CM90 dish - H-H or diseqc motor?

[007.4]

I've just bought this Channel Master 90cm dish for a tenner.
Bargain Second-Hand Big Dishes For Sale

It is in good condition apart from the rusty mounting plate which will easily clean up. It came with a working "Planet Type" H-H motor. Any one heard of them?

I want the dish to replace a cheap 80cm solid metal dish which I currently drive with a fairly new Alsat diseqc motor.

The question is, do I continue with the old H-H motor or try to fit the CM90 to my existing diseqc motor?

Using the old H-H motor will require installing some 4-core cable and using a separate positioner. Fortunately, I do have an old Pace MSP200 lying about.

Using the existing diseqc motor would be a lot more convenient but I would have to change the mount to an az/el pole type (not az/el cap type) and I believe these are no longer made. Does any one have one going cheap?

What is the best solution?

Would it be possible to use the mount off the cheapo 80cm dish and somehow bolt that onto the mounting plate on the CM90?
Any other suggestions?

TIA

 

[007.4]

Well I decided to stick with USALS and the diseqc motor. I removed the elevation bracket from the old dish and mounted it on the CM90 back plate. I had to fabricate some extensions using some old angle iron to get it to fit.

I kept same angular settings on the motor and used the same elevation on the dish. At first I was puzzled as to why I got zero signal when I first tested with the CM90. Then I realised that the offset angles between the old and new dishes were different. Approx 17° and 23° respectively.

The elevation setting was at its limit so I had to fit some packing shims to get the correct elevation.

I then got a stonking signal! I knew the CM90 would be better than the old cheap steel 80cm but I was greatly surprised at just how much better it was. I can now pull in 4 or 5 satellites that previously had no signal and many weaker transponders on other birds too.

A fantastic result for just £10 and an enjoyable day tinkering

Tomorrow I'm going to paint the dish with some water soluble green Ronseal One Coat fence stain to blend it into the bushes.

 

[Lazarus]

Nice idea, but the stain will surely dissipate within weeks ..... The water based stuff works on rough-cut timber as it's absorbed (Muchly!).

I used to fret when spilling the stuff on the ground, but a few showers and it was gone. With the dish being impervious, I can't see the disguise lasting long.

 

[007.4]

You could well be correct but as I'm re-staining some wood panels nearby it will only take 2 minutes to do the dish as well.

I'm hoping the waxy coating will lodge in the roughly dimpled dish surface. Even if it does eventually wash off it will at least dampen down the current appearance. Having said that, I coated some metal work with the same stain last year and that is still certainly visible even if somewhat faded.

Nothing to lose and time will tell.

 

[Lazarus]

Absolutely.

Give it a go and see what actually happens

 

[jeallen01]

Usual stuff for painting dishes is non-metallic car rattle-can spray paint - a little red-oxide primer and some olive green top coat in a random pattern and the the dish will almost "disappear".

 

[Channel Hopper]

Staining it is fine, a water based compound will stick around for a while on fibreglass, plus you can always add patches in varying degrees of concentration.

If it looks right after a week or two just paint the front with some varnish to fix in place

 

[gap30]

If you are based in that area there is a 1.2m CM not too far from there in Blackburn for £50

Satellite Dish

Offer him £30

 

[007.4]

Here's the dish after two coats of stain.

It is now far less visible. Also, AFAICT there has been negligible effect on the signal strength.
It will be interesting to see what it looks like in a couple of months,

 

[Lazarus]

Nope.

Sorry, can't see it.

 

[Channel Hopper]

Needs a bit of silt around the edge to break up the uniformity.

You'll need to find a lake though