C Band Dish Upgrade the Easy Way... Maybe...

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T4Runner

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Apr 3, 2010
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37.0N 119.5W California
I have picked up another 7.5 ft mesh dish (thanks again Toucan for the Craigs listing I would have missed) to replace my second smaller C Band solid metal dish that is working, but lacking in the DVB S2 area, because of the small diameter. However, the Polar mount is exactly the same.

My 5 ft dish is tracking 91W to 135W except for the S2 channels. The major exception appears to be REELZ, which it does get fine for whatever reason.

im getting lazy in my old age and was wondering why I couldn't Just remove the four bolts that hold the dish to the arc tracking portion and rather than attempting to replace the whole actuator and tracking mechanism, ... Just bolt the 7.5 ft mesh to the existing polar mount on the pole in the ground?

I assume the dish face must parallel the polar mount back and might require more work in ensuring the bolts match or drilling new holes, etc.

Has anyone done this? Or is it easier to just pop the bigger dish on the old pole ? I will be using the newer actuator on the 5 ft dish, so I still must pull it.
 
If it bolts 'right up' to the dish mount ring/frame should be good to go. (The dish mount/ring is what's already adjusted for the declination) May have to finely tweak elevation and azimuth, but maybe not.
 
I went from a 7 1/2 footer to a 10 footer.
I wanted to use the the polar mount from the 7 1/2 footer since it was way better build.
When I lifted the 10 foot dish onto the polar mount, the holes did not align up and I did not want to drill extra holes. It looked like that it would fit, but I found out the hard way.
It was just easier to remove the polar mount and put the polar mount for the 10 footer on the pole.
 
If the mount were a nice H-H, such as Birdview or Ajak 180, I'd darn sure MAKE 'em fit! ;)

But even if not, I'd certainly drill a few holes.
Of course, that decision would have to be made on a case by case basis.
 
Okay, you have mentioned what I was feeling would be the answer. It might just match perfectly, and it might not. Now that I think about it, dropping the whole unit onto the pole will be a whole lot easier than trying to hold the dish in place with two of us, and either drill new holes or a third guy inserting bolts.

back to plan A when the rain subsides. Thanks for the responses.
 
The major exception appears to be REELZ, which it does get fine for whatever reason.

I would agree REELZ is the TPC (101) of c-band its a great channel with great PQ.

Wonder if anyone has tried getting it on a minibud?
 
I would agree REELZ is the TPC (101) of c-band its a great channel with great PQ.

Wonder if anyone has tried getting it on a minibud?
When I used my 1.2M Geosat Pro Dish Minibud for C-band, it came in fine.
 
Better approach is just plant another dish, that what I did as you really can't have enough of them. I've got eight and I'm think about adding another 6 footer.
 
I would agree REELZ is the TPC (101) of c-band its a great channel with great PQ.

Wonder if anyone has tried getting it on a minibud?

I consider my second C Band dish which is a 5 ft solid, to be a minibud. It's too frustrating to miss out on all the other channels up there that are going increasingly to S2. I will probably pull it and completely replace it.

I'm going to have a dish give away next year of all the dishes that seem to pile up around here. My wife wants to see a cleanup. But more than that, they are just going to waste unless they are being used!
 
Just a few of the Future Spring Cleaning giveaway

Biggest in this pile is a 1.2M
 

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Ya had me all excited 'till I looked up your coordinates on a map. ;)

Yes, I'm afraid unless you live in California, and Central San Joaquin Valley, the gas cost would make up for a lot. Although I drove 90 miles one way to get the 5 ft C Band dish that started my C Band fever in the first place!
 
Now that's what I call, "Dedication" . :) 18 miles is my limit!

My driving limit has changed and is in direct proportion to the $$ of gasoline these days. Had a chance for a 10 ft mesh South of me, but it was a 2 hr drive one way... Besides, I now have two 7.5 ft and will be working on them as soon as it gets warm again.
 
I went 220 miles one way in a winter storm to get an AJAK with a 10' Pinnacle on it. Kind of blurs the line between dedication an stupididty LOL
 
I would agree REELZ is the TPC (101) of c-band its a great channel with great PQ.

Wonder if anyone has tried getting it on a minibud?

Are you and I watching the same Reelz? Because I was not impressed by the 720p 6 Mbps H.264 video of that channel. It looks terrible; worse than most cable networks. I can't imagine how awful it must look after being re-encoded to MPEG-2 on the cable providers. The Pentagon Channel also looks awful with its 9 Mbps 1080i H.264 video; it pales in comparison to the other HD options on Ku band. NBC's 25 Mbps 1080i H.264 blows it away.

Reelz is also one of the strongest channels on my 1.2m btw.
 
Are you and I watching the same Reelz? Because I was not impressed by the 720p 6 Mbps H.264 video of that channel. It looks terrible; worse than most cable networks.

Hey, IT'S FREE! :confused:

Only complaint I have with Reelz is their obsession with that has been, fat boy, hair plugged, Steven Sea Gull! He wasn't that great 20 years ago when he was 50 lbs less but now, he's ridiculous to boot!
 
Paying for mediocrity gives you the green light to bitch about quality. No one forces you to accept free mediocrity, so let your vote count by.... not watching! :)
 
Reelz is a pay TV channel though. Lots of people do pay for it.

It is left unencrypted by some fluke. I doubt it's intended to be a "free" channel.
 
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