Thread: old birdview

Hello everyone! I just joined today and have a few questions. I have acquired a c-band birdview dish which doesn't have the typical arm actuator like some dishes, what can I use to be able to move the dish and what kind of receiver could I use? I would like to receive in digital. Here's what I think I could use, an IRD type of receiver (to move the dish) with a BUD Slave and any type of FTA digital receiver. Please, could someone correct me on this? Also, will I need a new LNB feedhorn since the one that is on the dish is original?

Hello and welcome to the forums.

You have many different options with most C band dishes. What size dish do you have? It may help if you post some clear pictures of your dish

As someone looking for Birdview info, I found extensive documentation here on the forum.
A number of members have them, have documented all aspects, and posted numerous pictures.
Linuxman was one of the earlier members to rediscover this ancient beast and drag it back into public attention.

While I usually give multiple links for such things, this is one example where the Advanced Search function (threads started by Linuxman, Birdview in the topic) will give you plenty of good reading material! -

What are your needs and intentions with the dish?
Show us some pictures, and we can give you better info.

You have the Cadillac of dishes, well worth restoring.

My dish is 8.5 feet across and is mesh. I know I will need to modify the potentiometer to a reed switch, enlarge the scalar and install a new lnb as I hope to use it with both c and ku bands. I am looking for a dish mover and a hd digital receiver. Any Ideas as to what might work with this system? I have sent a link to a few pictures on my dish find.
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Yep, that's a genuine Birdview Perforated dish with horizon-to-horizon mount.
They took the perforated sheet(s) in a big lathe and spun it to a mold, to make it into a dish.
Those seem a little less common than the white solid Birdviews of the same size (in my signature).
But, the mount is the same, the feedhorn mods are the same, the need for a reed switch and magnet wheel is the same, etc.
See threads by Linuxman, Stogie5150, and Phlatwound (and others) for info on restoring the dish 'n mount.

To run the motor, I'd have to recommend the Gbox (again, see my signature).
We should have a review of it by Linuxman, over in our Equipment Review Department.

Aligning a Ck/1 dual band LNBF is pretty tricky, but do-able.
Other sorts of dual band feeds may be easier to get close to target.
(I'm not a proponent of the servo-equipped Chaparrals, so my bias is to everything else) -
If you just want to run C-band, I don't for-see any serious problems.

Nice find there, 1beertap. As Anole said, there is a LOT of info to be found on this site, and most is specific to what you need to know to get that dish back in action.

I don't know how much of the 6" tubing you salvaged, but if you need to extend it to get additional height I found that standard 6" (Sch 40?) steel pipe is just the right size.

The tubing fits inside the pipe, I had a little bit of play (not a snug or press-fit by any means) but the weld took care of that. Just make sure you have good line-of-sight wherever you plant your pole, and get it perfectly plumb.

Also saw your note about breaking 2 of the dish-to-mount bolts when you removed it, that is not uncommon.

I was able to extract the broken bolts in one of mine with an Ez-out, and replaced the threads with helicoils, there may be other ways to fix that also. I'm going to guess it was 2 of the bottom bolts, I think Stogie and myself had the same 2 that were broken.

Search this site for, and read those Birdview threads, they will give you a lot of ideas and help you to come up with questions, then post your questions here....then repeat as necessary.

Hey Guys,
Thanks for the info. I have read some of the older post and I was wondering, if I use a Gbox, how many poles would need to have for the sensor? I see that some people are using 24 magnets and others are using 8 and still others are using different multiples. I don't want the dish to fly off the mount...lol...but I also don't want it take all night to get from point a to point b. Any ideas?

The amount of magnets does not affect the speed, it affects the resolution, or accuracy of where you will be able to stop your dish at various points on the travel of the arc. There is no magic number, but theoretically the more you have the better the accuracy.

I used 24 in the one I built, as that amount, with 1/4" diameter magnets, fit with a nice spacing, in a wheel diameter that clears the mount base and the cover.

I am still using an 8-magnet wheel in the mount that is carrying my BV spoon and have been pleased with the accuracy it provides in the experimentation I have done so far, but am planning on making another 24-mag wheel when I am able to get back into this project. I have used V-box6 and a G-box on both setups, the G-box doubles the count (and accuracy).

Take a look at the info plate on your motor, the common gear ratios that I have seen are 37:1, 70:1 and 110:1, that will be the thing that determines your speed, not the magnet count.