1m Channel Master project

[Captain Jack]

@snapperoonie - very interesting information, thank you!

Collected my 3" stainless steel/INOX pole yesterday, only 60cm long but that's all I need. Cost £5 - thanks to Facebook!

 

[snapperoonie]

@CJ
I forgot to mention that you say your walls are solid brick, I assume by this you mean that the bricks are of the non perforated type used in older houses, if this is indeed the case and you do go down the resin route then you won't need the plastic mesh sleeves.
There's plenty of technical information on the Fischer and Hilti websites.

 

[gibertini]

Alex, can you nobble a council workman? their road sign poles are 3inch and galvanised.

got one here from a local scrote, £15 for a 3m length. around this neck of the woods they are everywhere just left when the signs have been removed

 

[Captain Jack]

@CJ
I forgot to mention that you say your walls are solid brick, I assume by this you mean that the bricks are of the non perforated type used in older houses, if this is indeed the case and you do go down the resin route then you won't need the plastic mesh sleeves.
There's plenty of technical information on the Fischer and Hilti websites.

Thanks for the advice. The bricks are almost certainly non perforated - the house was built in 1970s.

@gibertini and @scopus - strange that SSS and such like charge ££££££ for these poles!

 

[gibertini]

Thanks for the advice. The bricks are almost certainly non perforated - the house was built in 1970s.

@gibertini and @scopus - strange that SSS and such like charge ££££££ for these poles!

imho they are just abusing their position of being the main supplier of heavy duty sat systems in the UK, granted they are a business and need to make a profit but on certain items you just know they are taking the p***

 

[scopus]

got one here from a local scrote, £15 for a 3m length. around this neck of the woods they are everywhere just left when the signs have been removed

I got mine from a layby, lying in the grass doing nowt...so I half inched it..shhhhhh

 

[Captain Jack]

Right, spent most of the afternoon working on mating the 3" pole to the motor clamp that only takes up to 2.5" pole with a newly acquired angle grinder (should have got one of those years ago). Here's the result.



At times like this, I really wish I had a welder - definitely on my shopping list. I am using the back plate (the black thing) to re-enforce the main motor clamp as it will have been weakened by the cuts on the side to accommodate the 3" brackets that sit inside. Would have been a simple matter with the welder, but I'll have to make do with drilling more holes and driving bolts through it...

 

[Archived-1]

Right, spent most of the afternoon working on mating the 3" pole to the motor clamp that only takes up to 2.5" pole with a newly acquired angle grinder (should have got one of those years ago). Here's the result.

Looks great Alex well done , just a little good advise if your not used to using this type of tool always keep a firm grip with both hands and please wear goggles, I am not trying to learn you to suck eggs but I have had one taken from my hands in the past when its grabbed and also seen it happen to others.

Great work pal welder next

 

[Captain Jack]

Goggles were on my shopping list to B&Q but I completely missed/forgot about it Certainly loads of sparks coming off the thing!

 

[Archived-1]

Goggles were on my shopping list to B&Q but I completely missed/forgot about it Certainly loads of sparks coming off the thing!

Please use them at all times Alex.

 

[Captain Jack]

Yep, ordered, along with ear mufflers. I am hard of hearing but this thing is LOUD!

 

[scopus]

Yep, Martin is right, you can really do yourself some damage with an angle grinder......

 

[archive10]

Yep, Martin is right, you can really do yourself some damage with an angle grinder......

I sometimes don't understand why this is not emphasised on packaging for this and garden-variety chainsaws.
There should be lot's of "if you've not tried this before, get a 101 from someone who has before even turning this thing on" plastered all around the packaging, as well as a mandatory safety equipment package.

These tools are great timesavers, but they are *really* dangerous to operate, only made more safe by having all the right safety equipment. Helmet, goggles, visor, earplugs minimum; pants, jacket, steel-tipped boots best, especially when working with chainsaws.

Yes, I look stupid in the steel-mesh re-inforced pants and sweat profusely with helmet and visor when cutting wood in the summer or fitting fence-posts, but I can't grow another leg or arm, whereas I *can* have a shower and a beer afterwards.

 

[Captain Jack]

Pretty much finished the assembly today. I will need to go over it with Hammerite again but all the mechanical bits are done.

 

[Archived-1]

Nice work Alex .

 

[Captain Jack]

Well... I am deflated. With my Gibby down, I thought I'd give this motor a go with the 1m CM dish. Several problems straight away:

1) Massive wobble as a result of the flimsy Channel Master adapter plate... you can see the video below. There's no way I would put a 1.2m dish on it. Very flimsy.

2) Constant miscounts - going from 30W to 1W results in a dish being short of target by about 10 pulses. I checked the magnetic wheel inside and it has a slight wobble but not really enough to cause such huge miscounts. The counting seems rather odd too - it's almost as if it's counting two at a time and the count-up/down seems erratic (counting in 2s or even 3s). Difficult to explain, so here's the video again.

I tried adjusting the reed sensor closer to the mag-wheel with no difference. Also seems like the reed sensor isn't centred to the wheel. Very weird. Maybe I am doing something wrong - not sure.

3) Now, I knew it was noisy, but this is NOISY! It'll wake the cows in the nearby fields...

So... back to square one. I am going to put it on the 1224 motor instead and I can sleep at night knowing I can put a 1.2m on the same motor without falling off on someone's head.

 

[Captain Jack]

Hm, well, I might have to abandon this project. Climbed up t'ladders today to check for clearance towards the east and the furthest satellites, over around 65-70E, are obscured by two massive trees in the distance. There are probably a couple of gaps where I can look around the tree, but that would mean that the dish would have to be installed either on the eastern side of the house or on the north side, over the gutter. It would be pretty high up and in view of everyone in vicinity. To be decided whether it's even worth it.

The 1.8m in the garden should(!) see to 57E, though there is likely to be a gap around 50E due to a tree. If I can, indeed see to 57E, I won't bother with the 1m - might put a 1.2m up in the garden to avoid the tree around the 50E mark but that remains to be seen.

 

[Archived-1]

might put a 1.2m up in the garden to avoid the tree

Are your neighbours ok about this ?

 

[Archived-1]

Are the neighbours ok with the amount of dishes you have/will have up there? hope the neighbours don't start moaning about getting more than they bargained for...

Well ?

 

[Captain Jack]

Yes, yes, smarty pants... And funny you should mention that .. Channel Master 1.8m project

So, no, not entirely but they will be! I hope... argh.