Help Correctly Aligning My 1.2M Channel Master Dish and moteck H-H180 motor

Quote from supwiddiss

Nice progress. A pleasant surprise.
Suggestion would be to scrape and level the ground under the base so you're assured you won't get any wobble at all. Then if you weight it with concrete blocks or whatever. Just make sure the mounting pole always stays plumb. We're going to need that definitely. In other words. No wooden blocks.
Soak the ground with a bucket of hot water. Whatever is needed so that pole stays plumb and no wobble at all.

And now I can see your biggest issue when you were describing you couldn't tilt the dish back because the dish mount interfered with the lower motor bracket.
*Ding*. Light bulbs light up!
Ummmm.... have a drill and bits? Accurately layout and drill bolt holes that are further to the front of the lower motor bracket.
See how close the upper slotted holes come to the front of that side? Yeah!
But you knew that didn't you?
Now that you have the elevation set. And we've determined the dish bracket angle fairly close.
Hold the bracket. Or just bolt it up to the slotted upper brackets.
Get your inclinometer and set that angle. Then mark where you would drill the holes.
Of course that rear plate angle is without the declination added in.
And leaving some adjustment in the top slotted brackets for tweaking it all in.
Easy!

Oh and yes. Get that motor set exactly to the 0 mark on it. No biggie.

Haha. You gonna' ever remove that Fragile tape?

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thanks, yea i know right?, yes the Fragile tape i will remove next also!, so about these reply's i still need help explaining it (so i know what i need to do correctly)!! :) ....

"Suggestion would be to scrape and level the ground under the base so you're assured you won't get any wobble at all".

i might be able to do that but dont want the ground going the same way the concreate base went!

"Then if you weight it with concrete blocks or whatever. Just make sure the mounting pole always stays plumb. We're going to need that definitely. In other words. No wooden blocks".

yes i will be using slabs for the base to weigh the base down to stop it from blowing/tilting etc!

"Soak the ground with a bucket of hot water. Whatever is needed so that pole stays plumb and no wobble at all."

HOT Water in this cold it will just freeze so that be pointless lol ;)

it could be the wind that's blowing the metal stand aswel as its very windy atm!

"And now I can see your biggest issue when you were describing you couldn't tilt the dish back because the dish mount interfered with the lower motor bracket.*Ding*. Light bulbs light up!"

YEP its So annoying right!

"Ummmm.... have a drill and bits?"

YES I mean who doesnt these days?? ;)

"Accurately layout and drill bolt holes that are further to the front of the lower motor bracket."

Please edit your explanation on my pics so i know what you mean! Thanks :)

"See how close the upper slotted holes come to the front of that side? Yeah!"

YES

"But you knew that didn't you?"

YEP

"Now that you have the elevation set. And we've determined the dish bracket angle fairly close."

YEP

"Hold the bracket. Or just bolt it up to the slotted upper brackets."

PLEASE EXPLAIN thanks

"Get your inclinometer and set that angle." Then mark where you would drill the holes.

PLEASE "EXPLAIN" thanks

"Of course that rear plate angle is without the declination added in."
OK???

"And leaving some adjustment in the top slotted brackets for tweaking it all in."

PLEASE "EXPLAIN" thanks

"Easy!"

BETTER BE!

"Oh and yes. Get that motor set exactly to the 0 mark on it. No biggie."

BTW 0 Is towards my house not in the middle did you know that?

@supwiddiss

thanks for looking & replying hopefully wont be too long now till its sorted (Weather dependent of course) ....

Yes i read what you wrote but still need 100% Visualization so i know what i need to do correctly, we have come so far you know :)!!

Quote from supwiddiss

Time to get to work dude.
Nothing matters but getting that dish so that once planted level on the ground. It cannot move at all.
If you have to pound a chunk of rebar in the dirt and place the whole dish mount over it. Do it.
If you need to pound pieces of rebar in each inner corner of the ground mount. Do it.
The dish cannot move at all and the pole must remain level vertically all the way around.
Yeah....

Looking at the motor in the left photo. The bracket is cocked to the left a touch. That's a no-go. 0 reference it.

Your question of what satellites you can get. Did you download a phone app that allows you to visually look at the sky through the camera and see where in the sky satellites actually are?

When your dish is properly setup and all of the angles and tweaks are made.
The only limit of what you should be able to receive is your visible horizon. If you have a clear view of the sky. You will be able to aim at any satellite in it.
And your dish will track the arc as accurately as you are able to set your dish up to track it.

You will not have 100% success at the first try. Tried to tell you. 0.10 degree is going to make huge differences in getting the dish to aim dead nuts at any satellite you steer it to. Period. If you're sloppy, it will be sloppy.
It is not plug and play.

Start looking at and trying to understand the tracking error sheet I posted earlier. Print it out.
You will be doing a lot of thinking.
Do I swing the dish a touch E or W?
Do I need to give it a little more elevation or maybe a little less?
How about declination?
"Elevation is for tracking errors more towards the top, Declination helps at the lower arc".
A combination of every setting made perfect.
And you're doing the Cha Cha.

BTW
BTW 0 Is towards my house not in the middle did you know that?

What the hell does that have to do with the motor being cocked off to the left? 0 it with the mark on the motor housing.

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Just so we understand each other!

"Oh. You gonna' make me work some more? You hiring?"

Well you seem to know what you are doing so yeah i asked again!

"You mentioned that you could not get the dish bracket to tilt any further back."

Yes i did say that

"Take a look. Keep the upper brackets attached.
Remove the bottom bolts."

OK WILL DO!

"Mark the bottom motor bracket and center punch for drilling."

SO WHAT YOU ARE SAYING IS (SO I UNDERSTAND), I NEED TO MARK WITH PEN WHERE I NEED TO DRILL A HOLE AKA MORE TOWARDS THE FRONT OF THE BOTTOM MOTOR BRACKET ON BOTH SIDES YES AND THEN DRILL THE HOLES CORRECT??

"Drill new holes further forward in the lower motor bracket."

OK GOT THAT!

"Remove the dish mount or get it out of the way."

Why?

"Bolt the lower slotted holes of the dish bracket in the new motor bracket bolt holes."

OK GOT THAT!

"Remove the bottom bolts"

from where? the lower mounting bracket?...

"use your inclinometer to set the mounting plate angle to elevation angle minus the dish off 22.5 degrees"

so i need to use my inclinometer to set the mounting plate angle to 22.5 degrees?" how can i do that?? PLEASE EXPLAIN HOW?

"Make sure you leave adjustment in the upper brackets for tweaks"

NOT SURE HOW I CAN DO THAT, PLEASE EXPLAIN!

"the lower slotted holes will be used at the new lower location"

OK

"once the correct plate angle is found"

ok... how?

"mark and drill the bottom motor bracket using the slotted holes as a drilling reference"

OK....

"DO NOT DRILL THE DISH BRACKET"

OK

"Looking at the motor in the left photo. The bracket is cocked to the left a touch. That's a no-go. 0 reference it."

Corrected that now its in the middle!

"Your question of what satellites you can get. Did you download a phone app that allows you to visually look at the sky through the camera and see where in the sky satellites actually are?"

Yes just wanted to double check with you guys here aswell!

"When your dish is properly setup and all of the angles and tweaks are made.
The only limit of what you should be able to receive is your visible horizon. If you have a clear view of the sky. You will be able to aim at any satellite in it. And your dish will track the arc as accurately as you are able to set your dish up to track it."

Hopefully it will!

"You will not have 100% success at the first try. Tried to tell you. 0.10 degree is going to make huge differences in getting the dish to aim dead nuts at any satellite you steer it to. Period. If you're sloppy, it will be sloppy.
It is not plug and play."

I WISH IT WAS!

"Start looking at and trying to understand the tracking error sheet I posted earlier. Print it out.
You will be doing a lot of thinking.
Do I swing the dish a touch E or W?
Do I need to give it a little more elevation or maybe a little less?
How about declination?
"Elevation is for tracking errors more towards the top, Declination helps at the lower arc".
A combination of every setting made perfect.
And you're doing the Cha Cha."

OK

"What the hell does that have to do with the motor being cocked off to the left? 0 it with the mark on the motor housing."

i was just saying that 0 isnt in the middle !

PLEASE EXPLAIN LIKE THIS THANKS!

Quote from supwiddiss

"use your inclinometer to set the mounting plate angle to elevation angle minus the dish off 22.5 degrees"

so i need to use my inclinometer to set the mounting plate angle to 22.5 degrees?" how can i do that?? PLEASE EXPLAIN HOW?

Really? You're pranking me right?
So step backwards and look at the mission.

Why not try to put the motor horizontally and think a bit.
Try a different approach. Put the motor angle like the picture shows. At 90 on the bracket scale.
Hopefully laying your level, angle meter across the mount bracket on the motor gives the same.

Got a 0 degree reference now?
If you make an imaginary line through the center of the motor shaft it's level too?
Apply yourself man. Come on.

Put your dish bracket across the motor brackets.
Tilt it so the right side (adjustable side) tilts 22.5 degrees.
You have to see that. Yeah?

Can you put the adjustable brackets on and bolt that side up snug?
And keep that 22.5 degree angle?

And then mark on the bottom motor bracket where you need to drill your new holes.

Remove the dish bracket completely. Because that's what a good fabricator would do.
And I'm an excellent one. The only braggery you will hear.

With new holes drilled. All you need to do is bolt it all back up.
Before you tighten the bolts make sure the dish bracket is at the correct offset angle.

Please tell me right now.
If left on your own would you really have been able to figure this out on your own.
This is really simple measurements. I mean super simple.
And figuring out what it would have taken to get the dish offset angle by drilling a few new holes is simple.

Remember when I mentioned 'cut, grind, do what ever is needed'?
And you expressed that the lower motor bracket interfered with you tilting the dish bracket any further?
All it would have taken is for you to look at the problem and find the obtruction. And fix it.
Two simple holes drilled in this case. Such a simple diagnosis and fix.
You're telling me that you could not apply yourself and figure that out on your own?

HowDOIAngleMyBracket.jpg

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"Put the motor angle like the picture shows. At 90 on the bracket scale.

Hopefully laying your level, angle meter across the mount bracket on the motor gives the same."

so what you are saying is turn the motor upper/lower mounting plates east slightly? to 90 degrees yes or no? because thats how i understand it from your pic! JUST DONE THIS!! MOTOR IS NOW AT 90 Degrees (didnt take pic yet)

"Please tell me right now.

If left on your own would you really have been able to figure this out on your own."

This is really simple measurements. I mean super simple.

And figuring out what it would have taken to get the dish offset angle by drilling a few new holes is simple."

WELL NO OBVIOUSLY NOT!

"Put your dish bracket across the motor brackets.
Tilt it so the right side (adjustable side) tilts 22.5 degrees.
You have to see that. Yeah?"

do you mean undo the top 2 bolts from the dish mounting plate (leaving the bottom 2 done up but tilt the dish backwards by 22.5 degrees (by having something between the bracket and the dish to stop it moving back into place?) or YES the 2 black brackets that hold my dish to my motor? yes i can move them at a 22.5 degree angle (possibly with my INCLINOMETER (waiting on a new one to arrive)) ??

"Can you put the adjustable brackets on and bolt that side up snug?
And keep that 22.5 degree angle?"

the 2 black brackets that hold my dish to my motor? yes i can move them at a 22.5 degree angle (possibly with my INCLINOMETER (waiting on a new one to arrive)) ??

"And then mark on the bottom motor bracket where you need to drill your new holes."

see pic i attached (DRILL HOLES HERE) so i kow what u mean!

"Remember when I mentioned 'cut, grind, do what ever is needed'?

And you expressed that the lower motor bracket interfered with you tilting the dish bracket any further?

All it would have taken is for you to look at the problem and find the obtruction. And fix it.

Two simple holes drilled in this case. Such a simple diagnosis and fix.

You're telling me that you could not apply yourself and figure that out on your own?"

I CAN DRILL 2 HOLES (1 on each side) Closer to the front of the lower mounting plate, yes i can do that!

see pic i attached (Lower Mounting holes)

Please take a look at my pics attached so i can see visually what needs to be done!!

Quote from jenseneverest

Dan

Remove the black bracket from the dish

Attach black bracket from the dish to your mount (WITHOUT THE DISH)

Like this pic

P1270229.jpg

Place your inclinometer on the black bracket to measure the angle

Upload the result to the forum.

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Gotcha👍 will do

Waiting in new inclinometer to be delivered due to the other one arrived broken and faulty!

Quote from supwiddiss

I have pretty much exhausted my efforts to convey the steps needed to do the modifications and perform a proper installation.

There is a comprehension problem here. And although not throwing fingers. Some things explained are just not being done in a timely manner.

There would be no wait to receive a new angle gauge if a trip to a local hardware store were made and a simple and inexpensive digital angle gauge were purchased.
I have stressed the importance of being able to resolve to 0.10 degrees.
These very small adjustments will need to be made during the very small tracking errors are corrected after installation and the first satellite is received.
No exceptions.

As we are having major comprehension issues. And I have adhered to the initial request to provide clear and concise illustrations to assist.
All I can do at this point is make a few suggestions.
The last post by Jenseneverest is exactly what I have instructed in many different illustrations.
This should explain what is exactly needed to get the motor on the pole and the dish at the proper angles.

It's easy as pie. The intention is to get the dish to "look at" satellites perpendicular (90 degrees) to the elevation angle that the motor has to be tilted to match the latitude of the current location.

As fortification. I went to the local hangout last night.
Opened this post.
There were a few carpenters, auto mechanics, and just guys who like fabricating and doing mechanical things.
I explained what was required. Gave the concept. And after a question or two by them. They "Got It".

So. There are a few easy solutions.
One being print every illustration that pertains to what is needed.
Get a friend. A local carpenter. A guy who is always tinkering with his car. Somebody who fabricates and welds.
A lawn mower repair guy.
Somebody who enjoys messing with things.
Take your motor and dish mount.
Show them the illustrations and ask if they could perform the modification and set up the motor/dish angles so that reattaching the dish to the mounting plate would get the dish pointing at the correct angle needed. With declination added.

It is just too easy. It really is.
And I am left with a sense of failure.

I would offer. If you found a person who understands what is needed.
To gladly give my Google phone number. My current cell phone plan only allows calls in the USA.
Or a video call such as Zoom.
There we could together place the motor and dish mount on the pole or a vice.
Determine the correct angular settings. Or if new mounting holes have to be drilled.
I have a feeling of failure.

4 people having a cold beer "got it" in less than a minute. And here we have how many pages and how many clear and concise illustrations with explanations of the steps needed and if any modifications will have to be made. And how to do it.

I will be willing to give this one more shot. Just one. Before you will be forced to hand this off to a person who immediately can understand the process.

I do not think adequate effort is being given to try and understand the basic concepts.
Manuals explain what is needed.
Perhaps the dish mount may not actually be designed for this particular motor.
But with a bit of effort.
Angle measurement.
Paying attention and trying to learn and actually absorbing the basic concepts.
I have failed and am left at a total loss and waste of time on my part.
And in all good faith to assist in this project.

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I said ok i got it from the last post showing what i need to do aka this:

Remove the black bracket from the dish

Attach black bracket from the dish to your mount (WITHOUT THE DISH)

Like this pic

Place your inclinometer on the black bracket to measure the angle

Upload the result to the forum

When i do this i will post updates, atm its still cold and windy here oh and i have a day job!!,

I will do whats posted above & see if that works as i said before I HAVE AUTISM IT TAKES ME AWHILE TO UNDERSTAND THINGS! BUT THATS WHY IM HERE RIGHT FOR HELP!!

Quote from supwiddiss

Well we need to keep a chin up and maintain our composures. With a bit of levity.
At least you can draw and paint good? Oops!!!

I have found (For you) additional information for the dish you have.
And as is widely posted. There seems to be two different dish offset angles.
And this is why it is very important to do the proper modification to your dish mount by drilling the holes.
It will let you make the wider range of adjustments. Should we need them.

I am on the assumption of a 22.5 degree offset (reflection) angle of your dish.
I found (for you) another Channel Master 1.2m dish manual.
In it, it states the offset, reflection, or as is stated the beam angle is 16.97 degrees.

We will address that once you mark and drill the holes in your motor mount.
Just find where you could drill them to give a larger movement of the dish mount like I have instructed you.
Let's keep this simple. Please.

Off Axis.jpgOn Axis.jpg

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"At least you can draw and paint good? Oops!!!"

WHAT ARE U ON ABOUT NOW?

Quote from supwiddiss

.....drill those holes yet?

NO i just walked in from work! (HAD A LONG AFTERNOON)!! AKA MY DAY JOB!