bronking said:
while i go running up the ladder, give this a thought
is it possible that with setup i have (especially the home made u bend) that the varialbles will never allow me to completly follow the arc bang on, i know everything is square, level etc(i checked everthing more than once)
could this distance (x)have any effect, as i say i can pick up 28E,1W,30W, but seem to struggle to get them spot at the same time ? or am i being to much of a perfectionist
The requirements for following the 'arc' are very simple, ie. the motor axis must be at the correct angle and must face south. It will then track the 'arc'
In order to 'see' the satelites, the dish must then be mounted so that it aligns with the motor shaft (shaft and motor both looking south at their zenith) and 'looks' (dish look angle) at the right radius ie. 'the clarke belt'. It will then track the satelites.
The snags arise because it is quite difficult to acheive the accuracy required, especially in the air, up a ladder, also in order to acheive this accuracy, we tend to use the sat.signal to align the dish, which is OK and will with perseverance, acheive the result we require. One snag is that the adjustments tend to interact with one another, also signals are variable and care has to be taken to decide whether any adjustments are an improvement, not that easy, with the relatively simple equipment that most of us have available. It is best to look for the max sig. at each position on the arc, (flexing dish up/down - side to side) rather than a specific figure.
The difference that your complex bracketry will make, is that it is a bit more difficult to be sure that the dish is in line with the motor shaft, with perhaps a bit more spring and give due to the o/hang and increased wind load. Once you acheive a correct tracking and every thing is bolted up tight, the shape of the intervening brackets 'U' bolts etc have no effect, since everything moves together in unison about the motor axis.
It is much easier to talk about than do, but it is doable, it is important to try and see it in simple terms, and not complicate it with too much theory, as do some of the web sites.
I have often been accused of being a perfectionist, I quite like it, don't see it as a fault. O-Ha
I am at the moment designing a new mount for my dishes, with very little o/hang on the motor, the weight of the dish being taken on a seperate bearing on the C of G of the ass. this reduces the motor load iether side of zenith and also wind loading on the motor