Setting up a Moteck H180 GTP-1800AM 36V HH motor.

[aceb]

Moonbase, I'm not using a 36V controller, it's a 12V PSU and is just wired via a switch that lets me free move the small actuator, slowly. To get it back on arc I just move to a non inclined sat and peak the signal. For the amount it gets used I wasn't going to fork out on another positioner. The actuator is one of these http://www.satshop.tv/Actuator-Jaeger-DARL-3610-

I doubt build quality has improved, when mine failed and I received the replacement it had the same issue of the two plates being out of align. I would also suggest that the motor needs another elevation bolt to spread the load. I fitted one using the bolts that hold the motor inside the casing. Since then I had to regularly check the screws inside as they work lose (I've since fitted star washers to prevent it happening). This really needs doing prior to install because once it's assembled the upper front half of the case is impossible to remove.

Positioning wise it's very good and I can't fault it, it also copes with the 1.2 well which is in a very exposed location but mechanically it's poor. The aluminium used in both the casing and the CM plate appears to be very low quality and I'm quite sure it will fail at some point even no matter how many bolts are holding it down. Would I buy another when this one fails, probably not but depends what else is available, the gibby PM doesn't look particularly robust and I think is limited in its coverage. Maybe look for a 1224?

 

[moonbase]

....I'm not using a 36V controller, it's a 12V PSU and is just wired via a switch that lets me free move the small actuator, slowly....

OK, if I understand you correctly, you are not getting any pulse count feedback on a display? You are using the 12V PSU via a switch for In/Out movement of the actuator arm and relying on the signal strength on the receiver to tell you when you are back on the arc using a "non inclined" satellite?

Have you got a picture of the wiring from the 12V PSU to the "DARL...", is it just M1 and M2 wired on the DARL from the 12V PSU ?


Thx

 

[Captain Jack]

Done an install on one of these today. What a horrible motor. The build quality is shocking.

For use with the Channel Master adapter plate on a Channel Master dish, I would expect it to be pretty much plug and play. But no. I had to drill a hole in the top plate in order to get the correct declination. I was about 1 degree too low initially, due to the adapter hitting the bottom shaft driven plate. The top plate has a long hole for adjustment but the bottom one only has a bolt size one. Really, both plates should be the same. I thought I'd be clever and swap the plates over but that simply reversed the problem - declination was now too high. So I had to drill two holes in the non-adjustable plate.

The other big issue is that the clamps don't grip the 3" pole properly. It's as tight as it will go but there's still movement because the mounting plate has some teeth which are far too small for the job. I think VS ran into this issue as well.

The third issue is that it's virtually impossible to get to limit switches without taking the top-front cover off. And you can't take the cover off without taking the plate off....which means the dish has to come off too. At least I couldn't find a way to set the limits another way and there was no mention of doing it in the useless manual.

So, unless you want to start drilling and grinding the bits on a brand new motor to make it useable - stay away. In my opinion, this motor should be removed from the market. Spend your hard earned cash on a second hand 1224 motor instead. It's in a whole different league.

 

[Spiff]

I've finally had time between work, weather and other hobby things to set up this Moteck motor so here's a review on it so far along with some photos and an opinion or two. I bought it from one of the board sponsors RAD for £160 which isn't cheap but probably less than the Gibertini polar mount and the 36" HD actuator that I'd need to get 70E-63W.

You'll see from the photos that the main shaft is basically a length of steel tube with a large cog attached inside the housing that is a driven a by a threaded rod on a motor. Each end of the tube is keyed so the brackets that attach to the dish slide over it and are bolted up. It's all very snug and there's no play even with the bolts out. So this leads me on to the first dissapointment which is obvious from the photo, the top and bottom bracket don't line up! Now the only way this could have happened is due to poor engineering of the main shaft making each end a few degrees out so not the best start out of the box.

The unit comes complete with an adapter plate predrilled for a CM, fortunately this is larger than the mounting section of the 1.25m Gibertini I'm using so I was able to drill the plate accordingly to take the four fixing bolts of the Gibby. As it's quite thick steel I treated myself to some new drill bits to make the job a bit easier so it was immediately obvious that the steel used wasn't the best quality, it had a very coarse feel to it and each of the four holes snatched really badly as the drill went through it.

The adapter comes with a couple of adjustable sliders to offset the plate from the two primary brackets attached to the shaft, I'm not sure how this is meant to go together for the CM but I found it necessary to remove the two primary brackets and swap them top for bottom because only one has an adjustable fixing hole. By putting the two adjustable sliders onto the fixed bracket I was able to square the plate on the motor, had I not had this option there is absolutely no way that the plate would have gone on because the fixing holes were 10mm out on one side and not the same height. This is either very poor engineering or quality control, either way I wasn't impressed! There's a supplied inclination adjuster for use with a PF but as the Gibby still has the bracketery on it for that I removed the dish side bracket completely.

I should take this opportunity to add that RAD were quick to respond to my concerns and stated that I'd be able to replace the faulty part even once I had drilled the plate if I was unable to get it working correctly. Ideally I'd have liked to box it up and sent it back for a new one but as I couldn't be sure the replacement wouldn't be the same I didn't feel there was any point persuing that line. From the emails I had from RAD I got the impression this stuff was coming direct from their supplier because all the advise Ian was sending me was from 'my supplier' but it would have been nice if someone could have opened another box to check another motor.

Two more gripes while I'm at it, the manual which is actually in Russian for the first half but English from the centre makes no mention at all of the CM adapter or offset dishes in general and although one image shows an offset dish all the photos are of it attached to a Jonsa (Fortec Star) with optional adapter. On each side of the dish is a small elevation indicator to set up the main angle so it's not too encouraging to see that there is a 5° difference on each side.

The motor ships with it centrally positioned as far as I could see but with the brackets being over 5° out from each other it's not too easy to tell but assuming it was I attached the re-drilled adapter plate so that it looked square to the motor (having covered up the dodgy brackets with a cloth). In the end I used an inclinometer to set the dish angle and spent an afternoon fine tuning the arc and so far I'm happy that I've got it tracking accurately from 53E-45W (the limits of my arc at patio level).

In operation it takes just over 40 seconds to move from 45E-45W which isn't too bad, it does make a few motor type noises at certain points of the arc on the up drive but coming down each side it's relatively quiet. The motor is spec'd to a 1.8m and 27Kg so I'm rather hoping that a 1.25 17kg dish isn't going to stress it too much. When fine tuning east-west there is one pulse that will take up the slack when the direction is changed so it requires two pulses in the opposite direction to move it one step backwards.

All I need to do now is get it on the main pole, I do like the fact the bracket has a right angled top to it so it will sit on the top of the pole and not slide down when I'm lining it up. I also like the fact I can adjust the dish position and not wait for the card to recover and redisplay the signal strength, plus of course I can now make fine adjustments in CS.

So my thoughts on it so far before I've really used it in anger. It's OK I guess, probably slightly cheaper and much lower profile than a polar mount alternative but the poor construction standard is a real disappointment, time will tell if it's been worth the money. I certainly won't recommend this motor to anyone inexperienced in setting up satellite dishes, it's needed some creativity with a drill, some lateral thinking and probably some luck to get it installed and tracking correctly.

I may as well add a few more photos while I'm in the garden with the camera, I know it's not quite the Pyramids of Giza but there's a spot in the garden where I can get all three dishes in the same shot lol
You'll notice the troublesome tree, well it seems to love Roundup, it's been lapping it up for the last few weeks. 'O'
Finally, my other love in the garden, our best Echium Pininana, all 3.6m of it!

Have just purchased one 08 09 16 and the top and bottom bracket line up fine : )

 

[Manikm909]

hmmm, im not sure whether to go down the actuator route or this Moteck HH180 motor....i wonder if the motor build has improved over the years...wonder if the Moteck uses diseqc 1.2 or usals commands?

 

[moonbase]

hmmm, im not sure whether to go down the actuator route or this Moteck HH180 motor....i wonder if the motor build has improved over the years...wonder if the Moteck uses diseqc 1.2 or usals commands?

The v-box uses the DiSEqC commands and it controls the motor/actuator.
Besides, you can use the v-box and the actuator/motor as a standalone setup, you do not need to use DiSEqC.

You can program the v-box with the satellites and use its remote control to select them instead of the the receiver if you wish.

 

[Manikm909]

thanks, i understand that now

i was actually hoping for some comments about the Moteck HH180 motor as an alternative to an actuator - i wonder if the build quality is any better as the years have gone by

 

[Spiff]

Good evening Manikm909 : ),

I had one but decided not to use it, as the weight of the dish is supported by the bearings on that type of motor.

Also of course winds are going to add forces to the same bearings and the gears.

Another point was that with actuators, the basic alignment is not affected when they are removed for service or replaced.

I think I am correct in saying all this : )

I use old Precision mounts with actuators, even after very high winds, we live in Mullion Cove they stay spot on.

I think I read that 1.8m is the maximum size dish the HH108 should be used with ?

The limitation with some set ups including mine using actuators, is not being able to drive the dishes to the maximum positions East or West, which the HH180 motor I think would do.

From what I have read it is possible with some actuators and mounts to move the dish further that I can.

You may already know all this : )

God Bless Spiff

 

[Manikm909]

Ah thanks very much Spiff - yes, i think its a trade off between, either having a rock solid setup - i.e polar mount and actuatr, but sacrificing some arc, or less stability but more arc.

Im sure the motors are designed to take the weight tho surely...or maybe they do not care.

 

[Spiff]

My early efforts with one of the Elephant trunk type motors put me off, even with a small 1.2m dish it would never stay put : )

Lets hope you find a member that has used the HH108 and can pass on his experience with it.

God Bless Spiff

 

[Manikm909]

i still dont know what to do with the CM - Laminas still in operation on diseq motor at the mo - CM just sitting there looking all shiny on the grass - on its nicely painted polar mount - lol

 

[Channel Hopper]

Ah thanks very much Spiff - yes, i think its a trade off between, either having a rock solid setup - i.e polar mount and actuatr, but sacrificing some arc, or less stability but more arc.

Im sure the motors are designed to take the weight tho surely...or maybe they do not care.

Explain 'sacrificing some arc'.

 

[Huevos]

Ah thanks very much Spiff - yes, i think its a trade off between, either having a rock solid setup - i.e polar mount and actuatr, but sacrificing some arc, or less stability but more arc.

Im sure the motors are designed to take the weight tho surely...or maybe they do not care.

So I started with the Jaegar 1224 (reinforced version). Pretty much a heavy duty version of the Motech. It carried the 1.5m Gibertini ok but is not reliable tracking the arc. Has too much lash. Had to keep tweaking with the remote of the G-box. In the end I gave up and switched to an actuator. Actuator gave me 57E-61W which was plenty for me. Later I switched to a 1.8m dish on a polar mount which got me a lot more c-band.

 

[Manikm909]

Yes. I have the jaegar smr-128 on my 1.2 and a 36 inch jack on my 1.8 with polar mount .