Uniden UST300 Dish Positioners

[Brct203]

Um, that's good to know, never heard of it, but I'll give it a try. It may work for me too? I just put a 12 foot Unimesh on a pole. Set the elevation to 39.63, and tried to set the offset to 45.15 for this area. I could get above it, or below it, but not on the money. This dish doesn't have an offset screw for fine adjustments, just a line of different holes. One hole makes it too high, the other too low by about 2 degrees.

I may have to modify the offset adjustment to make it a screw adjustment. I'm going to play with it a bit and see how much it affects the signal level. May have to break out the ole MIG welder. The dish was free, so I can't complain too much. The screen looks like it just came from the factory, with the exception of one dime size hole that looks like a gravel shot from under the mower and nailed it about 6 inches from the center of the dish. Anywho, I'll find some of that Red Angel and give it a shot. Wish me luck.

I'm a bit puzzled by that - the fact that the declination adjustment is by increments. How did the manufacturer expect this to work properly? I mean, that's a 12 footer, so definitely something that needs a bit of accuracy in those adjustments. Am I missing something?

 

[primestar31]

I'm a bit puzzled by that - the fact that the declination adjustment is by increments. How did the manufacturer expect this to work properly? I mean, that's a 12 footer, so definitely something that needs a bit of accuracy in those adjustments. Am I missing something?

You are missing that those mounts were made back in the analog signal days, and it made nearly no difference in locking signals in the less amount of sats that were up there and that were at a 4 degree apart arc (or greater). At most you might get a few extra sparklies, BUT, you still got watchable signal.

 

[wvman]

I'm a bit puzzled by that - the fact that the declination adjustment is by increments. How did the manufacturer expect this to work properly? I mean, that's a 12 footer, so definitely something that needs a bit of accuracy in those adjustments. Am I missing something?

My sentiments exactly. This is a one size fits all products that only works well if you happen to be in a location where one of the holes were on the money, but there's a considerable distance between one bolt hole and the other. What about the locations inbetween? I purchased some fiberglass dishes from Cayson Electronics that offered custom made mounts for your location with the declination built into the mount.

They worked well for that location, but moving one very far from that location, it wouldn't track right. To answer your question, no, you're not missing anything. As far as I'm concerned, it was a design flaw that they later eliminated. I have three other Unimesh dishes, and all have a modified declination adjustment.

 

[wvman]

You are missing that those mounts were made back in the analog signal days, and it made nearly no difference in locking signals in the less amount of sats that were up there and that were at a 4 degree apart arc (or greater). At most you might get a few extra sparklies, BUT, you still got watchable signal.

Very true, analog was much more forgiving than digital. I've had two feet of snow on my dish in the analog days and still have a watchable picture. Now, a heavily saturated cloud will have you cussing if you're recording a movie.

 

[wvman]

I remember reading about another member who had dish with just adjustment holes like that but can't remember what they did about it. Still really lucky to find one in such great shape and shouldn't be too hard to modify. As far as the Red Angel goes there are two ways to do it. Easiest and cheapest is the can of refrigerent with Red Angel already in it that you hook to the low side service port, start the car with a/c on and add to the system.

A/C Stop Leak / Aerosol | #00222

Second method requires the small bottle of Red Angel, a can or so of refrigerant, an a/c gauge set, injector and a vacuum pump. More complicated/costly but results may be better. If you buy it directly from Blue Devil Products they will refund your money if it doesn't work (no warranty if you buy elsewhere). Good luck with your dish and the a/c!

Thanks for the scoop on the Red Angel. I'll get some with the mix of the two. Much easier. I have a plan for that dish. I have a mount off another dish with the fine adjstments. After measuring the mount and dish, I think it will fit the other mount to a tee. Will probably need to drill four new holes to secure the dish to the mount, but that's no big deal. I'll measure the dish to make sure it's centered on the mount, but with the saddles the ribs fit into, it should center itself.