This weekends satellite project

[PopcornNMore]

This weekend I:
1) Took down my 76cm Winegard dish
2) Created a lightweight mount for my Channel Master 1.2m dish
3) Cleaned the Channel Master 1.2m dish with a degreaser called "Krud Kutter"
4) Cleaned pole and SG2100 motor drive from rust and grime
5) Painted pole, conduit containing cables, mount and SG2100 motor drive black
6) Reinstalled SG2100 motor drive and attached new lightweight mount

Attached is a spreadsheet showing the signal strength on various satellites using the 76cm Wingard dish as well as photos of this weekends project.

Tomorrow, I will install the Channel Master dish onto the mount and a universal 0.5dB LNB. Later this week when my Invacom 0.3dB C120 LNB arrives I will install it to replace the universal 0.5dB LNB. I will use the spreadsheet to track signal strength levels to show the improvements.


Thank You,
Dave

 

[W_Tracy_Parnell]

Nice project. Where do you get your energy?

 

[Greg Mueller]

I'm REAL interested to see if that motor will handle the 1.2. Keep us posted!

My this weekend project was to go scare up a 10' BUD. I found a Unimesh 10' peeking out from behind a shed. Still on it's pole, but over grown by black berries. The guys said his dad had it in the front yard but he thought it was too ugly so he hid it behind the shed. It looks like they might have pulled pole and all out of the ground and just plopped it in a shallow hole to hold it up. It kind of tilts to one side. When it stops raining I'll go over and start cutting away the vines

 

[digiblur]

Don't be suprised if you have to muck with your settings on elevation and motor settings to get the motor to track the arc right due to your custom mount. Lots of patience....

 

[PopcornNMore]

Tonight I installed the dish onto the new mount. With the wind blowing and the size of the dish it was harder to do by myself than I had thought. However, I was able to complete the installation. Tomorrow night I will align and take some measurements to compare to the 76cm dish I removed. Pictures are attached.

 

[WyrTwister]

Tonight I installed the dish onto the new mount. With the wind blowing and the size of the dish it was harder to do by myself than I had thought. However, I was able to complete the installation. Tomorrow night I will align and take some measurements to compare to the 76cm dish I removed. Pictures are attached.

Please pardon me if this has been explained , but is that a DTV mount attached to the plywood ?

Wyr

 

[PopcornNMore]

The mount is much larger than a DTV mount and came with the Winegard 76cm dish that this 1.2m replaced. The holes on the back of the CM 1.2m dish are 7" apart and the holes on the Winegard mount are about 6" wide and 8.5" long. I used this mount because it attaches to the SG2100 nice without the need for PVC tubing and is much more lightweight than a CM mount.

If I am pleased with the results after I align the dish tomorrow night I may at a later time plant a 3" O.D. schedule 40 pipe and buy a heavy duty H-H mount for this dish. Especially with all the hurricanes we have here in Florida.

 

[Mr Tony]

Looks really good Dave

I might try that with my 40x30 Primestar dish (the plywood technique)

 

[PopcornNMore]

Thank you Iceberg!

A friend of mine suggested I use a poly cutting board instead of plywood as shown in the picture attached due to being outdoors. However, I thought the holes would become loose overtime so I went with 3/4" plywood. I covered it with two layers of exterior latex paint followed by three layers of outdoor enamel spray paint to match the pole and motor drive. This should hopefully last awhile.

 

[dishMIKE]

Man that is AWESOME Dave ! I'm very anxious to hear all of your findings. That's just great!!! Mike P.S. Your really going to like the Invacom LNB

 

[ken2400]

Put some paint in the holes and make sure they are fully coated. Also some silicon in the holes then put the bolts in will help keep the water out.

Re-paint every three to five years and it should last a long time. I like to brush oil base paint on when it comes to outdoor project. Spray is good for inside stuff and stuff that thick paint will hide find detail.

Real nice job so far

Thank you Iceberg!

A friend of mine suggested I use a poly cutting board instead of plywood as shown in the picture attached due to being outdoors. However, I thought the holes would become loose overtime so I went with 3/4" plywood. I covered it with two layers of exterior latex paint followed by three layers of outdoor enamel spray paint to match the pole and motor drive. This should hopefully last awhile.

 

[Tron]

Looks great! How well does the SG-2100 handle that beast of a dish?

 

[PopcornNMore]

Thank you guys for the kind words and advice. The SG2100 was handling the 1.2m dish very well last night as I sweeped the arc manually. I am off work tomorrow for Good Friday, so I will have time to align the dish and take measurements.

I placed the same 0.5dB LNB onto the dish that I had installed on the 76cm dish to be able to compare the difference between using a 76cm dish and a 1.2m dish. Once the measurements are recorded, I will swap the 0.5dB LNB with the new 0.3dB Invacom LNB to see what a difference it made. I will post the results on the spreadsheet I had attached previously.

Then I will begin my mini BUD project using another 1.2m dish that I have in the garage along with a PVC mount I am designing. I am also helping a friend build a 10' C-Band dish out of wood at his home in Georgia along with a motorized mount. I will be posting pictures of both these projects within the next few months.

Thank you all again and I hope everyone has a good Easter holiday.

Dave

 

[PopcornNMore]

ok guys I need help!

Last night I tried adjusting the dish using my 0.5dB standard KU LNB that I used with the previous dish along with a Coolsat 4000 Pro receiver and got nothing.

This morning I placed on my DBS LNB and moved the dish to Nimiq 2 (my true south satellite) and made minor adjustments and got nothing.

The level is in the upper 70's on Nimiq 2, but the quality is only about 3%. Usually I could have a dish fully adjusted within miniutes, but today I have spent over an hour and have gotten no where.

I believe that since the mount is homemade that the elevation would need to be different, but have tried higher and lower with no success.

I read on a site that you should not even try to use a fiberglass dish to receive KU signals, because the mesh inside is designed for C band. However the Channel Master 1.2m dish is designed for C and KU band.

If anyone has a Channel Master 1.2m dish and is currently using it for FTA KU, please let me know how well it is performing for you and if you have any ideas.

Thank you! I am going out to make further adjustments, but will be back soon.

 

[PopcornNMore]

I have a strong signal on Nimiq 2!

Because my Winegard mount is mounted lower than the center of the CM dish, I had to lower my elevation and not raise it. I believe I can now sucessfully track and adjust the rest of the arc and take measurements.

Dave

 

[Mr Tony]

Popcorn

How much lower did it have to be? I might be doing the same thing with a P* dish (plywood technique) and just wondered how much lower it has to be?

 

[PopcornNMore]

I went about 5 degrees lower to get a signal.

I just ran into a problem. When I turned the dish to Echostar 7 the motor drive stopped. I had to manually drive the motor back to Nimiq 2, but the motor was really struggling. Maybe adding a 1.2m dish on a SG-2100 wasn't a good idea. Does anyone else have a 1.2m dish on a SG2100? Would a STAB motor drive work better?

Today might not be a good day afterall.

 

[Greg Mueller]

I keep thinking that a C-Band type mount would work well on a 1.2M
You'd have to add a 3rd adjustable mount for the offsetness of the dish. I was thinking a sheet of metal or plywood (like your plywood chunk) that had a simple doorhinge at the bottom. You could put a little screwjack under the plywood for offset adjustment.
See where I'm goin?

 

[PopcornNMore]

I can sucessfully move the dish from Echostar 3 (61.5W) to Nimiq 1 (91.0). When I move the dish lower like to Echostar 8 (110.0W) the dish moves, but is unable to retun to Nimiq 1 without manually moving it.

Because I made the mount so lightweight I was sure that it would work.

Now my only option is to buy a STAB and hope that works or return to using my 76cm Winegard dish.

Any suggestions?

Thank You,
Dave

 

[PopcornNMore]

A big disappointment! All the time I spent painting and installing the dish only to have it not work. The STAB motor control has the same 1.2m restrictions.

I will probably disassemble the 1.2m and put back up the 76cm Winegard.

The moral of the story probably is to always use the manufacturers recommended size poles and mounts and not try to experiment. However, experimenting is half the fun of FTA satellite.

I saw a post where someone mounted a 1.2m dish onto a heavier CM mount using plywood. He also used a SG2100 motor drive. If his is heavier, how is his able to track the arc? I just don't get it.