Motor Dish question......

[hyper_cool]

Hi Guys,

I am planning to purchase a motor since I realized it's such a b**ch to move the dish side to side and up and down. So anyhow, my major concern is that the dish might hit the railings of my balcony if I use a motor. I installed it on edge of my balcony just outside of the railings and pretty much can get roughly 180 degrees of movement in reference with the railings of the balcony. So my question is, do you set the parameter of what's the starting point of the dish in terms of degrees and what's the maximum degrees of movement to avoid hiting the balcony railings? Hopefully my questions makes sense.

[cyberham]

Originally Posted by hyper_cool

Hi Guys,

I am planning to purchase a motor since I realized it's such a b**ch to move the dish side to side and up and down. So anyhow, my major concern is that the dish might hit the railings of my balcony if I use a motor. I installed it on edge of my balcony just outside of the railings and pretty much can get roughly 180 degrees of movement in reference with the railings of the balcony. So my question is, do you set the parameter of what's the starting point of the dish in terms of degrees and what's the maximum degrees of movement to avoid hiting the balcony railings? Hopefully my questions makes sense.

It might be tough for others to comment since they haven't seen your balcony. Too bad you can't post a photo here. That 180 degrees of movement of your dish will be more than ample for a motor which only moves about +70 and -70 degrees maximum. And you won't require the motor to swing even that much for the Ku satellites you can possibly receive (15W through 125W: 127 degrees of azimuth swing).

From what I saw, the restriction will be when your LNB arm hits the side of the building since the dish reflector clears the railing spindles. But you can't get any satellites beyond the point where the LNB arm hits the building anyway. You must make sure the soft or hard limit stops on the motor activate before your LNB arm hits the building.

The dish must be pointing due south when the motor is on the zero reference. Once you have this as accurately as you can, in your case, I'd motor to 61.5W which is just 3 degrees east of your due south and orient the dish in azimuth and elevation on Echostar 12414 L 20000. When you have that as good as you can get it, motor to a satellite on the far west side of the arc (Anik F2 or F3 is probably as far as you will be able to motor before your LNB arm hits the building) and orient for best azimuth. Then motor back to 61.5W and check elevation. Unfortunately, Echostar at 61.5W may be the furthest east satellite you can receive. Go back and forth across the arc like this adjusting azimuth on one side of the arc and then elevation on the other side of the arc.

The good news is you can forget about skewing the LNB once you have a motor since the motor does it automatically as it turns. Set the LNB for zero skew when the dish is due south and motor is at zero reference.

[cyberham]

Also, installation of the motor will increase the distance from your dish to the balcony railing. This will give a little more clearance between the dish reflector and the railing. Warning: once you get a motor, you may initially spend unusual amounts of time exploring all the hundreds of channels that become available.

[Kraven]

@Hyper--> you should be able to set a limit on how far the motor will turn.
The option for the s10 is under ANTENNA SETup--> Motor settings

[cyberham]

So...are you shopping for a motor? Or have you gone back to that job of yours...?

[hyper_cool]

Thanks guys.

I'm looking for a motor now. I'm eyeing one in ebay. Check the linke below and let me know what you guys think. After the motor, I'm thinking of getting a quad LNB but hopefully gets it in much cheaper price.

http://www.*********/itm/12082259642...84.m1423.l2649

As for quad LNB I heard Invacom is good, but I noticed it's pricey any one knows another brand that's comparable but much cheaper? Thanks guys

[cyberham]

Motor looks good. For a linear/circular quad port LNB, you can use the Red Green method like I have and duct tape your circular dual LNB to the side of a standard linear dual LNB. Cost? $0.05 for tape.

[cyberham]

@ hyper_cool: Tried to PM you, but your inbox is full.

[wilspin]

Originally Posted by cyberham

Warning: once you get a motor, you may initially spend unusual amounts of time exploring all the hundreds of channels that become available.

plan on an hour every day if you rescan daily not including actual viewing of shows.

[cyberham]

Originally Posted by hyper_cool

...I'm looking for a motor now. I'm eyeing one in ebay...

Did you ever get a motor installed?