Button hook dish

[mjac]

In my seemingly never ending search for a larger BUD ( I have a 7.5 Odom and a 7.5 CM), I have stumbled upon a 12' button hook mesh. I do not know the name and presently do not have any pictures. All the parts and pieces are there and it is currently mounted fairly near my home. As far as I know it was working before it was taken out of service.
Disassembly, transporting and re-erecting is not a problem but I am wondering if a novice like myself could handle (aim/adjust) the botton hook. This is an area in which I have no experience.
Any suggestions? Thanks.

Ps. I really want a 10' with support arms.

 

[Long Hair]

I have a 10ft. dish with button hook and the first thing I did was add guy wires to it. This Is my first and last button hook dish, I prefer the 4 lnb support arms myself. For me it makes it easier to line up the lnbf skew when you can look throw the middle of the dish. Other than that you should have know problem getting a signal, for me the fine tuning of ku is a lot harder than, my 7.5 perfect 10. Some of my problem with ku my be the mesh hole size (1/4in.),it's double what the perfect 10 was.

PS. Some member here have add support arms made from conduit with good results. Hope this helps, I say good luck and go for it.

 

[Phottoman]

At the back of the dish, it likely that you'll see where the rod comes out and is secured to the center of the dish with a simple "U" bolt.

Mark the rod for depth, and direction AT THAT POINT. This will be important when you get it home and start re-assembling the dish.

Since it's close to home, you shouldn't need to do any major replanting of the button hook. I had one on my very first 10'er back in the 80's and never had any major problems.

Good luck and keep us informed on your progress.

Photto

 

[phlatwound]

If the rest of the dish and mount are structurally and mechanically serviceable, and it has good para-shape I would go for it, you can always align the button hook with small cables if necessary (or even fab support arms).

To me it would be worth it for the signal-gathering real estate of a 12 footer.

 

[mjac]

If the rest of the dish and mount are structurally and mechanically serviceable, and it has good para-shape I would go for it, you can always align the button hook with small cables if necessary (or even fab support arms).

To me it would be worth it for the signal-gathering real estate of a 12 footer.

The 12' part is appealing but I wonder about the button hook. Can you elaborate on the use of cables and I suppose small turnbuckles? I guess one would run the cables from the outside edge of the dish up to near the end of the button hook? Wouldn't this use of cables to align the working end of the button hook introduce a warp in the dish?

Thanks

 

[SatelliteAV]

We have retrofitted button hook design dishes with turnbuckles for many years without damage to the reflector.

Four turnbuckles installed at 90 degree angles are used to secure the feedhorn into the prime sweet spot. Connect the wires from the button hook to the supporting ribs near or on the edge of the reflector. Apply tension to anchor and secure the feedhorn position. The guy wire should be used to support and not to force the button hook into a new mechanical position.

 

[phlatwound]

To add a little to Brian's great explanation, and address your concern about "warping the dish":

If the buttonhook is so far out of the sweet spot that you would have to pull hard enough on your cable to distort the dish you have other issues, ie...something is bent or wacked. If that dish is in decent condition and hasn't taken any hard hits you should be looking at some fairly subtle cable adjustments to get your feed in focus.

Disclaimer: I have never done this procedure myself, so take my thoughts for what they are worth.....

 

[mjac]

Thanks for the information everyone. I have other matters to attend to for the next few weeks but I may give it a go after that. I am sure I'll have more questions if I go for it.