Supreme Dark Motor with a 1.1 Dish.

[Dixie]

Anyone else using this combo.Any problems as the instructions that came with with the motor say it is only suitable for a 1m dish. The website I bought it from say its suitable for dishes up to 1.4m.

[echelon]

I have one of those darkmotors (an older version - superior - which says it can drive up to 1.4m dishes ), with a 1.1m triax dish on it , they are fine for the task , especially when using a scaffold pole

I doubt you would have any problems with the darkmotors although I might not hang a 1.4m dish on one :)

[Dixie]

Think the missus might hang me on it.:redface:

Wondering if it's worth using the Go To 0 led display thing then find thor at 0.8 when setting it up. It claims to be accurate to within 0.1. Not sure If this is a wild claim or if this function really is as accurate as they claim. Would make setting it up a bit easier.

What size pole would you use. Its going on top of a flat roofed extension. I'd ordered a 2 inch d long one that I planned to cut but have just opened my emails to see that they have been having trouble with their carrier who bends the poles. They say the maximum they will send is 6ft Not sure this would be enough. Anyone know anywhere in the Liverpool area that sells them ?

[skomedal]

As per usual this offset dish is sold as 110cm quite true if you measure the vertical height, but the lnb sees it as a circle so the horizontal measurement is the actual size of dish, in this case 101cm.

_http://www.sa tcure.co.uk/accs/page2.htm

( close the gap )

Triax TD110 1m solid steel dish pole-mounting

Triax TD110 1m solid steel dish

Triax TD110 solid steel dish pole-mounting

Measures 112 x 101cm.

Also from this site :-

"" Question: What's the real dish size?

Answer: The dimension that matters most is the width. Manufacturers may designate their dish size as a nominal "60cm" where the width is actually, say, 57cm or they may designate it as "135cm" where that is the height and the true width is only 120cm. We try to be as honest as possible by stating the width and height dimensions for each dish so that you know what you are getting. Because of the way that the dish edge is bent, the dimension might not be accurate (I have to rely on the warehouse monkeys to measure it for me!) If you think it's significantly wrong, please contact me (Technical). In general, the dimensions are taken from the extreme outer edge so this will be slightly larger than the effective reception area of the dish but more important in terms of "will it fit in the van?" ""

Hope this helps

[echelon]

as you are in liverpool then zero on your motor wont point at thor, so using go to zero and using it for thor would mean your dish and motor would be "out"

your longitude tells you where zero points, and it aint thor

I thought reading that other dish thread you commented in would have told you this fact of life even though you found it confusing

there may not even be a satellite due south of you , unlike west of london or leeds where thor may well be true south of them , so thor is 0.8 west of greenwich , not the albert dock :) (nor old trafford or cardiff either)

a dish can be on the ground or in the air, dependent on the site survey and any walls or buildings that may be in the way

so the length of pole would depend on all these factors

if for example you had a suitable south facing wall like my lad then a metre of standard scaffold pole between T K brackets would suffice , with the motor in the middle , whereas mine is much longer with the motor above the top bracket to clear obstacles

[Dixie]

No that thread was very useful I meant find true south with a compass almost tighten it up then enter long/lat in usals go to 0 and then go to thor which is about 0.8.and fine tune. Then try and find something like 28.2. Does that sound more like it.

Pole is to go on a n facing wall so the whole of the dish will have to be above extension roof level. roof felt and facia board comes down about 1ft so brackets will have to go below this level.

Forgot to say use manual buttons on motor along with compass to find true south. Think i'm correct in saying it will do this bit even before its connected to the receiver. I may be wrong.

[echelon]

no it doesnt , because a compass does not point due south (true south), it points to magnetic south, totally different

your motor cannot find true south, only zero on its dial

3.5 west is more like your true south , certainly not far off

sounds like your pole needs to be about 4 metres ? ( 2 below , 2 above ? )

you will never find true south without some form of meter or box

I tend to use a box, preprogrammed with a premade channel list , suggest you use catseyes motor settings and add usals

[Dixie]

Cheers echelon showing my from the top of my head ignorance, but there are good threads on here and I'm sure that if I follow them I'll get it sorted. I had ordered a ten foot pole so was probably on the right track.

[dog-man]

I use one with a Triax 1.1 mtr dish.
This dish is very heavy and the motor copes fine with it.

[echelon]

put catseyes list on your zero, add usals as motor settings , input your lat and long

connect to your motor and a tv in the house, switch on and select 0.8w thor bbc news , the motor will move to where it thinks 0.8w is

check the dial, it will be a few degrees east (even though thor is 0.8w)

select bbc1 on 28e, notice the dial is completely different and not on 28e

select 30w , notice the dial is not on 30w

alter your usals to say 2 east as longitude and repeat

notice the difference in where the motor stops

so setting your long and lat changes where it thinks the sats are

put it back to your own settings, long and lat , check 3.5w and it will be near zero on the dial



mount on pole (after ensuring the pole is vertically plumb in all directions) and set the motor to your latitude and tighten up - do not move this setting again

use the box as a sat finder by using it to tell the motor where to go , even if you start with bbc1 or itv or the vault or vintage tv on 28e

so fta on 0.8w , fta on 28e , fta on 30w , then try fta on 39e (when you are set up and getting channels on the pole)

set the dish elevation to about 27.5 and hand tighten
now moving the motor left or right on the pole itself, and raising or lowering the dish slightly will adjust the angles

when you get bbc news on 0.8w working with good signal and quality , mark the pole and dish on the adjuster markings with a black marker

[Dixie]

Tried setting up at the weekend without much success. Got some channels but it was defo not tracking the arc. Should the motor bracket sliders be set to my lattitude as it says elevation on them ???

[digicon]

Yes should be set to your Latitude co-ordinate

[Dixie]

Cheers digicon will try again at the weekend. After finding BBC News on Thor will Usals just find everything else automatically and do brackets need to be tightened facing Thor. Should dial on the bottom of the motor have 0.1 on it at this point.

[digicon]

'0' on the motor does not represent any satellite, so yes if thor is around 0.1 then that is correct, Unsure of your Lon/Lat details but here mine roughly around -2.5 which would equate to Thor being around 1.5° east of my due south

[Dixie]

So would the dial on the motor read 1.5e or 0.1wwhen pointing at it ?. Think I've confused myself somewhere along the line but it would help if it said latitude on the bracket rather than elevation.

[digicon]

No i gave you that as an example the dial on the bottom of the motor is for reference only just take note of the '0' marking as that is your due south marker, when you move it to Thor 0.8° west and are aligned correctly as long as the motor parks itself on each satellite location correctly who gives a hoot what the reading says underneath, Personally your reading too much into it follow the guides and and forget about what the underside of the motor reads.

Your 2 most important ones are the Elevation on the dish and the elevation on the Motor (latitude)

Good Luck

[Dixie]

Triax 1.1 Vu+zero Supreme Dark Motor on a 2inch pole

Right I've got all FTA channels on 0.8 but if I go to another satellite I get nothing. Can I go to another satellite and move everything slightly to tune this in too or will this then throw 0.8 out ? Pole is vertical.

[echelon]

is the VU channel list setup set to the correct usals settings ?

possibly say around 3 west for liverpool (longitude) ?

and is the motor set to your latitude of around 53.5 or whatever for the latitude and motor tightened on the pole ?

is the dish elevation set at around 27.5 degrees on the dish alignment part of the back of the dish ?

when you switch the vu ON , and select 0.8w , does the motor move and what setting does it move to on the motor pointer?




Liverpool Latitude 53.411540000000000000

Liverpool Longitude -2.990115999999943600 (where minus = west)


now please confirm you get the following FTA channels on 0.8w

BBC WORLD NEWS on 10778H 24500

MUSIC CHANNEL on 11900H 28000

BTV-1 on 11247V 24500

answer all the above in your next reply

[Dixie]

Getting BBC WNN
Getting Music Channel
Cant find the other channel in the list


Used Lee Goldwafers guide for dish elevation settings and latitude setting on motor ( the one where you input long and lat settings and it works it out for you) Dish elevation was a bit higher than that recommended in Dark Motor manual but seemed to work.

Should I possibly remove catseyes settings then reload them as I put them in before I set the dish up ?

[echelon]

nope, if you have the latest catseyes in and are getting 2 channels from those 3 thats good enough for now

try answering all my questions please

I want to know the answers to the following by YOU looking at the installation

1) your actual usals settings on the vu (longitude and latitude)

2) the current motor elevation (probably on the left side motor bracket looking from rear of dish)

3a) the actual dish elevation (left side of dish bracket at the rear)

3b) + the elevation recommended in the book for 53n to 54 n latitude (my superior booklet says 27.4)

4) lnb skew (should be none with cable pointing straight down)

5) the motor marking (or indicator) when on thor at 0.8w

6) the motor marking (or indicator) when on 3.5 west (the 3.5w satellite)

[Dixie]

4) Seems to be on 0 watching BBC WN on thor (very strong sunlight so difficult to really see but almost certain this is correct)

5) Do not have 3.5w in my list

[echelon]

your 1) should be WEST , not east, liverpool is -3 so is 3 west, (mentioned this earlier)

3 east puts you in the north sea east of hull !

1) lat is correct

actual motor should be on about 53.4 , not higher

dish should be on about 27.4

skew is correct

leave it on BBC WORLD NEWS and set those settings above up, on the box and on the motor and dish, including the 53.4 on the motor body and 27.4 on the dish

dont touch the lnb

move the motor left or right slightly on the pole until you get BBC back

do not remove the catseye list (ignore 3.5w for now)

when finished , the motor display should be different and not near or on zero whilst on bbc news on 0.8w

[Dixie]

1)I thought that myself

Tried to correct it but it wouldnt have it will try again

[echelon]

if it only has east and no west you will have to subtract it from 360 and so input something like 356.8 east

[Dixie]

Done all that and not getting anything. Take it I may possibly need to change dish elevation or motor latitude ???

[echelon]

Done all that and not getting anything. Take it I may possibly need to change dish elevation or motor latitude ???

your motor was about 6 degrees out to the east (3 east instead of 3 west is 6 degrees out in total) so it needs adjusting on the pole itself (left or right) until bbc news comes back into alignment , so slacken the motor off and turn it slightly until bbc news reappears

I have already told you what the dish elevation and latitude should be (about 27.4 and 53.4)

[Dixie]

Changed to West put in new elev and lat then turned on the pole and couldnt get anything.

[echelon]

Changed to West put in new elev and lat then turned on the pole and couldnt get anything.

so if the usals is now about 3 west and about 53.4n ,(or its about 357 east and about 53.4n) , then usals will be correct, so you put the box on bbc world news again at 0.8w and leave it well alone from now on (whilst setting this up)

now you go to the pole (ensuring its plumb in all directions) and put the motor on say 53.4 and the dish on say 27.4

then you slacken the motor bolts on the pole and turn it slightly left or right, looking for bbc world news to appear

if it fails, only alter the dish elevation slightly to say 28.0 or 28.5 and try again

NEVER ALTER THE LATITUDE ELEVATION of the motor itself, this remains on about 53.4 on the motor body

look for bbc world news yet again, tighten if and when you get a good signal

then take stock of the readings of the motor and dish , then check the reading of the indicator on the actual motor

I would assume this will show a few degrees off dead centre (so not zero)

then come back with those settings and readings (never assume I know what they are)

[Dixie]

Thanks for all the help by the way I know it must be frustrating.

[Dixie]

Finally up and running thanks very much lads for all your help.:respect-050: