Added Elevation control to the 1.8m dish

[Vipersan]

Hi friends ..
not been very active lately due to my health...but recently found time to add a surplus 12 inch actuator arm to my 1.8 m c band dish ..
Using this with an old NEC positioner I am now able to effect elevation control to fine tune the dish acuracy at the extremes of the arc ..
My huge polar mount has never truely tracked the arc ...
Not only can I fine tune the dish position at the extremeties ..but now can accomodate inclined birds (C band only)

I've yet to finalise the setup ...but will post a few pics when its all done ..
Health and weather permitting ..
In the meantime I'm adding a snapshot of Silverbird from 3775H NSS 10 at 37.5°W
I have NEVER caught this channel before but now its do-able ..
Who knows what other fringe reception is now possible
fingers crossed..
rgds
VS

 

[Llew]

Yes VS, would like to see the finished assembly when done. A value-added install indeed

 

[Vipersan]

Will Do Lew...
Just required some thought on the most efficient point to mod the mount assembly ..
Helluva weight to lift once the bolts where released ..and the new actuator took over..
;)
Time will tell if it's up to the task ..
If not ..I can always lock 'her' up again..
rgds
VS

 

[satelliteman]

Nice result VS.

 

[Rick]

Good going VS, any chance of some pics ?

 

[nelson_b]

nice one -- Vipersan--
a very worthwhile thing to do -- to a large dish -- having full control/adjustment is a must--

i,v never regretted doing mine ----- like you - i could never get my polar mount quite right
i eventually discovered that the assembly had not just been setup 100% when welded together --

i also would love to see photos of how you have arranged it on your polar mount setup --

regards nelson.b.

 

[Vipersan]

Thanks for the encouragement m8's ..
Here are a few snaps I took this morning ..
Appologies for the scruffy state of the view .
Sadly not had chance to treat the dish metalwark this year ..nor indeed tidy up my backyard on account of my health issues ..
But I'm sure you will still appreciate the addition to the dish
...of course it was never designed to take an elevation jack ...but needs must etc..
;)
rgds
VS

 

[Lazarus]

Very impressive, VS.

PM'd you eons ago ...............

 

[Vipersan]

..sorry 'bout that Gordon ..
I had a bit of a relapse about a month and half back ..and was so incapacitated I couldn't even work ..
With winter coming I'm expecting a rough ride ...but I haven't given up.
Yet!!!
Cheers buddy

 

[Channel Hopper]

It would be worth adding some counterweight at the back of the dish, as the elevation motor is under constant tension.
I would have drilled a hole to install a locking point under the lower polar bearing myself, but never the less, you have a result and the ability to make up for the polarmount bearing play.

 

[Vipersan]

You make a valid point CH ..
Luckily its easy enough to lock the elevation up at any time ...
See photo
rgds
VS

 

[sonnetpete]

VS, sorry to hear you've not been so well lately. Impressive mods to the dish. Hope you feel better before the weather turns more wintry.

 

[Rick]

Nice work VS

 

[fergyc]

Agreed, very nice!

 

[Vipersan]

A few Fringe Caps from Intelsat 9 at 58.0°W
..after tweeking for max signal..
Still a few pixels on some of them ..but certainly I couldn't access these before.

My channel count on this bird has incresed from around 30 channels to 80+
sadly most are encypted of course ..so no pictures
but I do get audio in English/American from most of the powerVU channels..
rgds
VS

 

[nelson_b]

thanks for the pics -- vipersan --

that looks a nice solid setup - a great modification - you are doing remarkably well with signals from 58.0°W ------

sorry to hear that you have been unwell though.

regards nelson.b.

 

[Vipersan]

Hi Nelson ..
Yes indeed ...
one heluva improvement ..
Currently re-scanning all of Intelsat 805 at 55.5°W

So far ..I've doubled my channel count ...but as usual there are many encrypted channels ..
a couple of surprises though ..
I have managed to grab Panamerican and a Caribbean channel ..
Pics to follow ..once I've sorted them..
There may me a few repeats of channels I've posted before ..but less pixelation now .

cheers buddy
VS

 

[Vipersan]

I hope no one objects to me filling up this thread with captured images from various re-scanned birds ..
I have discovered quite a few new channels both by using the modified cband dish and the recently aquired Openbox S9HD ..
The Openbox has a higher gain tuner and the advantage of being able to access and scan channels with much lower symbol rates..
Here are 7 fairly 'exotic' caps from Intelsat 805 at 55.5°W

I will be adding more as I process them ..
The first three are caps from the Nicaraguan Package
channels 11 , 10 & 4
followed by caps from Aztec TV , CaribVision, Panamericana TV & Tropical TV

rgds
VS

 

[Llew]

Superb going VS

I'm going to have to dismantle my greenhouse if I'm ever going to instal C-band stuff. S*d the tomatoes

 

[Vipersan]

..Just as a point of interest Llew ...
The CaribVision channel broadcasts a very high proportion of English Audio ..


..and exotica from Peru is proving very elusive..
;)
rgds