Birdview AP2028 ?

[Greg Mueller]

I'd say 75 pounds...I did mine with two guys. Two guys can do the motor too, but they have to be beefy guys, its heavy. I'd take three total to be safe.

IMO how I would do it is mark the elevation, then loosen all the elevation bolts and tilt it where the dish is pointing upwards as much as possible, then tighten the elevation bolts down again.

THEN take the dish-to-mount bolts out, I'd put a guy on each side of the hub while you remove the bolts, then slowly lift if off the mount,(the dish will be over your head here, at the end of your arms straight above you, so don't take guys with short arms....LOL) then walk it to open area, then slowly work the dish until you both can grab the rim, then you can go anywhere you want with it.

Then you can take the motor off the pole...be careful here it is VERY top heavy.

Hope some of that helped.

Yes it did and that's kind of what I was thinking too. I have a couple guys I can recruit and the wife too. Just didn't know what the total weight might be. 75lbs should not be a problem

And, don't forget to save the unique 6" tubing they use for the pole.
edit: oops, Stogie beat me to it!

I noticed that what original installer did, is that he got some (probably schedule 40) pipe that had an ID the same as the OD of the BirdView pipe. The bigger pipe is cemented in flush at ground level. Then they slid the BV pipe in to it and tacked it around the top of the bigger pipe. I think I can take my grinder over and carefully grind the weld off without hitting the BV pipe

 

[Lone Cloud]

The Birdview pipe mast is pretty overengineered, so I don't think a few grind marks will matter.

I put mine over a smaller, 3.5 inch pole, held it plumb with bolts, and near the top of it, just under the mount, I cut a 2 inch by 2.5 inch port in it, which I worked wet concrete into until it was filled.

I never welded it back on there and just painted it to discourage rust. It's holding fine, even in wind.

 

[linuxman]

I would echo what everyone else has said, and only add that they are the best Ku dish as well being the best C-Band dish on the market.

I would go so far as to say that mine outperforms even my 1M Primestar dish for Ku signals.

It does take some patience to tune in Ku with them and have it work the same across the entire arc, but it can be done.

And yes, If I had to move, all my dishes would be going with me.

 

[Greg Mueller]

Isn't it interesting how "junior" can not be interested in something for (what turned out to be) 10 years, but when someone else is interested, all of a sudden "junior" wants his dad to keep it.
Not in "junior's" yard (naturally) but in dad's yard.

I left him my phone # in case "junior" changes his mind or dad gets tired of waiting.

The search is on again.

My grandmother used to say "When one door closes, another one opens."

 

[phlatwound]

Sorry to hear this deal may have fallen through, Greg.

By "Look Angle", do you mean declination? If so, on most(?) of these, Birdview built about 5 degrees into the mount itself, and if you need more/less than that amount, you will have to put washers between the dish and mount.

Also, I believe linuxman may have posted some pics of a Birdview H-H mount that had another method of adjustment, but IIRC he said the washer method was as good, or even better?

Of course, if you find a dish located close to where you are going to reinstall it, and it was on the arc when you took it down, you may not have to reset the declination when you put it back up.

 

[Cadsulfide]

Wow, sorry for the loss. Maybe dad will get tired of waiting soon..........

 

[Techfizzle]

Theres alot of people that are like that they think it will go with them
there a couple people in my area that have 10-12 cars that have sat for years and they dont want to sell them

 

[Greg Mueller]

Who knows what may happen...
Meanwhile my thoughts have returned to building an H2H mount and putting the Perfect 10 on it. :

 

[No Doubt]

Greg, I will be following your plans closely. I would like to do the same thing with one of my finds.

Who knows what may happen...
Meanwhile my thoughts have returned to building an H2H mount and putting the Perfect 10 on it. :

 

[14karat]

<BEATS HEAD ON DESK>
<REPEATS>

Hey Greg, when you're moving to New Mexico, just drive on over to Memphis and you can leave the trailer and dish sitting beside I-55... I'll pick it up there...

You lucky devil you...


EDIT: Whoops... missed the "Junior" comments. I feel a little better now...
(Just kidding Greg, keep up the hunt...)

 

[MotleyFool]

Depending on where you're moving to in New Mexico there's plenty of old BUDs in people's yards. I know of several Birdviews, one is mounted on a mast at a home in downtown Albuquerque. There is a high percentage of tech nerd hobbyists in this state with two national laboratories and other research facilities. I frequently walk by a Birdview at my day job in Albuquerque at one of the labs, it's been pointing sidewise for years. Once of these days they're going to take it down and send it to surplus, unfortunately it will probably get cut down and sold for scrap.

 

[Greg Mueller]

Grab it and save it for me, I'll be down in the spring with the truck and trailer

We are moving out west of Socorro almost to AZ. Our half finished house is west of Datil, and maybe 20-25 miles west of the VLA

Here's my "down there" web pages
Welcome To Section 8

Another of my domains with a great picture of the metropolis of Datil
Datil, New Mexico
(taken by an acquaintance that flies an ultralight)