Got a bigger dish

[armadillo_115]

Just a rambling update...
The distance between the actuator mounting points are much closer on the 10Ft CM dish than the old 7.5 KTI dish.So it was pushing at a sharp angle and binding @ only 30 degrees east of zenith.I made an actuator plate yesterday out of a rectangular steel plate the salvage yard gave me.Similar to what sells online for a crazy price.Total price = <one hour to saw off a corner,drill 3 holes,and mount.(Oh...I forgot the time spent searching the scrap yard..but that's pleasure.lol) Retail version pic here:

It brought the actuator out 3 or 4 inches.Gives me more clearance when driving the dish to the east.I'm scared to push the old,stripped actuator much further,but I see that there is now room to travel.I plan to make a larger plate out of thicker steel later,but this one is good for testing.Also plan to put an extension out from the mounting ring and see what that gains me.

I couldn't quite reach 131W before but I shifted enough westward to receive it again.Going out and check the dish now...see if I can safely reset my Eastern Limits enough to reach 53W.I don't want to dump this bad boy again.Especially not in the wind we are getting.

* Even though the dish is NOT peaked yet...I'm locking channels I never got before. Scanned in the Stingray radio channels last night...never even had a blip on the 7.5 dish.

 

[armadillo_115]

Scrap the idea above.I forgot 53W is a circular bird.
I ran out of actuator anyway.Can't go farther East unless I lose on the West side.Think this old actuator is only 18"...too short to be a 24".I'm off to look for some new channels...later gators!

 

[armadillo_115]

Soooo....I decide that today is the day to peak and fine tune the 10 footer.I drag the whole set-up out there: TV,receiver,Vbox,cables,etc.Go to plug the motor wires into the VBox...and one of the wire holders breaks off.No big deal I think,that's easy to fix.Soooo...I decide to just peak it out better on my true south sat before carrying the VBox to the house for repairs.I loosen the dish bolts and start turning for best signal.But something is loose somewhere...so I check the cables...Coax is loose on back of the MicroHD and jiggly.So I start to tighten it a bit with my fingers and...no signal...Connector broken off inside the MicroHD.I try to guess where signal is best while jiggling the coax enough to get a signal.Know where I'm going with this?

Everything gets lugged back to the house.I solder a wire inside the VBox,no problem.Then I do a crappy solder job to fix the connector inside the receiver.It's working,but subject to break at any time.
So I hook everything up and sit down to watch some tv...and son-of-a-gun...the alignment is worse than before I started.lmao.

Some days it doesn't pay to get out of bed.

 

[FaT Air]

Some days it doesn't pay to get out of bed.

I know that feeling all too well.
Hopefully, things go better after a short break.

 

[dl76]

I know the feeling also. I took off my C1-PLL lite . To install the C1-PLL. Could not get a good signal on true south. So i messed with the declination on dish. I got good signal on true south. But rest of sats were off and no signal. Long story short. I got it back working and its tracking the arc pretty good now. Took me about 5 days . Few hours a day after work each day.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

 

[armadillo_115]

Ok,got a question.On the F connector on the rear of my MicroHD,I only soldered the center wire today to get it working.The connector still spins around.Can I solder that to stop it from turning or is there a better way? I was afraid the heat needed to solder that would damage the board.There is no nut on it to hold it tight...it's just pressed in.

Maybe some epoxy or J B Weld would be safer?

I suk at soldering small stuff.

 

[armadillo_115]

Never mind answering the above question unless for future reference. I soldered the connector on there tight and it may never break loose again.Unfortunately the board lifted where the hot side of the coax attaches and the board may never work again either. Guess it's time for a new receiver.

I guess an electronic shop could fix the F connector on this MicroHD (unless I screwed up something else)...but probably more money than it's worth.

Mama's gonna raise heck tonight with no tv.

 

[primestar31]

Welcome to the "quicky adjustment, what could go wrong" club!

Get used to that, lol

 

[pacificrim]

"This shouldn't take long" and "I'll be right in".
Famous last words.

 

[waylew]

I have yet to experience a 5 minute project that didn't take at least 3 hours

 

[armadillo_115]

LinkBox 9000I is on the way.
I plan to keep the 'golden screwdriver' out of this one.

 

[Titanium]

LinkBox 9000I is on the way.

9000i or the 9000i Local (with the ATSC tuner)? Have heard good things from several hobbyists about the 9000i series. Only played with one for a few minutes, but it was very similar to the 8000i, which was well developed. Please post a review if you get a chance. The STB market is pretty uninspiring right now!

 

[armadillo_115]

9000i,not the 9000i Local.We only get 2 OTA channels here.NBC with MeTV on the sub channel, and a PBS with 3 sub channels.Not worth fooling with,imho.I haven't plugged the OTA antenna in since I got a BUD.
I'll try to review it asap.Want to compare the 7.5 dish to the 10 footer.But first I have to peak the dish and fine tune the buttonhook.Then review the CK1S.Might be 2025 at the rate I'm moving.lmao.

If I don't get the MicroHD fixed,I'll be needing a back-up receiver later. Mama has asked me 3 times today: "Do we not have ANY tv?"