my next project is to make a coat hanger HDTV antenna. That can't be too hard, I've been looking at a lot of pictures and youtube videos you guys have forwarded to me (thank you! ) and I've been gathering bits and pieces of junk I've found around here. I don't really have a design in mind, I was thinking I would just go freestyle and see what it comes out like.

After that, I want to put that big primestar dish on the motor and take down that mess of dishes out back. But the primestar wasn't designed to go on a motor so that's going to be interesting, figuring out a way to make that work. I suspect a lot of help from Dad is going to come into play on this project.

It also is missing one of it's arms but I found a little aluminum flag pole that is the exact right diameter to use it as a replacement for the missing part.
Only problem is is that it needs to be bent. I don't have tools for that but my dad does, I've seen him bend little tubes for electrical wires like it's nothing. He has all sorts of gadgets for that. I dare not try it myself, I would ruin it for sure.



The gold colored tube on the top is the one I'll use to replace the missing part.

I'm still not sure what lnb to put on it, I want one that will get all the kinds of KU, so like I can get RTV on AMC9 or ION on echo7 119 or whatever, all on one lnb.
Someone said something about some combo kind but I can't remember what it is.

Also, in the right hand photo I was playing around with that box of parts and I noticed that the primestar lnb comes apart. So I took the funnel off the end and put it on a direcway lnb that looked like it had the same holes in it. What the heck, right? Not that it would work but I just wanted to see if it would fit, out of sheer boredom.


Some time into the future I guess I'll start looking at putting up one of those BIG dishes that gets the c band. Like the one we had a long time ago, that was always broken and always all fuzzy and sparkly.

Maybe since then they have improved the parts on them? Most of you guys have been trying to nudge me into putting one of those things up and you say there are lots of free channels on them. Well. Let me think on it some more. That is such a MAJOR thing to try to put up. It's beyond my physical ability to so I would have to bribe my nice neighbor into helping me (erm, doing it for me) with probably lots of beer. To be tendered AFTER the work is completed. I know what happens (actually, doesn't happen) when guys and beer get together on a DIY home project.

IF I put up one of those big monster dishes it would be maybe early next year.
It looks like I'm stuck here anyway. My boyfriend doesn't seem to have the strength to pop the question, much less utter the L word. :river I had high hopes but I guess it's not to be. I really did want to move up there where it's cool. I'm sooooo sick of Gulf coast HEAT and mosquitoes.

Ok, well it's almost 5am. I'm tired. I guess I better catch a nap. Later today I need to make room in my closet for my friend, color her hair and trim her bangs.
That's gonna be fun! No, really, it is!

Nite nite guys! Love ya all!


edit: PS. I measured the tube thing on the motor. It seems to be 55mm or 2 1/8" around. Or something like that. However you measure it.
I don't see that this would make any difference BUT, I found that the tube that goes from a directv wall mount to the dish, that slips into the motor tube but is very loose and wiggly. No good. I found a piece of white plastic pipe that says "1-1/2" CRESLINE PVC DWV ASTM D 2665 SCH 40 330 PSI" that fits SNUG inside the motor tube.
Maybe my dad can find a metal pipe that would fit inside the motor tube he could weld to a metal plate that bolts to the dish? If that makes any sense.

 

[Larobpra]

Dee, check with the vendor you got your motor from and see if they have a 42mm tube available for your motor. That it what is in the pics of my setup you referenced above.

 

[Dee_Ann]

Dee, check with the vendor you got your motor from and see if they have a 42mm tube available for your motor. That it what is in the pics of my setup you referenced above.

I've been tweaking on caffeine all night and all morning and went poking around in boxes and sheds trying to fit parts together.

I looked at the parts that are used to connect those itty-bitty little Dishnet and Directv dishes are just flimsy. I do not see how those ccould possibly be used to mount this enormous 4 foot beast to anything. I mean really, they are so flimsy I can bend the darn things with my bare hands and I am NOT strong. I can barely lift a 40lb bag of dog food. But I can bend those little dish mounts all up like nothing, with just my bare hands.

I'm going to get my dad over to look at it and show him some photos of the things you guys have made and see if he can make something that is strong enough to take the hurricanes we often get but still be light enough not to blow the motor up.

Actually, I think what I should really do is have it where the thing can be taken down easily when a hurricane is imminent then put back up again when it has passed. Provided I still have a house left.

Considering how enormous the thing is I think that it's going to take some professional grade materials and work done to make it strong enough to survive at least a Category 1 hurricane. Cat 1's are nothing but a big poofy wind and some rain.. Ho-hum.. I'll sit on the deck out back and watch the trees whip around. Cat 2, um, I'll watch from inside the house. Cat 3, I'll ride that out with my folks in their house, they have a enormous generator. Cat 4 and up, nothing will be left, time to RUN for the hills!

 

[PopcornNMore]

I have had my 1.2m Channel Master dish setup as shown in your pictures using a SG2100 motor for the last 6-7 years and it has been working perfectly.