Clinton, do you still have the janeil Dark Star gears and motors?
Thanks,
Steve Bell Tucson
Janeil Dark Star- Need spur gear
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Thanks,
Steve Bell Tucson
That's the same drive gear setup that my Radio Shack 9' dish has.
Welcome to SatGuys, Steve Bell!
Steve, if the drive gear in your dish is shot and you replace it, I have the manual for that drive that shows how to correctly adjust both gears and I can upload copies of it if you end up needing it. If you can't get a gear from Clinton, check with a machinist about making one from brass.
Welcome to SatGuys, Steve Bell!
Steve, if the drive gear in your dish is shot and you replace it, I have the manual for that drive that shows how to correctly adjust both gears and I can upload copies of it if you end up needing it. If you can't get a gear from Clinton, check with a machinist about making one from brass.
This is an old thread, and clinton has not been around in over a year, and was not a regular so most likely he will not see your post.
Edit:
I just realized Steve has not logged in after that one post in 3 weeks, A Raine he may not be back either. ya never know though.
Edit:
I just realized Steve has not logged in after that one post in 3 weeks, A Raine he may not be back either. ya never know though.
Yeah, probably not. Steve's post wasn't super long ago, like Clinton's, so figured I'd answer to it, but I'd bet you're right if they haven't logged in since that one post.
I first started reading the thread and then realized myself that it was years old and wasn't going to bother, but then saw that Steve's post was only last month and figured I'd post a quick answer to it.
I first started reading the thread and then realized myself that it was years old and wasn't going to bother, but then saw that Steve's post was only last month and figured I'd post a quick answer to it.
A Raine, sorry for the delay.
I had a heck of a time finding how to get back to this thread so I could reply.
Yes, please post a link or email the manual information on this Janiel system.
I have another possibilty to pickup another dish and maybe combine the best parts of both.
Thanks,
Steve
The Janeil Dark Star antennas were sold mostly from about 1983 to 1987, concentrating in the Western half of the U.S.
I lived in Alaska at the time, and was plagued by consumers that thought they were saving money on a satellite system by signing up at Costco. Contract installers would be sent out, often doing a very hasty but poor installation job. What I do vividly remember was the previously mentioned gear was the culprit in a brand new installation, where the installer had gone all the way west to 143 West (Alaska satellite position at the time) after programming from the East, and did not return eastward to test his work. The dish owner was told the installation was completed, and asked to sign paperwork for the job, and the installer rushed 240 miles back to Anchorage afterwards. The position of this dish was about five degrees to the left of due south, so was fairly balanced before the owner started pushing buttons. As he continued going left and down in elevation, those gears on this "space age plastic" antenna sheared off one by one. I later moved to southern California and encountered more of these Janeil antennas. The gain on them was average or better, but it would be a safe statement to say that if you had a need to call a service person to work on the horizon to horizon assembly, disaster would often soon follow as a technician would dig into trouble. So having worked on these at temperatures between minus 30 F and 110 above, I can say that they were a POS at any temperature. Just my fading memories of one of the not-so-good old days.
I lived in Alaska at the time, and was plagued by consumers that thought they were saving money on a satellite system by signing up at Costco. Contract installers would be sent out, often doing a very hasty but poor installation job. What I do vividly remember was the previously mentioned gear was the culprit in a brand new installation, where the installer had gone all the way west to 143 West (Alaska satellite position at the time) after programming from the East, and did not return eastward to test his work. The dish owner was told the installation was completed, and asked to sign paperwork for the job, and the installer rushed 240 miles back to Anchorage afterwards. The position of this dish was about five degrees to the left of due south, so was fairly balanced before the owner started pushing buttons. As he continued going left and down in elevation, those gears on this "space age plastic" antenna sheared off one by one. I later moved to southern California and encountered more of these Janeil antennas. The gain on them was average or better, but it would be a safe statement to say that if you had a need to call a service person to work on the horizon to horizon assembly, disaster would often soon follow as a technician would dig into trouble. So having worked on these at temperatures between minus 30 F and 110 above, I can say that they were a POS at any temperature. Just my fading memories of one of the not-so-good old days.
Steve, here's the manual. As I said before, my dish is a Radio Shack but it's the same gear drive as yours. If any of the pages are clipped or not clear enough then let me know and I'll try to re-scan them.
If any pictures of the drive itself would help, I have some posted on here somewhere and can find them for you.
Hmph. I tried uploading it as a compressed .rar file but it wouldn't let me. Don't know why, I've uploaded compressed rar files before, maybe it's too big, 61mb. Oh well...here's the first twenty scans, I'll post again with the rest, seems the system will only let me upload 20 files per post.
If any pictures of the drive itself would help, I have some posted on here somewhere and can find them for you.
Hmph. I tried uploading it as a compressed .rar file but it wouldn't let me. Don't know why, I've uploaded compressed rar files before, maybe it's too big, 61mb. Oh well...here's the first twenty scans, I'll post again with the rest, seems the system will only let me upload 20 files per post.
Attachments
Thanks!, I will slog through all the pictures and expect to find some good info.
Cheers, Steve
i wish i had seen this thread earlier. My darkstar was performing badly and had many plastic pieces broken so i took it down.
it had a actuator mount installed on it that i would have given away. i recycled as many good parts as i could like the pole mount is 3.5" inside and 4" outside so i used it to mount my winegard 10' dish.
before i try to dig it up and see if it comes apart, does anyone still need it?
it had a actuator mount installed on it that i would have given away. i recycled as many good parts as i could like the pole mount is 3.5" inside and 4" outside so i used it to mount my winegard 10' dish.
before i try to dig it up and see if it comes apart, does anyone still need it?
Yes, this may be useful!
Please upload to this site, a picture of the actuator assembly to see if it matches what I have.
That would include the motor, wormgear assembly and the plastic big half-ring spur gear.
Much appreciated, Steve Bell
heh, not sure about how useful. it is not that style
it was modded for a screw type.
another thing, those darkstars were not the best dish.
The winegard i replaced it with makes it really look bad. actually , all my other dishes perform better.
I believe i still have the bracket ends somewhere.
it was modded for a screw type.
another thing, those darkstars were not the best dish.
The winegard i replaced it with makes it really look bad. actually , all my other dishes perform better.
I believe i still have the bracket ends somewhere.
Thanks for the quick reply. Unfortunately, that is a different style of mount, using a linear actuator instead of the DC motor with worm gear.
I much appreciate your response, but I am still looking for the other type of motor drive.
Steve
The first question is, where are you located? I have a complete unit available that came off a Radio Shack dish.
Looks like Jeepguy has what you need in the post above this one and that spur gear looks like it's good!
Jeepguy, that is the exact type of Janiel assembly that I have. I am in Tucson, AZ 85718, so the beast would need to be shipped.
I would not need the big polar axiis and pipe mount portion, only the actual plastic gear.
It would be desirable to also have the (removable) motor assembly.
Would you be willing to ship those parts?
Thanks for your consideration!!
Steve Bell
Thanks, Jeepguy. We determined that your gear and motor are smaller than is needed for my RP180 Dish mount.
The spur gear is about 18 inches diameter, and the motor and worm gear weighs 14 Lbs
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Thanks previously to Jeepguy, we determined that there are different sizes of the spur gear, depending upon the model of the dish.
My dish is a Janeil H-H model RP180, and the spur gear is about 18" in diameter.
The motor and worm gear assembly is about 13" long and weighs 14 Lbs.
I am still looking for replacement parts for the spur gear, and also the motor assembly.
The dish is in great shape (all metal, no plastic) and I have had it cleaned and re-painted with a thin coat of primer to prevent rusting.
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