6 foot dish install

[Anole]

Dunno about that Pro.
Most of 'em have been convinced that a dollar bill is a foot long! -

 

[stanleyjohn]

ask a women that, they know the difference

:haha:haha

 

[Larobpra]

Did WSI send us the wrong size dishes ? 70 inches is not 6.6 (185 cm)

Maybe they measured with their fishin' ruler.

 

[knowmiddlename]

Two inches might be a significant amount of area on the outside of a dish, but hey, we've got less windloading!

 

[brentb636]

I'm watching the Tiger vs Indians on STO HD (121W). The HD comes in just fine with the 6 footer, and was out of reach of my 4 foot miniBUD, this summer . This dish was a BARGAIN. Thanks, Robby.

 

[mr3p]

brentb636, sounds like you finished aligning your dish? I won't have time to install mine until the weekend and the wait is killing me.

 

[brentb636]

I can get all the birds in my LOS. I still have to take a little time to optimize the lnbf. I just stuck it up there and moved it until it got something. The skew is okay, but I might be able to improve the signal with a little "in-out" adjustment.

 

[DK_Sat]

I have set the LNBF focal length at 28.5" that works the best for me.

 

[WSInternational]

I'm watching the Tiger vs Indians on STO HD (121W). The HD comes in just fine with the 6 footer, and was out of reach of my 4 foot miniBUD, this summer . This dish was a BARGAIN. Thanks, Robby.

You are welcome. Always glad to see happy customers. Thank you and thanks to all the forum members for your business and support. I appreciate it.

 

[mr3p]

Had a little free time this afternoon so I did a test fitting. Everything looks good and the dish moves well. This has been a fun project but don't try this unless you are willing to see it not work. As you can see, I decided to go a different direction....

 

[brentb636]

Nice job ! If I buy another dish I may emulate this. I have a spare HH-120 and DG-380, and this is a light weight dish.

 

[DK_Sat]

That dish is to heavy for that H-H DiSEqC motor

 

[brentb636]

Might be okay if you keep it in the center of the arc. I'd be betting on my STAB hh-120 working in that mode. Much as I like the DG380, the HH-120 is slower and geared lower, and might survive.

 

[mr3p]

That dish is to heavy for that H-H DiSEqC motor

I agree the motor is not rated for higher than 1.2M however do you know how much this 6ft dish and my modified bracket weigh? I fully considered stress on the motor before doing this.

 

[brentb636]

Like you said earlier, don't try this if you're not prepared for failure, but what've you got to lose ? Looks like an interesting project for this lightweight 6 foot dish. Too bad you're in California, if you were closer you could borrow my spare motors and see if any could handle it.

 

[mr3p]

According the specs I've read, the HH120 can handle up to 37lbs so it should be OK. My dish and bracket weigh ~33lbs. For comparison, my 1.2M dish weighs about 29lbs. Attempting to use an HH motor like I did is only possible because of how lightweight this 6ft dish weighs. Somewhere I think recall Robby saying the metal was .5mm although I don't know for sure. It seems to be tracking about the same as my 1.2M however I fully understand that the motor could wear out prematurely or even die. To me the advantage of using an HH motor outweighed the risk of failure. YMMV

 

[phlatwound]

Nice job, mr3p. Looks like you are sheltered from a lot of the wind there, that will help. How many degrees from true south have you gone and then returned from?

 

[fastscirocco]

According the specs I've read, the HH120 can handle up to 37lbs so it should be OK. My dish and bracket weigh ~33lbs. For comparison, my 1.2M dish weighs about 29lbs. Attempting to use an HH motor like I did is only possible because of how lightweight this 6ft dish weighs. Somewhere I think recall Robby saying the metal was .5mm although I don't know for sure. It seems to be tracking about the same as my 1.2M however I fully understand that the motor could wear out prematurely or even die. To me the advantage of using an HH motor outweighed the risk of failure. YMMV

I was pondering trying that exact setup, well done!
Where did you get the mount you used on your 6 foot dish ... that's my stumbling block.

 

[WSInternational]

Great Job mr3p. Takes good imagination and lots of talent.

 

[mr3p]

phlatwound: I honestly only had time to put the dish up the bracket. Using the button on the motor, I was able to go back and forth from my true south (119) to ~135 and then back. You are absolutely correct that the deck its on is sheltered from wind which should also help. I hope to have some time this weekend to set it up to watch.

fastscirocco: I used a rear bracket from a Fortec dish. The support bars I fabricated are 3/4" square aluminum which is very lightweight but also more than strong enough. You can get it at any home depot. I ininitally fabricated steel bars but that added ~1lb so I went with aluminum. Before attaching them, I tried bending them to see if they would fail and I assure you they don't bend. It took a lot of measuring and remeasuring to be sure the holes line up properly so if you do decide to do it, take your time.

Robby: Thank you again for making these dishes available at such a bargain price. If I do end up killing my HH motor, I'm fortunate that I can drive over and buy a new one