Advice Needed Laminas 1.8m project with 3 motor

[Beli1910]

.I don't know if I understood you well now, but ok. What do you recommend? I also studied the possibility of sending a variant of manual movement via switches regarding the elevation of the antenna. Mostly, I will see the most when I test the thing with a stick motor for the first time.

 

[dreambox1959]

Since you haven't built your mount set yet, I was making suggestions.

 

[Beli1910]

I don't know which brackets you mean, but it seems to me. In the picture below, I have circled where the stick motor will be located. This extended arm on which the antenna will be is movable - in this way, the elevation of the antenna will change as needed.

Movable arm

 

[Beli1910]

I will add a short video to make it clearer what I am talking about

 

[a33]

Basic question would be: what do you need the elevation adjustment possibility for?
Do you plan to aim at satellites with inclined orbit? Or satellites not in the Clarke Belt?

Otherwise, I guess, you would probably have the same experience as @dreambox1959 , that you would probably/normally "never touch the elevation" again.

Greetz,
A33

 

[Beli1910]

I don't know what experience my colleague dreambox1959 had. Probably something unpredictable happened with the antenna. I always strive to make something even better than it is. I try to get the maximum from each antenna. I think that not all satellites are in the ideal Clark path and that on some of them, it is possible to get a little more out of it. This idea with a movable arm is an idea that I want to test, because no one has tried anything similar. The same applies to the production of prototypes where the diqec motor rotates large antennas. According to the tests so far, it also rotates the fte 1.8m antenna without problems , which weighs approximately 50kg. My Laminas with the back processing weighs just under 25kg. I thought a lot about wind gusts, but fortunately there are no such dangerous gusts in my location, plus the antenna is sheltered by the house, so there are no problems here.

 

[a33]

I always strive to make something even better than it is. I try to get the maximum from each antenna. I think that not all satellites are in the ideal Clark path and that on some of them, it is possible to get a little more out of it. This idea with a movable arm is an idea that I want to test, because no one has tried anything similar.

That 'movable arm' (adjustable tube angle) is an interesting choice of design, indeed.

I tried to do the math, on base of the photo, on the actuator triangle that you now have there.
Assuming the motor tube has a diameter of about 6 cm, and so the 'legs' of the actuator triangle would be about 20cm long, that would mean about 0.35 cm (20cm x 0.01745) stroke length per 1 degree elevation difference: so just 3.5mm (roughly).

The fineadjustment would be (less than) millimeter-work...

Greetz,
A33

 

[Beli1910]

As I said before, I want to test how this idea of mine with a folding arm works in practice. I'll know more when I try it. I like your calculation and I appreciate your advice. Even if it doesn't work, then I can always adapt the stick motor mount Otherwise, I also have veneers ready, which I intend to fix on the adapter plate for greater stability of the antenna itself. I will post pictures as the project progresses.

 

[Beli1910]

I took a little time today and put a prototype and a small stick motor up on my test tower to see how it looks live. A couple of pictures.

 

[RimaNTSS]

I was also thinking about this sometime ago. Perhaps you should make some kind of lever to transform long movement of the actuator to the tiny movement of the dish.

 

[Beli1910]

What exactly do you mean Rima?

 

[RimaNTSS]

What exactly do you mean Rima?

I do not know exactly, but to make some kind of lever to transform long movement of an actuator to small movement of the dish elevation. For example, if the acuator moves 10 cm, then elevation changes for only 1 degree.

 

[dreambox1959]

nice landscape !!!!

 

[RimaNTSS]

nice countryside !!!!

Do you mean the grass is not cut? I agree

 

[Beli1910]

The mowing will start soon. In a short time, the cows will also go outdoors, so there will not be enough grass. By December, the cows will be mowing the surrounding meadows.

 

[Beli1910]

Mr. Rima. I was looking at the picture you posted and the representation of the triangle. Can you sketch for me what you would do regarding this stick motor.Ty

 

[RimaNTSS]

Can you sketch for me what you would do regarding this stick motor.

I do not know exactly, but if you install the actuator along the A-B line, then it will move the elevation of the dish very little.

 

[Beli1910]

In fact, I also want minimal movement, as precisely as possible. The arm itself will go a little lower, so I have the possibility of movement in both directions. That is, a movement of a couple of degrees. I don't mean to move the crosshair half a meter vertically

 

[dreambox1959]

when your receiver will send the diseqc commands (sat number + LNB input used) the positioner will convert these two pieces of information:
- the sat number will point to a position in degrees in the posi's eeprom memory and send it as USALS commands to the diseq 2 output (value +80° to - 80° sufficient for the azimuth).
-the LNB number will also retrieve a value in degrees from the eeprom memory of the posi and will send it in the form of USALS commands to the diseqc 1 output (lnb changer). (this value will be from -160° to + 160° with my divider card otherwise only -/+80°)
- the elevation motor will be managed conventionally with motor commands and pulses.
-a SKEW output is provided for a polarotor (if present).
-of course there will always be the keyboard the remote control the serial link with a PC to read the data.

 

[Beli1910]

a SKEW output is provided for a polarotor (if present).
Is this meant for changing the polarization in the lnb itself?? I don't have such a thing, but it's an interesting option for me.