Advice / recomendation on this Sat Super Store mount : )

[Spiff]

Good afternoon from a sunny Mullion Cove Cornwall : )

I am thinking of purchasing one of these less the jack.

To use with my 1.4 prime focus Triax.

Satellite dish motors. Primesat DISEqC motors. 36 volt Superjack actuators. Polar mounts. Inclined orbit motors. Technomate motors.

I shall adapted it for two jacks myself as it should be simple enough : )

Have any of you gentlemen used one on a 1.4 prime focus or similar.

How well made is it and does it stand up to high winds I wonder ?

The distance across the fixings to the dish diameter wise would be nice, I have asked Dave but the answer did not help.

God Bless Spiff

 

[scopus]

Try again.

Hi Spiff,

I have the bigger version on my 1.8 dish. Can recommend it, heavy duty, galvanised, the works. They are actually made by Famaval in Portugal for the same range of dishes as the Primesat. Stood very well up to the Beast from the East earlier this year, no problems.

 

[archive10]

Just curious: What's wrong with the Triax PM? Is there anything - apart from tracking inclined birds - that warrants the extra 175 GBP for something that does more or less the same task?

You will have to do a fair bit of apatation to get the Triax onto that mount; either remove the bell-shaped rear-support from the Triax by drilling out the rivets, or do a crude plate-adapter to match the two.

 

[Spiff]

Thank you Scopus for your recommendation : )

Good afternoon ST1,

Thank you for your interest : )

Is the mount that came with my Triax dish as shown in attached images, a Triax mount ?

In the high winds we have in Mullion Cove the Triax dish has to be tied down, where as the upper mount a Precision Antenna dish does not budge.

The mount on the Triax is also starting to rust, hence the black paint.

It was not new when I obtained it : )

The SSS mount also has the option of a Polar mount kit, though I intend modifying their standard one rather that pay out for their
version that comes with a Polar mount.

God Bless Spiff

 

[archive10]

Thank you for your interest : )

Is the mount that came with my Triax dish as shown in attached images, a Triax mount ?

Yes, that's the original Triax PM.
(I have one myself, as you may recall.)

In the high winds we have in Mullion Cove the Triax dish has to be tied down, where as the upper mount a Precision Antenna dish does not budge.

The mount on the Triax is also starting to rust, hence the black paint.

It was not new when I obtained it : )

Mine's been up a little under a year, and we only had one strong windy night so far.
But the dish didn't really move, although I didn't check for minor degradation of signal.
On the sturdiness issue, there's really no comparison. The Precision stuff is allegedly the sturdiest thing you can get your hands on for the enthusiast (ask eg. @Captain Jack), so the plate-metal Triax doesn't really compare.
Keep in mind, though, that they are made for two different markets, and thus for different price-points as well...

Re paint: Same here. The paints flaking, but mine's galvanised underneath, so no real rust...

The SSS mount also has the option of a Polar mount kit, though I intend modifying their standard one rather that pay out for their version that comes with a Polar mount.

I'm note quite sure I understand: You want to purchase a Polar mount, and modify it to be a Polar mount?
Or do you mean modify the polar mount to support inclined orbits?

 

[Spiff]

Good evening ST1,

Apologies I used the wrong description, SSS have two versions of the polar mount, one with and one without inclined orbit.

I often get things like that mixed up, its a memory deficiency, not old age : )

I intend purchasing the version without inclined orbit, as looking at their images they charge quite a lot more just for the extra brackets to mount the inclined orbit jack.

My Triax mount is also galvanised, but as it was second hand the rust had already started from the edges, the salt in the sea air at this location has been attacking it again.

The part where the case of the jack mounts was either missing, or I had used it for something else before putting it into service.

If you look at the image I have added a plate there, that is probably not helping with its stability as it flexes.

My Precision dish and mount originated at Goonhilly or so I was told, only the best for those gents, it had been in the sellers garden laying in the long grass for 15 years with hardly a mark.

I only wish I had another, it cost me £10 : ).

God Bless Spiff

 

[archive10]

One small observation...
it may be that the whole storIIT is better to haveT is better to havey isn't told by the pictures. But this is why I ask:

If you wrap the electronics and mechanics in plastic (bags), your do need to make sure ventilation is catered for.
You may manage to keep some of the moisture out, but without proper ventilation you will also keep moisture in (when temperatures fall etc).

I believe it is better to cover, than to seal. Unless you have active moisture control.
I appreciate you are in a very seaward location, and suffer from salt and moisture.
But I would probably champion rain and wind covers for your actuators, rather than what appears to be sealed plastic bags...
This won't prevent the darned things from ageing, but may given them the longest life possible...

Maybe some of the pros (@Channel Hopper, @Mickha, etc) can share some advice/experience?

 

[Spiff]

Hallo ST1,

I have brand new jacks to fit as the ones used were second hand.

I had to take them apart to repaint inside and out as the original coating was all pealing off, they were very corroded and very rusty.

There is a small amount of play in them due to their age, it does not effect the resetting too much, but I would like it to be better hence the new jacks.

When I fit them I shall take your advice in using a different method to protect them : )

The air here is very corrosive, let alone the sea spay that reaches our building.

In my vintage radio workshop I have noticed that equipment near to the door, and Dexion raking near the door is discoloured.

This was why I had tried to seal the jacks from the air.

I had noticed moisture forming inside the plastic bags and cut a small hole in the bottom to let the water out.

Some thing new is required for the new jacks, thank you for your advice : )

God Bless Spiff

 

[Channel Hopper]

One small observation...
it may be that the whole storIIT is better to haveT is better to havey isn't told by the pictures. But this is why I ask:

If you wrap the electronics and mechanics in plastic (bags), your do need to make sure ventilation is catered for.
You may manage to keep some of the moisture out, but without proper ventilation you will also keep moisture in (when temperatures fall etc).

I believe it is better to cover, than to seal. Unless you have active moisture control.
I appreciate you are in a very seaward location, and suffer from salt and moisture.
But I would probably champion rain and wind covers for your actuators, rather than what appears to be sealed plastic bags...
This won't prevent the darned things from ageing, but may given them the longest life possible...

Maybe some of the pros (@Channel Hopper, @Mickha, etc) can share some advice/experience?

The best prevention in a salt water/coastal is to have everything anodised or zinc galvanised, though there is also a lot to be said by painting on the resin from a fibreglass pack, suitably catalysed so it does not harden too quickly.

As per your post, covers rather than sealing, if only to hose down and relubricate periodically. If anyone remembers the Arkivator series of actuators, one of their models was made in exactly this fashion, with little more than a black rain cover over the top of the motor/gearbox. Everything else was very nicely anodised.