Channel Master/Laminas 1.8m project

[John]

View attachment 107141 View attachment 107142
View attachment 107143

Now that assembly looks good squire. Would painting the back of the dish a green sort of hedgerow colour to keep the old bat next door happy or is it already painted CJ, can't remember.

 

[Captain Jack]

Thanks John. The front is already painted green camouflage type job to try and reduce the "visual impact" from the bat's kitchen but obviously not enough.

 

[blademedia]

Nice work neat and tidy job.

 

[scopus]

Thanks John. The front is already painted green camouflage type job to try and reduce the "visual impact" from the bat's kitchen but obviously not enough.

Great job CJ. Love to see the bats face if you installed the PF 1.8 too!

 

[moonbase]

Nice work CJ, its going to be a top class install when completed.

Rgds

 

[Captain Jack]

So hung my CM back on yesterday and other than breaking the Venture actuator, I am pretty happy with the install - much more solid that the previous. I've also closed the 1mm gap in the strings by putting a washer behind one of the mounting points of the dish. Still need to tweak alignment but it's close.

The new dish position is giving me an extended range from 58W to 57E. The latter is rather iffy as there's just too much in the way - trees, houses but I did lock Duhok TV at around 5dB (probably efficiency of an 80cm dish at this end). Haven't tried C band here yet but not expecting miracles.

55E is booming in, though, which is what I wanted.

Tidying up to do on cabling etc. but here are WIP pics (dish looking at 45W).

 

[John]

So hung my CM back on yesterday and other than breaking the Venture actuator, I am pretty happy with the install - much more solid that the previous. I've also closed the 1mm gap in the strings by putting a washer behind one of the mounting points of the dish. Still need to tweak alignment but it's close.

The new dish position is giving me an extended range from 58W to 57E. The latter is rather iffy as there's just too much in the way - trees, houses but I did lock Duhok TV at around 5dB (probably efficiency of an 80cm dish at this end). Haven't tried C band here yet but not expecting miracles.

55E is booming in, though, which is what I wanted.

Tidying up to do on cabling etc. but here are WIP pics (dish looking at 45W).


View attachment 107252 View attachment 107254

View attachment 107253

Very nice, look forward to doing some comparisons CJ. I think your Zinwell / barrel combo will give slightly better results than my Norsat / barrel combo.
BTW .... ever thought about doing a house swap with that chap in the background that has the greenhouse ?, that seems an ideal spot for a big dish

 

[archive10]

So hung my CM back on yesterday and other than breaking the Venture actuator, I am pretty happy with the install - much more solid that the previous. I've also closed the 1mm gap in the strings by putting a washer behind one of the mounting points of the dish. Still need to tweak alignment but it's close.

The new dish position is giving me an extended range from 58W to 57E. The latter is rather iffy as there's just too much in the way - trees, houses but I did lock Duhok TV at around 5dB (probably efficiency of an 80cm dish at this end). Haven't tried C band here yet but not expecting miracles.

55E is booming in, though, which is what I wanted.

Tidying up to do on cabling etc. but here are WIP pics (dish looking at 45W).

Excellent set-up!
And I can see you have the same blue skies and hot weather that we're enjoying here today and tomorrow too.

...maybe I should feel inspired and put up a dish too this weekend?

 

[moonbase]

Nice work CJ, well done, its a neat, tidy and professional job.

Rgds

 

[Captain Jack]

Very nice, look forward to doing some comparisons CJ. I think your Zinwell / barrel combo will give slightly better results than my Norsat / barrel combo.
BTW .... ever thought about doing a house swap with that chap in the background that has the greenhouse ?, that seems an ideal spot for a big dish

Surely you'll have the edge with the increased surface area over mine? Even if the LNB combo is better? Though I suspect the differences will be minimal.

I know the farmer but never asked! One of his lambies drowned in the rhyne last week, so he came out. Yeah that field has a very clear view of pretty much the whole arc. Good candidate for something substantial!

Spoke to the neighbour yesterday about the dish and she was very reasonable in the end. She was just concerned about the height of the dish as she does have a full view of it from her kitchen. I said that I took precautions by lowering it and she was fine with it. Even said that if any of the trees need trimming then let her know!

Thanks to everyone else for the kind comments. It seems like a never ending work in progress.

The next steps will be to get that LNB skewer on, now that I have extra 8 strands of wires available and install a camera of some sort... At a later date, I'll think about reinstalling the LNB changer but I would only ever use 2 LNBs and I haven't quite got the Ka band bug yet, despite having those Hughes bits lying around..

Carry on...

 

[John]

Surely you'll have the edge with the increased surface area over mine? Even if the LNB combo is better? Though I suspect the differences will be minimal.

I know the farmer but never asked! One of his lambies drowned in the rhyne last week, so he came out. Yeah that field has a very clear view of pretty much the whole arc. Good candidate for something substantial!

Spoke to the neighbour yesterday about the dish and she was very reasonable in the end. She was just concerned about the height of the dish as she does have a full view of it from her kitchen. I said that I took precautions by lowering it and she was fine with it. Even said that if any of the trees need trimming then let her know!

Thanks to everyone else for the kind comments. It seems like a never ending work in progress.

The next steps will be to get that LNB skewer on, now that I have extra 8 strands of wires available and install a camera of some sort... At a later date, I'll think about reinstalling the LNB changer but I would only ever use 2 LNBs and I haven't quite got the Ka band bug yet, despite having those Hughes bits lying around..

Carry on...

I didn't phrase it very well re the Zinn combo, i'll try again. It was just that when i had the Norsat 8000RI wide band lnb delivered i did a couple of test scans on 40.5° W and also 55°W with the Zinwell/Barrel combo and then did the same scans using the Norsat wideband. I found that the Zinwell combo favoured slightly better. I was quite impressed with the Zinwell / AV-Com barrel set-up.
Nice to know the old bat is going to trust you to trim her bush when required.

 

[moonbase]

Welp, ordered all the nuts, washers and bolts (yes, INOX) and the replacement bearing insert. I decided to go for the branded version

CJ,

Would you please be able to provide a link or point me in the right direction to the supplier that you used for the replacement bearing inserts? Also, did you replace both top and bottom bearing inserts on the polar mount and were the top and bottom bearing inserts identical?

I might replace the bearing inserts on the Precision 2.2m polar mount but the top and bottom outer bearing housings on it are different. The top bearing housing is an ASAHI FT203, same as yours. Without dismantling the polar mount I am unsure what the bottom type is.

Lastly, did you purchase bearings that were lockable? Some of them have a small grub screw that can be used to lock the shaft/bolt in the bearing to prevent rotation, a very useful option when setting the declination offset angle.


Rgds

 

[Captain Jack]

This is the one I bought:

1017-5/8G UCW202-10 RHP Bearing Insert 5/8" Bore (40mm O/D) Spherical Outer with Grub Screw - Best Bearings Online

I did replace both but only the top one was "clicky". As you can see, there's a small grub screw but I found it slips and I had to use a spanner from the other side to hold the bolt anyway.

 

[moonbase]

This is the one I bought:

1017-5/8G UCW202-10 RHP Bearing Insert 5/8" Bore (40mm O/D) Spherical Outer with Grub Screw - Best Bearings Online

I did replace both but only the top one was "clicky". As you can see, there's a small grub screw but I found it slips and I had to use a spanner from the other side to hold the bolt anyway.

CJ,

Thanks for the link.

Was the bottom bearing insert identical to the top one? I have not dismantled the polar mount yet so do not know what each one looks like and if they are identical. I am just guessing but I would have thought the bottom bearing would have some type of ball joint to allow forwards and backwards adjustment of the declination offset angle?


Rgds

 

[Captain Jack]

Yes, both were exactly the same on mine. There is enough room for maneuvering the elevation controls.

 

[Captain Jack]

Wondered why I wasn't getting any signal on any satellite today....

Oopps... Glad the chain is there to prevent the dish crashing down. And more winds are coming....



Did a bodge to get Ku band in at least.



Going put a beefier actuator on there but needs some metalwork adjustments.

 

[Archive-8]

Wondered why I wasn't getting any signal on any satellite today....

Oopps... Glad the chain is there to prevent the dish crashing down. And more winds are coming....

View attachment 110265

Did a bodge to get Ku band in at least.

View attachment 110264

Going put a beefier actuator on there but needs some metalwork adjustments.

What make actuator was it?


Hopefully you'll be able to sort it soon.

 

[scopus]

Wondered why I wasn't getting any signal on any satellite today....

Oopps... Glad the chain is there to prevent the dish crashing down. And more winds are coming....

View attachment 110265

Did a bodge to get Ku band in at least.

View attachment 110264

Going put a beefier actuator on there but needs some metalwork adjustments.

Nothing broken I hope?

 

[PaulR]

Wow! So it looks like the rod end joint has just ripped apart to me. Maybe just getting a better quality one would do?

 

[Captain Jack]

What make actuator was it?

An 8" Venture (there's a pattern developing here).. Will put a 12" one on.

Nothing broken I hope?

Thankfully not. Signal levels are the same as they used to be - just can't adjust declination at the moment...

Wow! So it looks like the rod end joint has just ripped apart to me. Maybe just getting a better quality one would do?

Yeah, it has been quite windy here, so I think that's why it gave up. Being in tension doesn't help either.