installation experience 80cm motorised system

[tjb305]

Hello, i have just put up my 80cm motorised dish and it is working a treat. Many thanks to all the help from Techwatch users and Southern Satellite, I couldn't have done it without you. I found the motorised set up guide with pictures particularly useful combined with a video showing a motorised dish being mounted hosted on Youtube (search motorised dish).

Here are some additional points I think other newbies will find useful.

Checking the receiver and cable
The first thing I did was to connect my receiver up to an old sky dish that was attached to the side of the house. This gave me confidence that the box and cable were working correctly. With regards to the coax cable I was unsure at first how well I had attached the f-connectors as the outer braid seems very fragile and i was unsure if it was still in one piece once i had screwed on the f connector (I also pulled back the silver foil over the braid to help improve the connection but i'm not sure if this is the right thing to do). However, the cable seemed to work fine with the old sky dish.

Mount
I bought tk mounts instead of using the L shaped support that came with the dish. Having now put up the dish can I re-iterate the sound advice i was given to buy tk mounts which are only a few quid. I bought 10" tk mounts which give more than enough space for the dish to move between 30e and 30w on a wall facing almost due south.

I forgot to buy a pole when I got the tk mounts so decided to cut up the L shaped mount and use the straight section from that (I found a 50mm scaffolding pole in the end but had fun using the angle grinder on the L mount!). The scaffolding pole only cost £3 from a local scaffolder, £1 a foot seemed to be the price (the scaffolder also gave me two plastic stoppers for each end of the pole). I cut it such that 4inches sat above the tk mounts to drop the motor-dish onto. When working at height being able to drop the dish onto the pole makes life a lot easier. I also used the pole remnants to tighten up the motor-dish bolts so less had to be done up the ladder.

The tk mounts required five bolts. In the end I used 8mm sleeve anchors 60mm in length (see thread Which size screws to mount 80cm dish) which make the mount solid as a rock. The washers which came with the anchors were not wide enough to properly cover the mount holes so I had to buy larger ones. When drilling the holes (using 8mm drill bit) i made sure both t and k mount holes were aligned with brick (do not drill into the mortar) and used a black marker pen to mark them. Since the t mount holes were not marked/drilled until after the k mount (put above t mount) was fixed I made sure there was sufficient brick to drill into either side of where the t mount would roughly go.

I found that I had to drill approx 1cm deeper into the brick so i could get the anchors in flush with the wall. I used a rubber mallet to knock them in so as to avoid damaging the thread. I almost made one of the holes slightly too wide so be careful as if the hole is too wide (made by moving the drill around too much) then the anchor will not grip properly). It is a good idea to have a pair of bottle nose pliers to hand to get the anchor out of the hole if you find you have not drilled deep enough. If drilling at height it is useful to have a friend at the bottom of the ladder holding it into the wall so you can apply more pressure.

I already had a cable running through the wall into the lounge so replaced it with the new cable i bought. If you are adding the satellite for the first time you will need to bring the cable into the house somehow.

Following the advice to use tk mount getting the pole vertical was straightforward. One thing i did notice was the pole was not entirely perfect on all sides so had slightly different spirit level readings on opposite sides. This did not seem to cause problems. Angle grinding the pole was fun, although my friend was sure he had seen a similar scene at the beginning of 999!

A small magnetic spirit level was very useful as I was up a ladder trying to knock the t bracket into place whilst tightening the bolts, the size was small enough to fit on the bit of pole between the two brackets. The rubber mallet again was useful for moving the bracket ever so slightly.

Motor-Dish
I was careful to make sure that the latitude setting on the motor did not change as I tightened the screws. I aligned the motor and dish using a weld/join line on the motor tube which was dead centre and then tightened this before mounting. With regards to the motor it is worth noting for beginners that not all motors mount the same way up (i.e. some makes have motor above tube and some vice versa) so make sure you are clear which was yours goes.

Aligning the dish went very smoothly. As i was tightening the motor to the k mount my friend watched the needle on the satellite signal meter so i could ensure the dish-motor did not move off alignment.

Tools
Masonry drill plus extension cord
8mm masonry drill bit
masking tape to mark drilling depth
bottle nose pliers
rubber mallet
socket set
additional spanners for tightening dish
angle grinder (gloves and goggles are advisable)
small magnetic spirit level
ladder with friend on the bottom
Cable ties to hold cable to lnb arm and away from motor bolts

Hope you find this useful.

_________________________

80cm motorised dish, Technomate 5400

[lincsat]

Well done M8 - some exercise to work off your Christmas dinner

[robbo71]

Excellent tjb,

and Thanks for sharing.

now where's the photo of the install?

I do like to see a piccie or two.

[tjb305]

I definitely need some post xmas exercise although working hard to avoid it.

I did upload some pictures to go with the post but they do not seem to have made it. Here goes try 2....

I would be grateful for any comments on the installation..

Happy new year folks.

[robbo71]

I think it looks fine

You might want to put some self amalgamating tape round the connectors though, and also put some cable ties and cable cleats on to the cable to make it look neater, and to stop the cables swaying in the wind.

[southernsatellite]

Looks great! I have stopped supplying the L wall mounts now and have started to offer T&K 18" Brackets istead.

Well done

[lincsat]

I still use the "L" bracket myself

I would suggest a "Drip loop" where the cable enters the house. Bring the cable down just below the hole then a curve back round and up to the hole, so any rain water collecting on the cable doesn't enter the hole.

[robbo71]

Originally Posted by lincsat

I still use the "L" bracket myself

Why?

[tjb305]

Thanks for the advice, will do on both the tape and drip loop.

TJB

[Yorks]

Well done TJB, and so much more rewarding than paying for someone else to do it for you.