I want to build a tower in my backyard that will be strong enough to support a reasonable sized C-band dish and actuator or motor at a height of around 10 to 20 feet in order to get a better view of the necessary arc. I don't have a C-band dish yet but I have a 36 inch ku-band dish and motor and I rather enjoy exploring the random ku feeds I can find. I've heard with C-band there is a lot more like this available, but I want to do it right and have access to the full arc by having my dish properly elevated. Does anyone have towers like this themselves or any advice on what I should be looking for? I'm open to both commercially available tower solutions (if there is such a thing at a reasonable cost) or any DIY ideas you may have. I was tentatively thinking if I went the DIY route I could at least get a stable 10 feet or so elevation with some sort of simply pyramid type structure of pipe but I'm not sure how involved a project it would be to design anything taller than that is convenient to climb up and adjust the dish on.
On a side note, are there still a lot of analog C-band broadcasts? Right now I only have a digital receiver which is capable of either C or KU and I don't know if this will be sufficient for exploring C-band or if I should get one of the older analog C-band receivers too.
As for C-band dish size do you think a 6 foot dish is sufficient (I'm in Southern California) or if I need a larger dish for much of the content I may find. I've found 6 foot motorized package deals online but 8 foot dishes in a non-polar mount stationary configuration. Does anyone know if larger stationary dishes are typically convertible or if I would need one designed for a polar mount from the start? Maybe 8 feet is too large to be practical anyway considering I want the dish elevated.
Any input on any of the above questions is welcome! Thanks in advance.
On a side note, are there still a lot of analog C-band broadcasts? Right now I only have a digital receiver which is capable of either C or KU and I don't know if this will be sufficient for exploring C-band or if I should get one of the older analog C-band receivers too.
As for C-band dish size do you think a 6 foot dish is sufficient (I'm in Southern California) or if I need a larger dish for much of the content I may find. I've found 6 foot motorized package deals online but 8 foot dishes in a non-polar mount stationary configuration. Does anyone know if larger stationary dishes are typically convertible or if I would need one designed for a polar mount from the start? Maybe 8 feet is too large to be practical anyway considering I want the dish elevated.
Any input on any of the above questions is welcome! Thanks in advance.