Stab HH120 and slack

[Likvid]

I bought a Stab HH120 to change from my old Moteck SG2100A as i wanted to test another motor and to see if Stab was really that good that some people say.

However my experience is not good at all with Stab, the shaft on the motor seems to slack or wooble pretty much compared to the old Moteck i had, is this normal on Stab?

This motor is really crap to be honest.

Where is the reset button for apex position like you have on Moteck?

I opened up the motor and tried to adjust the slack/wobble, it seems that the reason to this is that the tolerance on the metal cogs are too bad, there manufacturing tolerances doesn't seem to be with the high precision needed.

What i would like to know if anyone else is experiencing the same results as i am?

My Gregorian dish weights about 13kg and Moteck could handle that pretty well.

I might now go back and buy the old school Jaeger SMR1224 instead, but after having complaints from my neighbors about the noise i am reluctant going back, however i don't have much choice.

To be honest i don't like the Moteck much either coming from the old school with 36v actuators but it does a pretty good job anyway compared to the competition out there.

 

[Sadoun]

Hi There

The slack on the STAB is normal according to the manufacturer.

The nudge resolution on the STABs is 0.1 degrees, which is the lowest of any motor on the market today.

 

[Likvid]

Hi There

The slack on the STAB is normal according to the manufacturer.

The nudge resolution on the STABs is 0.1 degrees, which is the lowest of any motor on the market today.

Ok, thanks for clearing that out

 

[WyrTwister]

I bought a Stab HH120 to change from my old Moteck SG2100A as i wanted to test another motor and to see if Stab was really that good that some people say.

However my experience is not good at all with Stab, the shaft on the motor seems to slack or wooble pretty much compared to the old Moteck i had, is this normal on Stab?

This motor is really crap to be honest.

Where is the reset button for apex position like you have on Moteck?

I opened up the motor and tried to adjust the slack/wobble, it seems that the reason to this is that the tolerance on the metal cogs are too bad, there manufacturing tolerances doesn't seem to be with the high precision needed.

What i would like to know if anyone else is experiencing the same results as i am?

My Gregorian dish weights about 13kg and Moteck could handle that pretty well.

I might now go back and buy the old school Jaeger SMR1224 instead, but after having complaints from my neighbors about the noise i am reluctant going back, however i don't have much choice.

To be honest i don't like the Moteck much either coming from the old school with 36v actuators but it does a pretty good job anyway compared to the competition out there.

I have a HH100 & a motor made in Asia . Both have slack , can not say which has more .

The slack is something which can be lived with .

I think the HH100 is built better , hands down , compared to the Asian motor .

Wyr

 

[vj9999]

My hh120 also has slack, but it has never affected my signal. It has been very windy last week or so and signal stayed strong. If anything, some slack might be helpful when it is windy (but that might just be my theory )

 

[john green]

Yes slack can be good.Kind of the same theory as shyscrapers moving in the wind.If they didn't they would snap.

 

[starman345]

I can't imagine how having slack in a motor is a good thing. The first motor I bought several years ago was a moteck sg-2100, it had slack big time, I asked around the forums, and found yes, others had the same problem. I found that if I just kept west or east of my zenith everything was fine but as soon as I went "over the top" the dish would flop over and would need to be re-aligned for that side of zenith. In other words both sides of zenith could not be kept aligned at the same time.
Sadoun, I got the same story about slack being normal from the Moteck people. I ordered another and specified I didn't want one with any slack in it. Guess what? Its been sitting out back spinning my dish back and forth for a few years now and it has virtually no slack and that's with a big heavy Winegard 1 meter with the big heavy Invacom quad lnbf, works fine on both sides of zenith.
As for motor resolution numbers can you tell me how that applies to a motor that has slack that the manufacturer says is normal? It seems conficting to me.
I would think that rather than extolling the virtues of having slack in your motor you would be bitching to the people who make these motors. There are motors out there that have no slack, I had a HH100 a few months back, no slack, although it didn't have power enough for my application. If everyone is happy with the status quo, the equipment won't get better.
Likvid, the HH100 didn't have any buttons on it like the sg-2100, no re-set, not sure if all stabs are like that.

 

[Likvid]

Let's face it, all Diseqc motors are bad really.

I have decided to go back to a Jaeger SMR1224 motor instead, it's a bit hard with the noise when you live in a apartment with neighbors above you on the balcony.

 

[Likvid]

I can't imagine how having slack in a motor is a good thing. The first motor I bought several years ago was a moteck sg-2100, it had slack big time, I asked around the forums, and found yes, others had the same problem. I found that if I just kept west or east of my zenith everything was fine but as soon as I went "over the top" the dish would flop over and would need to be re-aligned for that side of zenith. In other words both sides of zenith could not be kept aligned at the same time.

It's not a good thing at all and is a result of all cheap crappy products flooding the market these days, i thought China made bad products, but it seems Italians are even worse these days.

I did not have almost any slack in my Moteck, it's interesting that you had slack with your Moteck.

It just shows that every Moteck is not made to the same tolerances.

Sadoun, I got the same story about slack being normal from the Moteck people. I ordered another and specified I didn't want one with any slack in it. Guess what? Its been sitting out back spinning my dish back and forth for a few years now and it has virtually no slack and that's with a big heavy Winegard 1 meter with the big heavy Invacom quad lnbf, works fine on both sides of zenith.
As for motor resolution numbers can you tell me how that applies to a motor that has slack that the manufacturer says is normal? It seems conficting to me.

Again it's not normal, i have been into this hobby since the BUD days in the mid 80's and we all had heavy duty 36V actuators running with no such thing as slack in the arm, most often it could show sign of wear after 3-4 years of heavy use.

It's all about manufacturing tolerances, they aren't as tight as they should be, the result is slacking in the cogs.

I had a HH100 a few months back, no slack, although it didn't have power enough for my application. If everyone is happy with the status quo, the equipment won't get better.
Likvid, the HH100 didn't have any buttons on it like the sg-2100, no re-set, not sure if all stabs are like that.

No the HH120 doesn't have any reset button so if you mess things up with the apex zero position not being right you are out.

At least with the Moteck you can reconfigure the zero position which is a good thing which i have used several times when i reinstalled my dish.

You seem as upset as i am, i think you need to buy a 36V motor instead if you want stability.

Cheers for now mate :up

 

[Likvid]

My hh120 also has slack, but it has never affected my signal. )

You will notice it if you are in a fringe area reception or look at your spectrum analyzer that the signal degrades and comes back.

 

[starman345]

hehe, no, not angry, just would like the equipment to evolve and become better and for that to happen, sometimes you need to say it needs to be better. I like the diseqc hh motors, they are great for the smaller dishes. I know the first motor I had(the sloppy one), I figured that was the way all motors were, until I found tracking the entire arc accurately was impossible. I wonder how many people are in the same boat, they just figure that is as good as it gets?
Yea, I like the 36V motors, I have a Von Weisse on a 10 footer, it has been driving the dish since 1990, hard to believe but true. Mike Kohl (on another forum) said when he worked for Orbitron they tested many arms and there was a model of Von Weisse that was superior to the other arms. He gave the model number but I haven't checked the numbers on my actuator but I suspect I may have lucked into one of them.
Good luck with your Jaeger, those guys have been around a long time, I remember reading about them back in the 80's in the satellite magazines.

 

[vj9999]

You will notice it if you are in a fringe area reception or look at your spectrum analyzer that the signal degrades and comes back.

I looked at it on my BLSA during a wind gust and it looked just fine. I have sg2100 and hh120. When I had my 120cm dish on sg2100, "slack" (I actually think that it was too loose or gears were slipping) was not handling the weight of the dish very well and it would literally slip a degree or two further than it should be.

With HH120 I have not had any problems. Slack maybe makes it move 0.5 degrees at the most (I actually think it is less than that) and since my dish is right on the arc, i really does not affect it at all.

I'm not saying your experience is unique, but it is not typical. I've had sg2100, smd312 and HH120. HH120 is the best one (IMO).

 

[Likvid]

I like the diseqc hh motors, they are great for the smaller dishes.

Yes they are good for small antennas, i guess my antenna is too heavy for it, but the Moteck is much much better than the Stab i have.

To be honest with you I have thrown away they Stab as no one wanted to buy it.

I know the first motor I had(the sloppy one), I figured that was the way all motors were, until I found tracking the entire arc accurately was impossible. I wonder how many people are in the same boat, they just figure that is as good as it gets?

Most people don't care if they loose signal as long as they get a picture, that is the truth sadly.

Good luck with your Jaeger, those guys have been around a long time, I remember reading about them back in the 80's in the satellite magazines.

Yeah the Jaeger are pretty good but they are not the same as they were 15 years ago either.

I guess Von Weisse are the best but they don't make any H-H motor, only actuators.

 

[global0]

I have an SG2100 with my 76cm Winegard and it does not have any slack. It has been rock solid and even after a very windy season that we have had here, it still goes to the values for all the sats that I set it up for almost year ago.
The HH120 is on the way from Sadoun and I can report on it when I receive it later this week. In regards to the "slack working as the shock absorbers", well, I am not sure. A sky scraper that swivels with the wind is sitting on cushions of thick rubber or something that provides a similar functionality to introduce flexibility into the system and reduce/remove the rigidness. A slack just translates the applied forces into a shock or series of shocks as the gear looses its contact with the touching surface and hits even harder on the opposite side gear. A bad scenario would be the case where the whole system would come in what is known as "resonance frequency" and swing back and forth until it disintegrates completely. (the famous documentary about how the SF bridge was destroyed!)

Hi There

The slack on the STAB is normal according to the manufacturer.

The nudge resolution on the STABs is 0.1 degrees, which is the lowest of any motor on the market today.

If the motor has such a high precision, then the slack is throwing that all off making it all meaningless wouldn't it?

 

[digiblur]

I bought a motor from Sadoun like the http://www.sadoun.com/Sat/Products/SATCONTROL/SaTracer-3SW-SM3D22-Satcontrol-HH-diseqc-MOTOR.htm except without the built in switch. I'd stay away from this one. I don't do a bunch of dish moving but 3 or 4 months later I have lots of slack in the motor. Sometimes I will have a 30% quality on a bird but if I leave and come back from the other "side" the quality will be 80%. It's annoying, but is it worth having to buy another motor then repoint the dish?

 

[Cold Winter]

It's not a good thing at all and is a result of all cheap crappy products flooding the market these days,

Well, I've been running a HH120 on a steel 1.2m Fortec dish for about 6 months thru a Canadian winter. If it has any slack it seems to be within specs. And since all Ku dishes have a 2+ degree antenna pattern, its extremely unlikely that you'll have any problems getting a clean signal due to any "slack" you think might be there.

To get more than the specificed deviation from a STAB, you'd have to break or damage ( metal ) gear teeth. Since the entire package is metal, that would have taken considerable and I'd say fairly deliberate force!

These things aren't unbreakable mind you, but they do need a better than 50mph wind to get there in "normal" operation. I might add, that even then, its more likely the U-bolts used to fasten these things to pipes will slip as well.

Like they say, YMMV, and obviously your mileage with the STAB hasn't been quite as good as mine so far...