How to setup polarmount/actuator Gilbertini 1.5m dish

slayer7

Donating Member
Messages
154
Hi i have setup Gilbertini 1.5m with the Gilbertini polar mount but the arc is out. with h-h mounts i have always setup on 1 west due south, but i read in another forum they were setting up the polar mounts on 5 west or 8 west? seems crazy to me. but this would explain the arc being out maybe. latitude is set correctly but could be tweaked.

i basically am getting all signals from 28 east to 12.5 west perfect, but am struggling to pickup 22 west and 24.5 west onwards properly eg low sig.

any experienced advice on setting these up? cheers.
 

trekvogel

Donating Member
Messages
156
first you need to make sure its level.
if its not level on all sides you could end up with losing signal on satelites that need big turn
on which satelite to setup depends on what your location is.
basicly you need to set it up at the highest satelite, so it will pickup the clark belt on both sides.
 

slayer7

Donating Member
Messages
154
spirit level

Hi trekvogel thanks,the pole is already 100% level imo. I will be changing the pole to a 3inch pole diameter instead soon as the 2 inch pole doesn't fit properly in the jaws of polar mount, i had to put shim half pipe peace on back of pole to pack it out, this should not effect polar mount as it is flush on the side that matters. thanks for advice:thum:

i have aligned the dish due south on 1 west

pics below of dish pole spirit levels


https://postimg.org/image/xtuvfff71/
https://postimg.org/image/vpaieg0ql/
 
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dog-man

VIP
Donating Member
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2,377
Get yourself one of these.
Both levels need to be correct.

-https://www.screwfix.com/p/post-level/14623
 

SilverHippy

Registered
Messages
214
@slayer7

Hi, what is your lat & long ?
"they were setting up the polar mounts on 5 west or 8 west? seems crazy to me"

My own polar mount is set between 7 & 8 west because my longitude is -7.20 so for my location (west Scotland) due south is 7.2 west of Greenwich.
What make actuator are you using, it looks interesting?

Regards
 

slayer7

Donating Member
Messages
154
due south

thanks @silverhappy you have made me realise the guide i was looking at the guy was in ireland so no wonder they were saying between 5 and 7 degress lol doh silly me.

my longtitude is 3.1 degrees and my latitude 53.6
i will setup my setup on abs 3 west satellite, hopefully this should fix my arc.

i found this guide below but it says set my polar mount at 54.3 above my actual latitude but surely it should be set at 53.6?
http://www.satsig.net/maps/satellite-tv-dish-pointing-uk-ireland.htm

the satellite actuator is from sat superstore its a superjack the polarmount is gilbertini brand.

also thanks @dogman will pop down to screw fix and get one of them!
 
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SilverHippy

Registered
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214
Hi, you might want to check your Lat/Long because those settings put me in the sea !! But as long your happy.
Another handy site for checking true south is this one :-

Code:
http://www.spot-on-sundials.co.uk/calculator.html
Remember to add +1hr for BST.

That's the method I used for setting my dish & with a short length of wood temp fixed to the top as a sighting point. I had problems with superjack from SS, first one ripped the main tube gear (full of ice) so with the 2nd one I drilled 2x 6mm drain holes along the bottom of the main tube & also made holes through the main gasket at the bottom to allow the water to drain through to the main cover (there's a chance that if this is not done then water can short/corrode the lower limit switch) I've also soldered the reed switch in position, to stop counting errors. It's now given 5 years trouble free service & has worked constantly through countless 80mph storms.

Regards :thum:
 

slayer7

Donating Member
Messages
154
sorry yes i was rounding down the lat and long but i got the longtitude wrong should be 3.0110 instead of 3.1.

regarding the actuator is that because the water runs down into the actuator on a 45 degree angle? mine is on a 45 degree angle too and also has a plastic rubber sleeve on the arm to stop water getting in the cylinder shaft. if you ever get a chance would nice to see pics, if not no prob. I'd be scared to drill holes into mine, is the soldering not good on the reed switch to begin with? when its gets windy i might take mine down as mine is quite high up in the air due to obstructions. cheers:thum:
 
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SilverHippy

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214
Yes the motor is at the lowest point, the rubber sleeve gets hard & cracks after time, I found it easier to make sure the water could get out, easier than to try & stop it getting in, where I am the rain is usually horizontal. The reed switch on mine (QARL 3624+) was just a push in, also you can get a pack of 5 on bay of E much cheepness. I'll see if I can get some photos tomorrow.

Regards
 

SilverHippy

Registered
Messages
214


Need to do some painting this year. I've extended the bracket holding the actuator & also put a strap across the rose bearing to keep it central, if it didn't have that the actuator hangs down & rubs the edge of the bearing housing.



Holes made in lower edge of gasket allow any water trapped in gearbox to drain through to plastic cover. Also reed switch has been replaced & soldered.



Lower tube drain hole, there's another one further up also, looks like it's working remains of copper grease can be seen. Best to drill from this angle so that all swarf can fall out.

Regards
 

slayer7

Donating Member
Messages
154
@silverhippy thanks for doing that:thum:

didnt know you could put the gilbert polar on the chan master, cool.
your actuator looks like a 24 or bigger im guessing you used a 3 to 4mil diameter drill for holes.

i have pics below of actuator innards and it looks like a red reed switch insert.i am a bit concerned the 4 core sensor +motor wires are going over that round grey circle. do you think i should make them a lot longer to go round side instead? cheers




actuator arm



gilbert 1.5 face
 
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SilverHippy

Registered
Messages
214
Hi, yeah the mount can fit a CM with an adaptor plate, it's a heavy duty 24" actuator & a 5mm drain hole. Good to see that your reed sw is soldered, For your cable I would probably disconnect the yellow sensor cable & push the whole cable through the clamp until the outer white sheath is next to the righthand side of the connector block & then retighten the clamp & reconnect yellow sensor wire over the top, but hard to tell from a photo.

Regards :thum:
 

slayer7

Donating Member
Messages
154
east west limits

I have got my arc all sorted put it on 3 west my longitude and arc is a following arc with lot better signals, just a bit of tweaking needed. i always thought for years that you set it up on 0 degrees and really didn't know it had to be your longitude. as i always set my h-h mount on 1 west and it worked fine.

@silverhappy do you know how far east and west these Gilbertini polar mounts go, there is no degree dial on these. i am guessing it is 50 degrees each way? cheers
 

SilverHippy

Registered
Messages
214
Good to hear you're back on the arc, yeah I'm finding that it was/is a couple of hours setting it up & then a lifetime of tweaking haha, I'm never happy only way out for me would be a bigger dish. My centre position is 7.2 deg W max sat E is 52.5 deg so the max amount could be 60/60.

Regards :thum:
 

sattechtips

Registered
Messages
425
@slayer7 why you use prime focus LNB with additional feed horn for offset dish, have many pretty good LNB for offset dish



@SilverHippy can you post image somewhere where can zoom, because now can't zoom or how @slayer7 upload in SU image hosting.

Regards
 

slayer7

Donating Member
Messages
154
@sattechtips i was told by seller the feedhorns get the best noise ratio. i did compare a normal inverto ultra which i was getting 14.3db on but when i tested feedhorn plus inverto pro was getting 15.6db but to get that i had to not put the original plastic lnb neck inserts in but instead replace with 1 old monoblock plastic neck insert only that is slightly bigger that i had lying around ..... this pointed the feedhorn a little higher on the dish and gained more db...i'm guessing the focal point is slightly out on these gilbert dishes (i did line both arms correctly as i measured from both arms to lnb and they were similar lengths)





since this alloy lnb holder pic was taken i have moved the focus a little more right as in the picture is is a little to the left. the top plastic holder is the old (fatter) monoblock plastic neck insert i found. and the bottom the orignal gilbert plastic neck insert.

i was told by sss getting more db doesn't necessarily mean better signal which i don't really understand. what is the correct way to test lnbs? i have a tbs card maybe on that?
 
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