@blademedia
Thank you for your reply.
Yes, I agree about the accuracy of the Az/El mount. the beamwidth of a large antenna is very narrow and to get a polar mount to accurately track an arc between the East/West extreme points might be quite tricky.
The motorised Az/El option with the slewing ring sounds as though it will be the best option for my needs. I have a Research Concepts RC2000C dual axis controller unit that should be able to manage both the slewing ring and the elevation actuator. I need to get the distance distribution of the mounting points on the 1200mm rear mounting ring of the Precision antenna and the recommended pole size. I am not sure if the 4.5" diameter pole I have here is under specified.
If you are in agreement, once I have the measurements and pole cap size I will pass them on to you and we can review the options and cost for you to fabricate the mount? One more question for now if you can help, is the slewing ring or the chain drive mount free from play when it tracks azimuth?
Rgds
Hi moonbase,
Yes the larger dishes have a very tight beam width, it can be time consuming getting it to track correctly in KU band as you will know with the 2.2, C band is more forgiving,
The Research Concepts RC2000C dual axis controller is perfect for the job it also controls the skew which is very important with AZ/EL,
Personally I don't think a 4,5 inch pole is big enough for a precision dish over 2.4 but you can check up on that and I will make the mount as instructed by you,
Once you have the measurement's and we agree on a price I can start fabrication, I will only be able to work on it in my spare time, it could be a few months before completion, since ive retired I have less time on my hands than when I was working full time,
There are various slewing rings on the market, once we are in agreement with fabrication costs I will give you a list to choose from, there the type of item on a mini digger that turns the cab,
Both chain drive and slewing rings are free from play, the gearbox ratio will be up to you I will give you options for this, the higher the gear the slower the dish will move, it can be geared in two ways actuator and gearbox,
Most people try to alter the pulse count that's totally wrong, the way to make a dish more precise is the gearing,
Btw what size dish is it ?, I will look forward to making this mount and seeing your installation progress.