Fortec Motor Arm

[Costactc]

Nasty wind storm last Friday uprooted trees and caused my ku dish to be off by approximately 3 degrees. Further inspection of the motor reveals that the motor arm is loose. I have never taken apart an hh motor before. My bud in Montreal says to remove the cap(4 small screws) and tighten the bolt. Anybody have this type of experience?

[eastof111]

If you do disassemble, don't forget to take some pictures!

[Costactc]

I only managed to remove 2 of the 4 screws. I'm setting up each sat with diseqc 1.2 instead of usals-tedious but better then not having anything at all. I'll need to remove the motor entirely from the mount in order to tighten up the motor arm. That's a task that requires time and warm weather, it's a balmy 35f today.

[eastof111]

LOL sun tanning weather LOL

[Costactc]

Spent the better part of scanning in most sats using diseqc 1.2 and when I send the motor back to the sat I get no signal. I will have to find the time to take apart the motor or swap it out for my spare. I have it parked on Galaxy 17.

[Costactc]

Today was supposed to be the day that I swapped out my crippled fortec hh 1.2 motor with my new sg6100 but as usual mother nature isn't cooperating, maybe tomorrow or next weekend:



8299

[Costactc]

Buyer beware.....The sg6100 is supposed to be able to move a 1.4m dish but it can barely move a 1.2m one. In between all the rain my neighbour and I managed to slap on the new motor and all seemed well until I drove the dish to extreme east and west. The motor jammed and was unable to move the dish, we had to move it manually. We decided to put the old fortec back, after reinforcing the arm and we managed to increase signal quality....hopefully it lasts or else I may need to find a stronger motor.

[chifut]

For my DG380B is no problem to lift it up 1.2 Fortec dish down eastern point to up western point ...
ps . The hint is don't keep pushing the'go east' button when the motor is on the extreme eastern point ,sametning is for the west ..,In that case the motor will stuck

[eastof111]

Good to know, I was going to get one, but will wait to see if there's something better out there.

[Costactc]

Stab 1.2 is a bit pricey and slow but extremely reliable. I'll look into one of those but will make due with my fortec 1.2.

[el bandido]

I think a Fortec 1.2 meter dish weighs less than any other 1.2 meter dish that is available in North America.
The capacity of a dish motor should be expressed in dish weight the motor is able to move, and about the only one that has a weight rating is Stab.
Originally, Sadoun had a weight rating for the DG380 that was about equal to the StabHH120. He had to change the weight rating several times and finally settled on a weight for the DG380 that was equal to the Fortec 1.2 meter dish he sold. You exceeded the advertised weight limit for the DG380 when you added a lnb to the dish.

Motors work better in warm climates. They have to work harder in extreme heat and extreme cold. You also have to figure in the extra weight of ice or snow in cold climates. My DG380 has worked pretty well moving a 1.2 meter dish, but it has gotten stuck a few times at the lower end and needed some extral help to get moving again.

I ran a Stab HH120 for many years and it still works, albeit very slowly. The Stab HH120 will not travel quite as far in either direction as the DG380, but it never has gotten stuck and would not move like the DG380. The Stab has a deeper gear reduction which is great for moving weight but it causes you to wait a while for the Stab to move from one end of the arc to the other. IMO, a Stab HH120 is the best for a 1.2 meter dish.

Volts X Amps = Power in watts. This means Ku motors can only draw a few watts of power form the fta receiver.
Motors such as the SG6100 show some impressive specs but in reality they can only draw the same amount of power in watts as a Stab. The SG6100 moves faster than the Stab which means it cannot carry the same amount of weight as the Stab. We will be struck with the slower Ku motors if we want to move 1.2 meter dish weight until the Ku motors are somehow improved or until the fta receivers are able to supply a lot more current to the motor. EB

[eastof111]

Seems we're staying stagnant in some parts of the fta hobby. Most fta'ers want a bigger dish, but they can't get an appropriate motor to move the dish because of the power supply specs of the receivers. Doesn't look like the receiver manufacturers are about to give us better power supplies to indulge the motor designers. There always seems to be a fubar involved.

[el bandido]

Almost all fta gear is built dirt cheap. The last time I looked, you could buy Ku motors for a dollar or two in quantity. Fta receivers in quantity are usually between 1 and 10 dollars a piece. Production costs are counted in pennies. You will not get any major design changes until these lines of thinking change. Fta is an ultra-cheap hobby and the products reflect this.

[eastof111]

Time to form the LegitFTA consortium.... get a list of mandatory items needed by Legitfta'ers in a receiver and send the shopping list to Chinese manufacturers and let them bid. Then again, maybe Korea. LOL:laugh:

[el bandido]

...Along with about 10 grand in cash to cover start-up production costs.:smoke:

[Costactc]

I should have purchased this one in the first place but I figured the sg6100 would do the job, just placed my order:

HH120 Fortec STAB Italy Motor

8358

[chifut]

...C/P
el bandido
. Production costs are counted in pennies. You will not get any major design changes until these lines of thinking change. Fta is an ultra-cheap hobby and the products reflect this. .....end C/P
You are right . That is a cheap hobby. I miss old N2 days and all Bev-arly and Di.h channels wide open

[eastof111]

"You are right . That is a cheap hobby."

If you read most forums the general consensus is exactly that. Only because that's what is expected.

[Costactc]

Just got an e-mail that they are out of stock...I'll have to shop around or look into the DG380.

[el bandido]

Have you checked on Ebay? Used to be some HH120's listed that were in Canada.

[Costactc]

I found one the other day but it was a bit pricey at $159. Do you not recommend the DG380 EB?

[Costactc]

I found 3 on ebay.ca, all from the Toronto area.

[el bandido]

The DG380 has worked well for me running a Geosat 1.2 meter dish, but this area does not normally see much cold weather or snow/ice. I would expect more problems out of the DG380 if the winter weather here was colder.
Having said that, I would expect the DG380 to perform fairly well in cold weather as long as you stay above 30-40W on the East end of the arc. The dish mounts down on the Stab and I think this is an advantage for 1.2 meter dishes. Cannot help but wonder why more Ku motors are not made like that?

The StabHH120 is about twice as much as a DG380 without shipping included. I do not know how much Sadoun or somebody else would charge you for shipping a DG380. The StabHH120 may not be much more, depending on shipping prices.

[Costactc]

Thanks for the reply EB. I need to hit 15w to the max east on this dish and I would prefer the strength of the stab 120. I will be ordering from another site and hopefully, if mother nature cooperates, install next weekend.

[el bandido]

The HH120 will not travel as far in either direction as the DG380. Be sure to carefully check the specs on the motor before you buy it.

[Costactc]

The fortec stab hh120 I am using at the moment arcs from 15-125w. However, getting to 15w can be a bit tricky as it will tell me it's out of range if I move it there directly from the US side. I send it to Hispasat at 30w first, then to 15w.

[Costactc]

My new Stab HH 120 motor just arrived, should be able to slap it on this weekend with the help of Lexmark and as long as mother nature cooperates:


84418442

[eastof111]

Cool... looking forward to how it performs. Might be a good idea to start a sticky on motors and their specs and movement times across the arc, etc.

[Costactc]

The new Stab hh120 motor has been installed and doing the arc spot on. I'd like to thank my neighbour Lexmark for his knowledgable assistance.