SAMI dish rescued...

[Jason S]

After I got my first C-band dish in September (an Echostar dish), I began noticing C-band dishes all over. I had observed a large C-band on top of a building on the square in town. I presumed it was a dish owned by the city for whatever reason.

In late November, I stopped to inquire about the dish. I was directed to speak to the county about the dish.

The subject of the dish was brought up at a county commissioners meeting and they decided that I could have the dish if I were to pay for the time and any equipment cost for the county Road & Bridge personnel to remove the dish from the buildings roof. Being a one story building and figuring a backhoe and two men, I agreed to the terms.

I received a call today from the county saying that the dish was down adjacent to the building and to come get it... They (Road & Bridge) will send me the bill...

When I stopped at the square to see what exactly I needed to move the dish, I was a bit shocked... The dish looked smaller when it was up on the roof... Compared to the Echostar, the SAMI looked considerably larger! So I got my small trailer and a helper to get the thing moved.

We removed the dish and mount from the non-penetrating roof mount and set it on the trailer. Being that I only had to go a couple of blocks, I drove slowly to keep things from bouncing. Got the dish home and unloaded to the ground.

Went back to the square to retrieve the NPRM. If the NPRM would've been any heavier, I'm not sure we could've loaded it. Got the NPRM home, shoved it up to the 18' trailer and put the dish/mount back on the pole.

Measurement across the dish (lip to lip) is just over 10'... Overall, I think everything looks to be in good condition. Now just have to see how much it cost to take this thing down...

 

[KE4EST]

Looks like a good find! I am curious now what they will charge, I hope for you it is not a ridiculous amount.

 

[FaT Air]

Nice BUD! If your county is anything like mine, you may have to wait 4 months, and then it's going to be outrageous.($$$) [hopefully, not so for you]

 

[bpalone]

Looks like a goody. Just hope they are reasonable on the charges. Where you are located, I'm guessing that they will be.

I would say that you now need to introduce yourself to the rest of the group. You know, the usual: "Hi, I'm bpalone and I am a FTA addict."

 

[Lone Gunman]

Well, let me see. Probably had 4 guys leaning on shovels while 2 guys took the dish down. So that's 6 guys and by the time they took two breaks before they finished I'd venture to guess that the bill will be somewhere around $1500 give or take a hundred.

I would have gotten an estimate on this before you authorized them to take it down for you! I do wish you luck though.

SAMI is a decent dish. I had a 7.5 ft one that worked as good as the 10 ft Unimesh that replaced it.

 

[Jason S]

Overall the dish setup looks to be in very good shape. A few more photos to share...


View of NPRM. It's all 1/4" angle and quite heavy.


Views of the polar mount. The mount is offset to the east side of the dish. Is this because the actuator is mounted on the west side? Overall, the mount just isn't as beefy as the Echostar mount.


Looking over the dish today, it looks like 'it split a rib'. I presume water got into the rib and froze.


Does anyone have information or advice on the Superjack actuator?

 

[Jason S]

Looks like a good find! I am curious now what they will charge, I hope for you it is not a ridiculous amount.

Nice BUD! If your county is anything like mine, you may have to wait 4 months, and then it's going to be outrageous.($$$) [hopefully, not so for you]

Looks like a goody. Just hope they are reasonable on the charges. Where you are located, I'm guessing that they will be.

Well, let me see. Probably had 4 guys leaning on shovels while 2 guys took the dish down. So that's 6 guys and by the time they took two breaks before they finished I'd venture to guess that the bill will be somewhere around $1500 give or take a hundred.

I would have gotten an estimate on this before you authorized them to take it down for you! I do wish you luck though.

SAMI is a decent dish. I had a 7.5 ft one that worked as good as the 10 ft Unimesh that replaced it.

Thank you for the posts. Hearing that I could have it 'free' probably got the best of me...I was given a verbal estimate from the county commissioner which should be reliable, right?


Anyhow, here I am... My name is Jason and I'm an FTA addict...

 

[Lone Gunman]

Nothing wrong with a Super Jack mover. That SAMI I had had one on it and it worked fine. Only problem I saw with it was the rubber seal between the inner and outer tube horked up and I had to "improvise" a new seal out of a piece of radiator hose with clamps on it to try to keep the water out. They have a grease fitting on them and it should have instructions on it as to how to lube it.

RE: The offset pivot. I'm going to assume that since it already has been in use in your area that it's mounted on the correct side. If you were to move the actuator to the opposite side then you'd also have to move that pivot mount to the other side as well. The look odd but they work fine.

Lets just hope that the cost to take it down turns out to be "reasonable".

 

[Titanium]

Grease it up and it should be ready to go!

Connect the actuator arm on the side of the dish that will have the lowest elevation satellite. Don't assume that an installer knew what he was doing. I have seen some pretty wonky stuff while out on service calls.

 

[beavs2112]

Overall the dish setup looks to be in very good shape. A few more photos to share...

View attachment 104233
View of NPRM. It's all 1/4" angle and quite heavy.

View attachment 104234 View attachment 104235 View attachment 104236
Views of the polar mount. The mount is offset to the east side of the dish. Is this because the actuator is mounted on the west side? Overall, the mount just isn't as beefy as the Echostar mount.

View attachment 104237
Looking over the dish today, it looks like 'it split a rib'. I presume water got into the rib and froze.


Does anyone have information or advice on the Superjack actuator?

nice parts Jason. I also hope the bill is reasonable. I rescued an 8 foot dish a few months ago up here in Canada with that exact same style polar mount & superjack actuator. the seller said it was an echostar dish. the superjack was a ball screw type with magnetic sensor so if your is the same it should work just fine with a v/g-box/asc1. I think those early vintage superjacks were made in the usa not like todays made in china. it seemed real heavy duty. heres a link to todays superjack http://www.superjack-solar.com/

 

[Lone Gunman]

Suggestion for you. The three dishes I've gotten in recent years were all parked on a satellite before I moved them, ie, old analog receivers usually went to a specific satellite each night around 2am or so to update the Guide.

Having said that, I'd mount that thing on a post but not move the actuator until you try rotating the dish on the post to see if you can lock a signal. This "may" help you find the arc a little faster, at least this has worked well for me on the 3 that I've moved here as all three were parked on a satellite before they were taken out of service.

As usual though, your mileage may vary!

 

[Jason S]

I hope for you it is not a ridiculous amount.

If your county is anything like mine, you may have to wait 4 months, and then it's going to be outrageous.($$$)

Just hope they are reasonable on the charges.

Lets just hope that the cost to take it down turns out to be "reasonable".

In the mail today, I got the bill from the County Road & Bridge Department... With apprehension, I opened the letter and unfolded the bill...

First, let me just say that I have NEVER had to pay this much EVER for a used dish!!!!

I will also add that the fifty dollars they charged to remove the 10' dish and NPRM from the roof counts among the most "reasonable" bills I have received...

 

[KE4EST]

I bet you danced a jig when you saw that bill!

 

[truckracer]

Very nice

 

[Jason S]

Very nice

Thank you! I'm pretty happy about it!

 

[truckracer]

Thank you! I'm pretty happy about it!

I have a 7.5 and 10' Sami dishes. Had them since new in 2003.

 

[Jason S]

I bet you danced a jig when you saw that bill!

I was expecting the bill to be much worse, so needless to say I was very pleased...

 

[KE4EST]

Yeah I felt bad for you, I know how these "bills" can get high sometimes for one guy to watch, while the other works.
Glad it was a reasonable price!

 

[FaT Air]

NICE! I think a Congratulations is called for. Send the County a Thank You note.

 

[waylew]

Somebody is gonna investigate them for their apparent lack of corruption,we can't have that in government