Hay that’s nice! Looks like it works like it should.
Sadly i didn’t have time yet to print every part of it, but you have one for testing what is more important to me.
Any Problems or things that should be changed?
Do you get the Signal cable onto the LNB still without blocking Elevation adjust?
Does it hold it’s Position after fastening the wingnuts?
regards,
Manuel
Yes, it works perfectly. There are few minor points worth consideration.
- The neck of the assembly might need to be extended vertically so that the wing nuts don’t hit the flange.
- The flange could use four holes for attaching directly to a wall or board.
- It would be great if the assembly could stand on its own in all orientations; that would require the flange to have two legs added toward the front of the assembly.
- The ears of the assembly (part that sits on the neck) don’t allow the MK1 to fully rotate/adjust skew, due to the off-center placement of the F-connector on the MK1. Another LNB I have with a centered F-connector rotates just fine.
But all in all, the assembly works exactly as it was supposed to. I am impressed!
Being able to secure the assembly on a flat surface would also be useful, so four horizontal holes on the flange.
Hi syed,
So the flange is the bottom part, the neck is the middle and ears is the Elevation / Top part, right?
- holes in the mount where the cable ties fit for direct wall mount -> okay
- holes on the flange for flat mounting -> what about the bottom wing nut for AZ? That will not work.
- standing feet -> i will make an alternative bottom part that you can print when you want it to stand up.
- skew adjust hitting on off center connector LNBs -> will think how to get around that.
regards,
Manuel
Yes, that is correct.
I’m curious, Syed, won’t your new antenna design obviate these considerations. 
Ken
It’s an open source design that can be printed and used for existing, standard LNBs. No harm in that.
The new antenna is not a new design. We couldn’t get the required performance from the patch arrays, so we’ll be using another LNB, which will be roughly the same size as the MK1, but without the casing, since everything will be inside of a dome.
Interesting - - that said, I’m going to proceed with a new enclosure for a portable unit that I’ve been working on (but put on hold pending the patch concept). I got the idea from a 6 inch diameter Mova Globe (www.movaglobes.com) I have which failed so I could take it apart.
It is a Dreamcatcher mounted underneath (sandwiched) with the LNB, then installed in the clam shell sphere that sits on top of a small tripod stand allowing rotation of the sphere for antenna pointing. The touch screen is remoted by a short cable and mounted on the rear of the sphere so you can read it as you point. I haven’t decided to include a built in rechargeable power source, or run it off an external one. Here’s a conceptual picture illustrated with a basketball. The LNB is inside and points out the back side of the picture.
I need to remeasure power draw of Skylark 5.5 which will determine internal power requirements. By any chance do you know it is now? Ken
PS Change to this post - - Skylark still draws 1.1 amps at 5 vdc with the Touch Screen Off and 1.2 amps at 5 vdc with the Touch Screen On
I am real curious on the next dreamcatcher details. The limited info is a dome enclosure.
Will the pcb be different. (I like only one antenna port, only one micro otg usb port, fewer led’s, jtag points or serial pins, second usb and hub support). Physically more robust, smaller, ???
Will it have lcd ? what is the power connection / requirements.
Inquiring minds thrive these details…
As another alternative, I’m thinking about using a clear plastic lamp post cover 8" in diameter with a 4 inch cutout hole that I will widen to fit the Dreamcatcher inside. All the equipment (DC, LNB, LiPo battery and charger) will be inside the globe.
Then turn so the opening is pointed down to keep water. Mount it on a simple tripod (shown above) or collar to rotate for sighting SES-2. Ken
This is excellent!!
However, what did you print it out of? PLA (cheapest material) does not do well in a UV drenched environment and has a very low meting point. Stuff I’ve made for my car such as brackets to hold my ham gear warp in the heat. I would suggest ABS at least.
Also, what print settings etc did you use? Infill %, layer height etc etc etc ?
Mark
It was PLA, but just to verify @Tysonpower’s design. You are right that it would need to be ABS. 0.1mm , 20% infill.
Well i wouldn’t use ABS, use PETG. It doesen’t warp while printing and is also heat resistant. Infill of 20% at 0.2mm or smaller would be ok.
It also doesen’t smell so bad.
regards,
Manuel
Good evening everyone!
I made some changes to the model as suggested.
- made the middle part (where the EL mounts) 10mm longer so the wing nut clears
- added two holes (4mm,head up to7mm) to the pole mount so you can screw it into a Wall
- changed the form of the EL so the LNB can be rotated (SKEW) even when the connector is off center
- added a new part: A optional stand that replaces the pole mount
Update: New STLs are now on Thingiverse
I will upload the STLs to Thingiverse shortly, here are two renders:
regards from Cologne,
Manuel - DO5TY
More on Globe Mounting
Using an 8 inch diameter clear plastic globe with a 4 inch entry hole (I had to make a cutout to get the Dreamcatcher board inside),
I was able to insert the Dreamcatcher, LNB, and Lipo to run Skylark 5.5.
I placed the globe on a small glass kitchen storage dish, and was quickly able to rotate the globe to get the correct azimuth, elevation, and skew. I can reach a finger inside the bottom to use the touch screen.
If you position the access hole on the bottom, then the globe becomes water resistant. If you used a white plastic globe, you could achieve stealth if you want to hide your gear. Ken
Way back in the L band antenna days… I found that routing of the coax anywhere near the receiver chip on the printed circuit board caused a loss of signal.
The package you show is the closest mounting I have seen between the coax/lnbf/dreamcatcher. Have you noticed any bit-rate loss related to the proximity of the components in your setup ?
Not in this case - - % Valid packets are 99%, packet rate is about 10.3, and Bitrate is about 20000. It’s raining and snowing here, buy my SNR is -11,25 dB and Rssi is -76 dBm. Ken
