Adventures while dish hunting....

[colbec]

Yet another dish: picked up a 6.5 foot dish today, is has an offset mount like the Perfect 10, the panels are mesh, black, and seem to be stapled in place. The post cap is not actually a cap but a clamp with two bolts to tighten the clamp against the pole, and one side screw. Again like the P 10 the ring is a plain ring with 4 flanges only, no intermediate flanges. The lnb cover has KTI marked on it, Kaul-tronics and the lnb is a voltage regulated C-Band California Amplifier. Actuator is a Von Wiese.

I note some previous posts about Kaul but they are 7.5 foot, this one does not seem to be more than 6.5 feet.

It is in very good condition so I am looking forward to some C & Ku band experiments on this one.

My digital camera died before I could take pictures, sorry guys. Darn Canon garbage. When the dish is back up and I have saved my pennies for a new cam I will take some then.

 

[linuxman]

Hey Colbec,

We will look forward to the pictures!

Fred

 

[Likvid]

Likvid, do you remember how you had yours set? Or Harold do you remember how you had yours?

Thanks,

Fred

Actually it didn't matter much whatever F/D i set the scalar ring to on the Chaparral Corotor.

Only thing i remember was that the Corotor was a really bad performer in KU-band.

I used it primarily to receive AFRTS U.S channels from the C-band global beam on Intelsat 1.0W way back in the late 80's.

And one day when i came back from vacation i noticed the dish hanged down to the west and some nicker had stolen my actuator, problem is that it was a windy area and the dish was warped after that as it had been swinging from east to west with no control when i was away.

That was my last mesh dish and i bought a 8 foot solid SMC dish after that.

But now after everything the Winegard Pinnacle was one of the best dishes i have ever had.

 

[linuxman]

Thanks Likvid,

I get excellent Ku on this one. Actually signal to signal comparisons, the Ku is better than the C-Band signal.

I guess I'll just play with it some more and maybe experiment with different settings.

Thanks again!

Fred

 

[Likvid]

Maybe a Seavey Feed-horn will drop in my lap.

Who knows?

Fred

If you are lucky to find a Seavey feed for your Winegard dish you will be in heaven, i promise you that.

That dish really shines with that feed, no comparison.

 

[Likvid]

I picked up a Primestar 84e this morning and I decided I would drive around a few blocks and saw this guy.

I think this is a Paraclipse. Here are the pics:

View attachment 16655 View attachment 16656

I didn't go into the back yard and get a closer look. I left my card in the door saying I was interested and asked them to call me.

Are these supposed to be pretty good dishes?

It looks like it has a button-hook feed-horn.

Fred

Doesn't look like an Paraclipse Classic 16".

Or it must be an older model, really old.

 

[linuxman]

The button hook on that dish stuck way off center, and the top arm with the feedhorn and LNB was at least a foot long or longer horizontally.

Probably is an ancient one.

Fred

 

[caddata]

...do you remember how you had yours?...

Fred:

The Corotor manual specified the focal point to be 1/4" inside the waveguide, so your 3/16" should be fine. My setup was almost identical to yours. By the way, the manual used to be available on their web site in PDF form.

Harold

 

[linuxman]

Thank Harold,

I am going to go up and retake all measurements, verify that everything is perfectly centered on the dish, perhaps move in the waveguide another 1/16" and whatever it comes up with, that is what it will be.

That is about all I can do without a Seavey feed-horn which looks very unlikely.

Fred

 

[Likvid]

Thank Harold,

I am going to go up and retake all measurements, verify that everything is perfectly centered on the dish, perhaps move in the waveguide another 1/16" and whatever it comes up with, that is what it will be.

That is about all I can do without a Seavey feed-horn which looks very unlikely.

Fred

I might be able to get a Seavey feed for you, my friend is selling his.

I will ask him how much he want, he lives in Austria.

 

[linuxman]

Sound good Likvid!!

Thanks,

Fred

 

[linuxman]

Climbed up on the roof and checked all the measurements.

Made one adjustment. I pretended like I didn't know what I was doing and moved the wave guide into about where the middle of the numberal 3 is in the .30 setting or a .29 f/d ratio if it had one.

No improvement on C-Band with a slight improvement on Ku.

The Ku is now up to the same as what I get on the Birdview. I would call it outstanding.

The C-Band is pretty good. Not at the same levels as the Birdview.

BTW, just as an FYI, I have the same LNBs and Co-Rotors on both dishes. Cal-Amp 25K C-Band and Eagle Aspen .6 db Ku. All LNBs are new.

The only difference I can account for is the feed-horn. The Co-Rotor II was just not made for a deep dish.

Don't get me wrong, the C-Band signal is not so low as to lose it in the rain. Just not at the 90+ SQ I am used to seeing on the most watched TPs.

Fred

 

[linuxman]

All right then!!

Here is a news flash from Chaparral!!

I spoke with Duke the Head Engineer at Chaparral. He was very helpful and instructive for setting a Co-Rotor for use with the Winegard Pinnacle "deep dish" type antenna.

I am writing this down now so I don't forgot what he said. I took notes, but with my hand writing, if they get 30 minutes cold, they might be gone.

Here are his instructions:

First, don't rely on the factory specs put out by the manufacturer. Sting the dish, and measure everything. Then calculate the F/D ratio, and especially Focal Length by hand.

Second, assuming that the factory specs are correct, for a deep dish like the Pinnacle, to set the F/D ratio on the Co-Rotor at .32 or a scale of 4 points more shallow difference of whatever you calculate, if you ARE NOT using the "Gold Ring".

Third, If YOU ARE USING the "Gold Ring" set the F/D ratio at .36 or 8 points more shallow difference than what you calculate.

He said that the only thing the "Gold Ring" was ever manufactured for was to keep out Terrestrial Interference. It was never meant to be a signal enhancer etc.

He said that the goal when using a "deep dish" is to illuminate the entire dish. He said that is accomplished by moving farther away UP TO A POINT. Hence the "Gold Ring" to allow you to move farther away without TI.

He said that setting the Focal Length properly was 95% of the battle. Part of the proper setting is to have the Focal Length measured 1/4" inside the lip of either the Gold Ring or just the Co-Rotor itself.

Also having the scalar rings perfectly in the center and parallel with the mounting plate was the next most important factor.

That's why it should be calculated with actual measurements instead of relying on the factory specs.

What he said made a lot of sense to me and I am going to try his suggestions to see if they work.

Unfortunately, the wind is a steady 25 mph with gusts up to 45 mph and above today with a cold front moving in tonight. Showers and Thunder Storms later this afternoon throughout the weekend.

I will try and do this tomorrow between storms provided the wind dies down to at least gusts of less than 30 mph.

It is not good for me on the roof with wind blowing like that, and I would think not good for the dish to be laid all the way over on it's side with wind like that.

I will keep everyone posted!!

Fred

 

[linuxman]

BAM!!!

Linuxman is really happy today!!!

It finally quit raining after lunch long enough and with a wide enough space on the radar to make the changes on the Pinnacle.

I strung and measured the dish as posted above.

The dish is precisely 120" or 10' in diameter.

The depth however was not 27". It was 26.75" ran the calculations online and came up with:
Focal length of 33.7" instead of 33-5/16 like the specs say.
F/D ratio of 0.28

Set the F/D at 0.36 as instructed by Duke when using the "Gold Ring".
Set the Focal length with 1/4" inside the lip of the "Gold Ring". Tightened everything down and got back inside to test.

I now have 90% plus SQ on all the C-Band sats and TPs that should be at that strength.

The low TP on AMC4 went from 45% to 65%.

It is hard to tell right now, but it looks like Ku was not affected by the change. It may be a little lower than the high point of yesterday, but I have heavy overcast skies and red/yellow radar less than 40 miles away to the South from about 85W to 123W.

I'll know better on a clear day about the Ku.

But for right now, that Pinnacle is doing everything I had hoped it would do when I put it up there.

Plus it is doing it on a Co-Rotor II feed-horn.

Fred is very very happy!!!

Thanks to all those who helped!!

Fred

Edit: I just got it done in time. It has now started raining again.

 

[voomvoom]

Glad you're so happy Fred. I like when people are happy. But, all you had to do was ask, and I would have loaned you an umbrella.....

Al

 

[linuxman]

HeHe!!

Well my happiness was short lived.

After the rain had passed, and the radar had cleared to the South, my Ku was still not back up to par.

I got pi$$ed off at it and went up and pulled off the gold ring and set the F/D at .32 as advised above, adjusted the focal length to the 33.75" again, and tried that.

I still have the fantastic C-Band like it was with the gold ring, and the Ku is at much better than earlier, but still not up to where the Birdview lives.

I have decided that using the Co-Rotor with this dish will have to be a compromise for where I am now. I already have 3 fixed Primestars set up for the family on White Springs, G10R, and Hispasat. I may set them up one more for AMC3 so the rest of the Ku will be where it will be.

I am exploring an ADL RP-2 series feed-horn and looking at pricing for them. That may be an option in the future for this dish. They are supposed to work well with "deep dishes".

Right now, the Birdview is still king. I think it will always be the best signal getter of any dish I have come across.

On a brighter note, while I was waiting for it to dry out on the roof, I went over and picked up the Primestar 1 Meter Round/Oval dish that I was waiting for the property to close on in order to get it.

I don't have a new picture, (my daughter took the camera to the last day of school and ran down two sets of batteries ) but here are a couple I took the day I found it.



My very first and only 1 Meter Primestar. I finally have one after all these months of looking.

It is going on the roof tomorrow for my set up. I liked the idea of fixed dishes on the most watched satellites for the family, I am going to put up two or three for the setup in my den.

I am going to get another 84e tomorrow afternoon. Already have permission but they want to be there.

So that will make three Primestar dishes I have acquired this week.

Fred

 

[gabshere]

yeah i need to find some time to wander around and pick up a few more great finds though.

i'm not sure I fully understanding what the golden ring does , so if you play with it some more can you take a couple of pics of it. I think you would like the BSC621 its working good for me now , i need to walk the dish through the arc and then tune the dish. then try the DSR-920. working most all weekend though so no time .....
hope everyone has a great weekend .... grill a few burgers & dogs and think of me working

 

[Likvid]

I am exploring an ADL RP-2 series feed-horn and looking at pricing for them. That may be an option in the future for this dish. They are supposed to work well with "deep dishes".

Fred

ADL feeds are useless for a deep dish like Winegard as they don't go down to 0.28

And beleive me, the difference between a feed handling 0.28 and 0.30 there is a huge difference.

There is only one feed on the market that can handle 0.28 is Seavey.

 

[gabshere]

if you have a Seavey could you post a picture of it
thanks

 

[linuxman]

ADL feeds are useless for a deep dish like Winegard as they don't go down to 0.28

According to Mike Kohl's website, the RP-2 series is made for deep dishes.

A quote from his site:

RP-2 refers to "deep dish" models, with f/d ratios from 0.27 to 0.35

I haven't talked to him about them yet, but I haven't ever known him to be wrong.

I just need to research it a little further.

Fred