Update on the 1.2M from SatelliteAV

[DishDigger]

I've been able to do some work on the mounting post for the 1.2M dish between showers . Attached are some photos of the brace I devised to help support the post against the eve of the house. I really should have painted first, eh?

Anyway, #448 shows the brace just sitting in place.
#449 shows it bolted in place with the stand-off bracket mounted.
#450 is a close-up of the stand-off. The white coloration is silicone putty I put on the raw ends of the wood to reduce water wicking into the grain.
#451 is the 3" lag bolts driven into the outside rafter. The 4" crossmembers that the bolts go through are fastened to the longer braces by 3" course-threaded screws (two on each member).

The small brown wire just below the brace is for my rain gauge. The sending unit is on the roof & can be seen in prior photos, looks like a crock pot. Immaterial here, so won't elaborate.

I've installed the post and plumbed it. I'll post pictures on that later (I'm on dial-up, painfully slow sending photos ). I've had trouble with the ISP, so couldn't send these earlier.

 

[Mr Tony]

I've been able to do some work on the mounting post for the 1.2M dish between showers . Attached are some photos of the brace I devised to help support the post against the eve of the house. I really should have painted first, eh?

you and me both

I really need to paint the deck

 

[starman345]

I've been able to do some work on the mounting post for the 1.2M dish between showers . Attached are some photos of the brace I devised to help support the post against the eve of the house. I really should have painted first, eh?

Anyway, #448 shows the brace just sitting in place.
#449 shows it bolted in place with the stand-off bracket mounted.
#450 is a close-up of the stand-off. The white coloration is silicone putty I put on the raw ends of the wood to reduce water wicking into the grain.
#451 is the 3" lag bolts driven into the outside rafter. The 4" crossmembers that the bolts go through are fastened to the longer braces by 3" course-threaded screws (two on each member).

The small brown wire just below the brace is for my rain gauge. The sending unit is on the roof & can be seen in prior photos, looks like a crock pot. Immaterial here, so won't elaborate.

I've installed the post and plumbed it. I'll post pictures on that later (I'm on dial-up, painfully slow sending photos ). I've had trouble with the ISP, so couldn't send these earlier.

Nice job, that should hold things good and tight

 

[FTABman0]

I agree, very nice!

Great pictures DishDigger!!
Nicely done!

Iceberg: I really need to paint the deck

Ice, painting the deck? The dishes are more important!


K E V I N

 

[DishDigger]

Thanks guys, I'm gonna look around the forum a few & then might just send the pictures I took today. I think the mount is ready, just gotta get the dish, motor, LNB, and brackets assembled. Then, I'll have to get everything aimed and set - most likely take the 31" down (it's going to be in the way of the 1.2M).

While I'm at it, what's the chance of setting up the DN lnb's on the 31" and reducing rain fade? I have a sub with DN, just that the signal is low, probably a warped dish. I know I'll have to beef up the LNB support, probably run a couple braces from each side of the dish (tri-pod style?).

 

[Anole]

OT: DishNet on 31" dish -

While I'm at it, what's the chance of setting up the DN lnb's on the 31" and reducing rain fade?
I have a sub with DN, just that the signal is low, probably a warped dish.

Where are you located (city)?
What sort of DN LNBs are you thinking of relocating to the 31" dish?
Legacy, DishPro, or DishProPlus?
Which birds are you receiving?
The double-eye LNB for 110°/119° won't likely focus properly on the 31" dish.
If you have independent LNBs on a Dish 500, or from a Superdish (or possibly other setups), they might be mounted at proper focal points.

Not trying to discourage you.
If you need the boost, let's figure out exactly how to go about it.
With the right LNBs and a few simple brackets, this should be a breeze!

If your only weak bird is 129°, then the 31" will do that just dandy! - :up

 

[GreatFTA]

Dishdigger, I believe that setup will really work, now that I see the photos.
When you do get the dish and everything else up, don't fall and bust your butt...
That would be something for your coworkers to be talking about for a long, long time...
LOL!

 

[GreatFTA]

Note to readers of this thread...
Dishdigger and I work at the same factory and those coworkers will really take something like I just mentioned and make a mountain out of it.
Ain't that right, Dishdigger?

 

[DishDigger]

Anole, I live in Cleveland, Ms. I was thinking about the possibility of moving the twin LNB's from the DN 500. I'm getting a satisfactory signal, but really should be better. Not a big deal, just a thought. The birds in use are 119 and 110.

mrFTAman, you're right about the mountain, ha. I got the dish in place, still much to be done, but ran out of daylight. The boss lady decided the carport needed cleaning and she's not able to do much, so spent the better part of the afternoon doing that.

I do have one major problem. The 1.2 is made to mount on a 2 1/2" to 3 1/4" post. The motor has a 2 1/4" shaft (all listed are approximate measurements). The large u-bolts won't clamp against the motor shaft enough to hold the dish. I've got to find a way to shim, or clamp it better. The motor itself has a toothed clamp that will fasten and HOLD on different size shafts, but the dish has just a 1/4" diameter u-bolt that is just too slick to hold well. Again, I ran out of daylight, so that'll be something for tomorrow. I'll get to the photos later. I believe I might be able to send them another way beside this dial-up & get them all there quicker.

 

[SatelliteAV]

The mount was designed to fit on a minimum 55mm shaft. The DG380 has a 55mm shaft and should fit perfectly.

For extra grab, place a strip of adhesive backed 80 grit sandpaper on the mount.

If the mount still rotates on the shaft, you may consider a hardware fix. Once the dish is aligned on the motor shaft, drill and bolt or use a self tapping screw to secure the motor shaft to the mount.

Nice work on the eave mount! I would add some tripod legs to the mast and secure to the rafters or place a stand off 18 - 24" below the eave mount to secure the bottom of the mast. The eave mount will not withstand an extreme wind load on a 1.2m dish. Better safe than sorry!

 

[DishDigger]

More photos

Thanks for the advise, AV. I haven't thought of the sandpaper (yet ), but had thought about swapping the u-bolt fasteners, though not fond of that idea at all.

I tried to send photos last night, but lost my connection just about the time I went to submit them. The mast goes all the way to the ground and is not entirely held by the eve mount. I don't have my list of explanations of the photos with me, but I'll try to call them by memory .

477 - The notch for the cross member that I used to prevent unwanted rotation of the mast.
478 - The cross member shown in position (for photo only)
479, 480 - end of mast in the ground with the cross member in place.
481 - veiw up the mast from the ground.
482 - close-up of the support brace.

Hope these show up okay. I haven't made photos of the dish yet - got too dark yesterday when I got through.

 

[SatelliteAV]

That is a very robust mast install. Should work fine if the base doesn't move. Have you considered setting the base in cement?

 

[DishDigger]

Thanks, AV. Yes, I thought about concrete and may have to go to that, but wanted to avoid it if possible. There's about a 4-to-1 leverage advantage at the ground point over the point where the dish is connected. I.e., 20 pounds of force at the dish would create 5 pounds of force at the ground (the eve is 11' from the ground, the top of the post is about 40" above the roof line). I figure if the ground point moves, the roof would be gone anyway - ha. I realize over time there may be some motion there, hopefully there won't be. The mast is about 8-10" deep and the pipe going across the end to prevent rotation will add additional drag should any motion be attempted.

I guess time will tell, huh? If I run into problems, I won't have to worry as long as Satelliteguys.us is around. These guys AND the great sponsors can find a cure for ANY satellite system problem. This is sort of like a REAL extended warranty!

Thanks to all for the support for my undertaking as well as everybody else's. I know quality when I see it and stopped looking for a good reference site when I found this one (and found this one FIRST!--what luck!! :up).

 

[GreatFTA]

Dishdigger, You should consider using cement at the ground. It would be like having insurance against the pole moving . On days we get a lot of rain and that area get soft, there can be a chance of high wind from the south playing havoc on that 1.2 meter dish you got.

 

[DishDigger]

A Little More

Just a little update. The dish is now mounted and pointed close to 91W, my southmost sat at 180.5 degrees. Brian, if you get to view this, I need clarification on the LNB mount. The diagram with the dish shows (in the diagram for the optional C-band LNB mount) that the side supports fasten along with the LNB mounting bracket. The diagram with the optional bracket shows the side mounts in a separate hole toward the dish from the bracket (the hole I used in photo 488). Which is correct ??
Photos:
484 U-bolts to motor shaft.
485 Motor bracket-to-mast.
487 LOS parallel to dish toward 91W (tree limbs may be a problem. Removed some, try to get others, but may be farther away than my 14' pole saw can reach).
488 LNB support brace.

 

[SatelliteAV]

I have drilled a second hole through the LNBF arm to secure the c-band adapter clamp in opposing directions. Maybe over-kill, but it is solid!

 

[Babadem]

A cemented base with crossbars will make your setup real solid. All the same, Great setup!!:up

 

[DishDigger]

Thanks for the reply, Brian. The bracket has one bolt through it and another threaded into it from underneath. What I was asking is where do the side supports connect to the support from the bottom of the dish? The LNB support is shown in two different instruction sheets with the system. One sheet shows the side supports fastened to the lNB bracket bolt, the other sheet shows the side supports fastened where they are in the photo, approximately three centimeters closer to the dish itself. Which is correct?

 

[SatelliteAV]

The LNBF side support arms are mounted correctly.

 

[DishDigger]

Thanks Babadem, I'm sure the cement will do a better job and may go to that later. I'm not sure just how long I'll be here, so holding off a bit . There's no way for me to extend my all gratitude for the feedback and suggestions from the folks here on Satelliteguys. I sincerely hope that something in all this will be of help to others getting in to FTA (or, for that fact, already here).

Brian, thanks again for the great contest and for the support on this project. I've felt sort of wasted this afternoon, so used my time figuring out the CK-1 (no instructions or diagrams of any kind, but a posting on the CK-2 on this site seem to be adequate). I also picked up a couple lengths of RG/6 Quad-shield cable to connect to the DISEqC switch. I'm now trying to figure out DISEqC and USALS and which one will work and/or work best. Being a newbe is tough, even with all the brains on this site .

It's looking like a lot of ground has been covered and a good bit left to go. I'm one to learn stuff the hard way. It's my opinion that learning what you're doing bit-by-bit will reward you with a more solid understanding when it's all over. I sometimes end up being in over my head, but I get there.

Hang with me folks, I've seen others get going, I will too, with your help............

Thanks,

Bill