Making a satellite dish dance

DannyD · 04-03-2013 10:23am #1

I'm looking for a way to control a motorised satellite dish. The dish will be used for display purposes , a prop. I want to be able to program the dish so that it performs a routine consisting of movements, ie: go left , go right to x, go up etc..

any idea's on how do achieve this? Perhaps an arduino board could send these signals to the motor?

satellitetv · 12-03-2013 8:13pm

danny,

Motorised dishes have only one motor so they only go left and right, no up and down is possible with a standard 36v or diseqc motor

All the best.

Clareman · 12-03-2013 10:39pm

DannyD wrote: »

I'm looking for a way to control a motorised satellite dish. The dish will be used for display purposes , a prop. I want to be able to program the dish so that it performs a routine consisting of movements, ie: go left , go right to x, go up etc..

any idea's on how do achieve this? Perhaps an arduino board could send these signals to the motor?

Could you not use any robotic arm/platform and connect the dish to it? Most motorised setups that people would use would be to find specific satellites so wouldn't really "dance"

recyclebin · 13-03-2013 12:24am

You could set a load of timers to record channels from different satellites. The dish motor would then move automatically once every minute.

DannyD · 13-03-2013 12:33am

Thanks for the suggestions. As this is just for display purposes I'm fine with just a left right routine. I think an arduino controlling the motor is a suitable solution, just have to figure it out now !

wallycharlo · 13-03-2013 5:24pm

satellitetv wrote: »

danny,

Motorised dishes have only one motor so they only go left and right, no up and down is possible with a standard 36v or diseqc motor

All the best.

Well, strictly speaking, the motor moves along all 3 axes as it moves, so it does in fact go 'up and down' as well as it moves through the Arc. But most likely not in the way which the OP needs

zg3409 · 16-03-2013 9:04am

DannyD wrote: »

Thanks for the suggestions. As this is just for display purposes I'm fine with just a left right routine. I think an arduino controlling the motor is a suitable solution, just have to figure it out now !

Regarding sending DiSEqC commands, I have a board that does it from a PC. I could send it to you.
The software is here:
http://www.juras-projects.org/eng/software.php

Every time you press a button, your PC generates the corresponding beep audio. The audio is then fed into a device that adds 13V DC and so creates a valid DiSEqC tone. The software as stated on that page also takes anything from the clipboard and sends it. You would need something to do Ctrl-C to send various timed commands to trigger it. I think the easiest way would be a "keyboard emulator" which acts like a keyboard to basically press various buttons at the right time such as here:

http://softwaretopic.informer.com/keyboard-automatic-key-press-timer/

http://www.murgee.com/auto-keyboard/

http://www.autohotkey.com/

You can look at the youtube clip to see how it works. You can download the software, press the buttons and hear the beeps on your computers speaker.

I have the hardware which is basically a headphone lead connected to a circuit board. The schematic seems to be missing from that site, however it is very basic, 4 or 5 components on stripboard. PM me to arrange if desired.

martinedwards · 16-03-2013 9:13am

if its for display and not actually pointing at sats, then mount it on a rear windscreen wiper motor at 3v. it'll sweep slowly side to side like K9's ears!

zg3409 · 16-03-2013 9:32am

martinedwards wrote: »

if its for display and not actually pointing at sats, then mount it on a rear windscreen wiper motor at 3v. it'll sweep slowly side to side like K9's ears!

Wiper motors rotate 360 degrees around and around. It's the cams and bars afterwards that make the wiper move over and back. Not to say it could not be done, depending on the motor and where the "gearbox" is it might not be that easy.

martinedwards · 18-03-2013 10:09am

REAR ones dont.

they have a built in, all sealed up reversing sweep gearbox.

at least the 5 or 6 that I've used for projects like this do.....

FRONT wiper motors use a crank and 4 bar chain mechanism to get the sweep.

Ryme · 29-09-2014 8:21am

Hello and Good Morning,

With respect to your posting below, I wondered if you could please also send the schematic to me, so that I can implement your concept in a motorised system I am building to track the ISS?

If you are able to help, I should be most grateful.

Kind Regards,

Mark

zg3409 · 29-09-2014 10:41am

Ryme wrote: »

Hello and Good Morning,

With respect to your posting below, I wondered if you could please also send the schematic to me, so that I can implement your concept in a motorised system I am building to track the ISS?

If you are able to help, I should be most grateful.

Kind Regards,

Mark

Hi Mark,

Private message me with your email address (PM) and I will send you all details. I also have the working board if you want it.

As for tracking the ISS, I have built a tracking system for the ISS, but it does not use DiSEqC commands nor a normal motor for a satellite dish. The reason is the ISS moves very quickly and not in a way which can be tracked using a motor designed for tracking geostationary satellites.

There are a few options for tracking the ISS, it all depends on what you want to do. There are tracking systems for optical telescopes that are fast and accurate enough to take photos of it as it passes over, but probably not steady video, there are large motorised satellite dish systems for downlinking video, and there are cheaper motors for VHF and UHF antenna tracking. None of these systems use DiSEqC tones. They generally use laptop software and a USB to serial interface. Over this connection the current azimuth and elevation is sent and then a box controls the motors to move it to the wanted position.

Normally the motors are dumb and they use position feedback to know when they have reached the position. Cheaper units use a basic potentiometer and gives a voltage from 0 to 5V depending on the position and the motor stops at the correct voltage. More expensive models use hall or pulse feedback that can easily be accurate to within 0.1 degree.

Let me know your exact requirements and I can advise what is needed. If you are in Ireland PM me your phone number and we can talk.

Making a satellite dish dance

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