winguard Repair C-Band

[ussexplroer]

Well now that I'm in my new house. I can put up my c-band. (Probably next year). This is a nice 10ft winguard dish (mesh). However, it is HH mount. Can you get motors and parts for hh mount? I took picture and figured maybe it would be a easy convert to a SUPER JACK ACTUATOR LINEAR MOTOR. Also I have the traditional polarotor with motor. I found all the parts for that. But I would have to look at a v box or something. AKA about $100.00 So why not just purchase a new dish? So I have all new parts and easy fix? THe problem is I cannot find anything above 8ft and would like to make sure 1 dish to cover all needs to be 10ft or 12ft. Below is tons of pictures.

I guess I'm saying how easy is a convert and can I put a newer 13/18v swith lnbf on it. I think I can do that for sure.

Thanks,

Josh

 

[Anole]

pretty dish:

That pile may look bad now, but I believe you have an AJAK 180, H-H motor.
Clean it up and get some covers on it. - :up
Talking about replacing it with a regular jack might get you hurt 'round these parts! - or worse: - :rant:

As for running it with a Gbox, see my signature for a link to buying one, and look in our Review Department for why that's the one you want! - :up

To convert the traditional Chaparral feed to a voltage-controlled one, decide if you want C-band only (use a C2), or want to fight for both bands (the DMX741 or Ck-1 are possibles).
There are a number of other threads discussing the critical alignment needed to get good Ku on the dual-band LNBF's.
Not impossible, but you do need to be serious, and do it accurately.
Another (much more expensive) solution is the dual-band orthomode feedhorn, equipped with two C-band LNBs and two Ku-band LNBs.
It is apparently a lot easier to get tuned up, but at quite a cost.

Hope these comments give you something to chew on.

 

[stogie5150]

Well now that I'm in my new house. I can put up my c-band. (Probably next year). This is a nice 10ft winguard dish (mesh). However, it is HH mount. Can you get motors and parts for hh mount? I took picture and figured maybe it would be a easy convert to a SUPER JACK ACTUATOR LINEAR MOTOR. Also I have the traditional polarotor with motor. I found all the parts for that. But I would have to look at a v box or something. AKA about $100.00 So why not just purchase a new dish? So I have all new parts and easy fix? THe problem is I cannot find anything above 8ft and would like to make sure 1 dish to cover all needs to be 10ft or 12ft. Below is tons of pictures.

I guess I'm saying how easy is a convert and can I put a newer 13/18v swith lnbf on it. I think I can do that for sure.

Thanks,

Josh

Josh, you have what is arguably the best motor that exists right now. It would be WELL worth it to take your time and clean that mount up, grease it up, and USE it! As an owner of two dishes with H-to-H mounts, I have NEVER been sorry. As long as it has never been underwater, the motor and all should be fine. Just keep it out of the weather. When I did my Paraclipse one I set ti up in my shed and worked it a little each day until I got it cleaned and lubed like I wanted it. What you have should be no different. Just TAKE YOUR TIME AND ASK QUESTIONS if you need to.

As far as LNB's, I use CK-1's on both of my dishes and I am extremely happy with them. But, as Anole said, they take some doing to get set up properly. But they are as maintenance free as can be. :up

Nice setup and good luck!

 

[ussexplroer]

care of item

Well, until recently it was in a dry place. THen when I moved it sat in my dads yard for a few day and it rained. The original plastic bag I taped around it is now gone. When I moved it water came out of what was left of the bag. So I don't know if any damage was done. Don't think so. As for tonight. If things go good. I'll be moving it into my new garage for storage. As for the cover. My brother chucked 1/2 of the plastic cover while cleaning out his junk from my old garage. So I'll have to build or put something over it.

TTFN,

Josh

Is there a box now that controls the V/H for the polarotor?

 

[Anole]

...As for the cover.
My brother chucked 1/2 of the plastic cover while cleaning out his junk from my old garage.
So I'll have to build or put something over it.

Oh, I remember this story! -
So, your brother still has all 10 fingers? -

Someone was asking a while back about how to build a replacement cover.
Assuming nobody came up with some...

Your brother should probably start experimenting before we come get him! -
Was thinking a mold made of some nailed-together blocks of wood might be a good start.
Then, heat some suitable plastic in a oven 'till it was saggy, then apply to the mold.

Is there a box now that controls the V/H for the polarotor?

No, I'd suggest a voltage-controlled LNBF.
Or, you could build your own, much as Equant did.
Lastly, you could use a dual-band orthomode feedhorn, if you just happened to have one.

 

[Sadoun]

The whole thing will have to be taken apart and cleaned up before re-using. Check the motor when you take off to see if it still runs or not. The mechanical parts look fine from the pictures. Get the rust off the polar mount and any moving parts.

It looks like a heavy duty dish, BTW.

 

[Sadoun]

Yes, just like Anole have said, the GBox is the way to go.

 

[Greg Mueller]

I rebuilt the one I got and there is a bit to it depending on how much wet it has encountered.
The real Achilles heel is the bearing method they use for the main (polar) shaft.
Instead of actual bearings they use a sheet of teflon about 0.060" thick. When new it's great, but as the shaft rusts, it grows and the teflon then acts like a lock. Getting it apart at that point will mean pretty much destroying that sheet. Mine was pretty rusted and locked up pretty bad. It still moved, but it took all the might of the motor and would have killed it quickly.
I wound up putting the polar axis on the lathe and sandpapering all the rust off as I spun it. Then I got some regular bronze bearings and turned them so they would fit inside the polar axis housing and over the polar axis shaft. I also had to replace the zerk fitting as it was totally rust up.

To add to the problems the manufacturer used welded pipe as the polar axis shaft which is not perfectly round.

I had to replace the cherry switches (limit switches) and the barrier strip (connector strip). I sand blasted it and repainted it.

Most of the original construction technique employed welding it together instead of using screws or clips so to really disassemble it you would have to grind the welds away and then re-weld it later.

In my current location, my view of the Clarke Belt is extremely limited, so rather than expose it to the western Washington elements again I chose to use a conventional jack and save the H2H mount for NM where I can actually see the horizons.

If I ever get ahold of another one I will salvage and use the very nice parts of it and redo the bearing with real ball bearings and use real shaft material instead of the pipe the manufacturer used. It's to bad the manufacturer had to be competitive and use some of the materials he did.

Good luck

 

[Anole]

too important:

Greg -
I hate to see this wonderful insight buried in a thread.
Could you take some pictures and repost this as it's own thread ?
Your experiences with the motor could be invaluable to the next guy! - :up
There have been extensive discussions on the Birdview motor/mount in the past, but precious little on AJAK units.
Thanks.

 

[Greg Mueller]

Greg -
I hate to see this wonderful insight buried in a thread.
Could you take some pictures and repost this as it's own thread ?
Your experiences with the motor could be invaluable to the next guy! - :up
There have been extensive discussions on the Birdview motor/mount in the past, but precious little on AJAK units.
Thanks.

We're leaving tomorrow to go down to NM and see if the half done house is still there and visit my mom and celebrate our anniversary, but when I get back I'll take some pics and try to work up something.

 

[Lone Cloud]

I posted this somewhere else but I made a plastic out of two layers of fiberglass mesh door screen and a middle layer of aluminum mesh door screen.

First, after cleanup, I'd verify that the HH motor works, then I'd make a mold out of some wood and start laying the screen over it. The fiberglass mesh screen and the aluminum screen can be held against the mold (which is covered with like saran wrap) with drops of crazy glue.

After you have all three layers where you want them, you use gorilla glue to laminate it all together. Since it's all mesh, you just stipple the glue into the holes.

It's the woodworker's glue that gets hard after adding a bit of water.

 

[Greg Mueller]

You might consider this stuff too

McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr has everything in the universe
I just worried that if water did get in there again I'd have to go through all that all over again if I used the original teflony stuff

Well that link didn't come out just right.

It's part number
8545K22

 

[Anole]

We're leaving tomorrow to go down to NM and see if the half done house is still there and visit my mom and celebrate our anniversary, but when I get back I'll take some pics and try to work up something.

Sounds good. Have a nice time on the road and exploring the diners along the way.
We'll look forward to your thread upon your return. - :up

I posted this somewhere else but I made a plastic out of two layers of fiberglass mesh door screen and a middle layer of aluminum mesh door screen.

Ya know? I remember this story, too, now that you mention it.
But, without a specific thread and pictures, it will also be lost in the forum.
Could you also (or did you?) make a new thread and show some pictures?
That would get some discussion going and alternate ideas.
More I type about this, I think ya did... am I just missing some neurons?
Well, whatever, if ya did it before, I should refresh my memory and my library of links! - :up