Motosat installed and up and running

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MikeCoke

MikeCoke

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 6, 2005
Posts
288
Location
Four Corners Area of Colorado
The F1 Motosat I bought on eBay & the D2 Controller Bought from Scott (Dustyfoot) also on eBay are now installed on the roof of our Motorhome.
I tried the better part of yeastday & today to get on line but could not it never got a SQ above 30.
I gave up & when inside the house & started reading all the post I could find on Datastormusers.com
Then I checked My sat & Transponder Modem says 89W 1150 & I thought that is what I had put into the D2 well I screwed-up. I had put in 87W. After seeing that I went out to the MH & put in the correct info. & hit search & BINGO in less than 3 minutes I was online.
So for less than $1500 I now have a working Motosat F1 with D2 Controller. The $1500 includes F1, D2 all the Dicor & screws I needed to do the install. Now the only thing I need is a Clam Shell to put over where I put the Cables through the roof. Righr now I have a lot of Dicor over the cable & in the hole.
I guess I will have a used Dustyfoot tripod system with a 6000 modem for sale soon & I also have a used Manual roof mount to sell.
No more climbing on the roof to get online.
Mike
 
Congratulations Mike. Glad you got it installed and working and are online.
 
Way to go, Mike.  Another set of blue lights for the rallies :)
 
MikeCoke said:
The F1 Motosat I bought on eBay & the D2 Controller Bought from Scott (Dustyfoot) also on eBay are now installed on the roof of our Motorhome.
Click to expand...

Congratulations, Mike!

Are you going to Tucson for the Datastorm rally in Oct?

Phil
 
Heard a funny noise last night and looked out the bedroom window and there was a blue light !!

Yes, 100# is a lot of weight....about the same as the labradork. But Mike had it rigged up to slide up the ladder while I pushed and he pulled and we got her up there.

Mike didn't include the cost of going to Arizona to pick up the dish but fortunately, I was able to find him 7 gas station assessment jobs and those paid for the gas, motel room and dinner at Red Lobster.

Don't want anyone to get the wrong idea. We really liked the manual roof mount and Mike was able to set it up in less than 15 minutes. But I've sort of wanted the push-button gizmo for awhile.....faster to put down if there's wind or lightning. And if we ever had to leave in an emergency (or worse, if I ever had to drive), this should be much faster to stow. I wouldn't have a clue how to put away the manual and would probably just drive down the road until a tree or overpass helped me lower the dish.

Wendy
Oregon bound in about an hour

 
Wendy:

You also will find yourself checking email and news during lunch breaks.
 
Jeff Cousins said:
Wendy:

You also will find yourself checking email and news during lunch breaks.
Click to expand...

Also stopping and deploying the dish to check for local geocaches  :D
 
Our Used Motosat is working great. I have a few questions now.
1. What do you all recommond for thr search window? Mine is currently set to:

Azimuth Search Window 20
Elevation Search Window  15

2. Do you leave the D2 Controller on all the time?
Thanks

Mike


 
I have our search window set at 25/12 but if your compass is reasonably accurate and the rig is level, the smaller window will work fine.  If it seems to have problems finding the satellite quickly, you may need to open up the azimuth window.

I leave ours on to keep the blue lights shining when in use and usually while stowed but some recommend turning it off while traveling to avoid an accidental deployment if the search button could be bumped inadvertently.
 
Phil I had hoped to attend the Datastorm rally but now since we accepted the Campground hosting position in Death Valley starting Oct 15 I Will not be able to attend.
Mike
Phil said:
Congratulations, Mike!

Are you going to Tucson for the Datastorm rally in Oct?
Phil
Click to expand...

 
Hi Ned,
Since I have been able to lock on every time I deploy the dish with the search window I have it set to I guess I will just keep it there until I have a problem finding the sat.
I do have one other question if the search windoe is set to say 20 is it going to search 10 deg. on each side of the Target or is it going to search 20 on each side of the Target.
I guess I could watch next time I deploy the dish but I am parked here for a few more days.

Thanks
Mike


Ned said:
I have our search window set at 25/12 but if your compass is reasonably accurate and the rig is level, the smaller window will work fine.  If it seems to have problems finding the satellite quickly, you may need to open up the azimuth window.
Click to expand...
 
With a 20 degree window, it searches +-10 degrees around the calculated azimuth.  That's why you don't want it too big if your compass is reasonably accurate.  The azimuth sweep is pretty fast, so a larger window isn't that much of a problem, if you think your compass is being affected by the locale.  The elevation window isn't as critical as it starts with the calculated elevation, then goes up 1, down 2, up 3, etc. each time while sweeping the azimuth window.  If you're close to level, it should find the satellite in just a couple of sweeps.  Watch the antenna while it searches and you can see the process in action.
 
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