Adventures in Dish Hunting 2008

[linuxman]

Talked to the guy about the DSR-905 a few minutes ago, and I convinced him that I could get his dish operational again and that he should keep it and start his subscription again.

He is going to pay me for whatever parts are necessary and my time for getting the system operational.

I guaranteed him that if the receiver still works and the Unit ID isn't dead, I can get it going for him. Once I have it operational, I will sell him on FTA.

 

[Mr Tony]

well its not a C-Band dish but I picked up another Primestar dish

Up by our cabin there was a Primestar dish that I always kept seeing as I dove by. I had stopped a couple times and knocked on the door but no answer. a month or so ago when I went up I saw the trailer was bulldozed and they have the plot for sale (yet the dish was still on the pole). I almost grabbed it then but the neighbor nearby...well lets say their house and the people outside looked like "Deliverance" so I didnt stop

Yesterday I saw the dish was gone but laying next to a dumpster nearby there. So I rescued it

pics later

 

[linuxman]

Yesterday I saw the dish was gone but laying next to a dumpster nearby there. So I rescued it.

On CSI, they say whatever is in the trash is public property.

Congratulations on another great find!!!

 

[skynyrd]

Sami Dish

Well, I finally got a dish around my area. I believe its a 8ft sami dish, and the mesh is in good shape on it, it just has some moss covering the dish, but I am in the process of cleaning that off. I also got the mount, but I didn't get a reciever or pole (I figured that it would be easier to try to find a pole insted of digging up concrete). I found a GI Innovations 450i reciever for sale a few towns away, however the woman coulddn't meet me today, and was supposed to call me back, but I don't know if she will. I saw a uniden reciever (SQ590) also on my local swap board, so I may check into that if she doesn't so I'll have something to change polarities and move the actuator. I had no luck in finding a pole this weekend, hopefully the scrap dealer or pipe store will have some. Here is a picture of the dish that I got.

 

[Techfizzle]

looked like "Deliverance"

uh, this may be an out-of-context thing i dont understand, so could someone please explain this to me.

 

[Mr Tony]

Deliverance was a movie from the 70's
Deliverance - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

most of the people in Deliverandce looked like a bunch of inbred hilbillies. That's what the people at that house near the dish looked like. I was worried one time they'd pull out their musket and shoot first ask questions later

 

[Anole]

moss, you say ?

I believe its a 8ft sami dish, and the mesh is in good shape on it, it just has some moss covering the dish, but I am in the process of cleaning that off.

Is that the white stuff in the picture, or are those bits of leaves?
I'm voting on a trip to the car wash or maybe bring over a pressure washer.

Nice looking dish. You bagged a beauty. - :up

 

[skynyrd]

Is that the white stuff in the picture, or are those bits of leaves?
I'm voting on a trip to the car wash or maybe bring over a pressure washer.

Nice looking dish. You bagged a beauty. - :up

Thanks... Yeah, I have most of the moss or lichen, or whatever it is off now. One side looks pretty good, and the other side looks like the stuff is flaking off after giving it a scrub.. Should look pretty good when Im finished.

A note about the pole... I called around to a few places on Monday to try to find a 3 1/2 inch pole for this thing to sit on. I found a new steel pole for $135 and a EMT pole for 65. I heard that EMT wasn't nowhere near as steardy as steel. so I bit the bullet, an decided that I WAS going to recover the pole. The people I got it from were cool with me coming back over and trying to dig it up, as long as I filled the hole.. so me and one of my friends started digging on it, and within 30 minutes we had the pole out of the ground. another 10, and we had the majority of the concrete off the pole, and we were all done within a hour. So i would suguest that if your able, try and dig up that pole, and save yourself some money if you can. At least cut it and try to work with what you have.

The woman didn't call me on the Motorolla reciever, so I have emailed the person that has the uniden reciever for sale. Im going to try and set this pole either Wednesday or Thursday night, and hopefully get my dish up Friday to see if I can track. The woman I bought my dish from said that they would look for their old reciever also, but I figured that i'd go ahead and get a dish mover, and if they do find it... Well, that would be another spare reciever...

I'll post pictures when I have it up...

 

[Inno]

Found one (sort of)

We were out looking at some baby horses over the weekend and I spotted this one used for a roof on a gazebo.......the workmanship left a bit to be desired......and instead of gathering signals now it serves to block them much like a tinfoil hat.......which I wouldn't be surprised to see on the folks from around those there parts.

 

[Techfizzle]

i have seen those before, it is a sacrifice to the dish gods, its sacrilage.

 

[linuxman]

That makes me ill!

That's not just any dish on that gazebo. That's a Birdview solid up there.

What a waste of a fine piece of satellite equipment.

 

[Techfizzle]

before i learned about the c-band hobby thats still arround, i passed up a spun-aluminum birdview, or maybe a birdseye it was called

 

[Inno]

That's a birdview??? K, now I feel kinda queasy.........sorry I posted that......I hope you feel better soon Linuxman..... if it's any consolation, they didn't treat their horses much better, one of the young ones had been attacked by a bear.

 

[thomas34461usa]

gazebo used in such a way really irks me

Seeing this gazebo used in such a way really irks me! Using one for a roof on a gazebo is wasting a piece of satellite equipment is bad enough but to see a gazebo used from the makings of a Birdview is just plain sacrilege!! !sadroll

Why I….. if I lived any closer I would consider going out on a special nightly commando raid and rescue it and bring it to where it could be used as indented.

Tom

 

[Techfizzle]

the dish bandidos

 

[linuxman]

Hey Inno,

No offense to you for posting, but to think that someone would actually take a fine piece of equipment like that and use it for a gazebo. I could understand it if it was an old mesh that all the mesh had been eaten off by hail or something, but a Birdview.

I'm with Thomas, that's a sacrilege.

 

[Inno]

I'm in complete agreement, and if I'd known what it was I probably wouldn't have posted that picture. I didn't find any identifying marks on it to tell me what it was and I certainly didn't want to upset anyone. I'm kinda pissed about it too knowing now what it is. I didn't think there were any Bird View dishes in this area, probably why I hadn't seen one before and couldn't identify it.
If you'd have met these people you might understand a bit more about just what type of person would do that................"cue the banjo music"...............no offense to those who like banjo music.

 

[linuxman]

I didn't find any identifying marks on it to tell me what it was

That's ok.

If I hadn't worked so up close and personal with them, I probably wouldn't have known what one looked like upside down like that either.

But if you look in the picture closely, you can see the weld bead around where the back plate attaches to the dish. You can also see that the "flat" plate is not quite flat and goes up to the hole in the middle which looks like a small rise at the top center. The other give-away is the spun-aluminum rings that show up in the picture, plus the outside rim.

Most people would never guess what it was laying upside down like that, so don't worry about it. Maybe you can salvage it at some point in the future. The dish is still the dish if it hasn't been damaged. It can be attached to any mount, and we can give measurements for the support struts and scalar ring.

 

[stogie5150]

First of all, a very nice score. They are a great dish, and the H-H mount should be fantastic for you.

As to the questions.

I would take the six or 8 bolts that run through the back plate through the mounting assembly to the face of the dish loose and take the dish off the mount from there.

Then take the H-H mount off the pole. You will need lots of hands because I don't see a way to dis-assemble the dish. There probably is, I just can't see it from your pictures.

Second question, if the sides of the trailer aren't too tall, just set it back side down in the trailer you have and come home slow with red flags on the sides and rear using back roads and flashing lights on lead and tail cars.

The mesh won't be hard to replace and you will have an excellent dish.

The chances of the motor working are very good. I have not brought home a single dish that the actuator or motor didn't work at least for a few months. I have only had one actuator fail after 6 months of usage.

Nice dish and a great find.

What would you say that the dish itself (minus mount) Weighs? I wouldn't think over 150 pounds, being how it is all aluminum...three or four guys should be able to wrestle it down, a couple guys to hold it while I take the bolts out. I am probably going to have the use of a 6.5X16 trailer and pickup truck so I should have that covered. The trailer will not be able to get to the dish, I am going to have to carry the dish out to the street then load it up.
While I was there this morning I sprayed it down with PB Blaster, so the bolts are soaking....stay tuned this should be fun....

 

[linuxman]

What would you say that the dish itself (minus mount) Weighs? I wouldn't think over 150 pounds, being how it is all aluminum...three or four guys should be able to wrestle it down, a couple guys to hold it while I take the bolts out. I am probably going to have the use of a 6.5X16 trailer and pickup truck so I should have that covered. The trailer will not be able to get to the dish, I am going to have to carry the dish out to the street then load it up.
While I was there this morning I sprayed it down with PB Blaster, so the bolts are soaking....stay tuned this should be fun....

I would say you are correct about the weight of the dish minus the mount. 150 lbs or less, probably less.

You should be able to carry it without that much trouble, after all, Tron rolled one for a couple of miles.

The PB-Blaster will work it's way into the threads, wouldn't hurt to go back and spray again in a day or two or the night before you go after it.

You will be fine with your trailer, just have to watch out for traffic and stuff close to the side of the road.

Good Luck, and I can't wait until you get it up and operational.