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

Status
Not open for further replies.

aceb

Specialist Contributor
Joined
Oct 2, 2007
Messages
1,537
Reaction score
841
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
Prof Tuner 7301 /
1.25m Gibertini + Inverto B.Ultra/C1W, Moteck H180, 68.5E-67W Ku/C-Band /
1.8m Precision PF + ESX241/Inverto Black Pro, 66E-63W Ku/C-band /
2.4m Fortec Star+Titanium C1W/Pride plate, 49E-58W
My Location
Sussex
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!
 

Attachments

  • P1270215.JPG
    P1270215.JPG
    954.9 KB · Views: 690
  • P1270241.jpg
    P1270241.jpg
    434.8 KB · Views: 708
  • P1270279.jpg
    P1270279.jpg
    238.5 KB · Views: 705
  • P1270229.jpg
    P1270229.jpg
    442.9 KB · Views: 711
  • P1270225.jpg
    P1270225.jpg
    449.1 KB · Views: 722
  • P1270285.jpg
    P1270285.jpg
    724.1 KB · Views: 605
  • allthree.jpg
    allthree.jpg
    327.7 KB · Views: 599
  • P1270286.jpg
    P1270286.jpg
    159.5 KB · Views: 551
  • P1270289.jpg
    P1270289.jpg
    472.8 KB · Views: 646
  • P1270294.jpg
    P1270294.jpg
    438.4 KB · Views: 567

remlap

Specialist Contributor
Joined
Aug 21, 2004
Messages
2,332
Reaction score
898
Points
113
Age
37
My Satellite Setup
Gibertini 104cm motorised dish with a Technomate 5402 HD CI+ and TBS 6925 + Gibertini 90cm with 9E 13E 19.2E and 28.2/5E with a Hauppauge WinTV NOVA-HD-S2 Media Centre PC and Pure EVOKE Flow Radio + 100cm Channel Master with 2 LNBs at 24.5W and 30W
My Location
Wales
Thank you for a great write up.
 

Lazarus

Retired Moderator
Joined
May 29, 2009
Messages
27,078
Reaction score
8,664
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
80cm Motorised.
Several small Dishes.
Much else.
My Location
North York Moors
Ditto :-thumb1
 

sonnetpete

Grumpy Old Retired Moderator and quiz inquisitor..
Joined
Dec 13, 2008
Messages
8,948
Reaction score
3,491
Points
113
Age
73
Website
wordpress.com
My Satellite Setup
Laminas 1.2M fibre dish with an IBU, on a Clarke Tech USALS motor, covering 57E - 24.5W to an Octagon SX88. Displayed on a 20" Dyon LED TV.

Seperate 80 cm dish on 28E with a Humax Freesat for SWMBO.
Free Sat V8 meter. Sony Bravia 46" LCD, Sony BluRay and Home Cinema.
My Location
Normandy, France
Thanks for the report Aceb. You must be disappointed with the poor quality of the construction and I'd be worried that all the motors are like this. Some time back (before I went multisat) I was tempted to try this motor on a Laminas 1.8M. In a way, I'm pleased I didn't but it must be worth considering if you don't want to go down the actuator route.

Love the garden but why haven't you just taken a chain saw to the 'troublesome tree'?
 

Vipersan

Emmett Browns Ghost
Joined
Jun 29, 2009
Messages
10,918
Reaction score
6,663
Points
113
Age
66
My Satellite Setup
IP9000HD +
TD110 Dish and TD88 Dish in Tandem
66°East to 60°West.
AZbox PrmHD + OpnbxS9HD + Skybox + DrHD F15
2x VboxII AZ-EL
2 m+ Alcoa PF + BSC421 C-Band lnbf...
+SS2/TwHnS2-3200 pci/TBS6925 pci
1.5 Fortec Star -Gbox - HtoH Ku/Ka/C
My Location
UK
...Great work ...excellent progress and application of lateral thinking..superb write up ..
..but must admit I'm gobsmacked that a manufacturer can produce something that is obvious even to a drunken man on a flying horse with a wobbly eye is so far out of true ..
How does such a thing get through quality control...?????
rgds
VS

That tree btw ..is either a late bloomer ....or practically dead ...
..and begging for some chainsaw action ...
:)
 

Costactc

Regular Member
Joined
May 30, 2012
Messages
811
Reaction score
763
Points
93
Age
58
My Satellite Setup
3m channel master mesh-24" vonweise actuator-ps1 x2 lnbf(L)-pansat ap3500 positioner-x2 premium III-vu+solo2.
2.4m fortec solid-24" vonweise actuator-esx 241 lnbf(c)-vbox 7 positioner- dm800.
1.2m fortec-24"sj actuator-invacom snh-031--tm 5402 m3.
My Location
Canada
Awesome pics.
 

aceb

Specialist Contributor
Joined
Oct 2, 2007
Messages
1,537
Reaction score
841
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
Prof Tuner 7301 /
1.25m Gibertini + Inverto B.Ultra/C1W, Moteck H180, 68.5E-67W Ku/C-Band /
1.8m Precision PF + ESX241/Inverto Black Pro, 66E-63W Ku/C-band /
2.4m Fortec Star+Titanium C1W/Pride plate, 49E-58W
My Location
Sussex
sonnetpete said:
Thanks for the report Aceb. You must be disappointed with the poor quality of the construction and I'd be worried that all the motors are like this. Some time back (before I went multisat) I was tempted to try this motor on a Laminas 1.8M. In a way, I'm pleased I didn't but it must be worth considering if you don't want to go down the actuator route.

Love the garden but why haven't you just taken a chain saw to the 'troublesome tree'?

Time will tell if it's been a good buy, until it's been up a few months, done a few miles and put up with one of our winters I won't know if it's worth what I've paid for it. the concept is great, just a shame the Jaeger 1224 isn't still in production.

As for the tree, ahhh well, only about 25% of the trunk circumference is on our property, it actually belongs to next door :D
 

Mickha

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Dec 10, 2004
Messages
5,974
Reaction score
884
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
1.2M Channel Master, 1224 motor, VU+ Duo 2
My Location
North West
Good work aceb, I am hoping to finalize my installation this weekend, dismantling it all and drilling the two extra support holes, unfortunately the weather is poor, grey, and wet, all day.
At least it's given me time to backup my PC and format the hard drive, something that needed doing.
I notice you have switched the brackets round, and done away with the adjuster, but as you've got one on the Gibertini mount obviously it was superfluous.
Also I cant see the rubber bung, where you feed the 4 core motor wires, have you removed it?
Just noticed we have someone selling a Jaeger 1224, on the forum, if I hadn't already spent all my money I would be tempted, but maybe not at the asking price.
 

Llew

cerca trova...
Staff member
Joined
Jan 1, 2000
Messages
16,226
Reaction score
4,197
Points
113
Age
81
My Satellite Setup
Triple Dragon, Dreambox 8000, Echostar AD3000ip, TBS6522,6925,6983 PCie cards.
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+
My Location
The Flatlands of East Anglia
After getting the Gibertini complete with polar mount and 24" heavy duty actuator, I came to the conclusion that, as the set-up would be replacing my SMW installation at the bottom of the garden, the actuator would be a red flag to any miscreant who decided to shin up the garage and have a swing on it. The problem is the extension on the polar mount where the actuator pivots - it seems to me to be a weak point, as you can see it flex slightly under the load of the actuator when it's moving.

So, pending resolving this problem, I purchased a Moteck H180 as an interim solution, and I'm presently setting this up with the Gibby. As you guys have pointed out, the CM dish plate bracket doesn't line up with the hole on one of the motor brackets, so I had to drill extra holes for it to fit.

Incidentally, I will certainly use shakeproof washers under all the nuts - there will be considerable vibration, which could conceivably loosen them over time. Or perhaps they were omitted with my kit?
 

wod

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2005
Messages
4,213
Reaction score
238
Points
63
My Satellite Setup
1m channel master, jaeger smr1224, Inverto black ultra twin, technomate tm-1500ci, broken receiver vantage x221ci, New additions Skybox F5s and technomate tm-5402 HD arriving soon.
My Location
yorkshire
Nice to hear some comments on that moteck motor.

Having a 1224 motor, that moteck doesn't look at all good quality but as the 1224 isn't made anymore the options are limited.

Llew, are you planning to use thicker steel on the gibby polar mount to fix the flexing you mention ?
 

aceb

Specialist Contributor
Joined
Oct 2, 2007
Messages
1,537
Reaction score
841
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
Prof Tuner 7301 /
1.25m Gibertini + Inverto B.Ultra/C1W, Moteck H180, 68.5E-67W Ku/C-Band /
1.8m Precision PF + ESX241/Inverto Black Pro, 66E-63W Ku/C-band /
2.4m Fortec Star+Titanium C1W/Pride plate, 49E-58W
My Location
Sussex
Mickha said:
I notice you have switched the brackets round, and done away with the adjuster, but as you've got one on the Gibertini mount obviously it was superfluous.
Also I cant see the rubber bung, where you feed the 4 core motor wires, have you removed it?
Just noticed we have someone selling a Jaeger 1224, on the forum, if I hadn't already spent all my money I would be tempted, but maybe not at the asking price.

The dish was only set up temporarily to get it tracking correctly, the final location means I have to work from the shed roof so it's a lot easier to do all the hard work at ground level. I'll probably do the same as you with the length of gaffer tape over the join as well just to give it some added protection. I was thinking the other day that I'll probably see a flurry of 1224s come up for sale now, although I couldn't afford that kind of money if that's what they are commanding these days.

Llew said:
The problem is the extension on the polar mount where the actuator pivots - it seems to me to be a weak point, as you can see it flex slightly under the load of the actuator when it's moving.
I looked at the PM option for the Gib and couldn't tell if it replaced what was already on it or added to it. It all looked a bit flimsy in the ad and video but maybe it's thicker than it appears?

Absolutely no chance of doing anything today, less than 100m visibility in thick fog or low cloud and everything is saturated.
 

Vipersan

Emmett Browns Ghost
Joined
Jun 29, 2009
Messages
10,918
Reaction score
6,663
Points
113
Age
66
My Satellite Setup
IP9000HD +
TD110 Dish and TD88 Dish in Tandem
66°East to 60°West.
AZbox PrmHD + OpnbxS9HD + Skybox + DrHD F15
2x VboxII AZ-EL
2 m+ Alcoa PF + BSC421 C-Band lnbf...
+SS2/TwHnS2-3200 pci/TBS6925 pci
1.5 Fortec Star -Gbox - HtoH Ku/Ka/C
My Location
UK
Same here Paul ...no chance of playing out today ..
Constant cold drizzle with occasional showers thrown in for good measure ..
8 degrees at best ..
Now I know why its called 'Flaming June' ...
I know cos I went outside and cursed at it myself ...
At least the Queens Jubbly (older members will remember these) will stay cold without an ice box ..
rgds
VS
 

Llew

cerca trova...
Staff member
Joined
Jan 1, 2000
Messages
16,226
Reaction score
4,197
Points
113
Age
81
My Satellite Setup
Triple Dragon, Dreambox 8000, Echostar AD3000ip, TBS6522,6925,6983 PCie cards.
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+
My Location
The Flatlands of East Anglia
aceb said:
I looked at the PM option for the Gib and couldn't tell if it replaced what was already on it or added to it. It all looked a bit flimsy in the ad and video but maybe it's thicker than it appears?

I'll post some pics of my polarmount that came with the Gibby showing the actuator pivot bar when I finish lining up the Moteck and Gibby to the arc (wheather permitting). I notice my Gibby where the motor attaches to it is different to yours, i.e. no Az/El on the back, it's a separate unit that bolts onto the dish back.
 

sonnetpete

Grumpy Old Retired Moderator and quiz inquisitor..
Joined
Dec 13, 2008
Messages
8,948
Reaction score
3,491
Points
113
Age
73
Website
wordpress.com
My Satellite Setup
Laminas 1.2M fibre dish with an IBU, on a Clarke Tech USALS motor, covering 57E - 24.5W to an Octagon SX88. Displayed on a 20" Dyon LED TV.

Seperate 80 cm dish on 28E with a Humax Freesat for SWMBO.
Free Sat V8 meter. Sony Bravia 46" LCD, Sony BluRay and Home Cinema.
My Location
Normandy, France
Vipersan said:
At least the Queens Jubbly (older members will remember these) will stay cold without an ice box ..

Blimey VS, I used to get one of those from the corner shop when I got off the bus from school....3d I think....
 

Mickha

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Dec 10, 2004
Messages
5,974
Reaction score
884
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
1.2M Channel Master, 1224 motor, VU+ Duo 2
My Location
North West
I had big plans, for this 4 day weekend, all of them involved working outside, and required dry, and preferably sunny, weather. The first 2 days have been a total wash out, and I doubt it's going to improve anytime soon !!!!!!
All that nice weather, in May, and I was stuck inside, at work, now I have time to sort things out and all it does is rain !!!!
I do hope no one planned a BBQ and outdoor party:)
 

Llew

cerca trova...
Staff member
Joined
Jan 1, 2000
Messages
16,226
Reaction score
4,197
Points
113
Age
81
My Satellite Setup
Triple Dragon, Dreambox 8000, Echostar AD3000ip, TBS6522,6925,6983 PCie cards.
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+
My Location
The Flatlands of East Anglia
Some pics of the Gibby polar mount and Moteck on the dish. The actuator outrider bracket shows the weld - it's there where the flexing occurs because of the weight of the actuator. It's probably because I have to position the actuator pivot clamp to be right at the piston end to get a good arc range.
 

Attachments

  • Actuator pivot outrider.jpg
    Actuator pivot outrider.jpg
    139.5 KB · Views: 366
  • Az-El on dish mount.jpg
    Az-El on dish mount.jpg
    136.9 KB · Views: 370
  • Moteck on Gibby.jpg
    Moteck on Gibby.jpg
    169.2 KB · Views: 394
  • Polar Mount.jpg
    Polar Mount.jpg
    162.6 KB · Views: 412

Vipersan

Emmett Browns Ghost
Joined
Jun 29, 2009
Messages
10,918
Reaction score
6,663
Points
113
Age
66
My Satellite Setup
IP9000HD +
TD110 Dish and TD88 Dish in Tandem
66°East to 60°West.
AZbox PrmHD + OpnbxS9HD + Skybox + DrHD F15
2x VboxII AZ-EL
2 m+ Alcoa PF + BSC421 C-Band lnbf...
+SS2/TwHnS2-3200 pci/TBS6925 pci
1.5 Fortec Star -Gbox - HtoH Ku/Ka/C
My Location
UK
...Man after my own heart ...
..don't those wheelie bins come in useful ???
;)
I've even used one as a bivouac ...for drying fibreglass wings outside in the rain ...when the fumes became unbearable..
 

Mickha

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Dec 10, 2004
Messages
5,974
Reaction score
884
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
1.2M Channel Master, 1224 motor, VU+ Duo 2
My Location
North West
Finally found a couple of hours, of dry weather, to dismantle the dish and drill the two holes. It has improved performance, as now the dish is properly supported, I haven't had time to fine tune the arc, using the incredibly awkward adjuster mechanism, but by just adding the 2 extra bolts, for support, I have improved signal quality, on all satellites, and got it tracking from 39E to 1W, all I've been able to try so far. It has also cut down the noise, I could hear the dish slightly moving, due to insufficient support, when the motor moved previously.
The clouds rolled over just as I was re-assembling the dish, so good timing.
I'll eventually get round to fine tuning but at least it's working correctly now.
 

aceb

Specialist Contributor
Joined
Oct 2, 2007
Messages
1,537
Reaction score
841
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
Prof Tuner 7301 /
1.25m Gibertini + Inverto B.Ultra/C1W, Moteck H180, 68.5E-67W Ku/C-Band /
1.8m Precision PF + ESX241/Inverto Black Pro, 66E-63W Ku/C-band /
2.4m Fortec Star+Titanium C1W/Pride plate, 49E-58W
My Location
Sussex
Not exactly a good day for messing with dishes, I took down the 1m earlier and lowered the pole ready for the 1.2m but gave up as I was freezing! At 10°C with a strong NE'ly it felt more like February than June. Things have since calmed down and warmed up so I may wait till the cover of darkness before putting up the new one.

On a slightly different subject but relevant to this I recently bought a drum of CT125RBS, primarily for the 1.8 as the 38m run is across the garden. It's CT125 that can be directly buried in the ground, not the easiest stuff to work with due to the extremely thick jacket but good spec and ideal for my installations. The only problem I had was a lack of suitable F connectors so I'd been using regular CT125 plugs with a generous amount of tape on the outer of the plug. I've since found out that CPC sell screw on F plugs designed for RG213, no idea why they're even manufactured let alone why CPC sell them but they fit absolutely perfectly, they come with a centre pin and insert for RG213 but these are redundant for CT125. They're listed as having 50ohm impedance but I'm not sure how accurate that will be in this application, once I've swapped them over I'll check for any differences or odd effects across the spectrum. _http://cpc.farnell.com/pro-signal/psg01821/f-type-plug-twist-on-rg-213-u/dp/AV15369
 

Mickha

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Dec 10, 2004
Messages
5,974
Reaction score
884
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
1.2M Channel Master, 1224 motor, VU+ Duo 2
My Location
North West
I thought it was just me that felt it was colder, or the fact that we've had a lot of rain, around this area. Compared to the recent heat wave, when I thought Summer had finally started, we now seem to be back to April.
Maybe we'll get some sun again in July !!!!!!!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top