superdish motor project

[Skyscanner]

46 degrees today, thought I would get started motorizing a superdish someone gave me. 1st problem: I only have a Stab HH90 & the superdish might already be too heavy for it, so I need to get all those lnb's off the end of the arm. Made my own mount from 1/4" thread rod and a ground clamp, that should help with the weight problem. 2nd problem: the superdish isn't made for a motor. Tried rotating dish 180 to mount the motor, but can't get enough adjustment to get my signal back... so, looks like I have 2 options, saw out the top of the dish mount enough to allow the motor post enough room to mount through the top, OR remove top pivot bolt and place a steel strap on each side to bolt to, and make my adjustments from the bottom bolts. I'm going to try this 1st, you can't replace sawed-out metal. Am now looking around for some steel to drill and bolt on. When I aligned the dish on TS, the arm was at a 23 degree angle when I hit the sat. I'm at 25 degrees now, will be able to adjust the arm down the 2 degrees using the 2 short bottom bolts. The lnb is a GSL-1 bullet with her clothes off, but I'm sure most will work if the plastic is removed, much lighter than what was there before. When I locked the sat, I got 61% quality on my Viewsat, will tweak it later. The post I'm using is a post for a frisbee dish, not suitable for this, any little breeze gives it the palsy, have a good stiff post to put in later, but can't usually dig up here until mid April, can't wait to see how this all works out.

 

[McGuyver]

If you don't want to cut the dish mount then you may have only the option of buying a HH-120 motor that has the post pointed upward and then you may possibly bolt the dish directly to the post without the post clamp. I have a 90cm dish mounted using this method, I drilled 2 holes in the motor post where the top bolt and the elevation bolts would normally intercept. It works fine for me. here's some photos...

 

[Skyscanner]

Way to use the ol' think organ Mac, that would work, but I'd still have to cut some away, but only about half as much, only the area at the top of the adjuster and not the actual dish mount. I've had this motor for quite a while and never used it, so I'm determined to make it work.

 

[Skyscanner]

Well, couldn't find steel, so decided to cut a slot in the dish mount/skew for the motor shaft. Got rid of the post clamp like McGuyver. Seems like it's more solid without it, and leaves more adjustment than the way I was going to do it. Rotated dish from east to west limit with no collisions. Sweet! Swapped out the lnb and installed a Techsat Tracker 2 and picked up 13% SQ. Now just need a solid post and I'm all set.

 

[McGuyver]

That's great Skyscanner. By omitting the post clamp it brings the dish closer to the motor and helps center the gravity (weight of the dish) making it more stable.

Hey, those Tracker II lnbf's look just like the GEOSAT Pro bullet. From whom did you buy it and how much are they charging for them?

 

[Skyscanner]

Mac, you might already have one and not realize it, they're the ones with the ugly red plastic body. Usually sell from about $13-$20, I think most dealers have them.

 

[McGuyver]

Mac, you might already have one and not realize it, they're the ones with the ugly red plastic body. Usually sell from about $13-$20, I think most dealers have them.

Skyscanner, this is what I found at the WS International website, I noticed the red ones that are also called the same but these resemble the GEOSAT Pro bullets, I didn't know which ones you were refering to. I guess the internal is the same and the case may be the only diff. I didn't find anybody selling these yet.

 

[Skyscanner]

Mac, I got that LNB from Casey at Hypermegasat.com, you might have heard him on the FTA radio show. Just got on his website and apparently he doesn't have them anymore. I think the reason I get more gain [%Q] with it is because the feedhorn is bigger, even though the body is the same [internal] size as the bullet. Also its noise ratio is only 0.2dB and the bullet is 0.4dB. He has an interesting LNB on his website called a spitfire elite that looks interesting if you don't mind using universal, it has a n/r of 0.1 dB, and should get even better gain. $14.89 incl. shipping.

 

[McGuyver]

Mac, I got that LNB from Casey at Hypermegasat.com, you might have heard him on the FTA radio show. Just got on his website and apparently he doesn't have them anymore. I think the reason I get more gain [%Q] with it is because the feedhorn is bigger, even though the body is the same [internal] size as the bullet. Also its noise ratio is only 0.2dB and the bullet is 0.4dB. He has an interesting LNB on his website called a spitfire elite that looks interesting if you don't mind using universal, it has a n/r of 0.1 dB, and should get even better gain. $14.89 incl. shipping.

Skyscanner, yes that's another option but the db gain is only 58 while other's are higher. The price is nice but it seems you get what you pay for. It's nice to get the best all-in-one when possible so I've been looking at the DMX522 that has a .2 nf with a whopping conversion gain of 70db! and yet it looks small enough for tight mountings with other lnbf's except for the larger feedhorn and it's a DUAL output. I don't mind paying the price but there aren't many choices as where to buy them, galaxy-marketing looks like the only place and their shipping charges are high, either way it looks like it's worth the $$$.

So there's an advantage and disadvantage to the larger feedhorn on these smaller lnbf's, better gain but wider positioning in relation to other lnbf's on the same dish. This would be tight if someone is aiming at 2 sats @ 4° apart. It might not be a problem with dishes larger than the typical 90cm models.

For now I'll just keep the DMX522 in mind while I focus my attention on my current project of relocating my roof mounted dishes on the ground and I also plan to try the mini-bud technology with my 90cm KTI dish that has a wider aperture than the newer dishes. I just placed an order for a conical scalar ring kit from hypermegasat on ebay for $24.50 and free shipping. They only have a small quantity left so if anybody is interested you'd better act quick cuz the sale only has 1 day left to go and they've already sold a bunch.

 

[Skyscanner]

Thanks for the heads up, and thanks for the pictures of your dish mount, helped a lot.
Sky