What Is The Average Number Count Reading Per Every Two Degrees, Using The GBOX

[avenger]

Cannot sem to get a good average number count per two degrees, when using the GBOX.

I thought that it was about 12 counts per degrees, but it is not working just right. Maybe my GBOX is faulty.....Can someone give me an input of what their GBOX number count is per every two degrees.

Thanks

 

[Mikey11]

the count would not be the same throughout the entire arc....it would be quite different at the top of the arc as opposed to the ends of the arc....

 

[Pixl]

Many variables, number of magnets or optical slits inside the actuator vary make/model. If the actuator arm is mounted on the West side of the dish (typical) there are more counts per inch on the West side. It continuously changes less per inch as you go East.

Best to answer your own question. Not too much difference in a given 10 deg. segment. If you know the count at sat A and sat C, sat B in between can be estimated well enough that when you go to that count and blind scan, you will find the B sat. Easy!

 

[jsattv]

the count would not be the same throughout the entire arc....it would be quite different at the top of the arc as opposed to the ends of the arc....

I agree with Mikey11. My True South Sat is at 97.0W and Sats East of me ie 95.0W, 93.0W, and 91.0W, and West of me 99.0W, 101.0W, 103W are generally about 10 - 12 Ticks or Counts away from the Count of Sat 97.0W. But as you get way out to 61.0W East and 125.0W to the West its no longer valid at least on my VBox III with my Von Weise Actuator. This is my experience with 18 Sats recently scanned in on my OpenBox X3 Receiver. One thing I have also noticed is when I drive the 12 Ft Mesh Dish all the way over to IntelSat 9 at 58.0W it seems to cause me to have to reset the counts on the existing Sats when I drive the Dish back to 97.0W - not sure but the Dish and Actuator may be sticking a bit when I drive it to Satellites at the Extreme End of the Arc. Not sure why - wonder if maybe the Actuator needs to be regreased or overhauled again, anyone know why??

 

[T4Runner]

my VBox's (two of them) on two seperate C Band dishes average 7 on one and 10 on the other. go figure... different actuators, different size dishes.

 

[avenger]

Thanks for the answers. .....Maybe someone with a GBOX and a Powermax PMA24 and using the $69.99 special dish could give me some insight on thier setup.
Thanks.

 

[rv1pop]

My dad would answer that, "Same as a rope!" (How long is a rope? ----Depends on the rope....)

 

[jsattv]

my VBox's (two of them) on two seperate C Band dishes average 7 on one and 10 on the other. go figure... different actuators, different size dishes.

Sounds right, after double checking tonight I found out that on the Satellites close to my True South Sat - 97.0W with my 12 ft Mesh Dish and Actuator its actually 20 ticks or counts on the V Box III between Satellites. So guess it varies between different dishes and actuators.

 

[Magic Static]

Like Mikey11 said, with linear actuators the counts per degree are inconsistant across the arc. However they are not real bad in that respect. With an H-H motor they are consistant. BUT!! with all the variables that come into play when fine tuning your setup for each position you often find unequal spacing between sats because of the way they tuned in. This comes from discrepencies in the Feed position and shape of the dish and actual tracking alignment. The idea is to get the most counts per degree possible to yield the best accuracy. A PMA24 has a 48 count per inch sensor. 48x24=1152 counts full travel. The GBox doubles that to 2304. My line of sight enables me to see from 55.5W to 139W or about 85° of arc. Ideally, I would want my actuator mounted so it used the whole length to move the dish over my LOS 85°. 2304/85=27.1 counts per degree (possible resolution) Even 20 counts per degree would be great! When I used a WSI 6' dish I had the VBox and it was 768 counts for my LOS (1536 on the GBox) about 18 counts per degree. BUT! I was using my own mount, not the one that came with the dish. I'll post my count sheets for my two C-Band/Ku dishes, different setups, but you can get an idea maybe.
View attachment CountsTable.jpg

 

[avenger]

Thanks, Magic Static.

That makes it much cleared to understand how the GBOX and the PMA24 actuator work together.

My Latitude is 30.27 N ....... Longitude is 89.77 W......Therefore my most south satellite would be Galaxy 28 at 89W. A weld cracked on the dish pivot point, and had to take it apart in order to (try) to fix it. My original setup was working fairly good, but after the rework, it changed a little bit.

I would also like to be able to scan the satellites from 55.5W to 139W, and it looks like I have a clear line of sight for most of those satellites. Since there are alot more satellites located to the West of 89W, the question is whereabout should the actuator arm be bolted along it's lenght to accomodate that desired travel from East to West, right now the clamp is two inches from the top of the rubber stopper/gasket.


Is there some type of dividing line as to where to place/locate the actuator arm, either to the East or the West side of the middle of the dish, depending of what part of the country you live. I just took a good look, and it seems that there is not too much more travel of the actuator arm and shaft, where it is located, which is to the West side of the dish. This would mean a major overhaul of the dish setup.

Thank You.

 

[T4Runner]

I don't know if it's right or wrong, but I just split the difference between my 58W to 139W and did the same on the actuator. Whatever sat was closest to the middle was what I locked on. I'm in Calif and my furthest East sat is 58W. And that's through the trees...

 

[avenger]

I have just realized that my dish will not have a clear sight beyond 127.0 W (Galaxy 13), when turned past 127.0 W LOS is being blocked by the house's roof.

This means that I will not have access to 137.0 W, the most wanted satellite for the wife and grandkids. The back yard is small, and it would take a great deal of effort to relocat/rearange the two dishes. Oh well such is life.

 

[primestar31]

I have just realized that my dish will not have a clear sight beyond 127.0 W (Galaxy 13), when turned past 127.0 W LOS is being blocked by the house's roof.

This means that I will not have access to 137.0 W, the most wanted satellite for the wife and grandkids. The back yard is small, and it would take a great deal of effort to relocat/rearange the two dishes. Oh well such is life.

Get a larger and taller pole that just fits over the pole you have now, so it can see over the roof. I've done this, and it can work well. I just extended one 6 feet taller, and drilled through and bolted them together after making sure it was leveled all around. Of course, you must already have enough cement holding the first pole, so it can take the additonal height and weight. Mine has over 900 lbs of cement. If you must, you can also get a smaller stub pipe heli-arc welded on the top of the new pipe, so your mount will still fit.

 

[avenger]

Get a larger and taller pole that just fits over the pole you have now, so it can see over the roof.

Will have to start looking for an extension to the pole as suggested. Luckly the dish does not weight much.....do not have any welding equipment, so the two pieces will have to be bolted....I hope that Home Depot have what is needed.