Where To Put It

Rob

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Im putting my 90cm prime focus dish together and I have a piece over :-doh!

Can anyone tell me where the metal bar (16" long) goes, because we are foxed.

Also if anyone can throw any light on this as I have been told by a very good source that my 8" actuator motor will move my dish from 50 west to 50 east no problem, but all I am getting is from Hotbird to Hispasat. :(

And no that fat ba*ta*d in the pictures is not me, I'm the fat ba*ta*d taking the pictures.:)
 
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Rd100

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8 inch is to small you need a 12 inch actuator , Not sure what that bar is
Rob said:
Im putting my 90cm prime focus dish together and I have a piece over :-doh!

Can anyone tell me where the metal bar (16" long) goes, because we are foxed.

Also if anyone can throw any light on this as I have been told by a very good source that my 8" actuator motor will move my dish from 50 west to 50 east no problem, but all I am getting is from Hotbird to Hispasat. :(

And no that fat ba*ta*d in the pictures is not me, I'm the fat ba*ta*d taking the pictures.:)
 

PaulR

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Could it be a temporary piece to hold the dish still until an actuator is fitted?
 

Rob

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Rd100 said:
8 inch is to small you need a 12 inch actuator

I have to admit that the 8" is to small, but yesterday I went to a well known satellite shop in North London and asked for a 18" actuator and told him that I wanted to get from 53 east to 30 west and was told that my 8" would do this if I reset the limits.

The man in question was the shop owner and a very clever man, and he said that I should be able to go 50 east to 50 east with the 8".
I'm finding this impossible to do, but then he is a lot more clever than me.

As for the 16" metal bar this was well rusty when I got it, and also the shape of the bar was on one of the arms (where the actuator end is in the picture) so I gather that it was in use at some time.

Going back to the actuator a shop owner is surely not going to miss the sale of a £30 actuator if he can help it, so why would he tell me that my 8" is alright.
 

Llew

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I had just such a bar I had to remove when I swapped my 8" actuator for a 15" one, but I'm blowed if I can remember how it was originally fixed on my SMW dish. All I know is that it wasn't required when changing up.

The original actuator restricted arc movement to 30 degrees each way, so I did a swap with the suppliers.

Llew
 

Llew

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Further investigation reveals that the actuator piston was not fixed directly to the dish, but to one end of the bar, the other end of the bar bolted nearer to the polar mount pivot point (using Nylock nuts) giving (supposedly) a greater flexibility of actuator movement.

Llew
 

Llew

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Rob, Just dug out the instructions showing the way SMW use for moving a large dish with a tiddly actuator. I should imagine your dish would use a similar method. ( 'D' at top).

I appreciate the bar is not quite the same as yours, i.e. mine had a sliding adjustment for azimuth, but maybe it performs the same function.

Llew
 

Rob

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Llew you're a bloody hero, as what you have said confirms what I thought might happen.
At the moment I am being refused permission to view your thumbnail, but when admin correct this fault and I can then see it, it should confirm that the bar is fitted to the back of the dish and the other end to the actuator.

Once again thanks
Rob
 

rolfw

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I can think of no reason why you shouldn't be able to view the thumbnail Rob.
 

Rob

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rolfw said:
I can think of no reason why you shouldn't be able to view the thumbnail Rob.

Hi Rolf,

Everytime I tried to view Llews thumbnail I was refused permission and asked to log in again.
Alright now as I can see it, thanks anyway.

@ Llew, Just wondered why you switched from a 8" to 15" actuator, was the 8" with the bar no good.
Channel Hopper said I would be better off with a 18", so will probably take that route unless you can recommend the 8" + bar.
Remember I need to go from 53 east to 30 west.

Thanks for your help
Rob
 

Llew

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No Rob, just about managed 30.5E - 30W with the 8". The SMW Range Extender to enable a larger actuator to be fitted wasn't available (or the supplier didn't mention such a conversion existed) when I bought the dish.

Maybe your bar would allow a greater sweep, but not sure of how you fit it on your setup, so can't really help on that one :(

Llew
 

Llew

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TBH, I found using an 8" actuator/ bar assembly to move a (largish) dish so close to the pivot point rather than on the dish itself (not that this could be done on an SMW dish) placed too much strain on the actuator motor.

I only had the original system up and running for three weeks that way, but wouldn't like to have had it working like that for longer.

Llew
 

Rob

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Still think the way to go is a new 18" actuator (will have to measure up first) but first I have to find out how this bar will effect it.

Think I know how to connect the bar and will try it on Saturday and see what happens.
@Llew on my dish which is small for a p/f dish I think it will work alright, but we will see.:-doh!
The bar should connect to where the ring of the actuator is now, and the other end to the ring of the actuator. See picture below.
 

Llew

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OK Rob, let us know how you make out :-righton

Llew
 

Rob

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I've never rated myself the brightest star in the universe, but also I'm certainly not the dimmest either so when I went to fit this 16" bar to my prime focus system I was full of confidence.

Thirty minutes later and I'm totally baffled as to were the bloody thing goes.
Unless I change the actuator to the other side (which I don't want to do) I can't really see where to put it.:(

Still looking on the positive side that was only a side issue and I measured the distance that the dish would travel to 53 east and much to my surprise it is only 12", so it looks like a 12" actuator will do the job.
Bearing in mind what Channel Hopper said about a 18" might well hit the wall I think that is the answer.
So unless anyone can come up with any little gems that is what I'm going to do.:)
 

Llew

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Dammit Rob, must go somewhere, unless it's not used for that particular purpose :confused

As you say, someone may come up with an answer.

You can set the mechanical limits of most actuators if you decide on a bigger one, or East/West limits on your receiver.

Llew
 

Rob

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Hi Llew,

No doubt it goes somewhere but I'm not going to worry about it, as I'm going to order the 12" actuator and that should do me fine.

I know how to set the mechanical limit's so that's no problem and if I order it this weekend I should get it by Wednesday when I'm on holiday.:D

Then on Friday we are off to Russia for nine days, so should be up and running by then. (I hope :) )
 

Llew

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Gibertini 1.25m motorised dish driven by the AD3000, with either Inverto BU Quad or Norsat / XMW Ka LNBs . SMW 1.05m + 3 other dishes. Speccy: Promax HD Ranger+
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OK Rob, enjoy your trip, always fancied going there myself :)
 

Rob

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Finally sorted out my dish and put in a new 12" actuator this afternoon.
It's a bit near the wall but can just get Hispasat at 30 west, and Express AM22 at 53 east so that will do me.
Still need to fine tune the dish but was stopped by the rain, still will do that when I get back from Russia at the end of the month.

It still looks wrong to me and I'm sure there is a better way of fitting an actuator than I have done, but it does work and that's the important thing.
 
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