Another found treasure! 10.5 ft BUDdy

[McGuyver]

I finally got the energy yesterday to snag my neighbor's 10.5 ft LUXOR mesh dish. I didn't have any help but I cleverly achieved the task by dismanteling the componets as much as possible, with the dish lowered all the way to the ground resting on it's edge, I then detached the dish from the polar mount and rolled it carefully over to my truck, with the tailgate up I rested the rear of the dish against the tailgate with the mounting pad (the backside center of the dish) just above the top edge of the tailgate, it acted as a hook to keep it from sliding down as I raised it up from the ground and it slid right up onto the bed without any trouble.

This dish was originally a center feed but many years ago the owner's husband when he was still alive had converted it with the addition of 4 feed posts made of 3/4" EMT. One pole is slighly bent and another has a coupler in the middle so it looks like I have some recalculating and fabricating to do. It has a Chaparral feedhorn and a Echostar C-LNB that appears to be a newer replacement, it looks to be in great condition as it was protected by the plastic dome cover. The jack looks good externally but I have yet to check the internal switch, etc and test it.

I also dug the hole and set the 10' x 3.5" OD post in the ground yesterday but still have to complete the welding of a support grid and the concrete pour.

So far both of my BUDs were freebies I'll be following up with some photos to keep you guys updated on this project.

 

[dfergie]

Congrats! I to snagged a Neighbors dish once (8') wasn't that hard to slide on the back of the truck...

 

[McGuyver]

Congrats! I to snagged a Neighbors dish once (8') wasn't that hard to slide on the back of the truck...

My first freebie is a solid 8' fiberglass Channel Master that has 4 sectioned panels, it worked out well because I had to travel 10 miles home with it and all the parts dismantled fit inside the truck bed. Luckily I only had to cross the road with the 10.5' mesh... whew! it's a biggy.

 

[McGuyver]

Photos of the mesh dish

Here's some photos taken this morning. The installation diagram shows the method that I will be using as I did on my 8ft solid BUD which has stood the test very well under 60 mph desert winds and hasn't budged the slightest.

 

[dfergie]

I have the same winds down here, I hit rock when digging for my pole so I got creative and it has held up for the 10 years or so it has been in... (got lucky with my original pole, it went 4' down back in the early 80's)I'll take a couple of shots when I walk my dogs in a few minutes...

 

[dfergie]

The side without an extension faces the prevailing direction of the wind W to SW...( I live in the country and this dish is outside my fence, haven't moved in awhile.)

 

[McGuyver]

The side without an extension faces the prevailing direction of the wind W to SW...( I live in the country and this dish is outside my fence, haven't moved in awhile.)

That looks like the concrete is above ground and the post is 4 ft under, right?
Is this the 8 ft dish you mentioned?

 

[McGuyver]

Today I got the grid brackets fabricated according to my sketch and welded them to the post 12 inches below ground level and the concrete is in. I'll be working on the dish meanwhile. A few days ago I ordered a couple of new c-lnb's to simplify the installation and have one for a spare.

 

[mr.crane]

Here's some photos taken this morning. The installation diagram shows the method that I will be using as I did on my 8ft solid BUD which has stood the test very well under 60 mph desert winds and hasn't budged the slightest.

Those pictures bring lots of memories to me, from 20 yrs ago, when I was installing
BUD dishes, of course back then, thats all there was. My first lnb was rated
at 120 degree K. Now they are about 13 and 15k. Nice Job!

 

[McGuyver]

Those pictures bring lots of memories to me, from 20 yrs ago, when I was installing
BUD dishes, of course back then, thats all there was. My first lnb was rated
at 120 degree K. Now they are about 13 and 15k. Nice Job!

Mr. Crane, I'm still learning about C-band in this hobby so can you tell me what the "K" stands for? I'm guessing that the lower the K number the better gain it has or does it only indicate less noise or does less noise result in higher gain? How does it work?
Thanks

The 2 new C-lnb's I ordered on flea Bay are C only cuz I don't need the Ku combo, I'll be using one of them on this 10.5 ft mesh once it's up. I assume they are imports cuz I found a few posts in SatelliteGuys.UK and other International forums concerning these LNB's on Google... I bought both for under a total of $40 shipped

This is what they are:

Panorama ER-861



C-BAND LNBF DUAL POLARITY 13-DEGREE LNB FOR 4DTV

• 
  [*]
  Brand New; Special for Analogy and Digital C-Band Satellite Reception​
  [*]
  Extended Frequency 3.4 GHz ~ 4.2 GHz (ZCF-D21)​
  [*]
  Voltage-Controlled H/V Switching (13/18 V​
  [*]
  Superior Low Phase Noise for Digital Application​
  [*]
  Excellent D.R.O. Stability​
  [*]
  Low Noise Temperature​
  [*]
  High Gain Output​
  [*]
  Light Weight Design​
  [*]
  100% Waterproof​
  [*]
  Super Compact Tooling​
  [*]
  Scalar Ring Included​
  [*]
  Best Solution for Multi-User System​
  
  
  
  

Specifications

Input Frequency 3.4 to 4.2 GHz
L.O. Frequency 5150 MHz (500 KHz @ 25C)
L.O. Stability 1.5 MHz (-40 to +70C)
Output Frequency 950 to 1750 MHz
Conversion gain 55 dB typical
Input VSWR 2.5:1 (maximum)
Output VSWR 2.0:1 (maximum)
Output connector F female connector
Output Impedance 75 ohms
Cross Polar Isolation 20 dB (minimum)
Image Rejection 45 dB (minimum)
Phase Noise -85 dBc @ 10 Khz (minimum)
Supply Voltage 11.5 to 14.0 V (vertical)
16.0 to 19.0 V (horizontal)

Operating Temperature -40 to +70C
Storage Temperature -40 to +80C
Relative Humidity 0% to 95%
Size 168mm x 130mm x 190mm
Weight 680g

 

[SatPhreak]

McGuyver, the K stands for the temperature in degrees Kelvin. 0K is equal to about -273 degrees Celsius (about -459 degrees F). It is how they measure the noise on a c band lnb, where as they use decibels on ku band to measure the noise.

 

[dfergie]

That looks like the concrete is above ground and the post is 4 ft under, right?
Is this the 8 ft dish you mentioned?

Yes, this is the 8', I only managed 3' on the pole before hitting solid rock, so I poured the pads and had a piece of casing also...

 

[dfergie]

Those pictures bring lots of memories to me, from 20 yrs ago, when I was installing
BUD dishes, of course back then, thats all there was. My first lnb was rated
at 120 degree K. Now they are about 13 and 15k. Nice Job!

My first was a 120 degree LNA

 

[Greg Mueller]

Yah I had one of those too. Woo-whoo 120° !
The Radio Shack dish I just took apart has an 80° LNB and a date of 1989. Pretty hightech

 

[McGuyver]

Dish is up

Today I finally got the dish up all by myself in spite of a windy day.
It was a challenge but with care it went together. You can see the tracks in the dirt from rolling it into the yard. Now I have to work on the F/D and the feed posts. The old posts are homemade by the original owner and I don't know if the lengths are correct. I calculated 47.5 inches so I'll check them first before making new ones.

 

[dfergie]

Looking good!

 

[McGuyver]

Thanks dfergie, I just hope it works as well. This dish has the original center feed hub for a post mount so I thought of setting up a scalar ring attached to the end of a pipe such as a length of EMT and mount it at the calculated F/D length for the purpose of measuring for the 4 posts.

 

[Phottoman]

Hey, McGuyver, look at ALL THAT ROOM, and I only see TWO buds !!! What's with you son, too lazy to FILL the yard with dishes? (snicker)

Your installation DOES look good.

Photto

 

[McGuyver]

Hey, McGuyver, look at ALL THAT ROOM, and I only see TWO buds !!! What's with you son, too lazy to FILL the yard with dishes? (snicker)

Your installation DOES look good.

Photto

Thanks Phottoman,

LOL! I have 2.5 acres and I'm just getting into C-band as of a couple of years ago. Both these BUD's were freebies and there's a lot more BUD's all around in my desert community that are no longer in use. Some have panels either missing or hanging off due to the damaging high winds. I think that these two BUD's will suffice for my C-band requirements.

The one thing that slows me down is my bad back and this project has taken a toll on me, I have done so much in the last few days and haven't had any help in the process. I have to rest days and even sometimes weeks between steps of installation but I didn't waste much time setting this one up. I just snagged it last Sunday and it's already up as of Wednesday. The thought of digging a conduit trench is my next nightmare... Oh my back! OUCH!!!

 

[Phottoman]

Which "desert community?" I'm between Kingman and Bullhead City Arizona (no secret there) and I also have 2.5 acres. I have a grove of dishes that is growing into a forest as each month passes. If we are close enough, maybe you could use some help?

It took me three days and two trips to Home Depot for everything I needed. I dug my trench in a coupe of hours (with lots of pauses to re-hydrate) and finally got the PVC pipe in the ground last night but stopped because it was getting dark and I wanted to get pictures before I buried everything.

The trench is close to 50 feet, and wouldn't you know it, with all the planning and pain, it turns out the two coaxes (dual feed, one for each receiver) are maybe a foot short !!! But I think I can get by with what I did, either that or add a couple of barrel connectors and just add more cable. I tested the connections last night on both receivers and they are working GREAT.

I currently have three 10 footers planted and one more to plant. It's been laying on the ground for several months with a nasty bend on one side due to wind damage, it seems at times it's easier to get another freebie that take this thing apart and "fix" it.

My neighbor and I were talking last night, and he laughed saying it looks like I am trying to communicate with NASA, nine dishes in all (so far).

Photto