Wall and polar mount restoration

[statalite]

Not sure if this is posted in the correct forum.

I have received delivery of the below. As a complete novice with no knowledge of these things, can I ask would it be worth refurbishing?

The seller said it's a strong mount, there is a lot of rust, surface I think. The polar mount and actuator are not in great condition, I didn't expect so.

Financially would it be worth restoring, could I do this easily myself, or would I need to go to a metal finishing place or do I have that wrong.

 

[RimaNTSS]

Nice Channel Master polar mount, but seems it has some mileage. Some nuts&bolts there may be so rusty that without angle-grinder it is impossible to unscrew them. I do not see big difficulty taking everything apart, clean from rust, paint, change all nuts&bolts and assemble again.

 

[archive10]

Yup, as RimaNTSS sauys that's a nice Channel Master polar mount model 6033 for 1.0 and 1.2 meter Channel master dishes.
They were (in contrast to the standard CM Az/El mast mount) not galvanized, but merely spraypainted.
And therefore prone to rusting.
But they can be revived, by removing the rust and re-painting, fitting new Nuts/bolts, and potentially new bronze bushings.

I have a couple here:

Rusty Channel Master 120/100/90 polar mount - potential revival?

And you can watch other people's restoration processes here:

Channel Master 1.2m polar mount
Work in progress - Old Channel Master Polar Mount

(Copying @gibertini links in the above thread).

 

[statalite]

A selection of images to review the current condition.

 

[statalite]

A selection of images to review the current condition.

 

[Captain Jack]

I've seen worse. You may even want to try and refurbish the actuator.

 

[statalite]

Being a complete novice and never owned or used one of these setups, i'm embarrassed to ask how does an actuator work, as far as I can tell it moves the dish from left to right on the H axis, but i'm a little baffled as to how it does the Vertical movements.

My goal is to motorise the dish, but I feel I have bought different equipment used for a different purpose?

Sorry for being a n00b.

 

[RimaNTSS]

@statalite do not worry, you only need one actuator, it moves dish not only horizontal but also vertical, and that is a beauty of the polar-mount.

 

[Archive4]

Two letters and two numbers will sort most of that out with no problem

 

[Lazarus]

Aerosol

 

[Archive4]

Aerosol

Don´t think putting it in the sunshine with plenty of air is the answer, on this occasion

 

[archive10]

Being a complete novice and never owned or used one of these setups, i'm embarrassed to ask how does an actuator work, as far as I can tell it moves the dish from left to right on the H axis, but i'm a little baffled as to how it does the Vertical movements.

My goal is to motorise the dish, but I feel I have bought different equipment used for a different purpose?

Sorry for being a n00b.

The dish only rotates around one axis (which is (almost) aligned with Earth's rotational axis - thus the name "polar mount").
This allows it to track the satellites orbiting in the geo-stationary belt, which is roughly in the plane of the equator.
So you only need one actuator, for east-west (or left-right if you like) movement.

The actuator has a small electrical motor that through a series of gears drives a screw-like gear.
Running the engine in one direction moves the acutator arm out, the other direction in.

There are mounts that have two actuators, one for left/right, and another for up/down.
These are used for so-called "inclined orbits", and mostly for the hard-core sat-DXers (@scopus being one, and have a nice example).
Don't worry, you don't need one of these.

A new 18" actuator for getting started with can be bought by mail-order from Germany for EUR 31 + EUR 9 P&P.
You also need something to drive the actuator, this is called a positioner, and the simplest is probably a V-box. This can also be had from German web-sites (hm-sat-shop.de is one), and is about EUR 40.

Other than that, you just need an STB, some 4-core wire between the positioner and the polar mount, and suitable coax cable for the signals.

Them comes the hard part, which is aligning the dish/mount.
Plenty of advice in other threads on this forum.

 

[statalite]

Been asking around for quotes re the blasting and galvanisation of the parts, and I got this reply from one company:

Unfortunately, based on the attached parts we would struggle to spin galvanize as the parts are covered with a black lacquer that will not be fully removed during blasting. Also, all nuts/assemblies would have to be re-tapped to allow for the galvanized coating on the threaded areas.

This sounds plausable.

Another company just gave me a price upon seeing the photographs, which leads me to believe the quality of the work may be different.

Am I asking for the impossible?

 

[Archive4]

Re the body! Two of my brothers worked for Baddesly Ennel when I was younger, that acid bath would take any coating off, forget sand blasting, go a little old school. Re nuts and bolts, use new galvanised, not too expensive

 

[RimaNTSS]

use new galvanised

I am sorry, did you really mean galvanized?! That would be desecration towards just refurbished polar-mount OK, ok, just kidding.

 

[Archive4]

just kidding.

I´m not!!!

 

[statalite]

Re the body! Two of my brothers worked for Baddesly Ennel when I was younger, that acid bath would take any coating off, forget sand blasting, go a little old school. Re nuts and bolts, use new galvanised, not too expensive

Would you recommend replacing all the nuts and bolts first, taking into concideration someone has advised that the equipment will have to be retapped?
Is the guy who talked about retapping making sence becasue surely if it was either dipped in acid or sand blasted, neither would affect the original tapping?

 

[Archive4]

Would you recommend replacing all the nuts and bolts first, taking into concideration someone has advised that the equipment will have to be retapped?
Is the guy who talked about retapping making sence becasue surely if it was either dipped in acid or sand blasted, neither would affect the original tapping?

Hi, the dipping or blasting would not affect the tapping on the threads ( over blasting could remove the threads entirely ), however, the galvanising ( with an s not z )( Galvanization - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ) would, this will add a layer of molten metal to the threads thus making the nut and bolt " the wrong size for each other " . Hence, have the main parts dipped , blasted and use new stainless, inox bolts to assemble after.

 

[statalite]

Ok guys I don't really know where to start, I have been to collect my channel master polar mount with disappointing results, as the below pictures they have literally painted the lot in black despite me specifically asking them to remove the nuts and bolts before hand, and what has really annoyed me is the sticker on the gauge has been removed and the channel master one hasnt been saved wither, or is no longer visible. Of course when I move the bolts it rubs off the paint. Have they completely cocked this job up because it feels like it?



The last image is the inside of the mount in which there appears to be a "patch" however I suspect this was present beforehand. the process that they have done has made a gap at the op of the patch. Its still slightly rusty inside, but I guess this is the best it will get?

Sorry for the photo's it is currenrtly night time so I had to use the camera flash.

:mad:

 

[RimaNTSS]

And who are "they" ? Did they also take money for the job done? You could do the same by yourself for free.... OK, almost free, paint would cost something.