sonnetpete
Grumpy Old Retired Moderator and quiz inquisitor..
- My Satellite Setup
- Laminas 1.2M fibre dish with an IBU, on a Clarke Tech USALS motor, covering 57E - 24.5W to an Octagon SX88. Displayed on a 20" Dyon LED TV.
Seperate 80 cm dish on 28E with a Humax Freesat for SWMBO.
Free Sat V8 meter. Sony Bravia 46" LCD, Sony BluRay and Home Cinema.
- My Location
- Normandy, France
So.....I had an old Technomate motor that had begun to show signs of play when I put my Laminas on it. So it was replaced with the Clarke Tech and I opened it up and managed to cure the excessive play. After being gifted an old 80cm dish and using it in my multi sat setup I found I had a spare dish and motor so managed to get it all working mounted on the same pole as the Laminas. I pressed my old Vantage 7100S into service (and remembered how rubbish the software is) and it all worked fine.
Then the other day I recalled having the old 19.2° analogue dish that was taken down when I had the wall repointed. Could I get this working on the motor?...It's not a design that lends itself to mounting on a motor stub. I looked through my 'workshop' (ok it's the old chicken shed) and eventually came up with a 40mm plastic plumbing T piece and a spare adjustable kitchen cabinet foot from IKEA. The T piece is a pretty tight interference fit in the hollow end of the motor stub and the shaft of the foot fitted nicely inside the T piece and gave me a chance to make elevation adjustments, using the old mesh dish clamps to tighten the elevation up.
I know it sounds and looks a huge lash up. Obviously it is but I get a lot of enjoyment from this hobby by achieving what looks impossible. It's too low down to be useful, though I can get good results from 5°W, 0.8°W and 28°E so far...My aim was to see how small you could go to get anything from 7°W....I'll be giving that a go tonight.....maybe after fitting a Black Ultra....
Then the other day I recalled having the old 19.2° analogue dish that was taken down when I had the wall repointed. Could I get this working on the motor?...It's not a design that lends itself to mounting on a motor stub. I looked through my 'workshop' (ok it's the old chicken shed) and eventually came up with a 40mm plastic plumbing T piece and a spare adjustable kitchen cabinet foot from IKEA. The T piece is a pretty tight interference fit in the hollow end of the motor stub and the shaft of the foot fitted nicely inside the T piece and gave me a chance to make elevation adjustments, using the old mesh dish clamps to tighten the elevation up.
I know it sounds and looks a huge lash up. Obviously it is but I get a lot of enjoyment from this hobby by achieving what looks impossible. It's too low down to be useful, though I can get good results from 5°W, 0.8°W and 28°E so far...My aim was to see how small you could go to get anything from 7°W....I'll be giving that a go tonight.....maybe after fitting a Black Ultra....
