Motorising a Zone 2

[The Guvnor]

I have seen a couple of photos of Sky Zone 2 mini dishes that have diseqc motors on them.

Do I need a particular mark of minidish to mount one onto a Technomate diseqc motor?

 

[linesman66]

I wouldn't advise to use a mini satellite dish
The minimum size of satellite dish i would use
80cm with 2inch l bracket far enough from the wall so the satellite dish can rotate from 30west
to 42 east Most satellite motors are designed to set square on 2inch bracket

 

[The Guvnor]

I already have my own motorised system so well aware of what dish size you should ideally have, it’s just for this particular instance we’re limited to a zone 2. We need reception of 28.2e, 19.2e, 13e, 23.5e and on a good day, 16e.

I have seen a few photos of Zone 2‘s on diseqc motors, I am just trying to workout how they have achieved it.

 

[Ferret.]

Not 100% sure but i think they are Mk2. You can do any version if your the diy type.

Ive done a few. All of them require a bit of modification to mount to the 50mm stub on the motor.

Did this one for a footy mate.

 

[The Guvnor]

Not 100% sure but i think they are Mk2. You can do any version if your the diy type.

Ive done a few. All of them require a bit of modification to mount to the 50mm stub on the motor.

Did this one for a footy mate.

View attachment 98697View attachment 98698View attachment 98699

Wonderful mate, just what I needed!

So as long as I get one with a pole mount I should be able to modify the rear bracket?

Did anyone ever design an 80cm zone 2? I keep seeing them advertised yet people say they don’t exist.

 

[Ferret.]

Wonderful mate, just what I needed!

So as long as I get one with a pole mount I should be able to modify the rear bracket?

Did anyone ever design an 80cm zone 2? I keep seeing them advertised yet people say they don’t exist.

You should be able to mk4 is tricky.

The Zone 2 is 78cm some may round it up to 80cm

 

[The Guvnor]

You should be able to mk4 is tricky.

The Zone 2 is 78cm some may round it up to 80cm

The majority of Zone 2’s I am finding have this pole bracket on them.

 

[Ferret.]

The majority of Zone 2’s I am finding have this pole bracket on them.

View attachment 98701

You need to bolt 50mm clamp on to the rear of that

Like this

Then you clamp it to your motor stub with another clamp and coach bolts.

 

[The Guvnor]

You need to bolt 50mm clamp on to the rear of that

Like this View attachment 98702

Then you clamp it to your motor stub with another clamp and coach bolts.

Ah I see so you clamp the 50mm clamp to the existing minidish clamp and tighten it up?

Is that 50mm clamp off another minidish? They look the same colour.

 

[Ferret.]

Ah I see so you clamp the 50mm clamp to the existing minidish clamp and tighten it up?

Yes mate

Very simple on that mk of dish.

Make sure the 50mm clamp is central to the minidish clamp to avoid alingment issues.

No problem with the arc either you can max the motor out east and west not that you need all that.

 

[The Guvnor]

Yes mate

Very simple on that mk of dish.

Make sure the 50mm clamp is central to the minidish clamp to avoid alingment issues.

No problem with the arc either you can max the motor out east and west not that you need all that.

Is that 50mm clamp off another minidish? Just the colour match is pretty much spot on.

 

[cokeaddict]

Is that 50mm clamp off another minidish? Just the colour match is pretty much spot on.

Looks like a rattle can special 🤨

 

[Ferret.]

Is that 50mm clamp off another minidish? Just the colour match is pretty much spot on.

No it was a generic 50mm mast clamp and was mild steel so i painted the minidish bracket and mast clamp with some matt black my mate had lying around.

The dish and motor was second hand off market place the clamp i found on ebay but ive had them from screwfix although not always in stock.

 

[The Guvnor]

No it was a generic 50mm mast clamp and was mild steel so i painted the minidish bracket and mast clamp with some matt black my mate had lying around.

The dish and motor was second hand off market place the clamp i found on ebay but ive had them from screwfix although not always in stock.

One final question @Ferret. I promise

What is best to use in terms of the LNB? I have read a few have said stick with the Sky one as it is matched to the dish for best performance. I think the most come with 38mil collars so if I wanted to use something like a black ultra I’d have to buy a new collar.

 

[Ferret.]

One final question @Ferret. I promise

What is best to use in terms of the LNB? I have read a few have said stick with the Sky one as it is matched to the dish for best performance. I think the most come with 38mil collars so if I wanted to use something like a black ultra I’d have to buy a new collar.

Sky LNB's feed horns are matched to the shape of the elliptical dish so perform better.

You can use the black ultra but you may lose a couple of percent signal.

I've tried various LNBs on them in the past and across the whole frequency spectrum the sky lnbs work best.

 

[The Guvnor]

Sky LNB's feed horns are matched to the shape of the elliptical dish so perform better.

You can use the black ultra but you may lose a couple of percent signal.

I've tried various LNBs on them in the past and across the whole frequency spectrum the sky lnbs work best.

Do some Sky LNB’s perform better than others? Sure I have seen a 0.1db advertised?

 

[bmitie]

Out of interest is the sky dish already in situ?

 

[Jester1]

Here's a pic of mine which @ferret helped me with it was eventually replaced with a 1m

 

[bmitie]

Was there much difference with the 1m? What's that little black box for?

 

[Jester1]

There will always be a difference with a bigger dish especially on the weaker sat's , the little black box is a sat finder squealy meter as I call them.