quick question (and dumb too)

[Dee_Ann]

The stick I'm using is old cedar and it's pretty darn straight. At least when I look down it it appears to be straight on all four sides.
I don't know if aluminum would affect the compass, as far as I can imagine it should not but if there is some foreign metal mixed in for an alloy, well that would mess it up.
I would like to have a pure aluminum or magnesium beam of some sort, about 8 to 10 foot long.

As for buying a precision meter, I have no qualms about doing that. I've had miserable luck in the past with budget grade tools and now it's lesson learned.
I just got a near $1,000 satellite meter. I wouldn't think twice about spending $100 or so on a high precision digital inclinometer. Harbor Freight would not be the place I would shop for one.

I'll be shopping for a proper, high quality one next month...


Anyway.. So my dad came by and he looked at my dish problem and he said that he can bring over a drill and a tap threader.

Rather than lift the dish off the pole we're going to rotate the entire thing about 30 degrees then drill two holes opposite of two bolts, right through the sleeve that sits on the pole. It will also end up drilling through the pole a little bit but won't be a problem when we rotate it back to true south again. So drill two holes and thread them, put new bolts in them and then I should be able to crank on the four of them to bring the polar mount closer to being square and plumb.

 

[scarecrovv]

Good idea with the stick Dee. I will have to try that one with a 10.5 footer I've been working on. BTW where did you find the online calculator?

 

[Dee_Ann]

Good idea with the stick Dee. I will have to try that one with a 10.5 footer I've been working on. BTW where did you find the online calculator?

In the pictures above I had the stick on the ring so I could check the dish level against the polar mount to see what was going on.

I also clamp it to the axis of the mount so that I can hold the compass far enough away from the dish that the metal in it won't mess with the compass. I also remove metal and electronics from my person.



I also have used this same method to align my HH KU dish. I got it aimed very close to where it needed to be then I told USALS to move the dish to G3C and tweaked it from there.
I should patent it.

And the calculator is here.

http://www.satsig.net/ssazelm.htm

 

[lfp302]

Glad to read that you are aware of steel and iron affecting your compass. Also good that your data chart shows magnetic azimuth.

 

[bobvick]

Is there a youtube video that actually shows the process of setting up a C-band dish from start to finish?

It's not exactly YouTube and it's about 25 or 30 years old, but the principles are still the same.
http://boresight.ripco.com/0630_152823-2.wmv


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[Dee_Ann]

This would be the ideal thing for me to use for aligning dishes.

I can clamp it to many different parts of the dish to have a place to put levels, compasses, inclinometers, etc..
When my dad was over I was showing him how I use the stick to do all that and I told him "This is my multifunction satellite tool"..
The stick works fine but an aluminum tube would be better. Maybe I can find a place where I can buy one locally.

I wonder if a little I beam would be better... I dunno..

edit: Oooopsy.. I just noticed this is an alloy of some kind. Probably not good for use with my compass.. Darn..

 

[lfp302]

Aluminum should not hurt your compass readings.

 

[Dee_Ann]

Aluminum should not hurt your compass readings.

Pure aluminum, no. But alloy aluminum?

Chemical composition
The alloy composition of 6063 is:

• Silicon carbide minimum 2%, maximum 10% by weight
• Iron no minimum, maximum 0.35%
• Copper no minimum, maximum 0.10%
• Manganese no minimum, maximum 0.10%
• Magnesium minimum 0.45%, maximum 0.9%
• Chromium no minimum, maximum 0.10%
• Zinc no minimum, maximum 0.10%
• Titanium no minimum, maximum 0.10%
• Other elements no more than 0.05% each, 0.15% total
• Remainder Aluminium

 

[T4Runner]

Give it up DEE.... It's a lost debate. LOL...


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[Dee_Ann]

Right.. Oh well. I'll keep using the stick for now. So far it seems to work quite well for me..

 

[lfp302]

0.35% Iron is not enough to matter.