Opinions of which motor to buy

[jmc98]

i am looking for opinions on the SG9120 55mm shaft and the DG380 55mm shaft motors to run my 1.2 m dish

 

[Magic Static]

I never owned a DG380 or a STAB motor. The rest of them are junk to poor. The FTA market is still looking for a decent KU motor. Right now I have a SG9120 in use. It's still working albeit slower than molasses in winter. I've heard good things about STAB brand and the DG380. But I went prematurely grey trying to make KU motors work well. LOL The best motor I had was DMSI SG2100 that I modded for external power supply. I may get a 55mm shaft for it and use it again.

 

[northgeorgia]

I've owned both the 9120b and the 380 (the last one having the 55 cm shaft). I have the 380 up because my 9120b stopped working properly. Even when it did work, many times the motor would have to be reset (done manually on both motors by reconnecting the coax while holding down two buttons and releasing after five seconds. Sounds simple, but I don't have 3 hands, and especially when it's cold or rainy out). So far, I haven't had to reset the 380, but I read elsewhere on the forum that it is also plagued with problems. Although I'm loving my 380 so far, I agree with Magic Static. There still isn't a decent Ku band motor out there

 

[johann12]

I never owned a DG380 or a STAB motor. The rest of them are junk to poor. The FTA market is still looking for a decent KU motor. Right now I have a SG9120 in use. It's still working albeit slower than molasses in winter. I've heard good things about STAB brand and the DG380. But I went prematurely grey trying to make KU motors work well. LOL The best motor I had was DMSI SG2100 that I modded for external power supply. I may get a 55mm shaft for it and use it again.

I was reading about this problem on different sites.
And this is what they recommended, that will work.
Most manufacturers using grease to lubricate the gears, but it is not low temperature grease.
Best would be to open the cover and clean the old grease out and replace it with low temperature grease.

Just done a quick search at Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001BNLUU4/?tag=satell01-20
This grease claim to be -100 degrees to +400 degrees.

 

[Anole]

just one lizards opinion:

If I were swinging any 1.2m (or heavy commercial 1.0m) dish, I'd order a DG380.
But for any 36" (I don't do smaller ), then another Stab HH90 would get ordered.

Right or wrong, that's where I'd spend my money.

 

[Bongu]

I have a DG380 that I got within the last 2 months from Sadoun. I am not terribly impressed with the speed of the motor. I am swinging a Winegard 1m DS-3100 with it and it seems like it might not be strong enough to swing the dish up from 30W elevation of 13 degrees here. I have not tried it for fear of stalling, but I am still fine tuning the new dish/motor. I will post a review of this dish/motor setup when I get it all locked down.

 

[pacificrim]

I'm loving the Stab HH-120 I purchased as part of my Operation No More Junk where I rebuilt my setup using only quality parts. It is slower than my SG9120 was but has been rock solid in extreme winds and always accurate.

 

[jmc98]

I'm loving the Stab HH-120 I purchased as part of my Operation No More Junk where I rebuilt my setup using only quality parts. It is slower than my SG9120 was but has been rock solid in extreme winds and always accurate.

Where can you buy the stab HH-120 motor ? I looking to motorize a geosat pro 1.2m I purchased last year from satellite av

 

[primestar31]

He's in Canada. There are Canadian dealers for STAB on Ebay. I think the postage to the US is prohibitive though. I was considering it some time ago, but I didn't want to drop $200 on a motor.

 

[Anole]

I didn't mention the Stab 120 due to expense.
Only complaint I've heard about it was it's speed.

As with all motors and impatient users, there is a mod to give 'em 18-20 volts all the time.
Pendragon posted most recently with his mod for a DG380, but the idea goes way back to the first 2100's.

 

[Stevemo]

I would recommend the STAB HH90 over the 2100 any day, I sent my friend to get a STAB HH90 like mine but the dealer sent him back with a 2100. The 2100 looks like a Russian copy of a Japanese car built from a photo taken from space...
Steve

 

[chaskuchar]

haven't had the dg380 for a long time, just got it in october to move my 1.2 from satelliteav. but it works real well. it has the big shaft so works well with the mounting hardware on the 1.2. got mine from sadoun in houston. charlie

 

[AcWxRadar]

I have the DG-380 motor applied to move the same dish, a 1.2M GeoSatPro from Satellite AV. It has always worked great for me and had no trouble moving the dish from any extreme. I thought the speed was acceptable. It required less than 60 seconds, between 47 sec to 57 sec, including the time it took for my AZBox to lock onto the signal and present a pix - to move from 125W to 30W (or vice versa). It made a difference whether I was moving from a HOR TP to a HOR TP or from a VER TP to VER TP as the motor used the polarity signal for power and would slew faster with the 18 V HOR signal. I am very pleased with the DG-380 motors and I actually have several of them for different dishes. One of my DG-380's and a 1 M Winegard dish went to my brother for a mini-motorized BUD system and it worked fine with that dish, too.

RADAR

 

[SatelliteAV]

Of the motors currently available that are suitable for moving a larger dish, I would rate the STAB HH120 as the best and the DG-380 as a second choice. Not that the DG-380 is not a good and reliable unit, but because the STAB products fully implement the USALS protocol and their products are superior build / quality.

The current version of the SG2100 is not like the quality product that was sold 7 to 10 years ago. The SG2100 build quality is now cheap and the bracket is too lightweight to even properly install without bending. There is absolutely no way that the SG2100 could support a 1.2m dish let alone be operative through a windstorm. It is marginal for a 90cm and unsuitable for a 1.2m.

 

[beavs2112]

Where can you buy the stab HH-120 motor ? I looking to motorize a geosat pro 1.2m I purchased last year from satellite av

Hi jmc98. I own 2 HH120's but have not owned a DG380 or SG9120. Search the forum for info on the HH120.
My 2 cents quick review of the HH120. Pros as SatAv said superior build quality and flawless USALS implementation. Things about the HH120 to research are 1. the output shaft size match between motor/antenna. 2. somewhat limited degree of travel. It only goes +/- 65 degrees (+/- 70max due to mechanical limits) so for you @ 97.5W it will only go to 97.5-65=32.5W so might not get Hispasat @ 30W?

Kevin

 

[AcWxRadar]

2. somewhat limited degree of travel. It only goes +/- 65 degrees (+/- 70max due to mechanical limits) so for you @ 97.5W it will only go to 97.5-65=32.5W so might not get Hispasat @ 30W?

Kevin

Kevin,

Just a note here on your point that I quoted above. I am located at 97.6°W / 41.6°N. With the DG-380 and the 1.2 M GeoSatPro dish, I am able to get Hispasat. The trick for me is that it is beyond the range of the USALS calculations and therefore I must manually dial it in using DISEQC 1.2 motor control. I wonder if the STAB HH120 would operate in the same manner. Which brings me to my second point regarding Brian's (SatelliteAV) comment regarding the STAB products fully implementing the USALS protocol. I agree that they should, after all STAB pretty much wrote the rules on USALS since they were basically the sole engineers behind USALS from the beginning.

Brian,

Can you elaborate on what you know regarding how the STAB HH120 operates under USALS (specifically in comparison to the DG-380)? I would be curious to learn more about the HH120 motor myself.

RADAR

 

[SatelliteAV]

USALS is a licensed, two way communication (handshake) between the STB and the logic board of the motor.

"Go To X" is an unlicensed, one-way signal command and a partial implementation of the USALS protocol. The calculated offset from the motor's zero position command is issued, but the STB does not process (or the motor does not issue) the return confirmation of a USALS protocol motor position or operation mode.

Almost receivers and motors are only "Go To X" capable. Few are licensed or even implement the USALS protocol. Just because the STB or motor says USALS, doesn't mean that it is using the full communication protocol.

 

[Magic Static]

I was looking at the STAB web site and found they now have a built in audible sat locator in the HH100s and HH120s now.
http://www.stab-italia.com/prodotto.php?cod=F208010

 

[chaskuchar]

does the dg380 do usals? i was under the assumption the dg380 doesn't do usals. thanks, charlie

 

[SatelliteAV]

does the dg380 do usals? i was under the assumption the dg380 doesn't do usals. thanks, charlie

"Do USALS"? Partially... see the description of unlicensed USALS implementation. The distributor' website states that it is a "GoTo X" and DiSEqC 1.2 implemented protocol.

I believe that the only USALS licensed motors distributed in North America are the STAB motors.