C-dish alignment question

[esm]

Hi Guys,

I've started to align my dish and here's what I did:

I turned the actuator (on the bench) all the way out, measured the length of the shaft (19"), marked the halfway point and screwed it back in to that halfway point. Then I installed it again. My thinking was this would give me the high point of the dish and the center of the arc.

My question now is, shouldn't the crossbars on the ring be exactly perpendicular to the pole (ground)?

It actually leans a lot to the east. Is my thinking wrong?

Thanks,

Ed

 

[Lak7]

Do you have a magnetic Angle Finder?
The highest point is also a balance point.

 

[esm]

No, I don't have one yet.

And, frankly, I don't understand the question.

If the highest point is also the balance point (which makes sense), shouldn't that point be reached at actuator midpoint?

 

[Lak7]

....shouldn't that point be reached at actuator midpoint?

Not exactly. One of the Actuator connections is adjustable.

 

[Davage]

There is a video at this site --> Boresight News Videos It is called Tracking Made Easy.. It might bring some answers to your questions..

 

[esm]

Okay, that's very likely the solution. What I actually meant was the midpoint of the moving rod, not the actuator housing midpoint. So, I need to adjust the clamp until I reach the exact balance point?

The funny thing is, I got this whole setup used and from the condition of the actuator clamp location it looks like it had been in the current position forever. Just wondering how it could have ever worked?

And thanks a bunch for the video link, that helped a lot.

 

[rv1pop]

If I read the forums right, the arm when close but not to its full extention is at one end of the arc. When fully retracted it will be close, (past) but not at the center of the arc. To get the full arc, you need 2 dishes, unless you have a H2H (horizon to horizon) motor.

 

[Lak7]

With a 24" Actuator, I can get from 55.5west to 139west, it's enough.

 

[Lone Cloud]

Actually, I think the mid-point on the actuator should roughly correspond to the satellite in the middle of the sky, that your dish can see.

Like in my case, I can go down to 55.5 west on the east to 148 w on the west, but my dish location is closer to 148 by a lot. Of course I am using an HH motor now, so I don't have the option , but I had an actuator on a big dish before and, if I was modifying it with steel and hole drilling, I'd put the actuator mid point about on 101w.

But I could be wrong.

 

[esm]

Well, the satellite in the middle of the sky is on 99 West, pretty close to my location at 98.12 so I think I'm in pretty good shape.