Smartsat Oyster

For those with fully automatic Oyster satellite, we have learnt (the hard way) of some basic maintenance which is required.

There is a rubber gasket which runs all the way around the bottom of the rotating motor mount and is quite easily visible. This needs to be sprayed periodically with silicon spray to prevent friction between the gasket and the main satellite mount when it is in search mode (this maintenance advice is from SmartSat).

We were unaware of this, (as is Daniel from Sound In Motion), but as a consequence the gasket ended up fouling with the main rotating body, preventing proper search and then we received an warning 'Motor is blocked'. Indeed it was, as the gasket had been sucked up into the gear mechanisms and was chewed rather badly. When trying to retract the Oyster, the mount bolts pulled through the dust cover and then the whole mechanism fell over backwards pointing forlornly at the sky. The wiring harness was also partially damaged as a result.

The good news is that we happened to be on the Gold Coast and put in a call for help to Thomas at SmartSat - in 30 minutes he attended our van onsite, removed the main satellite body, and returned to his workshop for repairs and re-fitted it 2 days later back at our van site.

Fantastic service, and quite a modest repair bill, especially given the travel time involved.