I forgot about this toy

[linuxman]

I forgot to tell you guys that the guy I got the Birdview called me a couple of weeks later, and asked me to come by and pick up the receivers. He had two for two different tv sets. The receivers are pretty much worthless. Nothing even on the inside that's useable even for latter day analog receivers.

The other thing I picked up was the dish mover. It is a separate box with 36V outputs on the back and buttons on the front. I guess it got it's signal from the remotes which I have, but I can think of all kinds of uses for this little jewel. From setting up dishes to testing actuator arms. All I need now is a sat identifying meter to hook inline, and my job would get a whole lot easier.

Here are the pics:



What else can I do with this box? I have the potentiometer that that was on the motor pinion gear shaft which I am sure it used for knowing how far the dish moved.

Thanks,

Fred

 

[Inno]

Congrats, that is sure to be of some use! I think the potentiometer was a very very old way of sensing where the dish was positioned. I'm pretty sure it was abandoned because a dirty pot. will give spurious false readings (much like a scratchy volume control on a stereo) and cause all sorts of problems with alignment. But what you do have is an effective means to move a C-band dish. It's too bad it doesn't have inputs for a more "modern" signal sensing method though, that would make it more user friendly for finding the correct satellite all the time.

 

[linuxman]

Hi Inno,

Yeah, I think you are right. It wouldn't be useful for a permanent installation unless I could figure out a way of modifying how it reads sensors. I think it will still be useful in a lot of other ways, but most of them would be temporary.

Thanks,

Fred

 

[Inno]

I came across an old Uniden unit not long ago that someone gave me. It came with a very basic analog receiver and a standalone positioner which accepts the more common reed sensor or optical sensor input. I'm pretty sure I have some others too. When I was installing dishes full time I came across many a "good deal" on old C-band equipment, at one time I had as many as 5 C-band dishes in my "collection". I have most of the lnbs, feeds, some receivers etc. from probably 10 or 12 other units. All I kept was one 6' mesh dish from when I moved to a more populated area, unfortunately my back yard is also populated with many trees..........I've been scoping out the area just recently and have seen many seemingly unused larger dishes around, once I move to the country I'm gonna see what I can scoop up.

 

[linuxman]

a standalone positioner which accepts the more common reed sensor or optical sensor input.

That gives me hope that maybe mine will accept reed sensor or optical sensor input. If it does that would be great. I might hook up a separate dish for my computer receiver, and write up a list of the positions for moving the dish.

That would be fabulous.

Edit: Hope you get moved soon, and can find the dish that will do what you want it to do.

Fred

 

[Inno]

Thanks Fred.........Oh I know there's that "special dish" out there for me......I just know there is! There are also past dishes I'm kicking myself for parting with. Hopefully by fall......got some renovations to finish on the house and put it on the market.

What is that multi-pin connection used for to the left of the motor terminals? Does that connect to the original receiver or perhaps to the sensor on the dish? I'm pretty sure that some of the first actuator controls were little more than just an east and west switch and power supply........prior to that you had to go outside and move it by hand. Back then there were fewer satellites of course but everything was free, anything to prevent a trip out to the dish was a great thing! Especially in cold climates.

 

[linuxman]

What is that multi-pin connection used for to the left of the motor terminals? Does that connect to the original receiver or perhaps to the sensor on the dish? I'm pretty sure that some of the first actuator controls were little more than just an east and west switch and power supply...

I am pretty sure that connector went to the pot on the pinion gear. It has three wires coming from it. That's how it kept track of where it was.

I am going to have my neighbor come over and we'll hook it up and see if it can be converted to the reed sensor type.

Fred

 

[Inno]

If I had to guess I'd think one would be a DC voltage, say 12 or 24 volts, one would be a ground and the third would be a return wire from the pot.
You could put a meter on the plug to determine which of the 3 was the B+ voltage and one of the other two would be ground (could be found by checking for continuity between the chassis of the unit and one of the other 2 pins) and the third would have to be the return line. I'm not sure there would be much you could do to make that work with a reed sensor..........well with some "more complicated than it's worth" circuitry you could do it but a cheap practical means probably doesn't exist. The reed sensor works by counting the number of pulses as the magnetic wheel passes by the switch while the potentiometer sensor operates by changing the resistance between the B+ line and the return line hence giving the input of the return line a varying (but lower) voltage than the B+. Essentially the display on the front is little more than a voltmeter.

 

[linuxman]

If I had to guess I'd think one would be a DC voltage, say 12 or 24 volts, one would be a ground and the third would be a return wire from the pot.
You could put a meter on the plug to determine which of the 3 was the B+ voltage and one of the other two would be ground (could be found by checking for continuity between the chassis of the unit and one of the other 2 pins) and the third would have to be the return line. I'm not sure there would be much you could do to make that work with a reed sensor..........well with some "more complicated than it's worth" circuitry you could do it but a cheap practical means probably doesn't exist. The reed sensor works by counting the number of pulses as the magnetic wheel passes by the switch while the potentiometer sensor operates by changing the resistance between the B+ line and the return line hence giving the input of the return line a varying (but lower) voltage than the B+. Essentially the display on the front is little more than a voltmeter.

Thanks Inno!

Oh well. It was a nice thought. It would probably be cheaper and less hastle to just buy an extra VBox II. they work as a stand alone positioner too.

Course that all depends on whether or not I set up a separate dish for the computer.

I just thought I might have a nice toy to at least test actuators etc.

Fred

 

[Inno]

Well yeah it would work well to test actuators..........and perhaps even in the field to peak a dish. And with 36V output it should move things pretty quickly, most that I have had were only 24V.

 

[linuxman]

I played with it a little last night, and it won't do anything without something plugged into the three little holes. I think until my neighbor has time to come and look at it, and take voltage measurements using your suggestions above. I think we can plug the original pot into it, and at least use it to test actuators, maybe even peak a dish on setup.

As long as it will move a dish during peaking and setup, and test actuators, that will be better than my battery charger.