Just curious how far off true south people are able to go with their setup? I'm guessing different mounts have different capabilities but what sort of range, ie how many degrees east or west are you able to go with your C band setup?
actuator range
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True south for me is 114.0w and I drop down to 55.5W on the east. I could go more but have mountains in the way 
True south here is 77W. Using an 18" actuator. On the western end I go to 125W (can actually reach a bit further without dish flop but neighbors trees block anything past 125W). On the eastern side 55.5w is as far as I go. Might be able to get further east but haven't tried.
Satellite: 139W AMC-8 (GE-8)
Elevation: 21.7°
Azimuth (true): 230.3°
Azimuth (magn.): 227.4°
Satellite: 55.5W GALAXY 11 (G-11) | INTELSAT 805 (IS-805)
Elevation: 21.8°
Azimuth (true): 130.0°
Azimuth (magn.): 127.1°
227.4° - 127.1° = 100.3° azimuth deviation to cover 55W -139W.
Actual 'capable' is maybe 10° more So max ~55° E or W from 97W.
TRUE:
Elevation: 21.7°
Azimuth (true): 230.3°
Azimuth (magn.): 227.4°
Satellite: 55.5W GALAXY 11 (G-11) | INTELSAT 805 (IS-805)
Elevation: 21.8°
Azimuth (true): 130.0°
Azimuth (magn.): 127.1°
227.4° - 127.1° = 100.3° azimuth deviation to cover 55W -139W.
Actual 'capable' is maybe 10° more So max ~55° E or W from 97W.
TRUE:
Mount geometry limits me to this 'range' on each side. Not any obstructions like trees or mountains.
My true South is 80W.I get from 125W to 55W with my 10 ft'er if the actuator clamp is adjusted precisely. (ATM I'm 2 clicks away from tuning 125W in entirely) I can't go further due to only having an 18 inch actuator.I had to choose which part of the arc best met my needs.
A longer actuator would allow me to drop down to 139W and still reach 55W...BUT to go further east than 55W I need to overcome the 'flop over' effect on the eastern side.
Just my own unique situation.Different dishes have different geometries.
A longer actuator would allow me to drop down to 139W and still reach 55W...BUT to go further east than 55W I need to overcome the 'flop over' effect on the eastern side.
Just my own unique situation.Different dishes have different geometries.
True South here is 78* and I'm looking at 139w to 34w on two systems and can get back further East than that on that temp/trailer mounted Raydx. Don't know exactly how far East I can go with that Raydx because of some trees on that side of my property.
All these use 24" Von Weise movers.
All these use 24" Von Weise movers.
Southern most satellite here is 107.3°. My 10 footer with a 36" actuator can go from 34.5° to 139°, so a range of 104.5°. It's a little scary going to the western end of the arc though. Almost on the verge of flopping over, so I don't go there often with this dish.
Technical question/advice: I'm in process of repositing my dish and have a potential site where my LOS arc is 55°W-166°E although is it even possible to setup an actuator to cover this entire range without dish flopping? Not even sure the mount has that much range but looking at my options.
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A polar mount will likely flop in this range without a counterweight.
Sounds interesting. I understand theory of using a counterweight but I'm trying to picture where it would attach to the polar mount and not interfere with the movement. Any chance you have any pictures of counterweight setup? I'm guessing it would require a lot of cinder blocks. Anyway to have the dish pole be the counterweight? My other thought was some sort of a mechanical stop like this one posted by RimaNTSS on uk sat forum although I"m guessing over time it would fail so counterweight seems like better option
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Sorry, no photos. This attached photo looks like a mechanical stop. Not sure how it is a counterweight...
Could be a 3-4' length of thick wall pipe attached to the mount with ballast (weight plates). Or attach a stranded wire, pulley and weight plates that engage before the flop point.
Could be a 3-4' length of thick wall pipe attached to the mount with ballast (weight plates). Or attach a stranded wire, pulley and weight plates that engage before the flop point.
Yes, picture is a mechanical stop posted by RimaNTSS on UK forum. I like your idea about counterweight. I'll have to chew on it and see if I can figure something out. There isn't much that far out west worth seeing but I figured if I have the LOS might as well take advantage.
In this pic the counter weights look like re-purposed barbell weights.
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