Motorised system in Gibraltar

[jincs29]

I will start by asking really stupid questions so please forgive my ignorance. I have a Echostar DSB-707 FTA which at the moment have tuned into Astra 2 and i get relatively good selection of FTA chanells. I have a 1.2m dish which allows me to have acess to Astra 2. The dish and the installation last year cost me £250 total rip off considering what the installer actually did. My quetion is i am interested in getting a motor for my dish so i can have greater access to the array of satellites, firtsly would this be possible? secondly what type of motor would be good for a 1.2m steel dish whose weight i am not sure of. Secondly is my Digital reciever any good for the motor. Ideally i would like a reciever which would allow me access to sky digital subscriptions etc with the FTA option and the ability to use the motor. Any help would be gratefully recieved thanking you in advance.

[BGonaSTICK]

Hi m8. Welcome to the forum

Having had a quick search on the Internet, it looks like you receiver has DiSEqC 1.2 which will allow you to drive a dish, so that's good news.

With a 1.2m dish you should probably be looking at a 36V motor as opposed to a DiSEqC motor, so you'll need a VBOX to interface the DiSEqC receiver with the 36V motor.

36V motors come either as H to H motors or jacks, which in turn move a dish mounted on a polar mount. Have a search around for these terms to get a better feel for what it's all about.

As far as a receiver to give you the option of taking a Sky subscription - you're almost certainly better off simply adding an out-of-contract Sky digibox with a sensitive tuner - like the Panasonic TU-DSB30, the Pace DS430N or Pace 2600.

It won't control the motor, so you'll have to switch cables to your DSB-707 to move the dish.

With a 1.2m dish, you'll be able to pull in absolutely loads of other satellites

What make of dish do you have? Can you post a picture?

STICK

[jincs29]

I will post a comprehensive reply to your response its just that i am off to work, i really appreciate you getting back to me so promptly i will now endeavour to upload you pics of my dish as i do not know what make it is.

[wod]

just looks like a standard offset 1.2m dish you can put a motor on that but i doubt you will get much arc of satellites with it being on the balcony

[jincs29]

So do you think it would be worth getting a motor? As you have guessed i am only posted out here and will be returning to UK so would an investment in the motor and the other accessories that you mentioned at this time be worth it? I have been looking at costs etc obviously whatever i look at i have to add postage on top and that hikes the price up. I am originally from the Midlands and travel back frequently so what sort of cost would i be looking at for a Vbox, 36v motor?
Your input is much valued.

[BGonaSTICK]

As wod says, it looks like you would be fairly limited in terms of adding a motor because of the location.

The 36V stuff adds more expense (VBOX is £35, Polar mount is maybe £50 if you can find one for your dish - I can't ID it either - and an actuator £40) and then you have to have someone to fit it if you're not going to DIY.

What about either adding a couple of extra LNBs to your existing dish to get the most popular of the other satellites (Astra1 @ 19.2E and Hotbird @ 13E) or just adding another 70cm - 80cm dish for those two?

The extra dish would do both 19.2E and 13E and cost about £60 plus fitting.

[wod]

i'm guessing the 1.2m dish is aligned on astra 2 ?

so another dish 80cm with monoblock lnb for astra 1 and hotbird would be a better idea

lots of possibilities as you can get nilesat 7west for showtime package for footy too as your in the footprint

36volt motor wise a jaeger smr 99 would work on that dish which is the polar mount and motor in one unit

depends on what satellites you want to view

[BGonaSTICK]

I don't rate the Jaeger 99 much myself - it's not much tougher than a DiSEqC motor, is twice the price, means you have to buy a VBOX and drill another hole in your wall! :spite:

They're not that bad, but if you're going to go to the extra bother of a 36V H-H setup, go for a big ****off motor like the Jaeger SMR-1224. Loadsa money, but hey - there's not much in-between that and a DiSEqC motor.

I reckon with your 1.2m dish you could add one more LNB for 19.2E without moving it - but don't accidentally knock it out of alignment on Astra 2 unless you either want to have the installer back or fix it yourself!

If it were me, I'd be marking both the azimuth and elevation positions on your current setup with a permanent marker ASAP, regardless of what you do.

[jincs29]

Really appreciate all the advice-thanks, i mainly want to view hotbird, could i posibly just add another LNB to my dish? i have seen these adapters that can take 2 or 3 LNBs simultaneously, would this be a better option?

[BGonaSTICK]

It's possible, but reception of Astra 2D (I assume you're getting 2D?) probably means that your 1.2m dish will have to stay positioned where it is, and the offset required for Hotbird would effectively have to be all on one side of the LNB arm (28.2 - 13 = 15.2 degrees).

When I said above:

Originally Posted by BGonaSTICK

What about either adding a couple of extra LNBs to your existing dish to get the most popular of the other satellites (Astra1 @ 19.2E and Hotbird @ 13E)

I was forgetting that you were in Gibraltar.

If you were in the UK, it would be fine, because you could point your dish in between the two satellites and have one LNB each side of the centre point, meaning that each LNB would only be offset from the centre of the dish focus by (15.2 / 2 = 7.1 degrees).

If you only want Hotbird, you'll probably get away with an additional 50cm dish.