Anyone else having lousy luck with motors?

[Tron]

How much would you consider paying for a good HH motor? Loaded question, but we have a few sample units that are beasts, but come at a hefty price from the manufacturer.

One unit is rated 50+lbs and survival wind load equivalent to 80MPH on a 1.5m. Has two interchangeable posts 55mm and 42mm. Makes the Stab 120 look like a toy.

Estimate the retail to be $150.

I'd gladly pay $150 for a motor with those features, provided it is of high build quality and lives up to its specifications.

 

[madmadworld]

How much would you consider paying for a good HH motor? Loaded question, but we have a few sample units that are beasts, but come at a hefty price from the manufacturer.

One unit is rated 50+lbs and survival wind load equivalent to 80MPH on a 1.5m. Has two interchangeable posts 55mm and 42mm. Makes the Stab 120 look like a toy.

Estimate the retail to be $150.

where are they made ?

 

[primestar31]

where are they made ?

Certainly not in the US, or they'd want $450 for them...

I'd buy one at the $150 price if it could move my 1.2m Prodelin. I've got a spare couple of polar mounts, but I'd rather not use one for this purpose.

Brian, are these USALS or just DisEqc controlled?

 

[SatelliteAV]

The motors are USALS certified and support 99 positions.

I have tended to side with Anole's view regarding the market potential. While the trend of cheaper, cheaper, cheaper seems to reversing, not sure to what extent.

The STAB distribution for North America is available, but the wholesale landed cost and minimum order quantity is almost prohibitive to making any profit. It would only make sense for direct resale and no margins for a stocking distributor.

 

[wallyhts]

So I hooked up a sg2100 and a 24volt power supply just to see. And well the motor was rolling super fast until a cap popped.

 

[Anole]

Brian, the limit we run into here, is not exceeding the current available from a receiver.
It's time to get serious and move on to 1/2 or 3/4 amp, 24 volt motors!
Those could be powered either through a third connector, or...

Pendragon described a motor mod where one coax connector was used exclusively for power.
The other existing coax received USALS commands and didn't provide a pass-through.
That function was handled externally, through a power-passing diplexer, if I recall.

 

[wallyhts]

Brian, the limit we run into here, is not exceeding the current available from a receiver.
It's time to get serious and move on to 1/2 or 3/4 amp, 24 volt motors!
Those could be powered either through a third connector, or...

Pendragon described a motor mod where one coax connector was used exclusively for power.
The other existing coax received USALS commands and didn't provide a pass-through.
That function was handled externally, through a power-passing diplexer, if I recall.

I like it..

Something like this may do the job.

 

[SatelliteAV]

I agree that independent power supply and beefy motor would be a much better solution.

I played around with a modded motor as was described. The 24VDC power supply was in the office and ran lamp cord to power a standard HH motor. Retained USALS and DiSEqC 1.2 control. A bit Frankenstein, but worked much better than 13/18vdc on lifts off of the horizon.

The major weakness of the majority of HH motors is the cheap thin metal bracket and a design not meant for actually supporting the wind loads developed on larger dishes. Yes you could probably hang a 2.4m dish, but would it fail in anything more than a breeze? A multi-point pivot bracket with attached drive motor is a much better design in my opinion.

Anole, did I give you the multi-point rotating bracket with linear 12" jack many years ago?

 

[Anole]

No, and I'm not picturing what you're describing, either.
But good call on the bracket.
That IS another weak point in the design.
Even more so as the dish size/weight go up.

 

[phlatwound]

I'd gladly pay $150 for a motor with those features, provided it is of high build quality and lives up to its specifications.

Hear, hear!

Will this unit fit a 3.5" OD (or larger) pole?

And is it a "curved/bent shaft" type that would not require a bracketry allowance to work for an offset dish?

 

[SatelliteAV]

Sorry, I gave it to some SatelliteGuy member who visited.... Thought it was you!

Basically it looks like a polar mount with post mount that could attach to the top or bottom of the bracket and driven by a 12" actuator. The dish could be mounted with either top or bottom loading tube that was adaptable 42, 55 or 65mm diameter. The mount could be mounted on a pole 65mm - 110mm.

There was an option by the manufacturer to use a HH type motor casing with gear drive. The manufacture is no more, but the design was very innovative!

 

[phlatwound]

...Basically it looks like a polar mount with post mount that could attach to the top or bottom of the bracket and driven by a 12" actuator. The dish could be mounted with either top or bottom loading tube that was adaptable 42, 55 or 65mm diameter. The mount could be mounted on a pole 65mm - 110mm.

There was an option by the manufacturer to use a HH type motor casing with gear drive. The manufacture is no more, but the design was very innovative!

Ok, that isn't what I had pictured in my noggin...are you able to post a pic of it?

 

[SatelliteAV]

Might find something. I'll have to dig around to see if i kept any documentation. I know that I didn't take any photos.

 

[Zorak]

My SG2100 has been in use since 2005 (or 2006?). The bracket isn't very strong and it may be slipping a bit but it is still working. Moving a Winegard DS-2076 with multi LNBs the whole time. Not the biggest Ku dish but it isn't all that light....

 

[Magic Static]

For improved bracket strength I made a mod in this thread http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/258050-Beefing-up-the-SG2100-bracket?highlight=beefing

 

[Zorak]

Brian, you may be thinking of me. from the archives:

Another potential player in this space is a product known as the “Maestro Jack.” Brian of SatelliteAV was kind enough to allow me to test one of these products that was apparently under evaluation/consideration by his company. Initially it looks perfect for the mini-BUD project I am working on for the current “vacation house” – a long story in itself. I hope to have a mini BUD system with an Azure Shine offset dish, the Maestro Jack, a SatelliteAV C and KU Band LNBF, a SatelliteAV C-Band LNBF Bracket and a conical scalar ring (thanks to brotherhood!) up and operational soon. Take that HOA! Anyway, back to the Maestro Jack…

It looks to be well built with little use of plastic. It is rated for a 1.8m dish and I found a PDF of the installation manual in English (I will try to attach it - never uploaded before). I can upload some photos if there is interest, perhaps on the weekend. I may try it out with a 90cm Azure Shine here at home before testing at the remote site. I’d be happy to post a more detailed review once it is operational, if there is any interest.

The only immediate shortcoming seems to be the motor azimuth adjustability range (approx. 100 degrees versus about 140 degrees on my SG2100) but the SG2100 wouldn’t be too happy with a 1.2m dish on it, let alone a 1.8m dish. I’ll report more as I dig deeper!

 

[Anole]

Close, but no cigar

Wow, that has a lot of creative thinking and imagination!
It runs off LNB power, pulling 350mah max, while running.
Took me a while to get to that point.

They do talk about somehow balancing the dish, so it takes minimal energy to move it, even from the limits.
I couldn't quite visualize how they managed, from the drawings.

A serious shortcoming is the main mount bracket at the top of the assembly.
That has to be very rigid and not twist from side to side, nor droop.
It carries the weight of everything, so should be much more robust than shown.

If we were to brainstorm a similar design, I'm sure we could find some good ideas here, but I think we could do better. :up

 

[SatelliteAV]

Hello Zorak, Thanks for checking in on this subject. Long-time since we last talked.

The mount that I gave you was 6 + months before the other mount that we tested. I agree with Anole in identifying the weak link of the design.

How did the mount end up working for your cabin?