Thinking about motorising my satellite dish

[Archived-1]

I have 2 and a sky dish atm tony, but there will be 3rd when money permits :-).

 

[Tony1A]

WOW! Cool!

 

[Tony1A]

Good news! The brackets have arrived, but our weather forecast is not great, but as long as it stays dry I may get them on the shed today. Or, at least that's what I'm aiming for. Everything is coming together!

 

[Lazarus]

Not raining yet >>>> All finished by teatime?

 

[Tony1A]

Heavy rain stopped play! I got the top bracket on all secure, but I need a plumb line to get the bottom one exact. Dammit! I hate it when you start doing a job outside then it pours down. Brilliant! :mad:

 

[Lazarus]

No balaclava, then?

 

[Tony1A]

Er, no! I don't own such a thing, plus doing satellite work in the rain is not recommended. LOL! Just rung my local DIY store and they have no plumb-bobs in so it looks like I'll be using a piece of string and a heavy spanner. Probably just as good!

 

[Lazarus]

I just use a standard spirit level to check verticality - front/rear and side/side.

Don't forget that even if the pole is perfectly plumb, as soon as you start tightening clamps (eg those attaching motor to pole and especially the dish to stub ones) you must take great care to ensure they are done up carefully and evenly as the little blighters have a marked propensity for going out of kilter!

 

[Tony1A]

Could not have put that better myself, Tivu! I thought the pole was out of true, in actual fact it's the shed that is the problem!

 

[Lazarus]

My shed is not a "lean-to", but a "lean drunkenly".

Plus the chipboard floor is now so soft that I expect the whole lot to keel over within months!

 

[Tony1A]

Time for a new shed?

 

[Lazarus]

Yep. Got my eye on one of those B&Q Metal jobbies.

 

[Tony1A]

Good choice!

 

[Tony1A]

Right guys! I have installed the brackets and the pole but I have noticed (unless it's my eyes playing tricks) that it has a slight bend even though it's a two inch diameter. I have tried to compensate as much as I can with the brackets so that the top is as straight as I can get it. I would say that I am ready to go for an install or would it be better for me to get a new pole? Looking for advice (again).

 

[Lazarus]

Just go for it as it is >> If you rotate the pole so the bend is fore and aft, rather than side to side, any small error will disappear during alignment.

A bend from side to side, however, is potentially going to cause tracking errors.




"Go, Go, Go!"

 

[Huevos]

I'll just have to set limits on my box at the time

You need to set hardware limits on the motor. Never rely on the software limits of the box to protect your install.

 

[Piltdownpaul]

My tm2600 was set at 60w and east, that was enough for me. Easy to do Tony,do it before installing if you know which satellites you are after,unless you arent sure if you'll clobber summat on moving the dish in position.

 

[Lazarus]

They're usually set to around 65E/W by default, IIRC.

 

[Piltdownpaul]

Once you have the dish on that stub though its impossible to set the hardware limits without removing the stub. My first tm2600 ,the one that went straight back, they were set at 75W and E.I left mine where they were as 57E is impossible for me, LOS wise.

 

[Tony1A]

Oh, I didn't realize I had to take the stub off to set the limits. One more thing to do. I'm not sure how far round to the east the dish will go as the only thing to stop it is my shed roof so I'll have to find out what satellites I want and set the limits accordingly. I will have to rotate my pole as the bend goes to the left slightly so I'll have to re-do that. Well considering I'm using an 80cm dish what can I NOT get?