Looking for an 8 foot solid dish mount options

[jugghedd]

Had a fun day working on the pole mount. I wish I could have had someone take a picture of me in my convertible BMW, top down, with a 10 1/2 foot long pipe sticking out of the back, pink washcloth flapping in the breeze, in the rain. WOO HOO!

With the longer pipe, I was able to sink it 45 inches. I'm gonna try it mounted high before I cut the pipe off to around 5 feet. I want to make sure I clear the house and tree line for a signal first. Cement should be set enough when I get home tomorrow so I'll take some pics of the mounted BUD.

 

[FaT Air]

About 6.5 ft above ground. Leaves space below dish for snow, and the mower.
Most, I believe, have no covers on the feeds. Or just enough to offer some added protection for the connectors.
If you desire the 'looks' of the cover. A couple of holes, one low, the other near the top. Glue some screen over them. (don't need bees setting up home in there)
Planted already? Did you get some 'wings' welded onto the bottom of the pole to stop any chance of it turning. Alternately drill thru holes and run a rod thru them.

 

[jugghedd]

I didnt drill or weld ears on. I just cut it at a diagonal. Hopefully that will be enough because its staying in the ground now. I will do without the cover since I dont care about the looks. I'd actually prefer to see the LNB. I think they look cool. Especially that Chaparral with the Ku and C LNB popped off to the sides. Looks pretty high tech/space aged. Even if there is just a simple circuit and a metal post inside.

 

[jugghedd]

Im about to say screw it and scrap this whole thing. After spending all that time moving, mounting, studying, I hooked up the 621 LNB. I got about the same results I got on my 3 ft dish. Some signal jump when I move it but not substantial. Nothing I do gives me a strong signal. I string checked the dish for tweaks and it looks good. I tried the Chapparal LNB with about the same results. This just sucks.

Am I thinking wrong by expected strong signals from a larger dish?

One thing I know cant be good is that I did bend one piece of screen trying to pop it back on the tracks when it hit my knee. Lifting that thing onto the 6 foot high pole was not easy.

So I guess 2 questions before I give up for the night.

1. How strong of a signal should I expect? IM getting WAY less than half strength of the smaller dish.
2. Did I screw the pooch by bending the screen?

I would post pictures but I put my phone away so I dont end up smashing it to pieces. tempting

 

[phlatwound]

Are you talking about Ku signal? If so that is not surprising, it is MUCH harder to get Ku on a mesh BUD of that size, than a good 3' offset dish. And the 621s are a compromise at best between the 2 bands, you most likely will have to give up signal on one to get the other.

But you should be able to get some good C-band if the dish has decent parabolic shape/focal length/proper setup. Just straighten the mesh as good as you can, it should still be fine for C-band.

 

[jugghedd]

Im actually talking about both. I cant seem to get anything. It does seem to have some signal. Just not enough to pick up a channel of any kind. Maybe I should hang it up until I have more patience. After bending the mesh and smacking myself in the head with the bracket (attached to the full dish), my patience level is pretty low. I guess I was expecting some magic today.

I do appreciate the advice. Makes me feel a little better since I shouldnt see a huge improvement in signal. I would honestly be happy to get C only on this. My 3 ft Ku setup is quite sufficient and I get most of the visible arc here. I thought I had this understood pretty well after that achievement. My perception is the piece needing the most tuning so far. But, thats an easy one.....sometimes

 

[phlatwound]

Sounds like you have the right idea, it will still be there tomorrow. I always prefer separate dishes for C & Ku, some people can only have one dish though.

Probably just some little thing wrong, you'll figure it out...and you'll get no lack of answers to good questions here.

Do you have your receiver (or meter) and television out at the dish...known good cables...proper receiver setup...hot transponder entered?

It takes a hundred things to be just right to get a picture...but just takes one tiny thing wrong, hang in there!

 

[jugghedd]

Wow. Thanks so much to everyone. As the sun went down, the nerves calmed a little. My focus was a little better. And, apparently, the dish was following my lead. I HAVE CHANNELS!!! What a great feeling! Proof that it was me and not the equipment. I feel a lot better about tackling this tomorrow and getting more channels now. I realize I get too emotional over technical issues. But, this is a practice in patience for me. And that was quite the victory. By the way, on the 621 C side only.


Thanks again to everyone for the patience, knowledge, and kind words. Just took a little "keep at it". Time for a cold one. WE earned it!

 

[phlatwound]

Bravo, well done. You are on your way now.

Who knows, you may get as ate up with this stuff as I am (see my avatar). And that is an old pic, needs updating, more to see now.

 

[jugghedd]

I just wanted to share some highlights of my week. Overall a great project.

sport utilIty convertible?Ole chappyold tech
NOT a 1 man joba better view of the rotornext job...never a lack of projects around here!

 

[Anole]

If you're running the first or second day after install, consider yourself very successful.
For some, it takes a week, or two...
...or four.

It takes a hundred things to be just right to get a picture...but just takes one tiny thing wrong, hang in there!

How true!

 

[jugghedd]

This is sort of a nice surprise. I hooked up the motor tonight. I had an OLD STS MBS-AA Microprocessor system. Looks like its from the 80s. I used it to move the dish with the meter in the house. I have it hooked to a X-2 Premium HD receiver. Not a stellar plan I know. But it works. I can actually tune by the meter then blind scan. Im getting LOADS of channels so far.


Anyone know how to store positions in that dish move with no remote? Im guessing I should open a new thread for that. I had 2 4DTV receivers but cant figure out how to get them to move nice and slowly and also store channels without a cable to use mapmaker or something.

 

[FaT Air]

STS MBS-AA Satellite Receiver
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This is a only a dish positioner - these positioner are sometimes connected to a SR BLOCK receiver​

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LEGEND
Blue = Buttons on Remote or Receiver

HOW TO PROGRAM A SATELLITE
1. Go to a satellite that is close to the satellite to be programmed, preferably one that has the same polarity.
2. Select a channel that is active on the satellite that is to be programmed and on the satellite that you are starting.
3. Press SATELLITETYPEuntil the light is above the correct satellite type. The only types are Satcom, Westar, Comstar, Anik, Other.
Then press SATELLITENUMBERuntil the correct number is displayed beside “No.” on the receiver. If the remote is used to name the satellite then press SAT first then the TYPE andNUMBER.
4. Follow the proper procedure:
-If you are starting from a satellite with the same format, then tap the EAST or WEST button until a different picture or black screen appears. Go to Step 5.
-If you are starting from a satellite with the opposite format, then tap EAST or WEST just until the picture is gone. Press INVERTon the receiver one time, a picture should appear, if one does not then continue moving east or west until a picture or black screen does appear. If the picture is correct, then go to Step 5. Otherwise, continue moving east or west until the correct satellite is found. [*Note* When moving across several satellites to find the correct satellite the polarity may reverse. Press INVERTto reverse the polarity.]
5. To store the satellite, Press STORE.
6. This completes the programming process.

Googled - found this at

http://www.orbitsat.net/Support/Manuals/STS_MBSAA.asp

(Don't stay up all night now, there is tomorrow)

 

[jugghedd]

Thanks a lot! I did see that site earlier but not the same manual. Now I need to figure out how to select the SAT on the same box. I really hope I dont need the remote for that. I might sleep at some point. I was already up on the BUD with a flashlight messing with the Ku side. Thats not happening until daylight.