My new toy :D

[Captain Jack]

I have just picked up a Channel Master 1.2m dish together with the stand for a princely sum of £35! Plus £69 to hire a van in order to pick it up..... :mad:

Still... here are some pictures of it. I would like some advice. I gather from the other thread that it's not possible to stick a DiSEqC motor on it... OK. Can someone tell me from the pictures whether what I have attached to the back of the dish is a polar mount or whether this is only suitable for fixed installations? I guess I can either get a Jaeger 1224 type motor or a normal 12-18 inch jack...?

To be honest, I've no idea what to do with the dish. Either fix it on something weak, like Amos or Sirius or motorise it and use it for limited C band hunting.... (location where the dish would go would have an arc of around 13E to 45W)

Ideas? Advice? Thoughts?

 

[wod]

looks like your missing the metal arm on the polar mount which the actuator bolts to and the dish elevation adjustment bolt should be easy to sort that.

you can motorise the dish with a 18inch actuator and vbox linked to your receiver.

 

[Captain Jack]

The elevation adjustment bolt is there, just not visible in the picture. Can I just bolt the arm to attach the jack to pretty much anywhere on the dish?

 

[Gerry55]

Hi captain jack
That is a channel Master Polar mount, but the steering arm and the declination angle adjusting bolt is missing.
You will need a 12inch 36volt motor

 

[Channel Hopper]

To be honest, you would be better off telling everybody exactly what you would want it for.

It has a polarmount fitted, but that would need a complete overhaul before it is a reliable tracking device.

There are adapters available for this reflector to work with a DiSEqC motor, but they are bespoke and rely on the quality of actuators that were last seen with the STAB all metal versions, which are like the proverbial rocking horse doodoo.

An actuator and VboxII is a far better bet for both accuracy and continued long life.

 

[wod]

on top of the polar mount you see the 2 holes a long metal plate bolts to this and you then bolt the actuator to the end and the bracket to hold the actuator bolts to the hole on the mount near the elevation bolt.

see here in this picture i found

 

[Captain Jack]

To be honest, you would be better off telling everybody exactly what you would want it for.

I would like to try and catch some C band transmissions as I have never received these in 18 years of this hobby. Although, it will most likely be limited to what I can receive. My current Penta 85 will be left in-situ.

It has a polarmount fitted, but that would need a complete overhaul before it is a reliable tracking device.

You mean all the rust on the mount/bolts? Shouldn't be an issue.

An actuator and VboxII is a far better bet for both accuracy and continued long life.

Fair enough - that's what I'll be going for then!

Thanks wod, that gives me a much better idea of what it should look like! I guess any old steel bar will do with the correct length?

 

[nelson_b]

hi captain jack -
some close up pics from my 1.2 setup - of the missing parts --
cheers

 

[Captain Jack]

Thanks Nelson. I see what is missing now. These two parts look easy enough to fabricate, so it looks like a job for the weekend. Clean up, paint, grease...

Will keep you all posted.

 

[martinuk]

Thats same as my dish get 12inch 36volt motor mate there cheap on ebay you need 4 core cable aswell

 

[Channel Hopper]

I would like to try and catch some C band transmissions as I have never received these in 18 years of this hobby. Although, it will most likely be limited to what I can receive. My current Penta 85 will be left in-situ.

You mean all the rust on the mount/bolts? Shouldn't be an issue.

And the bearings, they are quite small on the 1m and 1.2 polarmounts and unless completely covered in grease, open up all manor of tracking errors.

C band will require a sleev to fit in the existing feed clamp, and the Channel Master has two screws that hold the clamp together, which can weld themselves to the inserts that are on the lower clamp.

Use thin oil to free them off, penetrating fluid can affect the plastic.

 

[Captain Jack]

Yep. Will any VBox II do? There's a Technomate one for £37 incl. delivery. Is that good enough? The "SuperJack" branded ones are around £50-60....

 

[Captain Jack]

And the bearings, they are quite small on the 1m and 1.2 polarmounts and unless completely covered in grease, open up all manor of tracking errors.

Hm, I wondered about bearings. I hope they are there to start with... Need to investigate over the weekend. If they don't exist, can I just get any ball bearings to stick between the bolt and the bracket?

 

[martinuk]

Yep. Will any VBox II do? There's a Technomate one for £37 incl. delivery. Is that good enough? The "SuperJack" branded ones are around £50-60....

The tm VBox II is one i have with the super jack mines 12inch works fine covers all arc
black ultra works well with cm dish i chose cm feedhorn in stead
that pole bracket you have can be used as ground mount

 

[Channel Hopper]

Hm, I wondered about bearings. I hope they are there to start with... Need to investigate over the weekend. If they don't exist, can I just get any ball bearings to stick between the bolt and the bracket?

It's a plain bearing (very much like the one on the ends of the linear actuator).

 

[purplemarina]

the bearings are made of bronze, once cleaned up, leave to soak in engine oil over night, the metal will soak up and retain some of the oil, grease before fitting and then you should be trouble free.

 

[Captain Jack]

I had a close look and it doesn't look like there are any bearings installed - the dish was used for 23.5E fixed installation in its previous life, so it's just plain nut and bolt. So, I'll have to get some new ones. Will something like eBay item number 260790574726 be sufficient? How many do I need? Just one per moving joint?

 

[nelson_b]

I had a close look and it doesn't look like there are any bearings installed - the dish was used for 23.5E fixed installation in its previous life, so it's just plain nut and bolt. So, I'll have to get some new ones. Will something like eBay item number 260790574726 be sufficient? How many do I need? Just one per moving joint?

hi c.j.

the original bearing is a brass bush with a steel insert - i don,t think the e bay ones will be any good for you .
i,v removed the bottom one from my setup to photo -
all the components are shown in the pics - top and bottom bearings are the same as far as i can see.

cheers

 

[nelson_b]

additional pics showing the bush/bearing fitted back in the mount

 

[Captain Jack]

Wow, thanks Nelson. Hmmm, I wouldn't even know what these are called. I looked for linear actuator bearings but they seem to have balls inside them - not what I need. Any idea where I would get them...?

The bolt I have is correct, but there's no bearing there. With the bearing in, how tight do they have to be? As tight as possible and get the bearing to take care of movement, or slightly loose?