Thinking about motorising my satellite dish

[Piltdownpaul]

Hmmm. Not sure if this is the way to go for me. I just have some concerns about the actual setup of the motor. I may be worrying for no reason so maybe the fixed dish with 2 lnbs for 28.2/19.2 and a separate 60cm dish for 13e (with diseqc switch)might be better for me. Unless someone can tell me just how easy or hard it is to put one of these Technomate motors to use!

Anybody????

Very easy mate-take your time as i did and voila---see avatar!!!!

 

[Archived-1]

Theres plenty of peeps to help you along the way on here tony :-), there a good set of lads that know there stuff and wont give up on you until you get it right, go for it m8 :-).

 

[Analoguesat]

Aye we havent had many failures with folks down the years.

 

[Tony1A]

HI GUYS! I feel like I'm stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea! LOL! But......I suppose I might regret it if I didn't do this. So far I need the following: Technomate TM2600 motor, one set of 12" stand off T/K's and lots of wood to reinforce my shed. Everything else I have! OK! You have convinced me, I'll do it. At least if I do get stuck then I have you guys on here to show me the way. I just hope that I have made the right decision. Here goes nothing....! One more thing, how far round do I set the LNB for skew purposes?

 

[Tony1A]

That's the gear ordered! No turning back now!

 

[Lazarus]

Skew? Well, Zero .............. The initial alignment will be on your South Satellite (Thor at 1W).

That's the Satellite with maximum Elevation for you and also the least Skew (Zero, as near as makes no odds). And the LNB physically remains in that position in the holder >>> You'll note that as the Motor pans across the arc, the dish appears to lean and in doing so, the skew is effectively adjusted automatically.

 

[Tony1A]

Thanks for that Tivu! Just wondered! I see you're not too far from me on the North York moors. We can see the Bilsdale TV mast where we live as we're in a high location. Lovely part of the world where you are.

 

[Lazarus]

Sore point with me, Bilsdale: It's only about 10km as the crow flies, but I don't have line of site unless I walk oop t'Moor.

 

[Tony1A]

I went to get the wood for my shed today, so hopefully get that done soon and then get the TK's on as well when they arrive! Looking forward to doing all this now. If you had asked me 24 hours earlier it would have been a different story. Should get quite a good chunk of the arc and also been on Dishpointer to get all the info. All thanks to this great little site!

 

[Analoguesat]

Good news you have decided which route to go - keep us informed as to how things are going. The most important thing when you start is to get the pole vertical. Spend however long that requires, botch that and it'll never work properly right round the arc..

 

[Tony1A]

Oh, don't worry! I have a spirit-level and I'll make sure it is dead-on vertical. Can't believe I am actually doing this! It's all down to the fact you have all encouraged me to go motorised!

 

[Analoguesat]

A quick way is to drop a thin string down the middle of the inside of the pole and tie a bolt to it - when its equidistant from the sides at the bottom its vertical!

 

[Tony1A]

I'll bear that in mind!

 

[Tony1A]

OK! The dish motor has arrived and I have built up the inside of the shed. I have had a look at the instructions that came with the unit - not quite sure if I understand it - will have a look again later. Also extended the coax as trying to put a new length in would take even more time and sweat. I need to put the brackets on the shed (when they arrive) and then get the pole right. I just hope when I come install this baby that everything works out. Very nervous about this as I have not done anything like this before!

 

[Lazarus]

Simples:

1. Set pole up plumb all round.

2. Clamp Motor to Pole with the Motor facing as near to due South as you can manage (Don't worry, final alignment will put it spot on) and set Motor bracket to 54 deg (Use the Longitude Scale, NOT the Elevation Scale which can be found on the opposite side of the bracket).

3. Clamp dish bracket onto Motor Stub so it is aligned to the faint mark or ridge on the front of the stub, then adjust the dish Bracket to read about 24 deg. and ensure the LNB is upright ie Zero Skew

4. Connect cables, taking care to avoid snagging on the clamp bolts (We can refine this later as there is often a problem with the Motor to Dish cable coming lose over time: Easily resolved, but not now)

5. Flash up Receiver, engage USALS and enter your Latitude and Longitude (Westerly Longitude can be shown as "-" on some boxes"). At a guess, you'll be somewhere around 54.5N and 1.4W (0r Minus 1.4 ............)

6. Select the Satellite Thor at 1.0W and the Transponder for BBC World News (as mentioned earlier in the Thread) viz 11862 H 28000. I've no experience with the Medion (Aldi?) box, but it meets the DVB S protocol so you should be able to Add/Edit Satellites and/or Transponders if they are not already pre-stored. Just a matter of playing - or reading the destructions, even!

7. Go back to the dish and align the assembly for best results on Thor by

a. Adjusting the ENTIRE Motor/Dish assembly around the pole to align for Azimuth (do NOT move the dish around the Motor stub ................ !!)

and

b. Adjusting the dish bracket ONLY to align for Elevation

Once happy, drive the dish to other Satellites across the arc.

QED.


Step 7 is just the same as aligning a fixed dish, in essence, with the exception that Azimuth requires the entire system to be rotated around the Pole.

 

[Tony1A]

Thanks Tivu! I have just done a print out of that as I think when the time comes it may just be the very thing I need. My Latitude is 54.687 (54.7) and Longitude is -1.53 if that helps. The Medion sat box I have was ordered from Medion as it came from Germany. My head is banging! It's probably easier than what it seems.

 

[Alex2]

Hmmm. Not sure if this is the way to go for me. I just have some concerns about the actual setup of the motor. I may be worrying for no reason so maybe the fixed dish with 2 lnbs for 28.2/19.2 and a separate 60cm dish for 13e (with diseqc switch)might be better for me. Unless someone can tell me just how easy or hard it is to put one of these Technomate motors to use!

Anybody????

The first time I put up a 2600 motor I made a stand on the ground. It is essential to have a straight pole, and when pointing true south, and looking behind the motor, the dish is in line and the LNB arm is straight. If this is right you can program the box to any strong satellite in your region, and wait for the motor to turn, and adjust the motor and dish elevation to the best signal. I then carried the dish with the motor to its proper place. The hardest part is then messing about on a ladder adjusting the motor clamps to the best signal. The more you can do at ground level the easy it is. Setting it up at ground level first, it is easy to check that all your setting are correct when you can find the other sat's okay.

 

[Lazarus]

It really is a simple process if done step by step.

In this case, as it's going on a shed, doing a ground mounted dry run is probably not necessary - albeit a great idea for those who are going to finally locate the dish at height!

 

[Tony1A]

The only problem I will have is that the Latitude scale on the dish motor is at the opposite side to where I will be working - no way to get round this one I'm afraid!

 

[Alex2]

The only problem I will have is that the Latitude scale on the dish motor is at the opposite side to where I will be working - no way to get round this one I'm afraid!

You can set that part of the motor up at ground level.