Help Required Raven 1.8m motorised dish/polar mount instructions needed

M

marcouk

Member
My Satellite Setup
Vu+ Uno 4K SE, 1.8M CM motorised dish 1.2M Laminas dish. Primesat 1.3 m dish
My Location
Hull UK
Hi guys

I have finally got around to installing the Raven 1.8 motorised dish kit I bought last October but have run in to a bit of a snag (no instructions)
I've searched the web high and low but can only find instructions for the fixed version.
That helped a bit but its the settings for the polar mount that I really need as I just cant get it to follow the whole arc correctly.
moving the dish about by either hand or motor I can get from 30east to 34 west (and all in between ) with really impressive signal levels but not all in one go.
after trying again today (in between downpours) I can get from 28 east to 30 west both ends have poor signals 60/70 % 1 west is great (100% on most) with most in between either 70/80% (Astra 1and 3 and Hotbird) ,26 east 0% (had up to 80/5) 7w 60% had up to 75% on some channels, 8west 58% had 70 % on some, 14west 83% 22 west 80% had 100% on reuters at 1 point and finally 30 west around 70%.

Looking at the dish now its been setup the long thread/bolt on the polar mount looks way too high for my location Hull East Yorkshire Lat 53.7943° Lon -0.3261°
hence why I am looking for the polar mount instructions.

Cheers in advance for any help/suggestions.

Mark
 
Assuming pole is plumb east/west-wise:

For LAT=~53.8,
when setup is aiming at highest point of the arc, and dish is exactly in line with that,
(modified) axis elevation angle should be ~35.7 degrees,
(modified) dish declination offset angle should be ~7.1 degrees.
Do you have about that?

When these angles are OK, probably alignment due south is an issue. How did you align that?

Greetz,
A33
 
a33 said:
Assuming pole is plumb east/west-wise:

For LAT=~53.8,
when setup is aiming at highest point of the arc, and dish is exactly in line with that,
(modified) axis elevation angle should be ~35.7 degrees,
(modified) dish declination offset angle should be ~7.1 degrees.
Do you have about that?

When these angles are OK, probably alignment due south is an issue. How did you align that?

Greetz,
A33
Click to expand...
Hi I set the dish up by dead reckoning at first.
I physically moved the dish on the PM until it was dead square with the PM.s back plate using a set square.
(here's a link to a good picture of the exact dish I have)

Motorised satellite dishes. Raven 1.2m motorised satellite dish. Raven 1.8cm motorised satellite dish. Raven 2.4m motorised dish. UK

Motorised satellite dishes. Motorised satellite dishes from 70cm to 3.1m. Raven 1.2cm motorised satellite dish. Ravem 1.8m motorised satellite dish. Raven 2.4m motorised satellite dish. Transparent motorised satellite dishes. Channel Master motorised
www.satellitesuperstore.com

HOWEVER upon further checking I noticed the when the dish is square (according to the set square) the spirit level that I placed on the black dish mount face (see photo in link above) is not level and when I set by the spirit level the PM does not look plum with the dish plate.
I will take some photos tomorrow and post them so people can see what I mean.

thanks for you reply

Mark
 
Is it an official polarmount from the manufacturer (Raleigh, US) , not produced for at least ten years, or one of the aftermarket items ?
 
I would start with the POLE,making sure it was vertical.
Then, elevation and South,which you can by shadow at 1 pm,easiest. (assuming you have sun...)
Even slightest error would show on a 1.8 m. dish.
Good luck.
 
marcouk said:
Hi guys

I have finally got around to installing the Raven 1.8 motorised dish kit I bought last October but have run in to a bit of a snag (no instructions)
I've searched the web high and low but can only find instructions for the fixed version.
That helped a bit but its the settings for the polar mount that I really need as I just cant get it to follow the whole arc correctly.
moving the dish about by either hand or motor I can get from 30east to 34 west (and all in between ) with really impressive signal levels but not all in one go.
after trying again today (in between downpours) I can get from 28 east to 30 west both ends have poor signals 60/70 % 1 west is great (100% on most) with most in between either 70/80% (Astra 1and 3 and Hotbird) ,26 east 0% (had up to 80/5) 7w 60% had up to 75% on some channels, 8west 58% had 70 % on some, 14west 83% 22 west 80% had 100% on reuters at 1 point and finally 30 west around 70%.

Looking at the dish now its been setup the long thread/bolt on the polar mount looks way too high for my location Hull East Yorkshire Lat 53.7943° Lon -0.3261°
hence why I am looking for the polar mount instructions.

Cheers in advance for any help/suggestions.

Mark
Click to expand...
you might find my thread helpful from when i installed mine - a long thread - but im sure you will find some tips - there were some very knowledgeable people involved.
 
I hope the attached will help. Try to study it and figure out what is needed to get good arc tracking.
The push-pull on your dish rim (bottom) slightly to see if your signal changes helps a lot.
When setting my dish up I used a note pad and judged the errors by a score. Example.
Perfectly aimed satellite required 0 force push or pull.
Aim the dish to the next closest satellite. Score it a push 1. Next sat., push 1-2.
When the mount is finally very close, a push/pull on the rim will change signal equally on every satellite.
It will give an idea if the polar angle, declination, or your true South aim needs tweaking.
There is a post I read. Need to search for it. Mentioning when your preliminary geometry is set, to not be tempted to change the polar angle (elevation) or declination at first. Rather. Determine firstly if swinging the dish on the pole slightly to correct the true south aim.
Of course since they are cheap these days. I use a digital angle gauge that resolves to 0.1 degree.
A Sharpie pen to mark where you are and where you've been on the dish mount adjustments. Especially on the pole mount.

I though about it a bit and edited. Going from a fixed to a polar mount and getting declination correct might be a bit confusing.
The 2nd attachment shows your initial setting. The black lines show that the dish face and polar angle are parallel. This will be 0 declination added.
And the dish needs to be aimed at zentih. The highest point in the arc. The dish face with straight edge laid top to bottom, or a known part of the mount that is parallel with the dish face can be used to verify both are equal.
Left that way, the dish would track an arc above the Clarke Belt where satellites are parked in space over the equator.
Tipping the dish only towards the horizon the indicated degrees for your latitude allows for proper satellite aiming throughout the arc.
There will be a provision to add declination without disturbing polar angle. Again, verify the angle with the same straight edge.
A straight edge across the dish face should initially read the exact angle that the polar angle is set to.
Declination added will be the blue lines. The polar angle (black arrow) stays the same.
 

Attachments

  • Tuning the arc.webp
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  • Declination Added.webp
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Thanks for all your replies here are the photos i said i would take.
the dish is on 1 west and reception is 100%.
cheers Mark
 

Attachments

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  • sat 2.webp
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Hope it works out well. My stuff above was considering a prime focus dish. So taking in account of the 22.5 degree (??) 'look angle' of your offset dish needs to be factored in also. So the initial setup would have your dish face a negative 22.5 degrees down from the polar angle. Then add an additional X degrees to it for declination.

Here's a pic of a pair of Raven dishes in London. On a H-H mount. Same setup as a polar mount.
Red arrows would be dish face/polar angle equal. Remember the look angle of the dish being 22.5 degrees.
So....add that to the polar angle and you end up with the blue arrow. After you calculate declination, the dish ends up at the green arrow.

For all future self installers. Do not waste a single penny on an inclinometer. Get a digital angle gauge. You will thank yourselves later. 1/10th degree resolution is tons better than guessing.
 

Attachments

  • Raven_Elev_Look_Dec_A.webp
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marcouk said:
Thanks for all your replies here are the photos i said i would take.
the dish is on 1 west and reception is 100%.
cheers Mark
Click to expand...
get a cheap inclinometer from amazon - that will help you

the answers will be in my thread - as long as your pole and mount is dead level.
 
Manikm909 said:
get a cheap inclinometer from amazon - that will help you

the answers will be in my thread - as long as your pole and mount is dead level.
Click to expand...
Pole checked and rechecked its dead plumb.

Mark
 
Manikm909 said:
is the mount on the pole dead level....
Click to expand...
Just checked. yes it is I was a but worried about that as the dish came with a shim to make it tight around the mount.
all seems ok and there is no wobble or anything like that.

Mark
 
marcouk said:
Just checked. yes it is I was a but worried about that as the dish came with a shim to make it tight around the mount.
all seems ok and there is no wobble or anything like that.

Mark
Click to expand...
Just alignment then. Get an inclinometer
 
Manikm909 said:
Just alignment then. Get an inclinomet
Click to expand...

Manikm909 said:
Or just read my long thread as the answers are there as I was the same as u
Click to expand...
Will do.
BTW looking at my photos posted above i noticed that the LNB looked to be pointing a little low on the dish.
after adjusting it up a little the signals have improved across the arc but are still not as good as they were.
the dish came with the companies own version of the lnb holder/arms so not sure if I have it correct.
could you maybe post a picture of your own lnb holder for reference?

Cheers
Mark
 
marcouk said:
Will do.
BTW looking at my photos posted above i noticed that the LNB looked to be pointing a little low on the dish.
after adjusting it up a little the signals have improved across the arc but are still not as good as they were.
the dish came with the companies own version of the lnb holder/arms so not sure if I have it correct.
could you maybe post a picture of your own lnb holder for reference?

Cheers
Mark
Click to expand...
Mine is all standard channel master kit .
 
I have the same polar mount, the elevation angle looks to steep, I presume you are in the UK? In my location Uttoxeter it's around 52° as in my picture. Make sure you have the correct elevation angle for you location, keep the dish on 1W adjust, then adjust to the declination bolt at the top of the polar mount to get the signal back on 1W, then try the arc for signal on other birds both E and W. My dish is on 40W.

IMG-20250606-WA0000.webp20250606_181315.webp
 
scopus said:
I have the same polar mount, the elevation angle looks to steep, I presume you are in the UK? In my location Uttoxeter it's around 52° as in my picture. Make sure you have the correct elevation angle for you location, keep the dish on 1W adjust, then adjust to the declination bolt at the top of the polar mount to get the signal back on 1W, then try the arc for signal on other birds both E and W. My dish is on 40W.

View attachment 162977View attachment 162978
Click to expand...
Cheers Scopus
Yes mine does look steeper then yours.
will try that next.
Cheers
Mark
 
Scopus
what app is that you are using in the picture?
 
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