Review of Satellite AV GeoSatpro 90cm improved Mast Clamp

[PKII]

This is a review of Satellite AV’s newly designed mast clamp for the GeoSatpro 90cm Offset dish. This is a good quality dish and that is what influenced my original purchase.

Earlier this year I purchased my first Ku band dish from Satellite AV. I chose a GeoSatpro 90cm Offset Dish. Dish arrived on time and in perfect condition. In addition, and big plus it contained all the bolts needed to assemble and the instructions were understandable. The install went smoothly.

In September I was reading the forums at Satelliteguys and seen that Satellite AV had redesigned the mast clamp for the GeoSatpro 90cm. This new mast clamp had three bolt holes on it as compared to two holes on the original. I thought back to my first install and remembered that I had to tighten the original very tight in order for it not to move. Therefore, I thought that was an awesome added feature.
Not only that, it had six raised bumps (grips) inside the mast clamp that would grab the mast pole I thought that would definitely keep the dish from moving. In addition, ribs along the outside of the mast clamp gave it a sturdy feel. The original had a smooth inside and outside and looked a bit plain.

The only problem I had the old model and I wanted the new and improved mast clamp. I contacted Satellite AV and inquired about purchasing the new clamp. The new mast clamp looks good on my setup. As I expected the new clamp held to the HH motor mast tightly. I did not have to over tighten it. The new and improved designed mast clamp on the GeoSatpro 90cm gives it a better reason to buy it.

 

[Cham]

Thought it best to add to this thread rather than start a new one for the same item. Purchased two Geosat Pro 90cm dishes from SatAV via E-bay, just picked them up on Thursday. Shipped quickly from Brian's shop in California and arrived in ND 4 days later. These came with SP1PLL LNBFs as well, and I added a third since I am running out of standard units. Free shipping & local cross dock at the US border makes it real easy for me to deal with US sources, I can deal with Canadian Customs a lot easier myself than through a shipping company!

Dish reflectors were tie-strapped together inside the double cardboard box made to handle abuse... no damage from shipping and the reflectors arrived in perfect condition. Other parts and hardware were well secured within the box to keep them from banging around. Fasteners were packed inside a separate included box in two bags, along with the brackets. All parts were there, nothing missing.

Followed the instructions to assemble the dishes. Streight forward and easy to follow. Think they are only in english, not a problem at all for me but maybe Brian has a Spanish version as well. Bracket parts fit together well and are robust for this size of a dish. Bolts are all SAE (not metric) so as long as you have a 7/16 wrench and socket driver the same size you have everything you need. The instructions list the bolts & nuts, make sure the right ones go where directed. LNB bracket will require a phillips screwdriver to tighten the LNB clamp.

Took about 15 minutes to assemble the first one and maybe 10 minutes to build the second. I assembled one base (j- mount?) just to see how well it goes together, I really liked the threaded incert that fits in the bottom of the pole to facilitate bolting to the base. Bubble level pops into the top to level out the top section of the pole.

I replaced an existing 33" dish on an SG-9120B. Note the LNB arm is shorter than my other 90cm WSI dish, the F/D is likely well matched to the supplied LNBF. The bolt that runs through the mount (top) was easy to remove and install through the motor axle, no forcing required like the dish I removed. Set the elevation same as the other dish and connected the feedline and tried it out. Already had good signals on 97W (my southern sat). Did a bit of fine tuning and have about 5% more signal on average than the 33" and signals much more stable. (Note the 33" had an SP1PLL before as well). Getting 75% Q or better on most of the TPs on 97. Improvements on 125w down to 79w. PBS mpeg4 channels are stronger so I shouldn't get fadeout now when cloudy or rainy! Using this dish with the MicroHD

Overall, this is a well engineered product. Performs fine, every bit as well as the WSI 90cm dish I have, and better than the digiwave 90cm dish I use as well. The bracket is designed with motor installation in mind, keeps the axle close to the reflector to minimize moment force on the motor bearings. The LNB arm brackets keep the LNBF very stable.

Only con I can think of is that the bracket will only fit the small motor axle types, it will not fit the larger Stab HH-120 motor. The dish is not really large enough to have to require a larger pole diameter so this isn't a major issue.

-C.